After scraping the gossamer silk along his length, unable to control the convulsive twitches of his pelvis or jerks of his cock, his unplanned explosion finally at its end, Zeus growled and wiped his hand clean as well.
Furious with himself, he returned his buckskins and drawers to their rightful place, shoving his disobedient dirk deep in their confines while pointedly ignoring her repeated, somewhat timid entreaties to face her and let her watch—not bloody likely! He was already granting her another splendid view of his white arse! Breath haggard, and with fingers that felt far too swollen and sensitive, he mangled his way up the buttons on either side of the front fall, wrenching one clear off in his haste to get them all fastened.
“Ballocks!” he cursed again, with nothing left to do…save climb over the grate and into the chimney, perhaps? Might not the moldering mortar aid in his quest and grant escape onto the roof? Where the chipped and missing tiles were likely to speed him on his way—to a timely demise. Mayhap then she’d forget his name, his shame, his—
“Mr. Tanner, I order you to present yourself before me!” Evidently she’d reined in her amazement at witnessing his climax, for she now sounded in full possession of her demanding tendencies. Nor had she forgotten his name, devil take her! “Mr. Tanner, it’s time you—”
“Nay!” Red-faced and ready to breathe fire—he’d light the one in the hearth himself if he could, singe his bloody breeches on the way up and out!—he spun on his heel but made no effort to move closer. Attempting to mask his humiliation and bluster his way past this impossible impasse, Zeus snarled, “Nay. You will not order me to do anything, never again. Though I begin to understand why you wanted a man not noble—so you could lead him around like a pup on a string, lord over him and—”
“’Tis not so! Not even close!” Eyes pleading with him to believe her, she insisted, “I wanted an untitled man so he would talk to me, converse with me and not simply issue orders and commands at me. Order my actions and command my affection where none exists.” Her voice turned ragged. “I wanted a man my eyes found appealing and my lips longed to touch, my tongue to taste.”
Upon hearing that, his ire softened, annoyance abated.
“Do they?” When all she did was stammer unintelligibly, he took a single step toward her and elucidated. “Do your eyes find me appealing?”
Another slight stutter and then, “Very much so.”
“And your lips? Your tongue?” Two more steps.
“Hunger for your taste—just not down there. Not yet.”
“’Tis admirable. Amazing, really. A woman, a lady, as forthright as she is adorable. As intriguing as she is vexing.” Was it any surprise he’d already succumbed to her bewitching spell? Three more steps brought him to his former position, making his capitulation complete.
“Intriguing? Me?”
Of all he’d said, that’s what she latched on to? “Most assuredly so. Tell me, Lady Scandal, if your affections are not to be commanded, then how are they to be won?”
“Any man named after a god who stands so nobly among my ignoble things, speaking to me with heart and heat and truth, looking as you do, Zeus J. Tanner, well, I confess, my affections are nearly yours to command.”
“Nearly?”
“There is still the matter of a letter you’ve yet to finish.”
The blasted letter? They were back to that? “You still require it to be read? After all that has gone between us?”
She’d be the death of him yet.
“I do. And to completion.” So very primly, so utterly proper, did she order this directive, Zeus no longer knew what to make of her. And after he’d exposed and embarrassed himself beyond what any prideful man would ever consider, did he have it in him to balk further?
Pride may keep you company, but it won’t warm you at night. Remember that, Zeus, as you so doggedly pursue your fortune. The prosy phrase intoned on more than one occasion by his dear mama picked such an inopportune time to rear its guidance he could do naught but heed it.
He placed the soiled stocking on the table and bent to retrieve the letter from where it had fallen. As his gaze scanned the crisp vellum, trying to locate his place, he saw not the script inked upon the page but instead the look of wonder upon Lady Juliet’s face as she’d watched him earlier, inciting his body’s response.
The lassitude that’d stolen over his limbs after the unintended release evaporated, changing into the renewed thrum of desire.
“You may begin.”
He jerked his head back to hers. “I’m unsure where I left off.”
“‘He will set his sights’ or thereabouts.”
He grunted. “Your memory is excellent.”
She glowed under the modest praise. “’Tis a trait I applied myself to develop.”
“You honed it well.”
As if to confirm the blasted talent, she repeated, “He will set his sights…”
Zeus coughed once into his hand, delaying the inevitable, but eventually he forced out, “He will set his sights upon stroking you to heights of ecstasy before claiming his own. His tongue…”
“Yes? Your tongue…?”
“His tongue will surely delight you to no end. The agility with which he employs it shall—” Zeus broke off and sliced his arm through the air, more than ready to rid himself of the damning letter once and for all. The unlit fire beckoned once again—if only it’d been burning! “Was not what I shared earlier sufficient?”
“Are you finished with her words? No, I think not.” She answered with so much haughty reserve he wanted to shake her. Then kiss her. Show her all his “delightful” tongue could do in her mouth and everywhere else.
From her perch upon the settee, she gave him a condescending smile. “Read the remainder, if you please, and stop dallying. How else will I know whether it contains a warning of some sort?”
A warning? Just
