Free Mistress in the Making by Lynne Silver Page B

life and entry to ton ballrooms was lost to her forever, but here in Lucas’ bed it didn’t seem of much importance.
    She stifled a yawn only to have another one sneak up on her and nearly swallow her face. Staying up to nearly dawn each night making furious love was taking a toll. Perhaps she’d close her eyes for a few moments. She’d wake up the moment Lucas entered the house.
    * * * * *
     
    Lucas pressed the bedroom door shut with a near-silent click . The sole candle he held illuminated a circle around him with just enough glow to see Charlotte asleep in his bed. Something warm tightened around his heart and for a moment he had to remember to breathe. His woman was there. In his bed. This was the first night she hadn’t waited up, but something about her sleeping form enticed him. It was more a scene from marriage than between man and mistress.
    He tried and failed to suppress his wish that Charlotte would be waiting for him in his bed every night for the rest of his life. They’d known each other less than a fortnight and yet it seemed forever. If he were a decent man, an honorable man, he’d set her up as a widow in some country cottage far away from him and pay for her damn sisters to come to London for a Season. But he wasn’t. Not when it came to her. For Charlotte he was a selfish brute and demanded her frequent sexual attentions.
    He lowered the candle onto the small table next to his side of the bed and undressed, not intending to wake her, but sleep holding her instead. When he slipped under the covers and wrapped his arms around her, he saw one of her arms in an awkward position anchored to the bed post. Investigating the matter, he pulled back the blanket and saw her wrist shackled. She was naked other than a tight silk ribbon around her neck.
    His cock hardened with an urgency that shocked him. She was his. His with whom to do what he pleased. He could plunge into her and rut like a stallion or tie her other hand and lick her from head to toe. He could make her come relentlessly, not stopping even if she begged. Or…
    He smiled with a plan in mind. He crept out of bed to grab his discarded cravat from the floor. Gently he tied her other wrist. Though she stirred, she did not wake fully. He glanced down at her delicate ankles, debating whether to totally immobilize her and decided against it. If she were naughty, he’d do it. He rather hoped she’d be naughty.
    Patience , he told himself. He’d find his pleasure, but later. Much later. First to find out how much pleasure a woman could take without coming. He scooted down the bed to Charlotte’s ankles and slid a palm up the insides of her calves and up her thighs. An incoherent sound escaped her, but she didn’t fully waken. Spreading her thighs, he buried his face in her curls and let his tongue do a little exploring. Lord, she was sweet. Like that sweet rice he’d had in India mixed with something distinctly earthy. Her taste described his mistress. Sweet, innocent and fresh from the country combined with a large dose of sensual appeal.
    For long minutes he licked and teased and when her hips began to shift under his mouth, he thrust his tongue inside her.
    ”Lucas?” came her quiet question.
    “Keep sleeping, darling. You’re dreaming.”
    She laughed. “Come up here and give me a goodnight kiss.”
    He complied, though he vowed it would be the last time that evening he’d accede to her wishes.
    ”Mmmm,” she moaned into his mouth as their tongues rubbed sinuously together.
    He pulled away to lean over her, perched on his forearms. ”That taste you’re exclaiming over is you. Your juices. You’re dripping for me, darling. Do you like it? No, I don’t need to ask. Your body told me the answer. You love my tongue inside your tight, wet—”
    “Lucas.” Even in the near dark, her blush shined through. She attempted to bat him away only to discover that she’d been tied up while dozing. “Lucas, I can barely move.”
    “Does it