a kiss on her cheek. “Soon you will be back at Thorne Manor, dearest. Then you can put all of this distastefulness behind you.”
Catherine returned her embrace then pulled back with a smile. “I’m not the frightened girl I was last year, sister.” She echoed the sentiment she’d expressed before they’d accepted the invitation to the abbey. “The general cannot touch me with his harsh words or sharp glances. I have love now and am quite happy. No one can take that from me.”
Was there something Catherine wasn’t saying? Isabella studied her for a moment then returned her happy expression. “I’m beyond pleased for you, Catherine. Well, I believe I am indeed off to bed.”
Catherine’s gaze grew distant and heated, and Isabella knew she was contemplating all the love and passion she would share with John tonight. Flushing hot herself, Isabella bade her good night and left for her chamber.
“Three days,” she muttered to herself as she stepped within. She closed the door, restraining herself from slamming the panel shut. “Three days. That’s just wonderful,” she grumbled.
“What has you in a snit, love?” Frederick drawled from his position on the bed.
Her mouth fell open. “Frederick! What are you doing here?”
“We couldn’t wait to be with you again,” James answered for him, drawing her attention to where he leaned against one of the bedposts.
They were both dressed quite casually, without jackets, waistcoats, or cravats. Their throats looked strong framed by their snowy-white shirts, their long legs outlined very nicely in their fitted breeches and boots. Her body began to tingle.
“I daresay the general’s irksome presence had one advantage this evening,” James added, apparently unwilling to hide his disdain of that man.
Frederick laughed but she saw the irritation beneath his show of humor, something she’d noticed more often lately whenever she saw him in the company of his father.
“Yes,” he said. “He scared all and sundry to their rooms to keep their own company.” He ran his dark eyes over her and she felt her breasts grow heavy as her nipples peaked against her stays. “I am grateful for that tonight.”
James smiled and began to disrobe, his eyes growing nearly as dark as Frederick’s. “We have a long night in front of us, Isabella. Are you ready to give up a bit more of your lauded control?”
Her pussy pulsed in time with her racing heartbeat, and she gave a firm nod. “Oh, yes.”
Chapter 10
In a rush of movement Isabella soon found herself on the bed, as naked as the two of them were by then. She straddled James’s thighs. He sat at the head of the bed, his back braced on the headboard as his hands roamed over every curve. Tracing his strong shoulders and broad chest with her fingers, she marveled that this man was hers for the moment. She wondered what her other man was about just as Frederick’s hands cupped her breasts. She realized she’d never felt closer to them, their heartbeats so close to hers. Their breaths seemed to be in accord as well. Their different and distinct scents, hot and fresh, mingled in her nose to make her body burn hotter.
James’s cock throbbed against her belly, his mouth hot and wet on her throat. Frederick began to move his shaft against her bottom, teasing her nipples as James stroked her pussy from beneath. Her pussy ached for more.
When the head of his cock brushed back and forth over her slick flesh she let out a cry of frustration.
“Fuck me, James,” she ordered, her words losing their vehemence by their breathy delivery. “I need you inside me.”
“Ah, I will fuck you,” he said, bending his head to flick his tongue over the breasts Frederick held for him. “You will take everything tonight, I vow.”
“Yes, love,” Frederick intoned, his breath fanning over the back of her neck. “Everything and more.”
She puzzled over that for a heartbeat and then gasped as one of his fingers probed her