“Pleasure,” he managed to ground out past clenched teeth. “This is pleasure, Emma.”
He smoothed his fingers along her again and again, then pressed lightly on her clitoris. She dug her fingernails into the chair arms, her eyes widening as she gasped out his name.
Hearing it said in pleasure was almost enough to take him over the edge. He leaned in and kissed her again, sucking her tongue as he worked at her, drawing her to lift against him, to find the release he could feel trembling through her.
And at last she found it. He felt her body tense against him as she cried out softly. Her hips lifted, her body thrashed and she gave over her orgasm in quick, focused waves.
When she had come through the crisis, he withdrew his hand from her, sliding her skirts down properly as he reluctantly got to his feet and stepped away from her.
She stood immediately, her face pale and her eyes wide as she stared at him. Her lips parted and closed, and he could see her fighting with something to say. But before she could do it, the door to the library swung open.
They both turned toward it and watched as the Duke of Sheffield entered the room. As Baldwin saw them standing together in the middle of the library, in the middle of the night, he came to a sharp halt.
“I beg your pardon,” he said, his gaze sliding to James in question. “I didn’t realize anyone else was up at this hour.”
Emma said nothing—she just gave James a horrified look and fled the room, her cheeks flaming and her steps unsteady as she flew past Sheffield without so much as a side glance. James watched her go, wanting so much to reach out to her, to tell her it was all right, that she hadn’t done anything wrong. But he couldn’t.
He glared at Sheffield as he softly shut the door behind him. “Good timing.”
Sheffield threw up his hands. “I apologize. Though I’m not sure how I was to know you were in the library with…” He glanced over his shoulder. “With Emma Liston.”
James rubbed a hand over his face. “By the way you say her name, I assume Roseford, Simon and Graham have told you all about my plans with her.”
“Such gossip is bound to travel fast in our group, especially if we’re all under one roof. Brighthollow and I had a long talk about it with Roseford earlier today.”
“God,” James muttered, rolling his head back. “And what did the rooster society decide?”
“That you’re an idiot to come up with such a plan,” Sheffield laughed. “But you know Brighthollow and Roseford are both incredibly opposed to marriage. Probably more than even you are. So they aren’t the best judges of what is right.”
James looked at Sheffield. He’d always liked Baldwin. Of their group, he was the quietest, the one who kept his problems close to the vest. Simon and Graham were so close to James, and Baldwin was right that Roseford and Brighthollow were the least likely to give him any advice except to run screaming from Emma lest he get caught in some kind of trap.
But in this moment, he needed advice. Good advice from someone less involved and less biased. Because what had happened a few moments before with Emma was entirely out of control. It hadn’t had a damn thing to do with a plan or helping her or helping himself. He’d just wanted to touch her, and he’d done so without a thought to the consequences or the rules or anything except how he wanted to see her face when she came.
She had not disappointed. Her release had been powerful and erotic and infinitely sweet. But it muddied the waters of his plan a great deal.
“I don’t know what I want from her,” he admitted softly.
Sheffield hesitated a moment, then moved forward to motion him to sit. Once they both had, he leaned forward, draping his forearms over his knees, his face intense with concern and focused. “I thought this false courtship you’ve proposed was just a ruse to help you both. Though I certainly got a sense there was more going on between you when I entered the library.”
James shook his head. “I…she isn’t the kind of woman who normally catches my eye, and yet there is something about her that draws me in. Tonight I…I may have gone a bit too far.”
“How far?” Sheffield asked softly.
“Not so far as too ruin her, too far to be gentlemanly,” he said slowly. “I know I can tell you this and not have you say anything.”
“I won’t say a word to anyone,” Sheffield reassured him. “Though I admit I’m surprised. You have never made a move that didn’t seem calculated.”
“I’m not sure that’s a compliment,” James said. “But I’m also not certain it is wrong. Though I know my reputation can be a bit wild, I do actually think through most of my actions. Especially the ones that will affect others. Tonight, I didn’t think. And perhaps that means I should back away from Emma. For both our sakes.”
He said those words and his chest hurt with the thought. He pushed to his feet and walked away from his friend to the window, where he stared out at the darkness with unseeing eyes.
“What has changed since you first came up with this idea to help her?” Sheffield asked after a few seconds of silence had passed.
James turned back. “What do you mean?”
“I mean, has Miss Liston’s position increased in any way?”
James shrugged. “The little bit of extra attention I’ve paid toward her so far has seemed to help her a bit, but no. She is still in the same position.”
