He shrugged. “Oh, it was nothing. He made some offhand comment about my wife and froze the room. How was your evening with the ladies?”
“You’ll be happy to hear I let them know we can’t get enough of each other and you’re amazing in bed. That ought to get back to any interested parties.”
He laughed. “Well, I seem to have done the opposite. When they asked about you, I refused to tell them any details.”
She tilted her head and for a moment he could see her surprise that he would be discreet. “I think it’s rather romantic that you would demand privacy andthatmight be the worst thing to get back to those same interested parties.”
“It seems we did the opposite of what is perceived to be a societal norm,” he said.
She shrugged. “Oh, no. The courtesans always talk about the men. Compare notes. Compare cocks.”
His mouth dropped open. “You do?”
“What do you think the courtesan network is?” she laughed. “It’s not just gossip, but information about all aspects of the men we partner with. A courtesan might not refuse to affiliate with a gentleman who didn’t know how to use his hips properly when he fucks, but at least she’d know what she was getting into so she wouldn’t expect orgasms.”
“Well, I hope I end up on the correct side ofthatdiscussion in the end,” he said, and met her stare evenly. “Assuming you still wish to change the tenor of this arrangement.”
Her breath hitched ever so slightly. “I do. Vaughn?—”
Before she could say anything more, he wrapped an arm around her waist and tugged her flush against him. Her curves molded to his like they were meant to do so and she let out another shuddering sigh as his mouth took hers and he forgot every other thing in the world but this.
CHAPTER11
Evelina had intended to speak to Vaughn about what she’d heard from the other courtesans. She hadn’t wanted to, but she felt she was obligated to do so. But when his arms came around her and his mouth claimed hers, everything else in the world became fuzzy and unimportant. There was only sensation and oh, how she wanted that.
He was such a good kisser. Perhaps the best she’d ever experienced and that was saying something. He devoured and claimed, giving her no doubt to how much he wanted her without being too rough or, God forbid, drooly. And when his hands clenched at her back while he kissed her? She felt like she was falling, or perhaps floating like a feather was a better description. Just fluttering down on the softness of the desire that began to build in her.
He pulled away and there was the same stunned expression on his face that she felt on her own. “God, I needed this,” he whispered. “How did I not know how much I needed this?”
His words made her think again of what the courtesans had told her about Lady Blackburn and Harry. It was the only thing that could bring her out of the haze. She needed to tell him. But not right now. Not when he actually looked happy for the first time in months.
Right now was the time for pleasure and nothing else.
“I’m very happy to give you what you need,” she murmured, and returned her mouth to his as she pressed a hand to his chest. Even though the layers of clothing, she could feel his heart throbbing, feel the heat of him increasing. She glided her hand down, testing the shape of him through his clothing and grumbling with pleasure at the firm muscle hidden there.
When her hand dipped lower still, smoothing over his hip, he let out harsh gasp against her mouth. “Evie.”
Her name was a warning and a plea all at once. She smiled against his mouth and cupped him, measuring the size of his half-hard cock. Well, he wasn’t going to disappoint inthatdepartment, even if it was more how the man used what he had that brought pleasure.
Somehow she doubted he could be anything but magical.
She stroked his length, memorizing how his breath hitched as he went from half-hard to fully hard in a few strokes. She wanted this man freed from his trousers. She wanted him in her mouth. She wanted him buried inside of her, bruising her with his fingers as she shattered around him.
She wanted him where she could take her time and fully enjoy him.
The thought had scarcely crossed her mind when they turned onto her drive and slowed to a stop before Arabella’s old home. The light from the windows gave a little more illumination in the dark of the carriage and she looked up at him.
“Come upstairs with me, Vaughn.”
“I couldn’t deny you if there were wild horses trying to drag me away,” he said, and reached past her to open the door. “Lead the way.”
She let the footman help her down and when Vaughn joined her she took his hand, threading her fingers through his, and guided them up to the door. Parsons opened it just as they reached it. “Welcome back, Miss Comerford, my lord. May I offer you any?—”
“Nothing at all, Parsons,” she interrupted as she continued to tug Vaughn through the foyer. “I have everything I need right here.”
Vaughn chuckled as they started up the stairs together. “In some households that would cause a scandal.”
“There’s no room for scandal in the home of courtesans,” she said with a glance over her shoulder as they reached the big bedroom at the end of the hall. “The servants are accustomed to such things.”
