Secluded with the Rogue

Chapter 9

Nine

C harlene slipped from her bed fully dressed, having waited until the house was completely silent. It was time for retribution for Drew ruining her meals. She'd been hungry all morning and had purposefully not come down for luncheon after what had happened in his study.

She couldn't explain it, but she had no self-control when it came to him. The way he looked at her with his smoldering blue gaze; the way his hard, muscular body felt when she touched him. Clearly, the man frequently helped his sailors with hard work. He was no soft peer of the realm. No, he was a man that understood manual labor and had the body to prove it.

She had been held by lords who'd courted her, not to mention a few stolen kisses from other more ardent admirers—and not a one of them had felt like Drew did. They'd all been stronger than her, certainly. But there was a softness to their embrace, a doughiness that hadn't bothered her in the least.

That is, until she'd felt Drew's arms wrapped around her.

Charlene sighed as she crept out into the hallway. Now all future men would pale in comparison, which was a blasted shame.

Regardless of his fine physique, the man still had a lesson to learn. She was not a woman to be trifled with. Salt her food, would he? Oh, she'd show him.

As quiet as a mouse—dear heavens, she hoped there were no mice about!—she crept downstairs. There she found a warm cloak near the side door that led outside and toward the stable. She peeked out and saw the fates were on her side. The snow had eased up a bit. Slipping the cloak on over her wool dress, she stepped outside remembering where the stable was and heading that way. Fortunately, there was a path somewhat trampled, presumably by Billy and Polly, who she knew lived over the stables. She found the door and slid it open just enough to squeeze through. Inside, she found a lantern and lit it as the horses snorted softly and stamped their feet. She found a nearly empty bag of feed and dumped it in a bucket, then slipped into the first stall she found. Inside, she found a sweet mare who barely noticed she was there as she munched some of the hay she'd been given. Charlene then found just what she'd come there in search of.

Horse manure. A nice steaming pile of it.

She used the sack to collect her prize and eased back out of the stall, double checking to ensure the door latched behind her so the horse wouldn't wander out, before retracing her steps back to the house. Determined to make Drew regret messing with her food— really, that should be sacred territory —she crept into his study and found the coals laid for the morning. With an evil little smirk, she dumped the dung into the fireplace and rearranged the coals to hide it, tucking the now smelly bag behind some books.

Let him have fun finding that later!

Satisfied with her little plot, Charlene headed back upstairs. She was nearly to her bedchamber when the silence of the house was shattered.

“Well, well, well. What have we here?” Drew leaned against the door to his chamber in nothing but a shirt and trousers. His bare feet stood out to her, drawing her attention for the utter intimacy of seeing them. It was something a wife or lover would see. Not a guest—certainly not an unwanted guest such as herself, though it was becoming difficult to ignore the chemistry that sparked between them.

“I was still hungry. I slipped down to the kitchen for a midnight snack,” she offered as she tried to reach her bedchamber.

Drew strolled over to her door and pressed a forearm against the frame as she arrived at the entrance. He sniffed. “You smell of cold, fresh air. Did someone leave a window open downstairs?”

Her heart lurched. No! He couldn't have worked it out already.

Charlene bit her lip in frustration. She looked up at him and had to resist the urge to melt against him yet again. For a man she found so annoying, she far too frequently found herself in his arms. “No, but it was chilly down there with no fire.”

He shook his head. “You really must be more careful, Charlie. I wouldn't want anyone thinking I was a poor host.”

She cursed his use of that stupid nickname, but clearly he would not cease using it. “It's fine, Drew. I think I'll head to bed now.”

“I don't know. I feel you've been up to something.” He inhaled a deep breath. “I can't quite put my finger on what, but I don't believe you were merely snacking.”

Damn, the man was too perceptive . She rolled her eyes behind closed lids. She had to do something to distract him. Desperate, she made a snap decision that she refused—absolutely positively, refused—to scrutinize. She threw her arms around his neck and pressed her lips to his.

Drew went rigid beneath her touch. As she tentatively traced the seam of his lips with her tongue, a shudder racked his body before he opened to her kiss as his free arm wrapped around her.

Charlene’s breath stalled in her chest as he lazily swept his tongue into her mouth and met her shy caress. As he held her tightly to him, she responded by sliding her tongue deeper into his mouth, exploring his taste more boldly.

And heavens, did he taste good. There was a hint of sweet from dessert at dinner and the smokiness of the scotch he had clearly imbibed in. She wanted more. More of him. More of his touch. More of the delicious things he'd done to her that morning in his study. She wanted to know what it felt like when a man brought her to release.

Unwinding one arm from his neck and reaching for the knob of her bedchamber door, with an easy twist the wood panel opened and they stumbled inside even as they still kissed.

But Drew broke the kiss and stepped back. “We can't do this.”

“Why not?” Charlene cocked her head to one side and began unbuttoning her bodice. Need pulsed through her body, more than a simple kiss would have caused. No, this was an accumulation of need from their various encounters.

He sucked in a sharp breath, his dark blue gaze whipping to where her hands worked each button free. “It's not right. You're innocent. A guest in my home.” He seemed to have trouble focusing on his thoughts, the words coming out in disjointed bits.

“I am a virgin. I am not innocent—and I am a woman. An eight and twenty woman who wants to know what it is to have a man bring her pleasure.” Charlene drew in a deep breath and let it out as her bodice parted to reveal her chemise underneath. She'd skipped the corset for this little outing, but little had she known then how convenient that decision would turn out to be. “Who wants to know what it is for you to bring her pleasure.”

“Fuck!” Drew groaned as he swept her into his arms and kissed her rapaciously.

She thought he might consume her, the way he kissed her. It was all passion and no finesse, and she loved it—loved knowing she had driven him past his limits to the point he no longer cared that she was a lady. She was simply a woman. The woman he desired.

“Yes,” she moaned as he left her lips and tugged her chemise down to expose her breasts.

“So rosy and such tight points, I knew they'd be pink.” Drew’s words were mumbled, but she thought she mostly understood him.

He'd been imagining her breasts, or more correctly, her nipples. The thought made Charlene’s toes curl in her boots.

His mouth latched onto one tip and all thoughts fled her head, scattering like mist on the sea air as pleasure slithered through her body. He sucked and bit at the one nipple until she was bent backwards over his arm. She clung to his shoulders, loving how he felt under her touch, how he felt pressed against her—but her bloody skirts blocked the sensations she'd felt the other day in the music room. She wanted to feel that again. Needed to feel him pressed against her.

Drew started walking her backwards toward the bed and as her knees hit the side, he released her breasts. “God, you are a lush temptress that no mere mortal such as myself could resist. It was futile for me to even try.”

Charlene smiled softly, pleasure at his words sifting through her body and maybe even her heart.

No, not that. This was pleasure. It had to only be pleasure. Her father would expect her to marry someone of consequence, someone of benefit to the family legacy.

Yet before she could say anything in response, Drew had turned her around and undid her skirts. He untied the one crinoline she had pulled on for warmth on her errand and let it all slide down her very bare legs. She hadn't bothered with her hose or lacing her old boots fully.

“Good God, woman, you must start wearing undergarments. It will drive me mad, always wondering if you are or if you aren't.” Drew’s voice was low and growly as he turned her back around and lowered her down on to the bed.

She slipped her boots off and slide her legs free of the skirts puddled on the floor as she laid back. “Now you.” She waved at him.

“Now me, what?” Drew grinned devilishly.

“Naked. I want to see all of you. I've only felt you up to now.” Charlene’s demand stemmed from an insatiable curiosity and the countless hours of dreams about him since she'd arrived on his doorstep. The man had haunted her every dream since she returned to Glenn Ivy Manor.

He chuckled and pulled up straight, leaving her sitting naked on the bed as he stalked to her door.

Was he leaving? Fear spiked through her. Had this been a cruel joke?

But he locked the door and turned back to where she sat. “I refuse to be interrupted yet again. Not this time.”

Her breath whooshed out of her chest as relief slammed into her. She wanted this. Wanted him. Damn her to perdition, but she did.

In a shockingly short amount of time, Drew stripped free of his clothing and crawled onto the bed and over her. She could not help but shiver in anticipation.

“Sweet Charlie, tell me now if this needs to stop. Tell me at any point and I'll try, but I…I want you so badly that I may be hard pressed to stop if you wait much longer.”

She'd only been there a few days. How much did he want her? When did this begin? Desire pulsed through Charlene as his body pressed along hers and the stray thoughts went the way of all the others earlier. “Don't stop. I want to feel you inside me.”

He groaned and kissed her, their tongues melding together—but to her disappointment, he pulled back. As his body slid down hers, she levered up on her elbows. “Drew, come back here.”

Drew chuckled softly. “Oh no. I've been dying to taste this from the source all day. It's all I could think about after you left my study and I tasted you on my fingers.”

She shivered. Was he talking about—well, she'd read about a man who went between a woman's thighs with his mouth. Could he be talking?—

Drew slid his tongue between her wet lips and over her tight little nub of flesh that was so hard and swollen. Oh yes! He was talking about doing that. And holy hell, she was being gutted. Her body tensed up and waited, waited for more. Her breathing grew choppy as he slid his tongue inside her entrance, inside her pussy. Fire shot through her veins as Charlene parted her legs wider and thrust her hips into his mouth, unable to prevent herself from demanding more. And he responded—Drew slid his hands under her arse and pulled her closer to him, all the while she watched him work her while perched on her elbows. Watched his auburn head move between her thighs as his tongue drove her pleasure higher and higher.

“Oh God, Drew! Don't stop!”

He hummed in agreement, or so she assumed. He continued to feast on her pussy as the pressure that came with a release slowly built—only this was nothing like when she touched herself. Bloody hell! This was a thousand times better, so very much better.

All she could do was lie there and take it.

Her body taking over, her hips pumped up to meet his tongue as her hands fisted in the sheets of her bed as Drew relentlessly kept licking and sucking on her, his tongue flicking over that little nub again and again.

Finally, the pressure grew to be almost unbearable. “Drew!” She wasn't sure what to tell him to bring her release, but he seemed to know.

He latched on to that little pearl of flesh and slid two fingers inside of her, adding a third as she felt the stretch and burn of the new finger—and with that fullness and his mouth sucking on her flesh, she broke apart.

“Yes! Yes! Yes!”

Her hips were flexing up, grinding into his mouth and fingers as she shattered around him. Lights danced behind Charlene’s eyes as her arms gave out and pleasure swamped her.

This was what lovemaking was? No wonder everyone snuck around doing this in dark corners.

As the pleasure started to recede she lay there panting as he kissed her inner thigh and eased up from where he'd been wedged.

That was when she saw his cock for the first time and doubt slashed through her post orgasmic bliss. While she knew anatomically that he would fit, she wasn't so sure how good it would feel. Was the best part already done, and over with?