Lady Charlotte's Marquess (The heir and a spare Book 2) Read online

  “Archie, please,” Charlotte begged, pressing her body against his back and sliding her hands around his waist. Her persistence was confusing.

  “Charlotte, what do you want?” Archie turned around, letting his anger get the better of him. “Tell me, please. I will give you anything you want, but do not make me wish I was a different person. Please, you are killing me.”

  This admission almost tore his heart out, but Archie couldn’t handle her being so understanding, touching him, kissing him. If he couldn’t marry her, then he couldn’t have her at all.

  “I...” Charlotte stammered.

  “Charlotte, tell me what you want from me!” Archie was seconds away from walking out the door and not coming back.

  “You,” she whispered. Archie’s heart skipped a beat. “I...want you.” She repeated, a little louder.

  “You’re going to have to be more specific Charlotte.” Archie growled. She couldn’t mean what he thought she meant.

  “I want you to make love to me. Here. Now.”

  Archie could have been pushed over by a feather he was so stunned.

  “But... you know I can’t marry you.” It hurt to say the words, but Archie made himself say them.,

  Charlotte blinked, and set her jaw. Never a good sign.

  “I want you,” she repeated and she pushed his jacket off his shoulders and roughly pulled his shirt out of his breeches.

  Archie didn’t know if he was dreaming, but for the first time in his life, heaven was being offered to him at the time when he most desperately needed it.

  “Charlotte, we shouldn’t...” he made one last attempt at a denial and Charlotte ran her hand lightly over the front of his breeches. Her touch burned through the material, igniting him in a way that he never had been before.

  With a muttered curse that included a deity, Archie launched himself at her and began kissing her passionately. Forcing her lips open with his own and stroking her tongue with his over and over again. His mind was racing with every small bit of sexual information he had ever heard. He knew that sex for the first time hurt most women and with his lack of experience, he wasn’t sure he could be as gentle as she needed him to be.

  He broke away from her again, groaning with the effort it took to do so.

  “Charlotte, you know I’ve never done this before. What if I hurt you? What if I don’t give you enough pleasure?” he asked anxiously, sliding his hands up and down her back. There would be nothing worse than that for him.

  ****

  Charlotte smiled a smile at her Archie that she didn’t know she possessed. One she felt all the way down to her soul. At that moment, she knew she’d made the right decision because she loved this man with all of her heart. Which other gentleman would still be trying to talk her out of this? And whom else would worry that he couldn’t please the woman he was with? From what her married friends had told her, their husbands walked in, lay on top of them and then left.

  Instead of dreading what was to come, Charlotte wanted to rip all of Archie clothes off and beg him to take her.

  “We’ll learn together,” she whispered, against his full lips, stroking down his chest and circling his nipples with her fingertips. They grew hard and stood out against his shirt and his breath hissed out between his teeth. Charlotte could hear Sarah’s voice in her head telling her that there was more to lovemaking than just the bedding. You could touch and kiss every part of a man’s body. Charlotte blushed at the thought, but that didn’t stop her from slipping the buttons on his shirt through the holes with shaking fingers.

  Archie was just standing there like a statue, breathing hard and clenching his fists on both sides. It gave Charlotte a wonderful feeling of feminine power that she could reduce this controlled, virtuous man to a bundle of fire and nerves. She finished unbuttoning his shirt and pushed that off his shoulders as well.

  Charlotte sucked in a breath and ran her hands lovingly over the muscles clenched in Archie’s chest and arms. He was wiry and lean. Charlotte knew that he liked to work with horses and ride, but she hadn’t realized that would make his body so beautiful.

  “Touch me, please...” Archie begged her.

  “I will,” Charlotte whispered, not sure what else he wanted.

  “I need you to bring me to my release like you did that night at Lady Moffat’s, I’ll never last otherwise.”

  Charlotte smiled eagerly and ran her hands down the lean muscles of his chest.

  Archie’ lips spread open, giving her a wolf like smile. All dangerous teeth as he opened his breeches. He guided her hand inside and she wrapped her hand around his already hard and hot staff. He groaned as she squeezed him and reached for the ties on her bodice with trembling hands.

  Charlotte was in awe, what a scary and amazing thing for a man to possess. The skin was the softest she had ever felt and yet it was solid and hard beneath the silky smooth skin. She tentatively stroked him, around the bulbous head and up and down the shaft.

  Archie moaned with pleasure and pushed the material of her bodice down to expose both of her breasts. They popped out with a bounce and she gasped as he curved his fingers around the flesh of one.

  Charlotte bit her lip as heat unfurled in her belly. “I thought I was just touching you.”

  Archie laughed hoarsely. “Touching you arouses me.”

  He bent his head and sucked one of her aching nipples into his mouth.

  Charlotte was groaned and arched her back so that he would suck harder. Charlotte let go of his hard flesh and threaded both of her hands into his hair, holding his head to her breast.

  Archie suckled both of her breasts gently, pulling back so that he could turn her around and undo her laces.

  “You are driving me crazy Charlotte, I will never be able to pleasure you properly.”

  He yanked at the laces and Charlotte smiled at his need for her, this was exactly what she wanted.

  “You have already given me more pleasure than you know.”

  “No, back to my original plan.”

  Charlotte frowned, what was that plan? He grabbed her hand and guided it back to his manhood. He wrapped her fingers around the thick shaft and made her stroke him tightly. Charlotte adjusted her grip to something mimicking his.

  “Stroke me like this until I come,” he choked out as she began to move her hand in the way he had taught her.

  “Come?” she asked, not understanding what he meant and starting to breathe heavily herself. There was something very arousing about the pleasure noises he was making and the flush in his face.

  “Find my release.”

  “And you’ll be able to find it again with me later?” Charlotte asked frowning. It suddenly occurred to her that he was trying to stop their lovemaking early.

  “Trust me.”

  So Charlotte pulled at his flesh the way he had taught her and within moments he was moaning and thrusting into her hand. He swooped down for one long kiss and moaned low in his throat. Charlotte kissed him back, then his body jerked in her arms and a warm fluid covering her hands and the shirt he held to his front.

  Charlotte pulled back and watched with fascination as Archie’s face filled with blood, his eyes closed in what appeared to be pain. Then he sighed and opened his eyes. The last time this had happened Charlotte had been too caught up in her orgasm to watch Archie’s face. This time, she did and it was a revelation.

  “Your turn,” Archie growled, wiping her sticky hand with the shirt and tossing it across the room impatiently.

  Charlotte squealed when he picked her up into his arms and walked a couple of steps to the chaise lounge against the wall. He lay her down gently then stood back to stare down at her.

  “Charlotte, if you want to stop, now is the time to say so.”

  Love blossomed through her like the wild ivy that grew around their house, thriving despite the gardeners attempts to control it. Charlotte swallowed the fear down, her stomach clenching almost painfully. She pushed her chemise and drawers down her hip
s and onto the floor, shivering despite the warmth of the room. Laying back again she didn’t move to cover herself like every instinct was screaming at her to do. There were a dozen candles lit in the room and he could see every inch of her. What if he thought her ugly?

  Archie swallowed obviously and his eyes ran over the length of her body. Charlotte flushed at his perusal, embarrassed by the slick heat gathering between her thighs. She needed this man so much.

  She held out her arms and Archie knelt down next to her and kissed her with his tender, soft lips. First on the forehead and then on the eyelids, his hot breath moving over her skin. He made his way slowly down her trembling body, licking her with his wet, smooth tongue, her collar bones, her ribs, her navel.

  Charlotte had never imagined that being kissed and fondled like this would feel so amazing. Everything he did made her want to cry out in pleasure and every once in a while, a lick of fire would find its way to that place between her thighs and she would push her legs together to try and hide the evidence. She didn’t know what to do with her hands so she just pushed them down into the soft material of the chaise.

  Archie ran his lips down to the curls at the apex of her thighs and flicked his tongue out to taste her there. Charlotte sat up and went to push Archie away. She couldn’t believe he was about to kiss her there. He couldn’t, anything else, but not there.

  “Archie, you shouldn’t...” she began and stopped, he looked up and gave her one of those smoldering, ‘I want you’ looks that she was beginning to love.

  “Trust me,” he repeated, for the second time that night.

  Archie moved to the end of the chaise so that he was kneeling directly between her legs, and pulled her gently closer to the edge so that her legs hung over the side.

  Charlotte covered her face in mortification. He was looking at her in a place Charlotte herself had never even seen.

  “You are so beautiful, my Charlotte,” he whispered, stroking over the inside of her thighs and exploring her with his fingers.

  Charlotte shuddered in response to his words, as well as his touches.

  “You are mine aren’t you Charlotte?” Archie asked as he slid his middle finger deep inside her already wet body.

  “Yes,” Charlotte moaned, mindless with need as she arched her back high.

  Archie moved his finger inside her in a parody of what he would soon be doing to her. In and out, in and out, adding a second finger, stretching her body.

  “Mine tonight,” he insisted.

  Charlotte looked down at him and saw his fingers moving inside her, his head lowering to her flesh again.

  It was time he knew the truth. “Always.”

  Archie’s eyes widened for a moment and his fingers faltered in their movement. Then he fastened his mouth to her clitoris, sucking and licking her over and over. The heat built and consumed her, the flames licking her body as Archie’s tongue drove her higher and higher, until she felt her orgasm roar down on her.

  “Yes, Archie, yes.” She screamed as her belly tightened and the coiled spring released, sending shock waves of pleasure along every nerve. She could feel Archie’s fingers still moving as he pushed her over the hill and beyond.

  Charlotte shuddered as Archie moaned against her flesh and gave her one more lick.

  “Ahhh...” She cried as he removed his fingers and got to his feet.

  Her orgasm had been so powerful that tiny tingles of pleasure were still running along her limbs. She heard Archie divesting himself of his clothes, but couldn’t bring herself to open her eyes.

  “Charlotte, come join me.” Archie’s words broke through her daze as he pulled at her hand.

  Charlotte forced open her eyes to see Archie lying on his side on the floor. There, between his legs was a very large pole, pointing towards her. Oh, damn! Having come this far Charlotte decided that she would have to trust him not to kill her. She slid awkwardly off the lounge, landing beside him with a thump. Archie rolled instantly on top of her and Charlotte clamped her legs together. The feel of his body completely naked against hers felt wonderful, but the fear of what he was about to do drove all other thoughts out of her head.

  Archie smiled, but his smile was strained. Charlotte began to panic.

  “Archie, I don’t know if this is going to work. You’re too big to fit inside me, I’m sure you’ll kill me...”

  “It’ll be fine, Charlotte,” he reassured her, with another tight smile.

  “How do you know? You’ve never done this before. You could be much larger than most men.”

  “Just trust me,” he whispered for the third time that night, dropping a kiss onto her nose. “You know it could hurt you to start with.”

  Charlotte nodded. She had heard different accounts of the pain accompanied with penetration. She only hoped she experienced the lighter version of it.

  “Kiss me again,” she urged him, desperate to forget her worries and get back to the pleasure-drugged dream she had been in moments before.

  Archie kissed her as though he wanted to devour her and she returned the kiss with equal fervor. He touched her breasts and belly, stroking the place between her legs until she thought she would go crazy with need once again.

  Charlotte lifted her hips in silent invitation and Archie took it.

  Lifting himself up on his forearms Archie moved until the head of his staff was nudging her wet entrance. She gasped at the feel of it and he caught her lips in another kiss and pressed forward.

  Charlotte felt an overwhelming urge to push him off as he slid part of the way inside. This was just plain uncomfortable. He was fitting, somehow, inside of her, but it felt like the pressure would kill her. It was not painful exactly, but he was stretching tissues that had never stretched before and the sensation was not pleasant.

  “You know I have to...” Archie said, stilling within her.

  “Just do it,” she cried, hoping this part would pass quickly.

  Archie thrust hard, burying himself completely inside her. The sharp pain flashed, tearing Charlotte in two, and then just as quickly, it was gone. She lay still, listening to Archie telling her how beautiful she was, and feeling disappointed that her mother was right. This part she wished would be over as quickly as possible. She felt uncomfortable with her legs on either side of him, pushed apart, so she raised her knees and wrapped her legs around his hips, relieving some of the stiffness within her.

  Charlotte bit back a moan as Archie arched his back and a delicious feeling sparked inside her. Different from the pleasure he had given her with his mouth. Deeper, more intense. Charlotte pushed up against him and he pulled back and thrust into her again with more power. She gasped and wriggled. That was definitely better.

  He began moving with a rhythm, slowly at first, sliding in and out of her. It was quite odd really. Then he began to move faster, pounding into her harder and harder, her muscles squeezing him and pushing them closer to their goal.

  He pulled back onto his knees and brought her hips with him. This seemed to allow him to thrust easier and Charlotte could look at his face better, which she loved. She knew her face flushed was with passion and her breasts bouncing in time with his thrusts which all in all was quite vulgar. His eyes took all of this in while she watched his flat belly ripple and his eyes get ever darker with his arousal.

  “Come with me Charlotte, now, please.”

  Charlotte saw the man she loved towering over her, begging with words and his body for her to go with him, wherever he was going. It was happening again. Her body was tightening; the pleasure was building to that crescendo. With his final lunge and roar, Charlotte felt Archie’s flesh spasm within her and the warm pulse of his seed pushed her over that invisible edge and she cried out, shuddering in his arms as he collapsed on top of her.

  ****

  Archie couldn’t believe it had been so good. He always knew that once he felt a woman’s body around him, he would never be able to go back. It was one of the reasons he had abstained for so long.
>
  He knew what he had been missing now. He slowly disengaged and lay beside Charlotte, both of them still panting from their exertions. He had felt her convulse around him just as his head had exploded and that had given him a satisfaction almost equal to the one she had given his body.

  “Are you alright?” He asked, propping up his head on one hand.

  Charlotte smiled one of her brilliant smiles and turned her head to look at him.

  “That was incredible,” she answered then reached for her chemise and pulled it over her head and down her body, covering her lush curves.

  “Oh. I’m sorry. I think I’ve ruined your jacket.”

  Looking down to the spot Charlotte indicated and seeing the blood, Archie swallowed hard.

  “I’m the one that should be sorry, Charlotte. I just took something from you which I had no right to take.”

  Regret and guilt were coming in hard and Archie was drowning in it. His chest was tight and he couldn’t breathe properly.

  “I wanted to give myself to you, I don’t regret it,” she thrust her chin up which forced him to look at her. “Do you?”

  “Do I? Regret the most beautiful experience of my life? I can’t.” He answered honestly, some of his belly nerves settling on seeing her happiness.

  “Good,” she said, curling into his side.

  Archie held her, wishing they were elsewhere. Alone in his bed, married and somewhere that no one knew his family or what he was. He may have been the heir to the Marquess of Hunting, but it was now a title ruined with scandal.

  “Charlotte, we have to get you home before anyone realizes where you’ve been,” or what you’ve done Archie finished in his head.

  Charlotte stood up on wobbly legs and began dressing again.

  “I don’t care if people know I’ve been here, I’m not ashamed of you.” Charlotte announced to the quiet room with all the fire she had always possessed.

  Archie sighed, he should have expected this and God did he love her for her passion.

  “Charlotte, I won’t have your name ruined by your association with me.”