Bad Boys Ahoy! Read online

  Julienne returned his kiss with similar passion, her hands slipping inside his jacket and caressing his back. Her tongue brushed across his, and he tasted her sweetness. Nothing in the world quenched his thirst like the taste of her mouth.

  "Did it feel like this when he kissed you?" he asked.

  She moaned. "Dear God, no."

  He thrust his thigh between her legs and lifted her against it. Her eyes were closed, her head thrown back, her lips wet and swollen from his kiss. Only a kiss, and she was melting in his arms.

  He must have done something in a past life to earn Julienne's passion, because he certainly had done nothing worthy of her in this life.

  "Julienne," he murmured, hugging her close. "I need to speak with you. I don't think I'll be able to talk with you here. You're too tempting, sweetheart. I can't resist taking advantage."

  Her smile curved against his cheek. "You are incorrigible."

  "Is there any way I can meet with you? To talk."

  She pulled away, her dark eyes shining with amusement. "Anywhere we meet would have us alone."

  Lucien sighed, hating the class distinctions that would forever keep them apart. "That's true, but perhaps in the light of day, I'll be better able to restrain myself."

  Julienne giggled, a wonderful sound that warmed him from the inside. "If you want to speak with me, you will have to call on me. I've no intention of dressing up as a man ever again."

  "I quite enjoyed the sight of you in those trousers."

  She laughed. "You are a scoundrel, Lucien Remington."

  "I've been trying to tell you that," he said dryly. "You should run in terror when you see me coming."

  "I'm not afraid of you. I know you would never hurt me."

  Her utter confidence in the goodness of his character rattled him to the core. God help him if she ever came to care for him. He would never be able to resist her.

  "How can you know that?" he challenged. "My intentions toward you are not honorable."

  "Is that so? Then why do you wish to speak with me in a place where you can't take advantage?"

  "Why don't you ask me instead what I'd do if you went further into the garden with me?"

  Julienne crossed her arms and gave him a chastising look. "Why is it so important to maintain your dissolute image?"

  Mocking her, he crossed his arms and raised a sardonic brow. "Why is it so difficult for you to collect that it's not merely an image?"

  She pursed her lips.

  He growled low in his throat. "Damn you, Julienne! Your girlish fantasies about me are just that-fantasies. I've ruined dukes and then tumbled their wives. I've-" His voice choked into silence, his throat refusing to form the sounds that would drive her away.

  Be frightened, Lucien thought desperately. Run from me before it's too late for both of us.

  Her gaze narrowed. "Because if you were really as wicked as you say, you would have divested me of my virginity that night in your club. But you didn't. I'd wager I could lift up my skirts for you now and beg you to take me, and you wouldn't. You couldn't!"

  "You innocent fool," he bit out, suddenly furious that she would torture him so. "Never challenge a man's virility. You force him to defend himself in the only way possible."

  Fuming and frustrated, wishing she would disdain him instead of entice him, Lucien wrapped his fingers around her elbow and dragged her away from the manse, descending the wide grassy steps into the darkened lower gardens. Julienne followed him easily, making no protest, and her acquiesce only inflamed him further. Finding a yew-enclosed alcove occupied by a marble statue, he pressed her against the cold stone with his aroused body and reclaimed her mouth.

  His hands moved urgently over her curves, desperate for the feel of her satin skin. He tugged down the bodice of her gown, exposing her lush breasts. Pushing them up with his hands, Lucien licked a tender nipple, watching it pucker as the cool air drifted across the wet peak. "God, your taste…" he groaned. "It intoxicates me…"

  She whimpered, her hands drifting into his hair, holding him close. "Lucien." Her voice, so husky and full of longing, urged him to greater heights of lust, but he held himself ruthlessly in check, gentling his touch even as he suckled voraciously at her breasts. His body shook with the force of his passion, but her pleasure was paramount, more important at this moment than his next breath.

  Julienne pushed him away, presenting a tempting picture of wantonness with her breasts pressed upward by her gown, her nipples wet from his mouth. With challenge in her eyes, she lifted her skirts with a courtesan's grace, slowly exposing her long, graceful legs. Then her thighs. And then the honeyed curls of her sex. She widened her stance in open invitation.

  "Lucien," she whispered, a blush suffusing the delicate skin of her chest before moving up her throat to her cheeks. "You will drive me to madness before you are finished with me."

  He wanted to reassure her and promise her things he never thought he could promise anyone. But he knew it would be wrong to say such things, to offer hope for a future that could never be. Desperate with need, and angry with her for being the cause of that need, he tore open the placket of his breeches and allowed his engorged cock to spring free.

  He would show her what kind of man he was and ruin her for any other. She would hate him when he was through, but that was for the best. "I'm going to fuck you," he promised with savage intent, knowing the act with her could never be so base. "I'm going to keep you pinned against that statue, filled with my cock, until you scream from the pleasure."

  With one hand under her thigh, Lucien lifted her leg, opening her wider. The head of his shaft found her, and bending his knees, he pressed for entry. She was so tight, but so hot and wet. She felt wonderful, and her helpless moan as he slid deeper into her made him mindless. His entire body was wracked with shudders as he forced himself to press slowly, carefully. He was generously sized, and Julienne was so small. He couldn't bear to hurt her.

  He watched her face as he took her, her features pale in the moonlight, like the statue behind her. Her eyes gazed luminously into his, their depths burning with desire and undeserved affection. She should be frightened, but instead she trusted him implicitly. The way she looked at him made it impossible to breathe. He stilled, held rigid by the moment.

  Julienne was correct. He couldn't take her like this, like a whore in someone's garden. And he couldn't make her hate him. It ripped at him to even think of it. With a tortured curse, Lucien pulled away, the heavy weight of his erection slipping from her body. She sobbed in protest, and the sound broke the heart he'd forgotten he had.

  With his eyes squeezed shut, blocking out the sight of her, Lucien turned blindly away. His chest heaved with his breathing, his body hard, his blood hot. His cock ached with the pressure of unspent desire, every muscle burning with tension.

  Damn her! He cursed the day he'd set eyes on Julienne La Coeur. His hands clenched into fists as he struggled to control the shaking of his body and the torment in his mind.

  And then suddenly his cock was drenched in moist heat. Instinctively he tried to back away, but Julienne's hands gripped the cheeks of his ass and kept him still. He looked down, his eyes wide with stunned amazement, as she took more of his shaft into her delectable mouth.

  In all of his life, with all of the women he'd been with, in all of the positions and places he'd been, Lucien had never seen anything as erotic as Julienne sucking his cock on her knees in the grass, her breasts spilling over the top of her gown, her lush form turned to silver in the moonlight.

  Her attentions were unschooled, innocent, and all the more effective because of it. Her tongue swirled around the head, her mouth pulsing with a gentle suction, her fingertips kneading the clenching cheeks of his buttocks. She pulled her head back and then pushed forward again, her mouth stretched wide to accommodate his size.

  Julienne rode his erection with heartening enthusiasm, making soft little humming noises as she sucked on him, and her enjoyment increased his a hundr
edfold. Unfamiliar with the act, she took him with shallow strokes, but the pleasure was still intense, brought on as much by her selfless giving as the burning that spread from his groin and coursed through his veins.

  Lucien threw his head back and growled deep in his throat, his hands drifting into the golden curls at her nape, directing her rhythm, taking care not to completely disrupt the stylish arrangement of her hair. His hips pumped in an unconscious tempo, gently fucking her mouth, as his body sought the relief it could find only with Julienne. Her tongue dipped into the tiny hole at the tip of his cock, and his sac tightened, his shaft swelled. "Pull away, sweet," he gasped. "I'm close… I can't…"

  Julienne ignored his direction and sucked him harder, driving him mad, until he came in an orgasm so intense he swayed on his feet, his seed flooding her mouth, pouring out the depth of his lust and longing. Lucien cried out her name, grateful she held his hips so he didn't fall to his knees and crush her. Blood roared in a raging torrent through his veins, making his ears ring and his eyesight fade to blackness.

  He had never come so hard in his life, his cock jerking until he was emptied.

  When Julienne rose to her feet, wiping her mouth with the palm of her glove, her lovely face was alight with satisfaction. Trembling, Lucien leaned against her in a weary embrace, sated to his very soul.

  Chapter Six

  Julienne held Lucien tightly to her, bearing his weight as best she could, her heart light and rilled with joy that she had given him such pleasure. She licked her lips, tasting him, and felt a surge of female triumph at her accomplishment. The sensation was heady. Unable to contain it, Julienne laughed with delight.

  "You find this to be funny?" he asked, his husky voice tinged with wry amusement. "You will be the death of me."

  She grinned. "I made you happy."

  Lucien pulled back. His handsome face was flushed, misty with sweat, his beautiful eyes glazed with bliss. And she had made him look like that. She laughed again.

  "Julienne." His voice was gruff but tender. "You're happy to have made me happy?"

  She gave him a quick, fierce hug. "Of course." Pulling away, Julienne began to rearrange her dress, restoring her appearance. She watched as Lucien righted his own clothing. When he tried to reach for her, she sidestepped with a giggle. "Oh, no."

  His mouth curved with a heart-stopping smile. "It's your turn, sweet."

  She ran up the wide, grassy steps toward the manse, but he caught her easily and dipped his head for a kiss. Julienne savored the heady taste of him for a moment before pulling away.

  "No, Lucien," she scolded, even as her heart raced at the seductive promise in his eyes. "You mustn't touch me again tonight. With your reputation, it would not be amiss for you to return to the ballroom looking as you do now, but if I were to return looking that way, it would be a disaster."

  He ran his hand down her arm, grinning as he saw her shiver. "I shall feel like a selfish cad, sweetheart, if you don't allow me to pleasure you in return." Lucien bent his head to nuzzle her neck, but she backed away with a chastising wag of her finger.

  "Now you see how I felt the other evening when you refused my touch." Julienne turned away and neatly avoided his grasping arms. "Remain in the garden for a few moments. I'm certain my aunt must be frantic by now. You may call on me tomorrow at two. Aunt Eugenia has an appointment, and she'll be gone for hours."

  "Where shall I meet you?"

  "Come through the mews. I'll find you."

  The light in his eyes dimmed. "You're putting yourself at great risk to see me."

  "I know."

  Lucien was right, of course. But her reputation, so vital to the well-being of her family, stood no chance against her desire to steal whatever time she could with him. "But you're quite impossible to resist."

  He grasped her elbow when she tried to move away. "You shouldn't like me, Julienne. I'm not good for you."

  "Oh, Lucien." She sighed. She brushed his damp hair back from his face and watched his eyes close with pleasure at her touch. How she adored him, this beautiful, wicked man, with his carefully hidden honor. "You act as if I have more control over this than you."

  She lifted onto her toes and pressed her lips to his with a soft moan. "Come tomorrow. Or not. The choice is yours." Turning quickly, Julienne left him in the garden.

  "You look… respectable," Marchant said, with wide eyes. "What's the occasion?"

  Lucien ignored him. "Did you compile the list I requested?"

  "Prospective suitors for Lady Julienne? Of course." Marchant slid the file across the desk.

  Scanning through it, Lucien grumbled, "Why is Fontaine at the top?"

  Marchant arched a brow. "Besides being an extremely handsome marquess with seventeen estates, hundreds of servants, unlimited funds, and considered the catch of the Season by the entirety of the Beau Monde?"

  Lucien snorted. "What about his personal life?"

  "He's a known womanizer, but he doesn't gamble or drink to excess. I was unable to find any evidence of his siring any bastards."

  "And socially?"

  "He maintains his seat in the Lords, and he's held in high esteem by the peerage."

  Lucien dropped the folder. Leaning his head back, he closed his eyes, remembering the sight of Julienne kissing Fontaine.

  From that recollection came unbidden images-Fontaine holding Julienne and caressing her luscious breasts. Fontaine riding between her thighs, plunging into the silken heat of her, as Lucien could not. Sick with jealousy, he clenched his teeth until his jaw ached.

  Julienne was a lady to the core. Lucien knew he could do nothing but ruin her, nothing but cause her to be ostracized by her peers, shaming her, until her spirit was crushed and the affection in her eyes faded to bitter resentment.

  "Mr. Remington? Are you feeling unwell? You look feverish."

  Lucien opened his eyes. "I'm fine."

  "Perhaps you should rest a bit. You've been working too hard lately."

  Lucien stood and collected the folder. "No, I have an appointment."

  "With whom? I see nothing on your schedule."

  "It's none of your damn business," Lucien growled.

  "Your attire…" Marchant glanced at the file in Lucien's hand. "Tell me you don't intend to call on Lady Julienne!"

  For the first time, Lucien damned the high intelligence of his man-of-affairs.

  But instead of censure, Marchant laughed. "Are you branching out into matchmaking, Lucien? Or do you hope to collect on Montrose's debt through his brother-in-law?"

  "Go to hell, Harold," he growled.

  Sobering, Marchant asked, "Are you quite certain you know what you're doing?"

  "Of course."

  "And what is it you're doing?"

  Lucien paused on the threshold of his office. "The honorable thing. For once."

  "Marriage prospects?" Julienne gaped at him, her dark eyes wide with disbelief.

  Lucien clutched his hat in his hands. His throat was so tight, it was hard to swallow. Seeing Julienne's golden beauty in daylight made him think of all the things they'd never be allowed to do together. They would never go for rides in the park or strolls down the street. They could never enjoy a picnic or even the simple act of tea. Hell, he'd had to use subterfuge merely to exchange a few words with her. The harsh reminder strengthened his resolve. He had to remove her from his reach before he destroyed her.

  Lowering himself to the chaise, Lucien nodded. "I know your brother has deserted you, sweet. You must marry quickly, and I thought perhaps I could assist you with that endeavor."

  She set the folder on the seat between them, her eyes downcast, hiding her thoughts.

  "Aren't you even going to look at it?"

  "Certainly." She cast him a sidelong glance. "But you know far more about my circumstances than I do about yours. So, before I choose my future husband, I want to discover all there is to know about you."

  He scowled. The less she knew about him, the better. "I dislike discussin
g myself."

  "Why? I find you fascinating. Your deportment is faultless, your manners impeccable, your taste excellent. You've obviously had some schooling-"

  "Didn't you listen to Fontaine last night? I'm a mongrel, a blight on Society."

  "No, you are not," she argued. "I'm sorry you overheard that."

  "It was nothing I haven't heard before." He smiled and reached for her hand. "Although I thank you for defending my honor."

  The feel of her skin against his was heaven. And hell. He glanced down at their joined hands, hers so pale, so tiny and delicate. Lucien remembered the feel of those hands on his body, their gentle exploration belying her ravenous hunger for him. Knowing he would soon lose her touch forever made his heart ache.

  Julienne bit her lower lip. "Why say such horrid things about you merely because you are in trade?"

  "'Tis more than that, Julienne." He was silent for a moment, wanting to hide the things she didn't know. But the moment was intimate, her gaze tender, and he found himself sharing the things he discussed with no one. "I'm a bastard by birth."

  She didn't even blink. "You have no control over such things!"

  "It gets worse," he said dryly, squeezing her hand in silent appreciation. "I am the product of a long-term affair between a courtesan and a nobleman."

  "Good heavens!"

  Lucien waited for her to put the pieces together. It took only a moment.

  "Remington. Your mother is Amanda Remington? The famous demimondaine?"

  He nodded, and wondered if Julienne would think less of him now that she knew he was the bastard son of a prostitute. A very wealthy, extremely discriminating, and, for the last thirty years, monogamous prostitute, but a one-time whore nevertheless. It was common knowledge. The fact that Julienne knew nothing of it proved once again how far removed their existences were from one another.

  "How romantic," she sighed, and Lucien almost fell off the chaise. "You're a love child! How lucky you are."

  He stared at her, agape.

  With gentle fingertips, Julienne urged his mouth closed. "Your blood is almost as blue as mine, Lucien. No wonder you carry yourself with such pride."