Page 3 of His Scandalous Viscountess
“We were young and blissfully ignorant of gender and class expectations at the time.” Not to mention naïve about how unreliable love could be. Following her heart again wasnota mistake she would make anytime soon. Memories of her past tasted bitter on her tongue, even as she waited for the source of all her heartache to reappear.
The door suddenly swung open, and she peered at two men and the ladies that accompanied them. However, Wolf was not among the small party.
“Hello!” One of the men, whose short-cropped hair fell in a soft wave of golden brown across his forehead, lifted a glass of amber liquid in a salute. “Where has Wolf gotten off to? I figured you two would be relishing your spoils by now.”
Julia’s cheeks heated at the obvious reference to their having won her in the auction. She drew a deep breath. She had known what would occur. Had even arranged for the event downstairs, but that knowledge didn’t mitigate the fact she had all but been forced into the event. Nevertheless, she had intended to make the most of an untenable situation.
Why shouldn’t I have the opportunity to explore a new sexual experience while holding the jackals of Society at bay?
Linc glared at the friendly man. “Hold your tongue, Dunmere. Lady ‘Ahmar is our guest.”
Dunmere’s eyebrows rose, but he ceased asking uncomfortable questions, which Julia was grateful for.
Then the door of the room swung open once again, and this time Wolf strode through, looking fiercely determined. About what, she had no idea. However, she hoped it had something to do with having hot, sweaty sex with her. And if that happened to include the boyishly handsome Linc, all the better. The manowedher a little pleasure after all the pain he’d caused.
“Julia—uh, Lady ‘Ahmar.”
Wolf seemed unsure for a moment as he pulled up short and stopped.
She rose to her feet. “Please, Julia is fine. My identity is no great secret, despite the nom de guerre.”
“Very well.” He nodded sharply. “I came to escort you home.”
“Home?” She was confused by his words, as images of the two men wrapped around her still teased her brain.
“Yes. Shall we?” He indicted the door, which he held open.
She crossed her arms under her breasts. “I believe we have some business to attend to first.”
Wolf’s golden-brown brows drew down over his clear blue eyes. “We do not.”
Her spine stiffened in indignation. “On the contrary, you won a night of sexual adventure with me, and I have no plans to renege on that promise.”
Just then, a group of noisy men and women stampeded past the open door of their room.
She let one brow rise. “Perhaps we could have this argument with less of an audience than the one both currently in the room with us, and the one passing by?”
Wolf grunted and waited until the man called Dunmere and the rest of his party departed. Then he closed the door with an imperious thud. “I bid on you with the full intention of releasing you from your obligation.”
Julia drew a deep breath. The man was going to be impossible about this. With no warning, she turned and wiggled onto Linc’s lap as he sat in a wing chair. Completely caught off guard, he had no chance to block her maneuver.
“Unfortunately, I have no such good intention on my part,” she continued. “You bid on me and won, and I fully intend to extract my night of pleasure from youandyour friend. I believe you won together, did you not?”
Linc looked distinctly uncomfortable as she wrapped an arm around his shoulders and pressed her breasts closer to his chest and face. He coughed, then answered. “Yes, I provided some blunt.”
“Excellent. It was my preference thattwomen would win the night with me. Wolf, will you be joining us, or am I to be disappointed by you once again?”
She winced inside at her reference to their past, but she needed to move him off the mark. She needed to know what having Wolf as a lover might be like, just this once. Because despite her lingering anger with him, her body still responded to his mere presence.
To her excitement, Linc appeared to be game for her plan. His cock grew harder by the moment beneath her thighs. She turned her face so she was close to his ear and could whisper to him. “What will it take to get him to join us, do you think?”
“This secret conversation alone might do the trick,” Linc whispered back. “But if not, then maybe you could kiss me. That ought to get him moving…though hopefully not to punch me in the face.”
She chuckled and then leaned in and captured Linc’s lips with her own. Pushing past his teeth, she swept in to taste the whisky on his tongue and explore his mouth. He met her with a vigorous twist of tongues that reminded her of what it was to have a man touch her again. It had been nearly a year since she’d last felt the touch of a desirable man in his prime. And Linc fully met both requirements.
Though Wolf might easily obliterate the competition if he would remove himself from hovering near the door like a clucking hen.
And then his presence suddenly loomed over them, casting a shadow from the gas lamps along the wall. Rough hands, like those of a laborer, cupped her face and pulled her mouth from Linc’s. As she turned to look up at Wolf, their gazes met. His expressive blue eyes had shifted to a more stormy gray, and he slammed his mouth down on hers in a move that was pure declaration.
