EXCERPT


“Giles momentarily turned his head away from Fortuna, his dark brows slightly raised. “What are you suggesting?” He resumed his hold on Fortuna, now pressing delicate kisses to her eyelids and the tip of her nose before returning to her lips.

“That he gets a kiss as well,” Darleston interjected. His languid burr rode the crisp air like a snowflake. “That would seem only fair, Giles.”

Giles’s fingers tightened around her waist, whilst Neddy slapped his brother on the back.

“Sometimes, Robert, I genuinely appreciate having you as a brother. That is only sometimes, mind you.” His fair face full of wickedness, Neddy paced towards her and Giles. He stopped just an inch from them, and smiling at Giles asked, “Mind if I cut in?”

Giles clasped her possessively tight. “Actually, I do. You’d best address your request to Miss Allenthorpe.”

Neddy clasped the hand she had pressed to Giles’s shoulder, and raised it to his lips. He grazed their surface across the back of her hand. “Don’t mind him. He’s all about freedom. What do you say to us making this grand show of affection a triumvirate?” To her surprise, Neddy snuggled up against her back, neatly sandwiching her between himself and Giles. It was a curious sensation being pressed upon from both sides, and feeling two warm bodies contour themselves to her shape. Though she was hardly small, both men towered over her, making her feel distinctly fragile. Giles’s breath blew hot against her cheek. Neddy rested his head upon her shoulder.

“Oh, expertly done. A rose between two thorns.” Darleston applauded.

It was on the tip of her tongue to protest, but then Neddy’s loins rubbed against her bottom, and desire rocketed through her body, lifting her breasts, and peaking her nipples. Giles nudged his hips forward against her too, and she revelled in the dual embrace, and how comfortable and aroused it made her.

When, on the balcony at Darleston House, Giles had commented that friends shared, she had never for a moment envisaged a scenario such as this. Yet she had heard tell of such things. Rumours passed around the assembly rooms about the vices in which men engaged. Tales of trips to bordellos and cunny warrens and of bawds prepared to satisfy two men at once. Things her chaperone had tried to stopper her ears against.

Free love—it wasn’t just about the abhorrence of marriage it was about the exploration of other possibilities too. Acceptance. Seeing things in a different way.

Was it possible to love two men at once?

“Fortuna.” Giles’s voice was soft against her ear. He sought her gaze. “Does this please you? I can have him unhand you, if you prefer.”

“No, it’s interesting,” she mouthed, despite the butterflies of uncertainty in her stomach. “I’m just a little shocked.”

He sought her lips again. “Relax. I’ll keep him in check. We won’t do anything you don’t want.”

“Will you promise to do everything I do want?” she asked.

Neddy gave a long craving groan. “I could go off just from hearing you say that. Tell her yes, Giles. If you’re not up for it, I am.”

“I don’t think I’ve the strength to refuse,” said Giles. He dipped his head and she kissed him. He let her take charge, opening his mouth and letting her tongue dart in, while Neddy clove to her back.

Despite the numerous layers of clothing between them, she felt him become hard. His erection pressed against her bottom.

“Oh!” she gasped, when he moved and nuzzled against the side of her neck.

Fortuna squirmed between the two men.

Neddy’s breath was loud and hot. When he teased her earlobe with his tongue, the resulting sensation swept erotic tingles throughout her insides. She freed one arm from around Giles’s back, and lifted it to Neddy, pushed it deep into his auburn hair.

Disguised by her clothing, her nipples pushed up hard against her stays, begging attention. She wanted to feel their mouths close around the puckered bud and have them suck hard. She wanted to lie between them naked, and know that their cocks stood rigid, aroused and eager to fill her. She moaned and pressed herself urgently against them. She’d wanted Giles from the start. Now she desired both of them.

“I think you’ve found yourselves a rose that’s already been plucked, gentlemen. Virgins just don’t writhe like that,” Darleston remarked.

Fortuna jerked her head away from Giles’s kiss and in Darleston’s direction. He was standing beneath the archway of the rhododendron bush, with the capes of his great coat fanned out behind him like a peacock’s tail feathers. He raised his eyebrows in challenge to her glare.

Fortuna gulped. The remark stung, but she knew it was deserved. She was behaving like a doxy. What was she thinking, rubbing up against two men?

CONNECTED STORIES

in the Georgian Rakehells Series

A Gentleman's Wager, Black Lace

Indiscretions, Ai Press

Phantasmagoria, Black Lace