6. Chapter 6
Chapter 6
“ H ow about now?”
“Now?” She wanted him to draw her, but she thought she might need a while longer to get more comfortable with the idea.
“Why not? You are already naked, and we can light a few more candles. I’ll sketch for a while and then I’ll do something for you to help you sleep.” His expression was even more mischievous in the light of the candles.
Being on display for him would be thrilling—and intimidating. She hadn’t always felt comfortable in her own skin, especially with a body so different from the other ladies, and one that received such ridicule from those very same ladies. But with Theo, she didn’t feel the urge to cover herself. She believed him when he said she was perfect, and the confidence his words gave her was intoxicating.
“Where do you want me?”
He laughed. “What a question, with many different answers. We shall keep it focused on art for the time being.” He smirked at her.
Theo grabbed her hand and pulled her over to the settee. “Sit down here and lean back against the armrest.”
She did as he said. “Turn on your side a bit so you face me more,” he instructed.
Her elbow was underneath her, and he positioned her free arm to lie on her side. He moved her top leg so that her foot rested flat on the settee with her knee in the air, leaving her core open and bare to him.
“Beautiful,” he said. “May I release your hair?”
She nodded, and he removed the ribbon and shook her hair loose from her plait. The sensation of him running his fingers through her hair heated her entire body. He positioned her hair to frame her shoulders.
He drew a deep breath and then swallowed hard. “It is going to take every ounce of my honor not to beg at your feet for you to give me your virginity, Jules. I only tell you this, so you always know how desirable you are.”
She knew her neck and cheeks were flushed and would be a deep crimson from his words. Her cunt was already wet and aching for him to touch her again .
As if he heard her body’s silent pleas, he leaned his head down between her legs and inserted his tongue inside of her and then ran it up to circle her delicate nub. She fought to remain in the position he put her in. “Yes, Theo,” she moaned.
He pulled back and grinned at her. “That will give you something to think about while you lie there.”
She noticed his cock was fully erect, so he wasn’t unaffected by the action, which gave her a bit of satisfaction from him teasing her.
He lit a few more candles and positioned them on the tables that were at each end of the settee. The room was much brighter with the additional candles. He added a log to the fire and stoked it, reviving the roaring flames and casting dancing flickers of light within the chamber.
“There,” he said. “I believe I shall begin.”
She shivered, watching his eyes as he gazed at her. He sat in a chair across from her, still nude himself, holding a tablet with a parchment and a charcoal in hand. She longed to brush back some of the hair that fell across his handsome forehead as he began making his first marks with the charcoal.
She found that she loved watching him work. He appeared peaceful and content, the most himself and comfortable in his element she’d seen. Her heart pounded in her chest, and she did her best to ignore it. It wouldn’t do at all to develop any actual feelings for him beyond friendship.
He was a rake unready to settle down in marriage, and she wasn’t certain she wished to give up her freedom. But something about him made her question all of her resolve the longer she spent with him.
Juliet told herself she was just responding to the physical intimacy between them and that she desired to experience so much more of it. Besides, they were clearly comfortable in each other’s presence, given the ease with which they adapted to their mutual state of nudity.
“Are you comfortable?” he asked, seeming to notice that her thoughts had drifted.
“Quite.”
He smiled at her, and it was a smile that would have made her knees buckle if she had been standing. It was soft and sweet as if he found her to be the most precious thing in the world. Which was preposterous. He was a rake and had bedded many women. Counting the number of naked drawings he had would only be the start of his many conquests.
He knew how to entice women and lure them into his sphere. But she couldn’t help but feel that something was different between them, even if he was a notorious rake. Perhaps that was a foolish notion. Of course it was. What was she thinking ?
Theo continued to draw. Juliet wasn’t even sure how long she sat propped up on the settee on display for him, but she enjoyed every bit of it. She loved the way her skin heated when his eyes gazed at her. She loved the way he licked and bit his lip while he made marks and lines with his charcoals. Every so often, he’d catch her gaze, and he’d flash her that heart-stopping smile.
He set his charcoals down and looked at his parchment, his expression indicating that he was pleased with what he had drawn. “Would you like to see?” he asked.
“Very much so.” She was also nervous, wondering how he saw her.
He waved her towards him, and she shifted to stand and moved closer to his chair. He turned the parchment where she could see, and tears formed at the corners of her eyes. “This is beautiful, Theo.”
“ You are beautiful, Jules.”
He must quit saying such things. She liked them far too much. She liked him far too much.
“Surely you enhanced some things.”
He shook his head. “I drew you exactly as I see you. The perfect woman captured on parchment.”
“We are beyond the need for flattery, Theo,” she teased before becoming serious again. “You are so talented.” He truly was, even if he doubted his ability .
He appeared touched and relieved by her compliment. “I assure you, it isn’t hollow flattery, and thank you. That means a lot coming from you.”
He tucked the parchment and tablet into his satchel and set it on the floor beside the chair. He clasped her bottom and pulled her against him, bringing his tongue back to her heat. Theo licked along the seam of her sex, and she released a low moan. “Are you still feeling a bit wanton?” he asked, pulling back to look up at her.
“Very much so.” She wanted so much more of what she knew he could give her. And she only wanted him to be the one to do so.
He stood from his chair and pulled her into his arms. “Good, because I find I very much want to lick you until you come.”
Her knees buckled from his words, and she might have fallen on him if he hadn’t been holding her.
Unexpectedly, he pressed his lips to hers. She had never been kissed before, and the sensation of his lips against hers caused an electricity with an intensity she had never experienced. Juliet parted her lips in surprise, and he swept his tongue inside of her mouth. She pressed her whole body tighter against him when his tongue massaged hers. Kissing him was quickly becoming one of her favorite things .
He swept her up, cradling her in his arms without breaking their kiss. She wrapped her arms around his neck and fervently returned his kiss as he carried her to the bed and placed her down on it, then crawled into bed with her.
Theo pulled back. “Come up on your knees,” he said, shifting to lie on his back.
Juliet did as he said, and on her knees beside him, she memorized every detail about what he looked like lying in her bed. His cock stood proudly, protruding from a dark nest of curls, and she noticed wetness at the tip. Feeling bold and recalling everything Eliza had told her about coupling with a man, she leaned down and licked the head of his member. She took the full head into her mouth and sucked, smiling around his shaft when he groaned.
“Jules, you don’t have to…” his voice trailed off when she took more of him into her mouth, sucking her way further down the base. “Fuck,” he moaned.
She pulled back. “What was that?” she asked, giving him a sweet, innocent smile. She was already addicted to making him respond and react to her thus.
He pulled at her thigh. “Put your knees on either side of my head,” he commanded. “At least let me lick your sweet cunt if you wish to swallow my cock. ”
She was practically dripping from his words and shifted so she hovered herself over his face. He spread her knees wider so she was practically seated on him.
He licked her once from the start of her folds to her wet core. “I will tell you before I spend,” he said before he resumed licking and teasing. She braced herself with her hands on each side of him, rocking with the movement of his tongue. She was quite certain there was nothing in the world that felt better than what he was doing to her.
She lowered herself so she rested her front to his, perfectly lined up to take his cock into her mouth again. She sucked from the head to the shaft, licking and tasting to match the intensity of what his wicked tongue was doing to her. Sucking him made it all even more intense, especially when he bucked his hips, moving himself in and out of her mouth.
He spread the cheeks of her arse and shifted his tongue from inside of her to run up to her untouched hole. Eliza had told her how she enjoyed the attention there, and Juliet had never thought it possible to be as delightful as it was.
“Will you let me draw you from behind? Bent over and so wet?” he asked, then resumed swirling his tongue in that most forbidden place, pushing it inside of her to stretch it just slightly .
“Yes,” she moaned before taking him all the way to the back of her throat again.
He thrust into her mouth and shifted his tongue to lick and flick her nub, slipping two fingers inside of her. She moved her hips, rocking against his movements. He pressed his thumb to the hole of her arse, massaging it while he continued working his fingers and tongue. Unable to hold back any longer, she rocked on his face and moaned around his cock when she came. She sucked hard after she rode the intensity of her orgasm.
“Jules, I’m going to…” He tried to encourage her to stop, but she sucked him harder. He groaned and her mouth filled with the warmth of his seed, and she swallowed it down, unrelenting so that she pulled every bit of his climax from him. It was salty on her tongue, and she relished the feeling that she had been the one to elicit the response from him.
He licked her one more time and then she moved herself from atop him and shifted to lie beside him on the bed, their heads on adjacent pillows. Theo turned his head to look at her and she met his gaze, both of them smiling at each other. She felt no awkwardness or embarrassment, only satisfaction and contentment with the man beside her.
“Are you certain you haven’t done that before?” he asked, his tone half jest and half serious .
“Never,” she replied. “I have touched myself while imagining what it would be like, though. The reality is far better.”
He reached for the blankets and pulled them over them, turning on his side to face her. She did the same, leaving only a few inches between them.
“Do I get to visit you tomorrow night to sketch you again?” he asked.
“I’d be disappointed if you didn’t.” That was the truth. She’d be disappointed if he didn’t do other things as well.
He laughed. “Does that mean you enjoy being my muse?”
“Well, it comes with perks,” she said.
The candles had tapered out and the fire was reduced to embers, so the room became dark, only the light of the moon shining across one side of the bed.
“Tell me about when you first started painting,” he said. His voice was tender and genuine, and she was tempted to pluck her heart from her chest and hand it to him.
“My mother loved to paint, and I used to watch her. She would allow me to use some of her paints and brushes to try them out for myself. After she passed, I began painting to feel closer to her, and then I found it to be something I couldn’t live without.”
“That is much like me and drawing. I would draw with chalk instead of working on my letters. ”
“What made you start drawing naked women?” She didn’t do so to judge him in the slightest, just wished to understand him better.
She could see the wide grin on his face in the moonlight.
“There is nothing more beautiful than the female form. I felt like if I could capture the essence of the female form, then I would be a skilled sketch artist.”
“And have you done so?”
He reached out and brushed her hair away from her face. “Not until tonight.”
Her breath caught, and she swallowed hard, attempting to stop herself from reading too much into his words. He was speaking of art, not feelings. Their arrangement was one of mutual intrigue, and she would do well to remember that.
She was at a loss for words and just watched him. They lay quietly together in the dark. His eyes drifted closed, and even though she knew she should wake him so he could return to his chamber, she threw caution to the wind and allowed hers to do the same.
The next morning, Juliet blinked her eyes open. The scent of sandalwood infiltrated her senses and the weight of something across her midsection pulled her focus. Theo lay beside her, sleeping peacefully, and his arm had made its way around her in the night. There was something more intimate about that moment than anything they had experienced together thus far.
The room was bright from the daylight breaking the horizon. It was only a matter of time before Bess would knock on her door to help her ready herself for the day.
Brushing the hair off his forehead, she took in all of his masculine features. The chiseled lines of his face relaxed from sleep. She thought he was even more handsome seeing him that way, and she had already acknowledged he was the most handsome man she had ever seen.
She drew a deep breath and reminded herself not to lose her heart to him. He would never marry her, nor did she have the desire to marry. At least she didn’t believe she did, and not without love. She could only take what was offered during the house party and likely never see him again, unless he attended society entertainments. The notion of parting from him caused her throat to grow tight.
“Something the matter, Jules?” he asked, his voice gravelly. “I didn’t mean to fall asleep. ”
“Not at all,” she lied. “But you will have to depart soon if we are to avoid being caught.”
He leaned forward and pressed a soft kiss on her lips, then shifted her beneath him so he hovered over her. “Not until I’ve broken my fast.”
Theo kissed his way to her breasts and drew her nipple into his mouth, sucking the tight bud, eliciting a string of moans from her lips. He continued his journey down her body until he was positioned between her legs.
He lifted her legs so that they rested over his shoulders, giving him full access to her most private place. He licked and sucked her nub, then slid two fingers inside of her already-wet sheath. She arched her back and clasped his head, holding him where she wanted him.
“Theo,” she moaned in a low whisper.
He moved his fingers within her, pulling them out and inserting them again. He replaced his fingers with his tongue and shifted a single finger lower, teasing the opening of her arse. He worked his finger inside the tight hole, pushing his finger further inside each time he withdrew and entered her again.
The sensation was so intense she rocked harder against him. In a matter of moments from his continued licking and sucking, in addition to his wicked finger inside of her arse, she shattered. She covered her mouth to muffle her moans. He removed his finger and used both hands to spread her folds, lapping up the proof of her orgasm.
“So damn good,” he said when he finished. He kissed the inside of her thigh and then shifted her legs to lie on the bed.
He removed himself from the bed, and she watched him dress himself, sated and unable to move. Theo grabbed his satchel and then turned to face her. “I shall see you in the breakfast room. Although the offerings will be lacking compared to my first course.”
She just shook her head and rolled her eyes at him. He was far too much of a flirt, and it was obvious why he was popular for his prowess.
He winked at her and then poked his head out the door before departing.
She couldn’t help but wonder what it would be like to feel him inside of her. His words indicated he wished to do so. Perhaps if she told him she wished to as well, he might consider it. If she didn’t intend to marry, what would it matter if she lost her virginity to the man she had grown to care for? Perhaps it would grow to love one day if she were willing to admit it, but she would be a fool to fall in love with a known rake.
Juliet rose from her bed and wrapped her dressing robe around her body. She positioned her easel and pulled out her newest painting from behind the others and moved it to the front. Needing to clear her head from all the thoughts and feelings for Theo, she did what always worked to distract herself. She painted.