STORY EXCERPT

 “Miss Elliot?” Jane Elliot heard the young woman call as if from far away.

“Jane,” said a more forceful feminine voice.

Jane started then looked at the two Riverton sisters. She sat with them in the neat little parlor of Moor’s End, her distant cousins’ modest and comfortable home near Morton. Mary colored a screen at the small table in the corner while Diane worked with the needle as Jane did beside her. A fire crackled behind the grate, giving adequate warmth for the autumn evening.

“Do forgive me, Diane. Mary.” She smiled at them both. “I’m afraid I was woolgathering.”

“Thinking about that mysterious past of yours?” Mary, the younger sister, teased.

Jane blinked then shook her head. “My past is exceedingly dull, I assure you. No mystery there.”

“No gothic hero searching over the moors for you?” Diane asked, her eyes twinkling.

“Hardly, no,” Jane answered.

“Then you must give us your opinion of Mary’s fire screen. I daresay her coloring has improved. A little.”

“Oh, pooh,” Mary said, setting down her paintbrush. “I cannot be expected to become a great master, Diane. Not hidden out here in Derbyshire.”

The sisters resumed their playful bantering as Jane took up her needlework, her mind far from the task and the pleasant company. She had no right to resent the two sisters, but it grew tiring keeping up the façade of gentility when all she wanted to do was howl at the very moon shining through the pristine windows. A mysterious past? Yes, she had that. But it was her future that worried her this evening.

“I had hoped St. John would join us for dinner tonight, Jane,” Diane said. “He always brings news from the village with him.”

“Yes.” Mary giggled. “For someone who reproaches us for gossiping, Sinjun certainly carries his share of tales.”

St. John Riverton was the very subject of Jane’s contemplation this evening, and her turmoil. As Mary’s words indicated, Sinjun did indeed seem a contradiction. He might be planning to become a vicar but Jane’s thoughts of him were anything but pious. And if she were to trust her intuition, his behavior toward her was growing quite heated.

He was masculine beauty personified, as fair and handsome as his two sisters. Even when he wore a stern expression his lips were full and curved with blatant sensuality. He was fit and lean in his plain black clothes. And beneath them, she would wager. Her traitorous body had begun to crave his touch over the past three months she’d spent in the Rivertons’ hospitality. Now she so yearned for a man’s touch that her every breath seemed focused on that secret place between her legs. Why, not since she’d left Thorncrest—

No! She would not think about her time at that estate. The governess falling in love with her employer? Really, it was ridiculous. She sucked in a breath. The pain had lessened not a whit since she’d fled Marcus Rothchild’s grand home. She’d been brokenhearted and ashamed of what she’d felt for him. Of what she’d done with him. Well, she would sell her soul to never feel that razor-sharp desire again.

“Hello!” Sinjun’s voice called from the entry.

Immediately Jane’s heart began to race and her body to tremble. Fidgeting, she felt her woman’s flesh grow damp. Her pussy, Marcus had called it. Would Sinjun use that word? Would he touch her there? Oh, she was a weak-willed creature to entertain such thoughts.

“Good evening, brother,” Diane said. “You are nearly late for dinner.”

“Yes, we quite feared you would stay away this evening,” Mary put in.

Sinjun smiled indulgently at his siblings. The expression intensified Jane’s reaction, and she couldn’t keep her gaze from following him as he entered the parlor.

“Now, surely you have not wanted for company.” He flicked his beautiful blue eyes in Jane’s direction and she felt her breasts tingle. “Not with Miss Elliot here with you.”

Diane stood. “Oh, do not tease us. You know we three crave your company.” She waved toward Mary. “Do tell Cook we are ready to dine.”

Mary nodded and hurried to honor Diane’s request.

Diane took Sinjun’s deep black jacket. “You did not wear a scarf, Sinjun? It’s grown cold of late.”

“The thought of dining here at Moor’s End warmed me considerably on my ride over,” he answered.

Jane watched as he interacted with his sisters. It was clear they adored him, Mary hurrying to see to his meal and Diane seeing to his comforts and well-being. That was no mystery to Jane. He was kind to them, and a prettier gentleman she’d never seen. He was so different from Marcus, yet he elicited the same shameful desires within her.

She finally tore her eyes from him as he settled before the fire. He sat close enough that she caught his fresh, soapy scent. That, too, differed from Marcus. That man always smelled like the outdoors. Leather and cigars. Tears stung at the back of her eyes as she recalled the last time she saw him. Aside from the morning wedding that never took place.

“What are you working on, Miss Elliot?” Sinjun asked, his head bent close to hers.

Her eyes were so clouded with tears she couldn’t even see her stitches. “Nothing of consequence, Mr. Riverton.”

He swallowed audibly and she blinked as she brought her eyes to his. Oh, there was that heat she’d seen over the past few weeks. She had not imagined it! Her disgrace with Marcus might have come close to ruining her, but it had served one purpose. She was able to recognize an aroused male when she saw one. From the way Sinjun’s eyes glimmered and his breath quickened, she knew he felt it, too.

Adult Excerpt

Marcus found them in the Rose Room, Sinjun kissing her gently as he led her toward the bed. Marcus fought the possessive beast within as he deliberately shut the door. They both acknowledged his presence, parting to look at him. Her lips were swollen and her breath came fast. As for Sinjun, he looked a little dazed.

“Has Jane given you leave to start without me?” he asked, struggling to keep his tone light.

Sinjun shook his golden head. “I had to kiss her.”

Marcus joined them on the bed. “May I?”

Jane’s gaze grew hot. “Yes.”

He brought his mouth to hers, giving her his tongue. She sucked on it, moaning softly, and his cock grew harder. As he tasted her mouth Sinjun made short work of her clothing. And his own, unfortunately. Marcus was forced to acknowledge that the man’s body was as perfect as his face. He’d hoped to have an advantage in bed, being far more experienced than the country preacher. The man’s cock rivaled his own, more’s the pity.

Marcus stood to shed his clothes as Sinjun stretched out beside Jane on the bed. He kissed her now, growing in ardor as she pressed her naked body to his. Marcus joined them, grasping her chin to turn her toward him. She gave him her mouth as Sinjun moved down her body to kiss one of her breasts. Her sounds of delight urged Marcus to tease the other, wringing cries of bliss from her lips.

“Lick me, Sinjun,” she sighed, parting her legs.

Sinjun buried his face between her thighs and began to eat her. Marcus watched as his tongue stabbed into her swollen pussy. He could smell her arousal, sharp and sweet, and his mouth watered for a taste. He’d just partaken of her juices that morning yet he hungered for more.

“Do you like what Sinjun is doing, Jane?” he asked her.

“Yes,” she answered breathlessly. Her body arched as she found her release. “Oh, yes!”

“Who will fuck you, then?”

She panted as she opened her eyes. “Sinjun.”

Before he could register his disappointment, she smiled and came up on her knees. “I want to taste you, Marcus.”

Moving to settle closer to her tempting mouth, Marcus watched as Sinjun ran his hands over her round little bottom.

“You’re so soft, Jane,” Sinjun rasped. He fingered her pussy from underneath. “So hot and wet.”

She arched toward him. “Take me, Sinjun.”

He shifted then began to penetrate her. Marcus felt every shiver of her response. His cock wept for her now.

“Take me in your mouth, Jane,” he said.

She eyed him then flicked her tongue over the head of his cock. He nearly came in that instant. She moaned from Sinjun’s slow taking of her, engulfing his cock in her warm mouth. Every stroke of the other man’s shaft seemed to make her drive Marcus closer to climax.

“Jane!” Sinjun cried, at last letting go of his restraint to pound into her.