A Haughty Courtesan, page 4
“Everyone has a weakness,” Molly said. “I will find yours.”
Rose snickered when Molly made yet another absurd remark.
“I am Rose,” Rose said proudly. “I am perfect.”
There was a shuffling of feet to their side and the courtesans turned towards the person who had interrupted them.
John was standing with his arms crossed over his chest, glaring at them.
“What is happening here?” John asked.
Molly had turned pale, but Rose was not intimidated by the burly man. She knew how to handle situations such as these. She was a master at deception.
“We were merely conversing, John,” Rose said sweetly.
“Converse during free time,” John snapped angrily. “We are open for business.”
Molly ran without looking back and Rose sauntered past John with a wicked smile on her face. John did not offer her a smile this time, but her happy mood compensated for it. It was a minuscule thing for her that John disapproved of what she did today.
Chapter 7
Strolling in the gardens with Lord Clifford, Rose was feeling puzzled and jubilant at the same time. When he had arrived this noon, she was genuinely happy to see him, and he seemed happy to see her, too.
She was puzzled because she was still not sure what he really wanted from her. She was a courtesan. Her customers visit and take their pleasure, but never had anyone strived to have a decent conversation with her. Lord Clifford had put her in a conundrum.
She had a vague feeling that he loved talking to her more than he wished to see her naked. It was a strange feeling, yet not unwelcome. It was the first time someone was listening attentively to her words rather than making vulgar suggestions and expecting the same from her.
“What do you think is the most important thing in the world?” he asked.
“Wealth, fame, and luxury,” she responded immediately.
He chuckled and shook his head. She did not know what to make of the feelings of elation and joy she was experiencing. She should be offended that he was not interested in her beauty which made countless other men fall at her feet, but oddly, she kind of liked dropping the coquettish attitude.
“What about love? Companionship? Friendship?”
“Best suited in a poet’s sonnet,” she said. “Love is a poet’s dream.”
She had never thought of those silly emotions because they meant nothing to her. She was a practical person and those feelings would only bring her pain and suffering.
“Have you ever desired to leave this?” he asked. “Dreamt of a better future?”
She stumbled in her tracks and his hand shot out to steady her. Lord Clifford had the uncanny ability to catch her off guard with his queries.
She thanked him for his help and blamed the unseen pebbles lying on the ground.
When they continued their stroll in the garden, she found him looking at her expectantly. She had not forgotten his earlier question but was hoping he had let it go.
“I have everything I want,” she responded. “Why would I want to change? I like my life. It offers me freedom.”
She solemnly believed she was telling him the truth. It was the only life she knew. The question of a better future or leaving this place had never crossed her mind.
Why would she think of leaving a place where she was considered the best?
“Are you telling me you enjoy sleeping with random strangers, my lady?” he asked.
Did she? She had never thought of the countless men that lay with her and use her body for their pleasure. They were just customers.
Taking hold of herself, she turned towards him and gave him a radiant smile. It was time to take charge of the situation and put a stop to his intruding questions.
“I can ask you the same question, my lord,” she said. “Am I not a random stranger in your life?”
His face reddened as the tide was turned on him. The society he lived in never asked such questions from the male population. Men slept with harlots and courtesans and it was never frowned upon. It was a normal routine.
“Men have needs,” he said defensively.
For a moment she had believed he would tell her she was special to him. She was hoping to hear he liked spending time in her company. She realized she was wrong about him. He was just like any other male of society.
“Am I to assume you really wish to use my body for your needs?” she asked sarcastically.
He blanched at her direct question and it left her puzzled. What was he expecting if not carnal relations? Or maybe it was her direct and crude question that was troubling him.
“I am a courtesan,” she said, holding her head high. “I hope my lord has not forgotten it.”
His spine stiffened and he glowered at her. It was the first time she was seeing him in anger, and it scared her. He could become intimidating when he wanted to.
“You are right, Rose. It was foolish of me to think otherwise.”
He approached her like a predator stalking its prey and she took an involuntary step back from him. He caged her between his body and a trunk of a tree. Her chest was rising and falling as she beheld the cruelty oozing out of him. She hated her name on his lips. It sounded like an insult.
“You know what, I do want to use your body because you are a courtesan. It was foolish of me to waste my time with you,” he said, backing away from her. Sitting on a fallen log nearby, he waved his hand. “Take off your clothes.”
With trembling fingers, she untied the laces holding her morning dress. There was not an ounce of sympathy nor kindness on his face as she undressed for him in the middle of the garden.
Should she tell him that it was the first time she had dressed in a decent morning dress rather than a bold gown with a plunging neckline?
She slid her dress off her shoulders and her bare chest was exposed to his gaze. His Adam’s apple moved up and down while his stare remained fixated on her breasts. The tips of her breasts became hard as pebbles and an involuntary moan escaped her throat.
His eyes darkened further, and he met her eyes. She looked down at his lap and the tent in the front of his trousers made its appearance. Her hands lifted of their own accord towards her chest and she tried shielding her nudity from him.
She was used to lecherous stares of men, but it was the first time she wanted to hide her nudity. Her reason for sudden shyness was not his intent gaze, but rather the heaviness she was feeling in her chest and the tingling sensation between the juncture of her thighs.
“None of that,” he said, clicking his tongue. “I know you are not a maiden, so drop your hands.”
She gulped once and slowly dropped her hands to her sides. The appreciative groan coming from his mouth made her weak in the knees.
She usually made fake moaning noises with her customers when they were about to finish, but she had a feeling that he would make her feel the real thing for the first time in her life. She was afraid she was losing control.
“Don’t dawdle,” he said. “Take off your dress. I don’t have all day.”
She shimmied out of her dress and saw his nostrils flare when he found she was not wearing any drawers. Her juices started flowing and it coated the insides of her thighs as his gaze raked her from head to toe.
“Leave the stockings and come here,” he commanded.
She approached him on unsure feet. He tugged her into his lap and adjusted her legs on either side of his thighs.
He opened his legs slowly and stretched her wide open. She became unbalanced when her thighs strained to their limits and braced herself by placing her palms on his chest.
She looked down at her weeping cunt and found all her lady parts on display. She was so intent on observing her own vulnerability that she missed when he raised his hands and held her by her waist.
“Put your hands around my neck,” he said huskily.
She looked up and met his eyes. She saw concern in his eyes, but how can this be possible? Why would he care if a courtesan were comfortable or not?
He dug his fingers into her skin to emphasize his point and she did as he asked without breaking eye contact with him.
A few stray locks of onyx hair fell on her face and he tucked it behind her ear with gentle hands. He leaned his head towards her mouth, and she turned her head away.
“I don’t kiss my customers, my lord.”
A cry tore from her throat as three fingers speared into her suddenly. He curled his fingers and plunged them in and out, hard and fast until the ache in her swollen cunny was replaced with raw pleasure. She started moaning loudly as pleasure swept her body into its realm of wickedness.
“You like pain with pleasure,” he whispered in her ear. “I like that in a woman.”
“Yes! Yes! I like it very much, my lord,” she screamed. “Give me more!”
She was in the throes of experiencing the best moment of carnal pleasure when he gripped her buttocks and slammed his member inside her. She screamed loudly as another wave of pleasure hit her just as the first one was subsiding.
She looked down where their bodies were joined and found the flap of his trousers open. She felt more exposed and vulnerable as she noticed him fully clothed while she was naked save for the white stockings.
“Eyes on me,” he commanded.
She met his eyes and her vulnerability was forgotten in light of the unabashed desire she witnessed.
He pinched the tips of her breasts, making her gasp as another wave of pleasure started building inside her. He increased the ferocity of his movements inside her and twisted her nipples when she closed her eyes.
“Ah,” she screamed in pain and her eyes shot open.
He captured one of her breasts in his warm mouth and twirled his tongue around her hardened areolas, soothing the pain and replacing it with pleasure.
She rode him with wild abandon and used him, pushing her body towards the release she was craving.
She arched her back and her body started quivering as his large member pushed her towards a raw and painful release. He groaned and emptied his seed inside her at the same time she came back from the extreme ecstatic experience.
“Why do you forbid a simple kiss?” he asked.
She pushed at his chest until he let go of her. She was avoiding his question because she did not feel like talking to him anymore. She was still savoring the pleasure she felt a few moments ago. It was her first real experience at carnal pleasure. She was speechless and stunned in light of how good she felt.
Picking up her discarded gown, she turned her back towards him.
“I wonder what Madam Olivia will do when I tell her you disrespected me, my lady?”
She whirled around sharply. Even though she was now fully dressed, she still felt vulnerable and small in front of him.
“But that would be a lie.”
He shrugged. “My word against yours.”
He stood up and started walking away from her. She ran to keep up with his long strides.
Fear had seeped into her. If he complained to Olivia, she would be in huge trouble. Olivia was not the forgiving sort. Rose could see the horrible paddle Olivia keeps in her room for dealing with undisciplined courtesans. She had never been on the receiving end of the wooden paddle, but if Lord Clifford complained about her then all bets would be off.
“Please, my lord,” she begged as the house came into view. “I beseech you to reconsider. Why do you wish to hurt me? I have done you no harm.”
He halted immediately and she ran into his back. She stumbled back but a hand reached out to steady her.
“I don’t wish to hurt you, Lady Rose,” he said, confused and bewildered. “Why would you accuse me of such heinous crime?”
He seemed genuinely hurt at her accusation and it left her wondering. She had believed he was leaving in anger because she had offended him. She knew she had spoken out of turn with him and it was a mistake she had never commit in her entire life.
What was this man doing to her?
How did he manage to make her lose control so easily?
“You were walking away from me,” she said. “I thought…”
She could not complete her sentence when she saw a smile tugging at his lips.
“You thought I was going away for good?” he asked.
She did not know it was her worst fear until she heard it from his lips. She had met this man only twice before, but what she felt for him seemed older than time. The thought of never seeing him again made her heart ache.
“I thought you were angry with me for refusing to kiss you,” she said softly.
She had refused to let him kiss her because she had been afraid of him at that time. Rose did not want to share her first kiss with someone who did not care for her feelings. She wanted her first kiss to be with a man who truly loved her.
He tugged at her hand and brought her closer to the warmth radiating from his chest. She tried looking away from his accessing gaze, but he turned her head back towards him with his fingers under her chin.
“Everyone has certain rules that make no sense whatsoever to others, but they are important to that individual,” he said lovingly. “I respect such individuals.”
Her face lit up with an innocent smile. It was not the courtesan, but rather the young girl who was hiding behind the various masks she wore on a daily basis.
“So, you will see me again?” she asked. “It is not your last visit?”
He smiled and wrapped his arms around her waist.
“I might take a while to visit again, but I will be here as soon as I have free time,” he said.
He was a busy man. Rose knew he would never waste his time on her if he thought her company was not profiting him in some way. She wished he were telling her the truth about visiting again.
“Do you promise?” she asked.
Rose, the courtesan, was gone. It was a simple girl who was afraid of losing someone she felt comfortable with.
“I was merely jesting, my lady,” he said, reading her mind. “I was not really angry when I turned my back on you. I thought you knew that.”
She sighed in relief and placed her head on his chest. She felt at peace in his embrace.
“You scared me, my lord,” she said. “I thought I would never get to see you again.”
“Am I to assume this eagerness is reserved only for me?” he asked smugly.
She straightened at his query. He spoke the truth, but why she cared for him more than her other customers was a mystery to her, too.
He had offered her neither jewelry nor any other expensive gifts so why was she getting obsessed with him?
What was so special about him?
She did not know why, but she had a feeling she was losing her heart to this man. The surprising fact was it was only the third time she was meeting him, yet it felt like she had known him for ages.
She plastered the same fake look on her face she had mastered all her life and raised her palm towards him.
“You owe me extra for the stunts you pulled just now.”
She was changing the subject and if he noticed it, he did not make any comment on it. She was afraid of her emotions. It would bring her downfall if she did not proceed with caution.
“What do you speak of?” he asked, grinning amusingly.
She placed her palm on his chest and drew a line with her nail. She knew he was aware of what she was speaking of, but was toying with her in the same manner he toyed with her a while ago.
He was not aware she was the master when it came to the art of deception. She could make him sweat and squirm within seconds.
“I have never done it in public, my lord,” she said coyly, and she felt his excitement through his trousers on her stomach where their bodies were touching. She then made a hurt face and continued, “I have also never felt this much soreness between my legs.”
The smile dropped from his face instantly. His hands tightened around her waist and his shoulders tensed up.
“Did I really hurt you?” he asked. “I will be careful next time, I swear it.”
She threw her head back and started laughing. He looked really sweet when he got worried and fell for her small act of deception.
“I just wanted to confirm there will be a next time, my lord,” she said.
He narrowed his eyes and shook his head in mock anger.
“You are very mischievous,” he said. “Careful or it might land you in trouble with a certain lord.”
She grinded the lower half of her body against his crotch and saw his pupils dilating. She was thrilled with the ability of making him lose control so easily.
“What do you think that lord will do to me for tricking him?” she asked coquettishly.
He leaned towards her ear and his hands wandered from her waist to the globes of her buttocks.
“You will have to wait until his next visit to know the answer to that question,” he said, squeezing her buttocks and making her squeal.
He winked at her before letting her go. She wished he would stay for a few extra moments, but she was also aware that he was a busy man and wasting time could cost him a fortune. She would rather stay miserable than cause him grief of any sort.
Chapter 8
William was watching his younger sister, Beatrice as she tried on the new gown. Beatrice was of age and was getting introduced into society. It was his mother’s orders that Beatrice try on her dress days before the day of the ball.
No one had asked him to check on his sister, but missing out on watching his baby sister while she tried on an actual gown was not an option for him.
With her arms placed on her hipbones, Beatrice made a sour face as she inspected herself in the large mirror.
“I look like the dull and boring girls of society,” Beatrice complained.
William could not help but chuckle and his sister glared at him in the mirror. His sister was a bit unrefined when it came to her feminine side and though his mother scolded her enough for it, he liked her the way she was. Beatrice preferred riding clothes to actual frocks and her brothers’ boots to the pair of slippers Mother bought for her.
