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  His hand brushed softly over her cheek and she closed her eyes. It had been so long since she’d felt the touch of a man—calloused fingers that could be gentle and caressing or hard enough to bruise. She leaned into him, her nipples rubbing torturously against the rough material of her dress, abrading them until they stood at stiff peaks.

  “I have watched you for more than a year, Chloe,” he said. “Wanted you.”

  Her eyes widened at this news. She’d never known. Never even had an inkling. Part of her was skeptical. The other part of her remembered what it was like to be a seventeen year-old bride and have a man who wanted her, a man who desired her.

  She didn’t care what his reasons were. What his motives were. She was not so naïve to think he might be seducing her only to make sure she knew where her loyalties lie. She had slept with men for worse reasons.

  Her breath caught as he bent his head toward her lips. He traced the fullness of her bottom lip with the tip of his tongue and nipped gently at the corner. Chloe couldn’t contain the moan that escaped her lips. Her body was rioting with different sensations. His calloused fingers trailed over her stockings and garters, causing her pussy to flood with her juices. His lips and tongue possessed her, invaded her. She could smell her desire and taste his need. His heart pounded against her chest and she had the sudden urge to touch him all over.

  She tore at his clothes like a wild woman, like a desperate woman. The buttons on his shirt flew across the room and the sound of fabric tearing was music to her ears. Her hands were frantic as she raced to feel skin against skin. The grunts coming from her throat were more animal than human as she opened his trousers and freed his cock. It was long and thick, a thatch of golden hair at its base. She wrapped her fist around him and squeezed, wanting nothing more than to lick the tip where a tiny bead of come had gathered.

  “My God, Chloe. You are a temptress like no other,” Lucien said as he tore her dress and slip down the middle so her naked flesh was bared before him.

  Her breasts were full and aching, her clit throbbing in anticipation. “I need you, Lucien,” she panted wildly.

  He pushed her back toward the desk and she shrugged out of her tattered clothes. Her bottom hit the edge and he lifted her so she sat atop its surface.

  “I’m going to fuck you Chloe. Is that what you want?”

  “Yessss,” she purred. She loved the anticipation, the wanting, the needing. It was the steps that led up to sex she’d missed most.

  He pushed her back against the desk, and she shivered as he took her wrists in his hand and lifted them over her head. He squeezed them hard, so she was left powerless and bare under his scrutiny. He used his other hand to tweak her nipples. First one and then the other.

  “Let’s see if you taste as good as you look,” he growled and then clamped his mouth over her nipple, swirling his tongue around the tiny nub and then suckling.

  She arched under the pleasure, her arms straining against the hold he had on them. She writhed and clamped her legs around his waist, forcing him closer to her open slit.

  “You’re desperate for my cock, aren’t you?”

  She remembered he’d asked his lover a similar question.

  “Yes, give it to me.”

  He kept the vise around her wrists and moved over her, the course hair on his chest rubbing sinfully against her sensitive nipples. He ran the length of his cock over her pussy, teasing her, barely stretching her with his tip before withdrawing and starting the whole process over again.

  She whimpered in frustration, finally opening her eyes to plead with him. He was staring straight at her, the look of possession in his eyes so overwhelming that it sent chills over her body. She had a brief moment to wonder if she was making a terrible mistake before he plunged his full length into her, sending her into an orgasm that started deep in her belly and overtook her whole body. Her clit pulsed and her womb spasmed, but it still wasn’t enough. She had a year to make up for and her body wasn’t finished yet.

  He released her wrists as he continued to fuck her and she wrapped her arms around him as she came again, raking her nails down his back from the force of the climax.

  “Again,” he murmured, unwrapping her legs from around his waist and putting them over his shoulders. His cock continued to piston in and out of her, but he was going deeper, as far as her womb would allow. He circled his thumb around the nub peeking out of her folds.

  “God, yes!” Chloe screamed in pleasure at the duel assault, and she couldn’t control the inevitable outcome. A third orgasm shook her body. Lucien’s own cry of release echoed throughout the room as his hot seed pulsed against her inner walls.

  Chapter Three

  Chloe was sore.

  It had been three weeks since Lucien had first taken her in the library. Three weeks since she’d thought her fantasies had come true. Lucien had an insatiable appetite that often left Chloe too tired to fulfill her duties. But she had to do them anyway.

  He’d ruined many of her dresses in his fervor, and he’d had to replace her work clothes. He’d also asked her to stop wearing bloomers. His lust was wild. He’d fucked her on the stairs while she’d been trying to dust the banister. He’d taken her in the garden on the cold, damp earth during her lunch hour. One afternoon he’d followed her into town as she did the weekly grocery shopping and carried her into an empty alley, forcing her to her knees so she could fuck him with her mouth like a common prostitute.

  And then there was the most mortifying occurrence of all. He’d bent her over and fucked her in the kitchen over the butcher block island while the cook prepared his breakfast. She’d been dry, but the pain was its own aphrodisiac. The cook had blushed and kept her back turned to the moans and slaps of flesh, but Chloe had been too far gone to care that there was someone else in the room. After he’d spilled his seed into her, he’d left the kitchen while she’d still been sprawled over the island, her skirt around her waist and his come running down her legs. She’d been embarrassed beyond belief and the cook had packed her things right then and quit.

  But no matter what he did or where he did it, Chloe came at each of the encounters and was left wanting more.

  But Lucien’s lust wasn’t only for her, and her lust was not only for him. He still met with his lover several nights a week. She’d found out that the stranger came in using the same passageways that they used to smuggle the alcohol and he left the same way. She’d only seen him a handful of times at the house in a legitimate capacity, both he and Lucien keeping their sordid secret and neither of them giving signs to their intimacy unless one looked closely. And she always looked closely, because it was Lucien’s male lover that she imagined whenever Lucien’s cock was inside her.

  She watched them again and again through the same hole in the wall as the first time she’d caught them, and she’d once heard Lucien call the man Antoine as he spilled his seed inside of him. And each time they were together, Antoine’s gaze would be fixed on the wall as if he could see exactly where she stood. She no longer knew what to do. Her body was being satisfied as she’d finally dreamed, but her soul was withering away with thoughts of another man.

  Chloe sighed and closed her eyes as she washed Lucien’s come from her breasts. She’d have to think of something soon because her body couldn’t take much more.

  Antoine Rousseau savored the smooth taste of whiskey as it slid down his throat. Lucien provided the best spirits in New Orleans, but it was his job to make sure the rest of the world was able to appreciate it. Money paved the way for many things. Men and women could be bought, police could be bought and the government could be bought. He’d found out first hand that money and power went hand in hand, and whoever had the most money was the one calling the shots. And Lucien Deveraux always called the shots.

  “I have a request of you, Antoine,” Lucien said. He sat behind the massive walnut desk in his library and signed forms, never bothering to look up as he spoke. He knew his orders would be followed. Antoine was
nothing if not a loyal employee. The fact that he was also Lucien’s lover was secondary.

  “What would you have of me?”

  “I have some things to see to up north. It seems some of Capone’s men intercepted our last shipment and our buyer is demanding restitution.”

  Antoine sat up straight in his chair. Problems such as this fell under his jurisdiction. “Why wasn’t I told? I’ll need to have the workers at the warehouse double their output.”

  “No worries, Antoine. This was not your fault. Sometimes these little inconveniences happen.” Lucien flicked off his concern the same way he would a pesky fly, with a toss of his hand. “Our buyers have asked that I see the transaction through personally. I’ll take a small group of armed men with me and make sure things go smoothly.”

  “What would you have of me?” Antoine asked again.

  “I’d like you to stay in the house until I return. Take care of any new business that comes our way. You’ve done well for me. Use the sauna, enjoy the fares of the new cook, throw a party and fuck a few strangers. You deserve a few days of rest.”

  Antoine immediately thought of the small, dark-haired woman who was in Lucien’s employ. He’d only seen her a scant amount of times, but she intrigued him in ways he couldn’t understand. He hadn’t mentioned his suspicions to Lucien that she’d watched them make love through the wall in his suite. He’d seen the tiny hole in the wallpaper and checked it out from the other side as he’d left Lucien’s bedroom through the servant’s stairs. She had a perfect shot of the bed and whoever was on it. There was no doubt in his mind that she’d been watching them, especially when he’d knocked on the door a week before to meet Lucien and some others for a meeting. When she’d answered she’d blushed and become tongue-tied at the very sight of him.

  He wanted her fiercely.

  The intimate moments he’d shared with Lucien lately had been different. They’d been colder, more painful. It was as if Lucien had to remind him who was boss in the bedroom as well as in their day-to-day business. He knew Lucien was fucking others. He could often smell another’s scent on his body, but it wasn’t Antoine’s place to protest, no matter how much he hated it. He knew Lucien would not feel as kindly toward him if he took up multiple partners, no matter that Lucien had just suggested he do just that. Lucien held a lot of power, and Antoine would have to be very careful when it came time to break their connection.

  And he would break the connection.

  He’d saved up enough of his own money and siphoned off enough of Lucien’s to start over out west. He’d bought land and a house, had established himself under an assumed name. But it was all in the timing.

  He thought of the recent climaxes he’d experienced under Lucien’s hand. Even though he’d found satisfaction, he’d felt empty afterward. But if he hadn’t orgasmed with such detachment from the rest of his body, he never would have heard the mewling cries from the other side of the wall that had alerted him they were being watched. Antoine loved knowing that watching him and Lucien together turned on the sexy maid.

  “How long do you plan to be gone?” Antoine finally asked.

  Lucien looked at him strangely, as if he was considering something, or was privy to some secret knowledge and wasn’t planning on sharing the information. It was a look that made Antoine very uncomfortable.

  “A week at most. No more,” Lucien finally said. “I leave this afternoon. Go have the rest of your things brought here, and I’ll alert my staff of your presence.”

  Antoine watched warily as Lucien rose from behind the desk and came toward him. It was like watching a snake slither toward its prey. He stood to meet Lucien on equal ground. Though he wasn’t as tall or as broad, he was still large enough in stature to make most men think twice before they approached.

  Lucien leaned down and captured his mouth in a bruising kiss.

  “Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do, mon noir,” he said after he released his hold. “And stay away from my maid. I have plans for her.”

  Antoine didn’t know if it was a warning. Or a threat.

  Chapter Four

  Chloe didn’t know what to think when Lucien sought her out just after lunch. She’d been busy washing the large expanse of windows at the back of the house. The front of her dress was soaked and she shivered in the fall air, trying desperately to finish the task and get inside.

  “I have to leave town for a few days,” Lucien said from behind her.

  She dropped the wet sponge and turned around with a gasp and a hand held to her breast.

  “Oh, you startled me.”

  Lucien laughed, and for a moment she could see the gilded angel she’d once thought him to be.

  “Did you say you were leaving?” she asked.

  “Yes, and I’ve come to ask for a kiss goodbye,” he said as he walked toward her. “Take off your dress. I don’t want to soil my clothes.”

  Chloe looked around nervously. The house was located on Dauphine Street and there was heavy traffic at certain times of the day. Anyone could look through the wrought iron fence that surrounded the estate.

  “Do it!” he demanded. “I gave you an order.”

  Chloe quieted her emotions and her shame and did as he asked. This was the last straw. Her mind was made up. She’d use the time he was away to make plans for her future. It was long past the time she got her life back.

  Her teeth chattered in the cold and she was sure her lips were turning blue. The dress fell to her feet and she stepped out of it.

  “Very nice, my dear,” he said as he walked toward her, unbuttoning his pants.

  His cock sprang free from the confinement, erect, and already seeping with pre-come. He kissed her hard, rubbing and squeezing her breasts until she felt the tingles of pleasure shoot to her core. Her body was traitorous and she cursed herself for needing the touch of another so badly.

  “Your body wants release,” he said, cupping her mound with his hand.

  Her wetness soaked his fingers and ran down the inside of her leg. She moaned and thrust against his hand, seeking more.

  “I want to hear you say it,” he demanded.

  “Y…yes. My body wants release.”

  “Good girl.” He pushed his finger into her slowly and rubbed her clit with his thumb. “Does that feel good?”

  “Yes. I want all of you.”

  He laughed sexily, a low growl in the back of his throat that made her shiver—a shiver that had nothing to do with the cold and everything to do with how he played her body like an instrument.

  “You’re impatient today.”

  He removed his finger from her cunt and brought it to her lips, caressing them. Leaving her moisture for her to taste, for her to smell. He kissed her and Chloe opened her mouth under his gentle assault, tasting herself, tasting him. He pushed her down and Chloe went willingly to her knees. She rubbed her cheek against his cock, amazed how something so hard could be soft at the same time. Her hand caressed his sac and she took his cock in a firm grip with the other. She licked the tip and tasted the saltiness that had seeped out.

  This was where she held the power. She watched as he closed his eyes and leaned his head back. She teased him with her tongue, licking his shaft from its base to the very tip, and then repeating the process. She pumped with her hand and used the wetness from her mouth to increase the glide over his shaft. The tip of his cock was plum-shaped and red with his desire and she finally took the head into her mouth, swirling the tip of her tongue over the sensitive underside.

  She loved servicing a man this way. It turned her on as much as if the man were using his mouth on her. He placed his hands on the back of her head and pushed her farther down his shaft until she could hardly breathe with the pressure.

  “Oh, yeah,” he moaned. “Your mouth feels so good on my cock.”

  Chloe anchored herself by grabbing onto his ass. She opened her mouth and her throat and let him fuck her as if it were her cunt. She kept her tongue swirling and the suction heavy a
s he neared his release. His saltiness increased just as his tempo did.

  “Oh, yeah. Yeah, baby,” he whispered almost reverently. He gave one final thrust and Chloe felt the salty cream shoot down her throat. He didn’t withdraw but stayed in her mouth, pushed to the hilt, so she wouldn’t let any of his essence escape. Chloe drank him down and grinded her cunt against the heels of feet, looking forward to her own release.

  “Mmmmm, that was so good,” he said, withdrawing his softening cock from her mouth. “I bet you want your turn, don’t you?” he asked.

  “Yes, please,” Chloe said as she stood back up. She let him caress her breasts and kiss her throat, wishing he would get down to business.

  “You’re wet and ready,” he said, running his finger across her sopping cunt. “And that’s exactly how I want you to stay.”

  He pushed her away and buttoned up his trousers as if he hadn’t just delivered that piece of news.

  “What do you mean?” Chloe asked, hating the sound of pleading that had somehow come from her throat.

  “It means I want you to miss me while I’m gone. I expect you to use this week to build the anticipation for my return. Don’t use your fingers. And when I get back from my trip, I’ll give you a fucking you’ll never forget.”

  Chloe stared at him, speechless. She was also naked. A fact she had forgotten until she saw a young man looking through the fence in her direction rubbing the bulge behind his trousers.

  How could Lucien do such a thing? How could he be so cruel?

  “Oh, I almost forgot,” he said as he grabbed the small suitcase that had sat unnoticed on the stone pathway that led to the street. “A business associate of mine will be staying in the house while I’m away. His name is Antoine. Don’t try to fuck him either. He likes men and he’d surely tell me of your attempts to seduce him. I wouldn’t be happy if I heard you tried to distract him on his visit. Do I make myself clear?”

  “Yes, sir.”

  It was all Chloe could think to say.