Sexy As Hell

CHAPTER 9

ISOLDE ’SGOOD HUMOR was as fulsome as Oz’s when she woke, or rather when he woke her with a kiss.

Drowsy with sleep, she wrapped her arms around his neck and whispered, “I need you for a few minutes if you don’t mind.”

“I don’t mind, but my valet will,” Oz lightly said, untwining her arms from around his neck. “Karim’s been fussing over me for the past half hour.”

Isolde eyes snapped open. “You’re dressed!”

“As you see.” Oz was splendid in full evening rig, diamond studs sparkling down his shirt front, his black unruly hair schooled into place.

“Good God, how long did I sleep?”

“It’s seven.”

“Seven!”

“You needn’t panic, darling.” His voice was particularly indulgent-a contrast to long held custom, the afternoon of wild, frantic sex no doubt cause for his conversion. “Your bath is being drawn, Mrs. Aubigny and servants are awaiting your commands in your dressing room, and Achille has sent up a small collation to tide you over until he serves his lavish reception repast. You have well over two hours.”

She groaned. “I find you thoroughly disagreeable.”

He smiled. “No you don’t.” Her orgasmic screams were still vivid in his memory. “One evening, sweetheart, and you’re free of any further appearances. Your obligation to society and to my inflexibility on the subject will be over.”

“Then I may be rude to you again without fear of your ruthless temper?” she sweetly said.

“As rude as you wish.”

“Arrogant man. As if I can resist you.”

“Hold that thought,” he said with a grin, “and we’ll both better survive this tedious affair. Thank you, by the way, for this afternoon. You’re damned entertaining, and my bites and bruises hardly show.”

She blushed furiously. “Oh Lord, what will people think?”

“That I’m a very lucky man. Now come, darling, a good number of people are awaiting you.”

“Must I?”

“Duty has it own rewards,” he drolly noted.

“How would you know?”

“I believe one of my tutors had me write that phrase a thousand times. But in your case, I’d be happy to serve as your reward.”

“How can I refuse?” she purred.

“How indeed when you haven’t had an orgasm in three hours.” At the look in her eyes, he quickly put up his hand. “Afterward, darling. If I disarrange so much as a hair on my head, Karim will sulk for a week.”

“In the interests of household amity,” she said with a pout not altogether feigned, “I suppose I must renounce my desires.”

“I’ll make it up to you.”

Her smile was instant. “How nice.”

OZ TOOK CURIOUS pleasure in watching Isolde bathe and dress, even sharing in the light collation Achille had sent up, when he’d previously steeled himself with a good deal of liquor for occasions such as this. How many times had he impatiently watched some lover taking overlong to outfit herself or primp before a mirror for his benefit, how many times had he counted the minutes and drunk to excess? Tonight he was practically sober, his drink at hand but barely touched, his enjoyment of the intimate scene affording him a degree of contentment long absent from his life.

He’d recognized how restful his wife was their first morning together, and so she was now-allowing the maids to bathe and dress her without complaint or direction, doing what was necessary with amazing good humor.

It was simply a matter of keeping her well fucked, he decided.

A task he was more than willing to assume.

She smiled at him over the heads of her maids from time to time, and he smiled back from his chair across the room, his libido reacting to her smile. At which point, he invariably felt like ordering everyone out, tossing up her skirts, and saying to hell with their guests. But ultimately, sanity prevailed; he softly swore and silently consigned the bloody reception to perdition.

She heard him, and at the last, watching him in the mirror as the hairdresser finished pinning her glossy curls into an artful arrangement, she dulcetly inquired, “Can I help you?” knowing full well what he was thinking.

“I wish you could,” he murmured, glancing at the clock with a significant look. “Thirty minutes, darling.” In thirty minutes, they’d be standing at the top of the stairs offering imitation smiles to everyone who arrived to ascertain the reasons for and authenticity of their hasty marriage.

“My compliments, Mrs. Aubigny. You outdid yourself,” Oz said as Isolde rose from the dressing table and turned to him. The dressmaker had performed her office superbly, the gown fit to perfection: bared shoulders, half-bared breasts, the slenderness of Isolde’s waist enhanced by the subtle drapery, the curve of her hips prominent with the current snug-fitting styles, the glittering diamant ornament on the dark velvet calling attention to the low dйcolletage.

“My lady’s beauty enhances any creation,” the modiste replied, although it was obvious she was pleased with the result. “And the pearls are superb.”

Even Isolde hadn’t begrudged the pearls. The necklace was stunning, its history a thing of romance, Theodosia’s rise to empress a spellbinding tale.

Equally spellbinding was the sight of the gleaming pearls resting on the sumptuous curve of her breasts, Oz reflected, drawing in a breath of restraint. She was an amazingly beautiful woman. With another glance at the clock, he decided they’d escape the throng at midnight no matter what.

Mrs. Aubigny opened her arms with a flourish. “She’s all yours, my lord. An ornament to you and the ton.”

Isolde might have taken issue with being spoken of as an object if Mrs. Aubigny hadn’t been of such enormous service. She’d called in a hairdresser, procured exquisite new lingerie, had a shoemaker at the ready with a selection of evening slippers suitable for Cinderella herself. “I’m in awe of your talent, Mrs. Aubigny.” Isolde offered the modiste a glowing smile. “Thank you so very much.”

Oz felt like a proud parent at the success of Isolde’s toilette-or as close to the feeling as he could imagine. She was breathtaking. And so he told her, to which she blushed so prettily he had to further control his libidinous urges. It was all the excitement, he told himself, for he couldn’t blame liquor tonight. Although, perhaps it was nothing more than the pretense of having a wife that prompted such lust-a prurient notion for a confirmed bachelor.

He rose to his feet, walked to Isolde, and with a graceful bow, offered her his arm. “May I have the pleasure of your company tonight, darling? We are, it seems, about to play husband and wife before the world.” He grinned. “Are you up to it?”

“Do I have a choice?”

“Regretfully, no,” he gently said, moving toward the door, leaving the retinue responsible for his wife’s elegant appearance beaming behind them.

“In that case,” Isolde said with a sigh, “tell me when to smile and don’t expect me to remember names.”

“Your smile, of course, must be unwavering. As to the names, it doesn’t matter. Our guests are here to see us, not the other way around,” he said, walking through the door held open by a servant. “In any case, they’ll all soon turn into a blur.”

“You speak from experience?”

“I do, but then that’s what a majordomo’s for. Josef is nonpareil when it comes to names and titles. I rely on him completely,” he said, strolling down the corridor. “And if someone should be rude don’t be shocked at my response.”

“Will they be?”

“Of course. In the ton manners are uncertain, snideness is an art form, and we are perceived as a divertissement of the first water. You already saw as much during our at-home.”

Reminded, Isolde softly groaned. “Promise to save me.” “I believe I already have,” he said easily, “but I shall again tonight. Consider this my Lancelot phase.”

“If only you weren’t so wicked, you might aspire to a Lancelot.”

He shot her an amused look. “Who says I’m wicked?”

“Who doesn’t? Although I’m sure all your admirers mean it in the sweetest way.” The tittle-tattle was impossible to ignore, whether below-stairs whispers or those she’d overheard at their at-home. Or her own personal assessment of the spoiled young lord who’d done her the huge favor of marrying her-temporarily. “As do I, darling. Have I told you that you intrigue me mightily?”

“No, but I rather have that feeling with your, shall we say, captivating enthusiasm for my person.”

“For your cock, darling. Be more specific.”

He laughed out loud, causing the many servants still crowding the corridor to look their way. “You don’t know how pleased I am to have stumbled into your little drama that night at Blackwood’s. I haven’t been so pleasantly entertained in ages.”

“We’re pleased we amuse you,” she dulcetly replied. “So long as the next amusement isn’t too long delayed.”

“Midnight at the latest. You’re not the only one waiting.”

“How sweet. May I say you’re the most charitable and obliging of husbands.”

“You make it easy, puss. Everything in life should be so simple.”

He was in too fine spirits to question the motives behind that ease. Or the reasons why his wife had become of such material interest to him. It had been an extremely busy few days he would have said, had the question been posed to him.

But it wasn’t.

Which was perhaps just as well.

Because then he would have been required to think about a woman in something more than sexual terms for the first time since India.