Lady Laugherty's Loves (3 page)

“Take my cock out, Olivia,” Avery
commanded.  Ellis’ balls tightened with need and he slowed the
hand that had been shuttling up and down his own cock. He’d come
too quickly if he didn’t pause. And he wanted to come with
them.  Even if they were on the other side of the door, he
wanted to come with them.

“That’s right, take every inch inside
you.” Avery encouraged her and Ellis could almost see him sliding
lower in the chair so she could take all of him.

Olivia cried out. He thought she had a
sweet voice on a normal day. But those blasts of pleasure made her
voice irresistible. It was all he could do not to open the door and
go to her.

“Ride my cock, Olivia. That’s it,
Olivia. Take it. Take all of me.” Avery grunted and Ellis could
hear the slap of wet flesh against wetter flesh. He threw his head
back and clenched his teeth. “Lay your head on my shoulder. I want
to show you something.”

“You want to stop?” Olivia nearly
pouted. She must have been close.

“No. But, love, imagine if you were
riding me, and I was rubbing your sopping wet clit.”

He must have touched it. He must have
touched that golden nub of pleasure, because she cried
out.

Avery continued. “And behind you,
Ellis wet his cock, and while his hands roamed over your body, and
I filled you, he put his cock right… here.”

“Oh, God!” Olivia cried. “Yes! Right
there,” she instructed.

“Now, you only get my finger, Olivia,”
Avery said quietly, the strain in his voice to keep from coming
quite apparent.

“Feels good,” Olivia said on a
sob.

“Imagine how good it would feel if
that was Ellis’ cock pumping into your ass. And every time he
thrust, it pushed you farther and harder onto my cock. He might
even lift your breast and put it into my mouth.”

Oh, the very idea had Ellis ready to
blow.  “Come soon, Olivia,” Ellis whispered to himself.
“Come.”

And just then, Olivia’s keening cry
filled the air. Her orgasm must have been delicious and he would
have given anything to see the rapture on her face as her body
convulsed. When he heard Avery’s tell-tale grunt, he finally
allowed himself to come as well. Except his was a hollow victory.
Avery got to come inside Olivia, while Ellis came in his
hand.

Soon, though. If tonight was any
indication, he’d be inside her soon enough. And her pleasure would
be his. And his would be hers. And the three of them would make it
perfect.

Three

The
thump
of an arrow as it hit the target
jerked Olivia’s mind back to the competition at hand. Instead of
watching the archery games at her own house party, she was mired
deeply in thoughts of the prior night’s activities. Avery had woken
her several times during the night, whispering lurid thoughts in
her ear as he took her slowly, sensually, and masterfully. 
She shivered lightly.

“Would you like my jacket, Olivia?”
Ellis asked from where he stood a few feet from her.

She smiled, nearly unable to meet his
eyes as she replied, “Oh, no thank you. I’ll send someone for my
shawl.” The things Avery had whispered to her all involved Ellis
and what she might expect if they invited him into their
bed.

Ellis walked closer to her and she
could smell the scent of sandalwood on him.  It was so much in
contrast with the earthy vetiver Avery wore that she found herself
wanting to step closer and bury her face in his jacket so she could
explore it.  Another shiver crawled up her spine.

“I can’t tell if you’re wool gathering
or simply unconcerned about your husband being the poorest shot out
here.” Ellis leaned casually against a tree, speaking to her over
his shoulder as he clapped his hands at Avery’s loss.  “Good
show, Laugherty,” he called loudly. “Next time, you might even come
within a few feet of the target.”

Avery shot him a “go to the devil”
look that spoke volumes about the depth of their
friendship.

“You shouldn’t tease him so,” Olivia
chided good-naturedly.

Ellis pressed his hands to
his chest in mock astonishment. “
Not
tease him?  I’ve known him since we were
infants. I couldn’t possibly go a day without teasing him. If I
did, his head would swell to a size so large he wouldn’t be able to
pass through doorways. He needs someone to see his faults.” He
smiled at her. “
You
certainly don’t.”

Olivia couldn’t hold back her laugh.
“Oh, I see every one of his faults.”

He turned to face her completely and
shot her a look that made her want to giggle. “And they are?” he
prodded.

“It’s not fitting for a wife to speak
of her husband’s faults with another man,” she quipped.

“Exactly,” he drawled slowly, looking
away from her and back toward the archery games. “You don’t see
them.”

That was a challenge if she’d ever
heard one. She crossed her arms beneath her breasts. His gaze
lowered to dance across her décolletage and then back up to her
face. Damn him. Her nipples responded to his heady regard, pressing
insistently against the fabric of her bodice. “He snores,” she
finally croaked out.

He cackled. Loudly.
“
That’s
all you
have?  Sweetheart, he was snoring long before you met him. I
can’t remember a time when he
didn’t
snore.” He prompted her. “Got any
more?”

“Well, he’s terrible at charades. He
has very little imagination.”

Ellis arched one eyebrow at
her. “Is that so? I believe he has you fooled, because his
imagination has
never
been in question.”

“Beg your pardon?” Olivia had to
admit, that comment ruffled her feathers more than a little. “I
happen to know he’s awful at charades. He couldn’t pretend his way
out of a satchel.”

Ellis chuckled. “He’s a poor
pretender. I’ll give you that. But his imagination has never been
in question.”

Just then Avery joined them,
collecting his jacket from a nearby footman. “What this talk of
imagination? What did I miss?”

“Your wife says you have no
imagination.” Ellis grinned unrepentantly.

“Oh, she does, does she?” He bent his
head to say softly in her ear, “I had enough imagination for you
last night.” The warmth of a blush moved up her cheeks as he
nuzzled the side of her face. She glanced up at Ellis, but his gaze
was upon them, his lids lowered, his eyes dark with something she
didn’t quite understand.

“Behave!” Olivia scolded as she
swatted at Avery’s hands.

Ellis leaned back against a tree and
crossed his arms over his chest, with one foot raised to rest his
heel against the bark. He just watched them quietly as Avery
nuzzled her neck. His gaze caught hers and she found it nearly
impossible to draw her own away from his. Heat crept up her face as
he arched one eyebrow slowly at her. He knew how much his appraisal
affected her. Oh, dear.

“Oh, young love,” the Duchess of
Belgarden sighed as she walked by them.  “I remember when His
Grace was that amorous.” She longingly looked toward the man whose
sagging jaws kept him from sighting his bow and arrow properly. Of
course, she would tell him the arrow was crooked, instead, as she
had all afternoon. “In his day, he was insatiable,” the older woman
continued. She winked once at Olivia, who choked. 

Avery rubbed Olivia’s back in small
circles as Her Grace took her place at the platform and sighted her
bow.  “Are you all right?” he asked softly.

“I’m fine.” Mortified, but fine. 
She turned toward the manor. “I’ll be back in a moment.” She waved
both the men off as they started after her. “I’m perfectly capable
of walking by myself,” she snapped. At their shocked expressions,
she forced herself to stop, smile sweetly at them and then turn
casually away. In truth, her knees were knocking and her heartbeat
was thumping. Those men were waging an assault on her senses. And
they were winning.

***

Ellis finally caught up with Olivia
when she darted back down the stairs with her shawl. But, instead
of returning to the back garden, she took a deep breath and entered
the blue parlor, her footsteps slow and quiet. She settled at the
pianoforte with a swish of her skirts and placed her fingers on the
keys.  Ellis propped himself in the doorway to watch
her.

Instead of the haunting melody he’d
expected to hear, a rowdy tune better suited for a brothel
piano-master to play leapt from her fingertips. He smiled softly as
he picked up the chorus and hummed beneath his breath. He’d sung
that very tune on more than one drunken night. He’d just never
expected to hear Olivia play it. He crossed his arms over his chest
and listened as she played it to the end.

When she was done, he clapped his
hands softly and let his presence be known by walking into the
room. She jumped and placed a hand to on her chest. “I didn’t
realize anyone was listening,” she said softly.

He sat down beside her on the bench.
“No one is. It’s just me and a few smiling house maids.” He grinned
at her. “Where did you learn a tune like that?”

She shrugged. He knew she’d grown up
with brothers, and felt certain they often came home singing such
songs after a night of drunken revelry. “Here and there,” was all
she’d admit. She smiled at him impishly as she trailed her fingers
down the keys slowly.

“It’s perfectly scandalous,” he said
as he brushed a lock of hair from the side of her face. “Why did
you come inside?” He had a feeling he knew. But he’d like to
discuss it with her.

She shrugged and let her fingers walk
the opposite way down the keys.

“Do you know why I’m here?” he asked
over the tinkling of the piano as she hit the high
notes.

She stopped playing and gazed at him.
“I wish I did,” she sighed.

He would never make her unhappy. Not
for a day. Not for a moment. Not for an hour. If that meant
stopping this game of seduction, he’d stop.

“I thought it was for my house party,
but now I’m beginning to think there’s more to it.”

He covered her nervous hands with his
and turned her toward him. He’d never said the words he was about
to say to anyone. Yet he had a feeling she needed to hear
them.  “I fell in love with you the moment I saw you,” he said
softly.

Her mouth fell open as her eyes grew
wide. He shushed her.

“You danced with me and let me hold
you in my arms, and the feel of you there touched something within
me. I never, ever wanted to let you go.”

She wouldn’t look into his
eyes.

“You don’t have to tell me that you
loved me at first sight, Olivia,” he said as he grabbed her chin
and turned her to face him.

“I love Avery,” she said softly, a
sorrowful look in her eyes.

“I know you do,” he said to appease
her. “And he loves you.” He had to know. “Did you feel anything for
me at all when we met? Or was I the only one affected? I felt like
a bolt of lightning had cleaved my heart in two pieces the first
time you smiled at me. And only you could put it back
together.”

“Why didn’t you tell me?” Her eyebrows
drew together in confusion.

“You didn’t answer my question.” He
raised one brow at her. “Did you feel anything for me?”

“I did,” she said softly, her voice
breaking as her eyes filled with tears.

“Oh, God,” he soothed as he thumbed a
tear from her cheek.  “Don’t cry, sweetheart. I couldn’t bear
it.”

The tears stopped falling, but she
looked sad. “Then I met Avery.”

He nodded, hoping she would
continue.

“And he affected me the same way you
did.”

His heart soared. He’d
never have dreamed he could be so lucky. She did have feelings for
him. That meant she
could
have even deeper feelings for him. “I was so torn.
Because when you held me when we danced, I felt like everything was
right with the world. And I felt right with him, too.”

“Then there’s his bloody fortune,”
Ellis joked. “I couldn’t compete with that.”

***

Avery stood outside the parlor and
listened. He shouldn’t. But he did. He told himself he was giving
them time to talk and making sure the servants didn’t hear them by
standing watch but, in truth, he just wanted to hear what they had
to say.

“His bloody fortune made a difference
to my parents,” Olivia admitted. “But not to me.”

Ellis nodded. He was a wealthy man in
his own right. His investments were sound and his portfolio
continued to grow. But it couldn’t compare to Avery’s earnings. It
had always been a source of contention for Ellis, Avery
feared.

“I thought it had to be wrong to want
to be with you both. It was, wasn’t it?” She shushed him when he
would have answered.  “When my parents chose Avery, I let
them.”

“I understand.” Ellis tried to soothe
her. Avery leaned in the doorway and listened.