A Rose Between the Thornes Read Free

loosing a guinea or so. The tables were full, and no one looked up to offer her a seat.
    It seems my mastery of cards goes before me. Unaccountably disgruntled, she turned back to the doorway and came up against a wall.
    A very human, hard, male, and—oh my—aroused wall. She had no need to take a swift downward glance to verify that fact. The pressure on her cunt told her so, as he held her close very close for what seemed an unaccountably long time, before he stepped back.
    “My apologies, Lady Rose.” His eyes twinkled.
    Rose? No one ever called me by my given name. At an early age she had decreed it was not for her, and henceforth would only use her middle name—Sophia. Now this young man—for she would hazard he had not yet seen many more than thirty years, chose to do so.
    “My name young man,” she said frostily, “is Sophia.”
    “Your name, my dear, is Rose Sophia,” he corrected gently. “You choose not to use such a beautiful name with the evocative pictures it conjures up. I, however, chose to do so. And heed me well, when I cry your name as you writhe beneath me, over me, beside me, in passion, it is Rose I will use.” He was watching her carefully, perhaps to see her reaction. “And when I fill you and fuck you to fruition, it is Rose I will use to encourage you.”
    Her cunt clenched, and her juices flowed. Who was he? How dare he speak so, to bring such erotic and heat-making thoughts to my mind? Her nipples peaked under her thin silks, and she saw by the way his eyes drifted down, he noticed also. Damn him. Now I am wet and wanting and no chance to remedy the situation. I fear I may need to feel a headache shortly. I have to seek solitude, it seems, to assuage my desire.
    “You.” Sophia endeavored to make the tone as cold as she could muster. Really, will this evening ever end? “Are a whippersnapper.”
    He leaned forward, and whispered in her ear.
    “Oh, I am. A whip snapper. Is that what you want, my love? A whip across the globes of your arse? To feel the sting and the pleasure before we fuck you? It can be arranged. In as many ways and times as you desire. Ah.” He straightened, leaving her flustered and with no come back. “Mama.”
    Mama? Sophia tried to collect her wayward thoughts away from the heat making visions in her brain to look at the lady in an elaborate turban bearing down on them. Did he really say we and not I?
    Estella, Lady Mardanelly, their hostess, stopped and accepted kisses from the gentleman, who Sophia saw, now she almost had her wits about her, was more than presentable. He was tall, and slim, with perfectly styled dark hair, and deep, deep, almost black eyes. If she had been poetic she would say they were “to drown in.” With immaculate evening clothes and an intricately and perfectly tied cravat, he was elegance personified.
    “Jasper.” Lady Mardanelly greeted the man who stood next to her, and accepted Sophia’s curtsey. “Where is Nathaniel?”
    Sophia watched as his cheeks reddened slightly. “He was called away briefly, Mama, he will be here in a trice.”
    “Hmm, make sure he is. Your papa is absent as usual. You need to make your presence known. Twins.” She turned to Sophia. “Identical. Share everything. Always watching each other’s backs.”
    His eyes twinkled and one eyelid closed so briefly Sophia wondered if she had imagined the wink. “Ah, you are so right; we do as you say.”
    Share everything? I am undone. How Sophia wished to put her hands to her face, for she was sure it must be more than rose colored. Instead, she could do nothing but smile, and listen, as her nemesis continued. “And we will continue to do so, Mama, never fear.”
    Jasper kissed his parent’s hand with a flourish and a warmth his exaggerated gesture couldn’t hide. Lady Mardanelly patted his cheek in an absent manner and with a brief smile at Sophia drifted away to chat to another group of guests.
    Once she was out of earshot Jasper turned to Sophia. His