Isabella attempted some modesty and covered her bosom with her arms, but Devon tore her arms away. Her shapely breasts, vaguely marked on the sides by the boning of the stays, stood at smart attention. Her rosy areolas constricted as her nipples hardened.
“Your turn, Rockwell.”
Miss Herwood stiffened and he wondered if perhaps his own discomfort was contagious. Perhaps she would fare better if he took a different approach and helped put her more at ease through arousal. He might be able to teach Devon, through demonstration, how better to handle a woman, how to attend to her pleasure.
Halsten slid the shift down her shoulders and planted a soft kiss on her left shoulder. He ran a hand across her collarbone, then gripped the back of her neck, and tried to massage away the tension. Her head dropped lower, and he could feel her tightness loosen a little. Gently he pulled the shift down her breasts, exposing large brown areolas, down her ribs, and past her belly till it fell down her legs to the floor.
Devon drank in the sight. “Are we not two of the luckiest chaps?”
Halsten shot him a look to indicate he had no desire to converse with the man.
Devon reached both hands around Isabella and tweaked her nipples. Isabella squealed.
Halsten held each of Miss Herwood’s breasts in his hands and planted a reverential kiss upon one, then the other. He ran his thumbs over the nipples. They peaked in response to his touch.
“These are quite a lovely sight,” he murmured. “Finer than a Titian or a Reuben.”
He lifted one breast to his mouth and tugged on the nipple with his mouth. He sensed her breathing become uneven. Her pupils had dilated, and the whites of her eyes had a shimmer.
Good. She was adjusting.
He pulled her naked body to him and took her mouth. One hand slid to cup her buttocks. She felt divine even through his clothes. From the corner of his gaze, he saw Devon do the same with Isabella. But instead of a choreographed dance of the lips and tongue, Devon mauled Isabella’s mouth, smearing her rouge and causing the flesh about her mouth to flush as if she had a rash.
Halsten pushed his fingers through Miss Herwood’s hair and manipulated her head to taste her mouth from different angles. He had wondered how aroused he could be while occupying a room with a man he detested, but he could easily be consumed by Miss Herwood, his awareness of Devon repressed by his own growing ardor.
“Let us free them of their final constraints,” Devon said.
Garters were untied and stockings joined the other garments on the floor. Devon walked around Isabella.
“Should you men not accompany us?” Isabella asked. “It is hardly fair that we are stripped to the buff and you not shed a single article of clothing.”
Devon slapped her across the face. Isabella looked shocked, and Miss Herwood, who had hitherto avoided looking toward the other side of the room, glanced over sharply. Halsten clenched a first.
“I did not give you permission to speak.”
A contrite Isabella looked down at her feet.
“Your safety word can be used at any moment,” Halsten told her, earning a glare from Devon.
“Have you reviewed with her the rules you intend to employ?” Halsten asked Devon through clenched teeth.
Devon waved a hand dismissively. “She shall learn in due time. The element of surprise will aid in their retention of the rules.”
Devon looked over at Miss Herwood, who quickly glanced away. Her reaction incited the man to walk over to her. He circled her like a vulture over a carcass. Halsten felt every muscle in his body tense. If the varlet touched her in the slightest, he would cuff the man.
“Lovely,” Devon smirked before returning to his side of the room. He pinched at Isabella’s nipples. “I think these require adornment.”
He went over to a shelf and retrieved a pair of small clamps with weights dangling by small metal chains.
“Has she worn them before?” Halsten interrupted. “If not, she should not start with the weighted clamps.”
Both the women had eyes wide.
“Are you their nanny?” Devon returned.
“Do you remember the safety word?” Halsten demanded of the women.
They both nodded.