Page 17 of Joy to the Earl

“Aunt May,” she said slowly and very clearly. “Tell me about the green spice.”

Her aunt looked at her with owl eyes. “Ah…no idea what you’re talking about, pet.”

“If you wish to see the New Year hale and hearty, then you’d better confess to me right this minute.”

“It was an accident, I swear,” replied May quickly. “I was working on a new concoction in the kitchens because of the fire incident that occurred in the antechamber…we’ve been so busy lately, I forgot to put all the herbs back in my chest. It’s nothing to be alarmed about, though.”

“What was the green spice?”

“Rosalind! No need to screech, that is most unladylike…now, now, put that serving fork down, skewering me won’t change a thing. It was just my undistilled Eros powder. Mostly harmless. It only enhances urges already there.”

“Damnation, woman,” said Donald, in a tone that for him was actually quite stern. “That powder is a menace and should not be anywhere near the kitchens. Bad, bad form. One thing to practice on me, but now everyone except little Fliss has had a rather generous sample!”

“Well…” said May weakly, fanning herself frantically. “I guess now everyone will have a, er, truly merry Christmas.”

Oh sweet heaven.

Shifting in her chair, Rosalind braced her hands on the table as her skin began to tingle faintly, hardening her nipples and making her want to press her thighs together to ease the ache. If Claire’s face was any indication she was undergoing the same transformation, and a delicate flush highlighted the woman’s cheekbones as she abruptly shoved her chair back and stood.

“Phillip,” Claire whispered in a thready voice. “I believe we need at retire to our chamber at once.”

For the first time, her husband nodded meekly and immediately followed her from the room, his clasped hands unable to disguise the growing bulge tenting his trousers.

“I will deal with you later,” said Rosalind, glaring ferociously at May. “You will lock that powder away at once, but in the meantime I am going to speak to Jack.”

“Talking isn’t what he needs,” said her aunt, shaking her head. “That big cock of his will require servicing until dawn, or the poor man will be in agony. Would you be so cruel to him?”

Biting back a curse, Rosalind stormed across the room and through the curtains covering the unlocked balcony door. Jack stood with his hands braced on the stone balustrade, his body bowed so he didn’t crush an enormous erection, but he glanced up when she joined him.

“Forgive me,” he said gruffly, angling his body away from her. “I know I’m being rude staying out here. But…”

Rosalind winced. “Jack, there is something I need to tell you.”

“What is it? Can it wait until I’m feeling not so odd?”

“No. I know the reason you aren’t well.”

His gaze sharpened. “Is everyone off color?”

“You’ve been drugged,” she blurted out. “With Eros powder. Actually, everyone has, apart from Fliss, thank God. Blasted Aunt May was working in the kitchens with her herbs, left a packet behind, and Cook accidentally sprinkled it over the mulled wine.”

Jack sucked in a breath. “What…exactly…does this Eros powder do?”

“It does what you are already experiencing. For a man, it keeps his cock hard all night. For a woman, it swells her nipples and between her legs, and makes her juices flow.”

“Is there an antidote?” he asked through gritted teeth as his cock visibly strained against the confines of his borrowed breeches. “Something to take to ease the potency?”

Rosalind shook her head miserably, even as an answering heat slicked her quim. “No. We just have to wait it out. And, ah…”

“And what?”

“Make ourselves come. Apparently climax is the only thing to offer any relief.”

“I see.”

“I’m so sorry, Jack. I don’t know what on earth Aunt May was thinking. She doesn’t normally work in the kitchens, but since another experiment caused a small, ah, explosion in her stillroom…I’m so cross with her right now, I could cheerfully strangle her.”

“Or we could help each other,” he said softly. “If the choice is making myself come all night, or feeling your mouth and hands and tight, wet cunt swallowing my cock and taking every drop of my seed, I know what I’d prefer.”