Natalia’s Secret Spinster’s Society (The Spinster’s Society) (A Regency Romance Book)

by Charlotte Stone

  As if knowing where his mind had moved, she dipped and skirted around him until she stood in the middle of the room.

  He had indeed ruined her garment… but in the most delicious way. Where her heavy breasts lay was soaked. Muslin and cotton unable to stand against the wet had made her nipples visible.

  She covered herself but not soon enough. The image had been carved with a deadly point in his mind.

  He crossed to her and picked her up.

  “Liam, stop this!”

  He had her on the bed on her back and had positioned himself over her body before he spoke. “Why do you call me that?” Slowly, he lowered himself, his body being drawn to her warmth.

  Her eyes widened. “What?”

  A knock sounded on the door. “Mrs. Wells? Are you all right?” It was Zed.

  “Go away,” William growled.

  “I fear I can’t,” the not-truly-a-butler replied before trying the handle. “These are my charges. Open this door at once!”

  At once?

  William stiffened and went on alert.

  Leah touched his cheeks and gave him what could only be compared to the caress that a lion tamer would give to manage a wild beast.

  It worked.

  She pulled his head back to her just as she spoke to the door. “I’m quite fine, Mr. Sudworth. Sir William and I are only having a conversation.” Her voice shook, and she bit her lip. “Leave us, please.”

  “Mrs. Wells,” Zed started. “I can’t in good conscious—”

  “Go away, Mr. Sudworth,” Leah commanded and stared at the door as though she were looking into the other man’s eyes.

  Her words were met with silence and then Zed said, “I’ll just be down the hall. Shout if you need anything.” Then his steps were heard leaving the corridor and only then did he feel Leah settle, her body relaxing under his.

  Not a second later, William glared at her. “What was that?”

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  CHAPTER FIFTEEN

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  Leah didn’t know how to respond to William’s question, so she gave him the first answer that came to mind. “I’m unsure what you are referring to.”

  She found out two things a moment later. One, William knew she knew exactly what he was talking about and two, he’d been holding a great deal of his body back from her. A shift later and he was sinking into her, pressing her more firmly on the mattress while settling his large, hard, and heavy frame firmly against her.

  A curl of heat blossomed in her lower body at recognizing what usually happened when a man had her in this position. She’d had two lovers in her life, but nothing had felt this wonderful. William was more solid, as though his bones were made of steel and his muscles shaped with stone.

  She had to fight every driving urge within her not to slide her hands down to his shoulders and pull him even a fraction closer.

  It was then she realized that she still had a grip on his face and was at the moment pressing her nails into him.

  “Oh! Pardon me.” Her hands flew to her side.

  He chuckled. “It’s fair that you’d attack me. I am, after all, in your room and on your bed.”

  She thought him right about that, though she’d not been clawing at him from a need to flee. It had been want driving her.

  It still did as she gripped two handfuls of the bedding.

  William’s laughter died from his eyes, and he became as unyielding as the jaw she’d touched. Already an afternoon shadow was appearing. “Why is Sudworth so protective of you?”

  “He’s that way with all the women.” And her brother did care for the women and their safety. Mr. James had not been the first husband to have found his wife at the Spinster’s House.

  “No.” William was not letting her get away with that answer. “There’s more there.” His green eyes were unsettling. “Does he have some sort of right to you?”

  “We’re not that way,” she told him. “I’m more like… a sister to him than anything else.” How close she was to spilling the truth. “My relationship with Mr. Sudworth is not like…”

  “Ours,” he finished for her and added a grin that made her toes curl.

  She rolled her eyes. “You’re crushing me.”

  “And you’re a liar.”

  Her head snapped up, and she was surprised to find that he was still smiling. “You’re an odd man, Sir William. Most gentlemen would take only an honest woman to bed.”

  “Oh, you’re honest enough.” His hand, which had been by her head, settled on her hip and squeezed. “Honest where it counts.”

  She stifled a moan even as she felt her vision blur. She stared up at him through half-lidded eyes. “You’re ruining my reputation in this house by being in here.” Though from the scandalous murmurs she’d been hearing from the women lately, she was more likely to be envied.

  He lifted a brow and then lifted a hand to rest his head on, a position that said he had no plans of moving anytime soon. “How strange that you would think about what the other women thought and not your husband. After all, if I did the things I wanted to do to you right now, we’d be engaging in an illicit affair.” He was trying to corner her again, seek out the truth in her story.

  He’d not get it.

  She looked away and pulled in her first breath of clean air. Only the faintest whiffs of his inebriating scent entered her lungs. “You’re wetting my bed.” And since there were no maids in the Spinster House except for the housekeeper and the cook, Leah was expected to take care of her own bedding just like the other women.

  “It serves you right for dumping water on me.”

  She stared at her blank wall even as a small smile formed on her lips. “You did that to yourself. I told you not to come in.”

  “While knowing I’d do the exact opposite.” He pushed himself farther down, moving between her legs. It was only then that Leah noticed her skirt had been lifted. The brush of his cold pants and the hard thighs underneath them pressing to her stocking-covered thighs was a shock to her system. While she’d been very aware of the hand he’d showed her, she’d forgotten about the other.

  His hand landed on her knee, the pads scraping her flesh. Every part of her body became attuned with him.

  She turned back to him and found the hard planes of his face without emotion, but those eyes had turned forest green. “What are you doing?”

  His hand didn’t move. “I’m checking the damage I’ve caused. I want to see how wet you are.”

  Like the stroke of flint to stone, she went up in flames at the crudeness underlining his words.

  He moved higher up her body, and Leah felt the press of another very hard part of his body as it grazed her most intimate place. She made a startled noise of pleasure before she stopped herself.

  “Shall I stop?” His hand sat firmly on her knee and though it didn’t move an inch, it muddled her mind.

  She didn’t want him to stop. What she wanted to do was press forward and rub her lower body over the evidence of his desire for her. He didn’t even have to move. At this rate, she’d reach her peak in seconds.

  “Is that a yes?” He leaned down and brushed his mouth over hers.

  The shock of it had the effect of clearing her mind.

  William kissed her and immediately her mind went to the past, to the boy she’d loved…

  Before he killed Starlight. Her poor innocent cat. He was always rough. He’d always played so roughly with her. Even now, he was being aggressive.

  That old anger was weak, yet still, she clung to it and allowed it to burn away any lingering need she had for him in her body. A desperate act that worked. “My pride may not be frail, but I still hold some dignity. I’ll not pay you with my body.”

  In a blink, his eyes showed confusion and then in the next flash, they changed to something feral and he rose from the b
ed, scrabbling away as though he’d discovered her bed to be full of snakes. “I would never ask that of you.” He was clearly angry at the idea she’d implied he would.

  He moved his hands through his hair and turned away. Had she hurt him? “I’m sorry if you think that’s what I intended to do.” He wouldn’t meet her eyes.

  She straightened and a great part of her wanted to reach out and take him into her arms. She’d not meant to cause him pain, only anger him. But she didn’t move. Anything that would push William away was better than the other options. He was dangerous, she reminded herself. She’d sensed death in him when Zed had shouted his command through the door. Why her brother had tested a man like William she wasn’t sure, and she’d been forced to calm William down herself.

  Calming him had turned out to calm her as well. It had felt right to touch him, and she’d been thrilled that she’d been capable of pulling him from that dark place.

  But no more. They were getting too close.

  “I’ve another dress in the laundry room. If you could have one of the girls get it for me—”

  “I’ll do that.” He turned to the door. “And then you’ll meet me downstairs for dinner.”

  “Why?”

  He stopped with his hand on the open doorframe. “Because this isn’t over.” Then he was gone, and Leah had no clue what he’d been referring to.

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  CHAPTER SIXTEEN

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  Young William took Natalia’s disfigured cat into his arms with a look that said how much he’d rather just let the feline go. Starlight had obviously survived many things. What was a trip to town?

  “I’ll be right back,” Natalia told him, though her eyes were shining at her hissing friend. Last year, her cheeks had been fatter and with her golden red hair, she’d often reminded him of a chipmunk. At eight, her face had slimmed, making her very pretty. And with her hair’s streaks of gold more prominent and the red more vivid, he often—like others—compared her with a fox.

  And the fox was in more than her hair and looks, it was also her attitude. She was clever, and even though her words could hold a sharp bite, William ignored the warning. But that was likely because there was more to his Tally than she allowed others to see. She could be mean, but just as easily, she would be sweet.

  And Starlight was the biggest benefactor of this.

  What Tally saw in such a creature, he didn’t know, and the animal’s name didn’t make any sense at all. There was nothing about that cat that reminded him of starlight. Instead, he imagined the cat did better in the shadows, preying on both the strong and the wicked. Julius’ town was so small, in fact, that whenever a person didn’t return home on time, they would jokingly place the blame on Starlight and claim that cat to have had its savage way with man, woman, boy, or girl.

  “Don’t look at her that way.” Natalia’s eyes, which often reminded him of the most precious metal on earth, were now on him. She frowned. “Starlight can sense when she’s not liked. That’s why she’s hissing.”

  Was that it?

  William looked down at the only good eye the cat had and tried for a smile. The hissing didn’t stop. “Won’t she find her way home if I simply put her down?” Quigley House, which was where Natalia lived, wasn’t far.

  Natalia shook her curls, the golden threads caught in the light while the red became inflamed. “No, I’ll be quick.” Then she smiled and held up the coins her mother had given her. “You do want chocolate, don’t you?”

  She already knew the answer. “Yes, please.” He even petted Starlight for added benefit.

  Natalia slipped away and joined the line of those who waited for the treat. A few of his friends were amongst the group. They’d all come to town when Lorenzo’s father and Julius’ mother had decided to meet with some of his old military friends.

  William worked hard to keep the rumors of their affair away from Natalia, but he grew angry with her father’s blatant disregard for his family’s wishes. When Starlight hissed again, William relaxed his hold on her. Had he been holding her too tight? Why was the cat so angry? Starlight kept fighting to get down, so he tightened his hold once again.

  Julius came over while William waited anxiously for Natalia’s return. “I can’t believe you’re holding that thing.” His young friend had his own chocolate and his violet gaze was slitted at the cat. “Have you ever seen anything more hideous? It’s likely got a disease.”

  “Likely.”

  “So, why hold it?” Julius asked.

  “Tally asked me to.” He looked at the girl again and smiled when their eyes met.

  “Would you jump off a bridge if my cousin asked you to?” Julius sipped his chocolate.

  William thought about his reply.

  Julius sucked his teeth. “There’s only one answer to such a question, William.”

  William agreed, but it was likely that he and Julius had come up with different answers.

  “She already has a brother,” Julius told him.

  William’s usual reply to that had been, ‘What’s one more?’ but that was not what he was thinking any longer as he stared at Natalia. He didn’t want to be her brother.

  Natalia started toward him with two cups of chocolate in her hands, but he froze as she dropped them and started at a full run in their direction.

  He frowned, wondering what was the matter.

  “Starlight!” She took the cat and that was when William realized the feline had stopped hissing some time ago. “Starlight!”

  He moved closer as panic started to build in him. He must have held her too tight, squeezed when he’d not been paying attention because the cat wouldn’t stop fighting him. He watched as Natalia rubbed the cat’s head and moved it from side to side. There was no response and those vicious eyes that Starlight set on people were closed.

  “She’s dead,” Julius said, amazed.

  Natalia looked up and the look on her face broke William’s heart.

  “I—”

  The scream from her lips cracked the peace like lightning and a warning to a coming storming.

  And deep inside William’s soul, he knew he’d lost her.

  William left the house but only to walk to the one next door. He navigated his way through Francis’ mansion and alerted a maid to draw him a bath before moving into his own room.

  Natalia.

  She was a burning thought in his mind, and now William was sure he knew why. Leah reminded him of Natalia, not only because both women had called him Liam, but because there was another similarity between them.

  His need to protect them.

  But he’d failed Natalia and, deep down, William had never forgiven himself for that. She’d needed his protection. He’d promised that he’d free her from the pain her home caused, but on the night she'd needed him most, he’d been busy shedding blood.

  And then she’d disappeared without a trace. Where had Romina taken her children? Julius thought Romina had simply fled to Spain where her parents originated from, but William had gone to Spain himself years ago while on an assignment for the military. He’d used the small spare time he’d had to look for evidence of them—of Tally—only to find she wasn't there. Her grandparents had claimed they’d not seen Romina, Lorenzo, or Natalia in years, but when he’d told Julius and the rest of the Hext clan, which consisted of his only remaining uncle’s family, they’d all simply assumed that William had been lied to. Perhaps whatever had taken place that night had encouraged Romina’s family to keep them hidden.

  And for a while, William had allowed himself to think that. He found it hard to imagine Natalia as a woman now. She’d be twenty-six, and he was certain she was beautiful.

  Deep down, he’d known his intention for her when he’d gone to find her. Even during those years, William had already started to make investments with the
little money his father had managed to accumulate, which had all paid off. His wealth had started to grow and with it, a dream his fourteen-year-old mind hadn’t been able to form properly as of yet.

  He’d intended to marry Natalia. He’d gone to Spain with the intention of winning his queen’s heart.

  But she’d not been there.

  And he was no longer convinced she ever had been.

  The bath came while he was in his thoughts. He bathed quickly and dressed before starting from the door. His path was blocked by an amused Frank.

  William stared at his friend. “I forgot to ask you how your talk with Mrs. Wells went. I was surprised to find you still in the room when I arrived.”

  “As was I.” Frank backed away from the threshold so William could step out and close the door behind him. “I didn’t expect to find her an intellectual match.”

  A thread of pride slipped its way around William’s heart, but he held back from showing it as he started down the hall. “So, you approve of her teaching the women.”

  “Without question,” Frank walked at his side. “Of course, we didn’t agree on every point, but there is no doubt in my mind that she knows what she’s talking about.”

  “Good.” William started down the stairs.

  “We spoke for nearly two hours and not once did I feel the time move. I didn’t expect to find the conversation so pleasant.”

  William glanced over at Frank to find him watching him. “Well, thank you for your assistance. I’ll handle everything from here.” He started moving again, quicker this time, but Frank was right on his heels.

  “What happened in her room?”

  William spun around when they reached the landing. “None of your business.” And holding Frank’s eyes, he said, “Stay away from her.”