“Damn well could have fooled me,” Hugh muttered under his breath.
She glared up at him.
He glared down at her.
“I came here,” she began in a measured tone, “because I have a proposal to make. One I believe that will benefit both of us greatly.”
“There is nothing you have that I could possibly want.”
“Oh, I doubt that,” she said softly as a slow, sensuous smile curved her lips. “I doubt that very much.”
Hugh did not like what that little smile of hers did to his insides. He did not like it at all. Like a true witch, Temperance was working her dark magic on him. He could feel it. The woman was tying him up in knots, both inside and out. He should have demanded she leave his room the second she stepped through the door and yet here they were, standing toe to toe, and damned if she did not have the upper hand. Perhaps the best course of action would be to let her say her piece and then send her on her way. He was stronger than she was, after all. Physically if not mentally, for a cleverer woman he had never met.
Yes.
That is what he would do. Even if he had to drag her out kicking and screaming. An idea, he thought with a faint twist of his mouth, not without some merit.
“Well?” he asked. “What is this proposal you have come all the way here to make?”
Her brown eyes met his. “It is quite simple, really. I want you to be my lover.”
CHAPTER SIX
Temperance still could not believe her good fortune. After exhausting every other possibility, she had walked into town on a whim. With Lynette gone, Delilah distracted by Mr. Humphrey, and Lady Townsend off running errands, she was free to slip out of the manor without raising any eyebrows. If a servant noticed her sauntering down the drive they were wise enough not to say anything, and after a quick walk – Dunhill was less than a mile from town – she reached her destination.
Knowing the chances were far higher that she would run across Lady Townsend before she ever managed to find Hugh, Temperance had disguised herself in an old cloak before she’d even left the house. It smelled of moths and dust and its limp shape was hardly flattering, but as her goal was to not draw attention to herself it served its purpose well. For despite what she had told Hugh, her reputation was not quite as ruined as she may have led him to believe. Yes there was the little matter of the Scandal, but it had been nearly five years, and who really remembered such things aside from gossiping old biddies?
Then there was the matter of their new affiliation with the Townsend family. Well respected, the Townsend’s had held the Earldom of Blackbourne for nearly seven generations. By marrying Lynette, Nathaniel had extended some – if not all – of the Townsend’s sterling reputation unto the Swan Sisters. His parent’s public acceptance of their new daughter-in-law had only furthered their cause.
Temperance was not so naïve as to think the ton would ever completely forget the Scandal, but she had received noticeably less stares over the past few weeks. Given the care with which Lynette was planning Delilah’s season debut, Temperance did not want to do anything that would bring more shame and embarrassment upon their family name…including, but certainly not limited to, being caught with unmarried man.
Thus the cloak.
As she marched across the village square she still hadn’t a single clue as to how she would discover Hugh’s whereabouts. But then fate, as it occasionally did, intervened.
When the milk cart crossed her path Temperance managed to stop just in time. She would have continued on were it not for the strangest feeling in the pit of her stomach. A feeling that had pulled her gaze upwards to a south facing window in the town’s seediest establishment, the Hayworth Inn. Sun had reflected off the glass, momentarily blinding her, but when her vision cleared she was able to clearly see who was standing on the other side of the window. And any lingering doubts she may have had as to the impulsiveness of her actions evaporated like mist off a pond on a warm summer’s evening.
If fate did not want her and Hugh to be together, then surely it would have steered them in different directions. And yet, without fail, it continually did the opposite by bringing them together under the most unusual of circumstances. First in the park, then in the festival, and now in a crowded village with dozens of people swarming about. What were the odds that she would happen to glance up at just the right time and catch Hugh staring down at her?
Too numerous to count, she would imagine.
Convincing the inn keeper (an overweight slovenly man still drunk from the night before) to give her a key to Hugh’s room had been easy. She had merely lowered her voice, kept her face averted, and slid two silver coins across the bar. They were her last, but worth every bit when she saw Hugh’s expression upon unlocking the door to his room. How furious he had been! Had she the money on her person, Temperance would have gladly paid the inn keeper thrice what he’d asked just for the chance to do it all over again. Now he was staring at her with equal parts disbelief and anger. Holding her ground, she wondered what emotion would eventually win out. Not surprisingly, it was the latter.
“You truly are mad, then.” He jerked back as though her words had somehow burned him. Turning on his heel, he stalked to the window and pushed the curtain aside so he could direct his stormy glare down at the innocent pedestrians below.
“Mad?” Both of her eyebrows rose. “Impulsive, perhaps. Stubborn, most definitely. But mad? Quite the opposite, I think.”
“That is the problem.” Tension rippled down his shoulders in waves. “You are not thinking. No woman in her right mind would ever dare suggest such a thing. You need to leave, Miss Swan. Now.”
Instead of leaving, she unbuttoned her jacket and cast it aside on the back of a chair before wandering over to the mattress. After a brief grimace, she sat gingerly amidst the disheveled pile of sheets and pillows. Goodness, but the man was unkempt. Most were, she supposed. Only the one’s she had kept company with thus far had servants at their beck and call to pick up their messes. It was very apparent by the general appearance of his room that Hugh had no such luxury.
“You know,” she began thoughtfully, “I believe the mad ones are those who enter a marriage without a hint of affection or passion. They marry for money, or they marry for a title, but they so rarely marry because they cannot keep their hands from one another. That is madness, Mr. Jacobson.” With a sniff, she rearranged her skirts so that when she crossed her leg at the knee an entire calf was strategically exposed. “What say you to that?”
“An affair would ruin you,” he said flatly.
“Only if we were caught,” she countered.
He looked back at her over his shoulder. There was disdain in the hard slant of his mouth, but he couldn’t disguise the naked yearning in his eyes. At least not completely. His gaze dipped to her exposed calf and she heard his teeth grind together, but it was a long moment before he looked away from her silk covered flesh. “Are your morals so corrupt you would throw yourself at any man with your thighs spread wide like a cat in heat?”
“Not any man.” Most women would have been offended by Hugh’s not-so-subtle insinuation that she was acting like a common whore, but then Temperance had already proven that she was not like most women. Let him think what he wanted. His opinion of her did not matter. The only thing that mattered – the only thing she cared about – was getting back the feeling she’d had when they’d kissed.
She craved the sizzling intensity. The body numbing pleasure. The primal urge to take what she wanted and give everything she had in return.
Keeping her gaze levelled on his, she gracefully stood and floated across the room on the tips of her toes. Bracing his hands on the edge of the windowsill Hugh looked back out at the street, but Temperance was not deterred. With a soft purr of breath she flicked her fingers down the middle of his back, marveling at the muscle and sinew that bunched and coiled beneath her light, teasing touch.
How strong he was. Temperance felt her heartbeat accelerate
as her hand wandered lower, tracing the counters of his spine down to waistband of his trousers. The fabric was rough, just like the rest of him. Rough and just a bit unfinished. Unconsciously drawing her bottom lip between her teeth, she bit down as her fingers slid to the outside of his hip. It was like touching a marble statue. All hard lines and jutting curves. When she stroked the outside of his thigh she felt more than heard his sharp intake of breath, and suddenly found herself with her hands shackled together in a bruising grip.
“Enough,” snarled Hugh. Easily holding her wrists pinned together above her head in one massive hand, he spun her around until her back was pressed against the wall. Their faces were mere inches apart, allowing Temperance to see the swirling fires of irritation that were burning inside Hugh’s eyes. He was furious, and with good measure.
She only hoped she had not pushed him too far.
“I do not know what game you are playing at, but it has reached its end.” He tightened his grip as though to prove his point, fingers sinking into her tender flesh until bone grinded against bone. When Temperance winced he uttered a foul curse and instantly loosened his hold, but did not release her completely.
“This is not a game,” she whispered. “I know you feel it the same as I do. The pull and the push. You do not like me anymore than I like you, but you cannot make yourself let me go, can you?”
“I…” Words failed him as his throat convulsed. Wordlessly he glared down at her, fury etched across every inch of his formidable countenance.
Testing him, and herself, Temperance pressed her body against his hard chest. She felt her nipples pucker beneath the thick boning of her corset. It was an undergarment she normally went without, but had worn today with the specific intent of putting her cleavage on full display.
She was rewarded for her brazenness when his gaze dropped to her bosom and a line puckered between his dark slashing brows.
“What are you doing,” he said harshly.
It wasn’t a question, but a statement.
One Temperance was more than prepared to answer.
“Just making sure I have the right of it.” She leaned in closer, forcing him to support nearly all of her weight. “Won’t you kiss me again, Mr. Jacobson?” To taunt, and to tease, she purposefully slid her tongue along the silken curve of her lower lip. “I know you want to. I can see it in your eyes.” And feel it in the hardness of your cock.
“Witch,” he growled before his free hand buried itself in the curls of her hair and kissed as though he were a man half-starved…and her mouth was the feast he’d been waiting for.
CHAPTER SEVEN
Sizzling heat. Panting breaths. Writhing bodies.
The kiss was everything Temperance wanted. Everything she craved. In Hugh’s arms she finally felt alive. How often had she hidden her emptiness behind a sharp retort or a witty remark? How many times had she looked past the glitz and the glamor of the ton and yearned for more? Let other women have their pretty dresses and their fancy hairstyles and their proper husbands. This was all she needed.
Still holding her arms pinned high above her head, Hugh changed the angle of the kiss, plundering inside her mouth with a bold sweep of his tongue. The hand tangled in her hair tightened, drawing her head back as he moved from her lips to the edge of her jaw before making his way down the quivering line of her throat. When he settled on the curve of her collarbone and began to suckle Temperance gasped and bucked her hips as a burning jolt of sensation shot straight down to her loins.
Using his teeth like a feral wolf, Hugh yanked the bodice of her dress down, exposing the delicate silk of her corset. Her nipples protruded through the thin fabric and with a growl that was more wild animal than human he began to suckle one breast through the corset.
“Oh,” Temperance gasped as her mind reeled and her knees trembled. “I – I quite like that.”
The stern glare he gave her commanded silence before he moved to her other breast and drew her pointed nipple between his teeth. When he lightly bit down on the sensitive bud Temperance jolted from the shock of it, having never experienced the pleasure of pain before.
She jumped again when she felt his hand travel down her side, tracing the contours of her sumptuous curves before settling in the apex between her thighs. There were layers of clothing between his probing fingers and the sensitive nub nestled between slick flesh, but Hugh knew just where to touch. Even Temperance, in all of her boldness, had never explored that part of herself before and her face turned red with equal parts embarrassment and mounting arousal as he rubbed and flicked and teased while continuing to suckle at her breasts.
Her head tossed from side to side as a pressure began to build inside of her, like water pushing against the wall of a dam. Her eyes flew open. She caught him staring at her, his expression a mixture of arrogance and awe as he watched her tremble beneath his touch.
Using his fingers without relent, he drove her higher…and higher…and–
“Oh,” Temperance gasped, bucking against his hand as her mind and body were overwhelmed by sensation after sensation. What was happening to her? She did not have a name to give it; only knew that she wanted it to go on forever and ever.
When it was finally finished Hugh withdrew his hand and she sagged back against the wall, feeling as though her bones had dissolved along with every single thought in her head.
“Easy,” he murmured as she began to tremble from the aftershock of it all. “Easy.” With surprising gentleness he lifted his head and kissed her again, lips moving in a slow, sensuous rhythm that helped to slow the erratic beating of her heart. He released her arms, and when they fell to her sides he drew her against his chest and rested his chin atop her tousled hair.
She had lost her hat, Temperance noted dazedly, and one breast had spilled out of her corset and was on full display, the dusky nipple still damp from Hugh’s wicked tongue. “That…that was–”
“A mistake.”
Blinking in surprise, she pulled out of his embrace and glared up at him. The oaf! What a typical thing for him to say. Could he not simply enjoy the moment? Was he so surly and distrusting that he couldn’t allow himself one moment of happiness? As she studied his stony countenance, she could not help but wonder what had happened to him in his past to make him so churlish. Unless he had always been this way…although she doubted it.
If Hugh was as cruel and cold as he pretended, he would have been incapable of even a moment’s softness. Yet there had been softness in his eyes when he’d gathered her against his chest and placed his head on top of hers. She’d seen it for herself.
“Bully on that,” she exclaimed as she shoved a chunk of hair behind her ear and yanked her corset into place. “And bully on you for saying it.”
“Bully on me?” He lifted a brow. “You were sighing a different tune a moment ago.”
Men, she thought in disgust. They were all the same.
Grant a woman a moment of pleasure, and they became akin to conquering heroes.
At least in their own minds.
“I most certainly was,” she said without a hint of shame. Her cheeks may have flushed with embarrassment when he’d touched her down there, but she refused to feel guilty for enjoying the feel of his hands on her body. “And so will you be soon, if you’ve any common sense.”
“Back to this again?” Shoving a hand through his hair, Hugh backed up to the mattress and sat with unnecessary force. Spreading his legs apart he stared down at the worn floorboards, his brow knit with an emotion Temperance could not decipher. “Women like you do not have affairs with men like me. You marry wealthy lords with large houses and spend your life planning balls and tea parties and having children.”
“And if I do not want that?” Temperance challenged as her hands crept up to her hips. “If I do not want a cold-blooded, controlling husband and an enormous household to manage and tea parties to attend and spoiled children to chase after? What then?”
“That is what you have a governess for
.”
Oh! The man was impossible. And yet still she wanted him. Well, not him precisely. What she really wanted was the feelings he invoked inside of her. Feelings she had never gotten from another man before even though she had kissed more than her fair share. But they had all been short, emotionless kisses. Pecks, really. There had never been any tongue involved. And definitely none of that other stuff.
“I do not understand you hesitation. Do you find me unattractive?” she asked.
With a snort of breath, Hugh shook his head. “Don’t be stupid.”
“Then what is it?” Exasperated, she threw her hands in the air and fought the urge to stomp her foot. “I am offering you what most men only dream of. An affair without emotion or dangling strings or consequences. Only passion.”
Hugh lifted his head…and for a fleeting moment he looked so forlorn and lost it made her heart ache. “You do not want to have anything to do with me, Temperance. I am poison.” His harsh laugh cut through the air like a rusty knife. “And there are always consequences.”
“There won’t be,” she said stubbornly. “Men and women have affairs all the time. For heavens sakes, it is all but a time honored tradition in the ton. We are both adults. I can be discreet, if that is what you are so worried about. We will not be caught, and we will not promise each other forever, and when all is said and done we will part ways with no one ever being the wiser.”
He met her gaze. “And if you become with child?”
“We will take precautions, of course.” What those precautions were she wasn’t exactly certain, but she would figure it out. How hard could it be? She had not exaggerated when she’d said affairs were a time honored tradition in the ton. If Lady Rivers had managed to remain childless after her notorious affair with the Duke of Earlwick then Temperance would find a way to do the same.
Hugh’s eyes narrowed. “If it is romance that you are after, I won’t be giving it to you.”
Taming Temperance Page 6
