by Amelia Grey
Bray looked behind him at the girls, and then back to Miss Prim. He shrugged. “I don’t believe I was rough—in fact, I made sure I handled her gently—but sometimes adults have to be stern with children. That is how they learn.”
“You know this from experience, I assume.”
“I do,” he said a little testily. “Just as no doubt you learned your gentle and loving nature from your father.” Bray paused. “He was gentle, wasn’t he?”
“Yes. I don’t think I ever heard him raise his voice in anger at any of us, and he surely never lifted any of us from the carriage when we didn’t do what he commanded.”
Bray looked behind him again. “Well, whatever I said or however roughly I lifted her from the carriage and set her on her feet, it must have worked. Look—she’s not crying.”
“If I were her, I’d be afraid to cry in front of someone with such an authoritative manner as you.”
Bray grinned confidently. “If only you were half so frightened of me as you seem to think Miss Lillian is, that would be wonderful.”
It was then that Miss Prim smiled. “Well, you are a beast at times.”
“And a monstrous beast at others.”
“True, Your Grace,” she said in a good-natured voice as she turned and waved to the girls once more. “Still, I’m not at all sure I’m comfortable leaving my sisters with strangers.”
“They are fine, and Seaton is not a stranger. I’ve known him more than ten years. I wouldn’t leave them if I had any fears for their well-being or safety. He will treat them as if they were his own grandchildren. A puppet show will be much better for them than riding cramped in this carriage for an hour with you and me.”
“I think you were thinking of your own well-being and not theirs.”
She was right. He liked the teasing light that shone brightly in her sparkling eyes. “Perhaps I was.”
“Perhaps?”
“All right, hell yes, I was. And don’t forget that ‘hell’ is a biblical word, Miss Prim.”
Again, she smiled at him. “How could I when you get such enjoyment out of reminding me.”
Bray helped her back onto the chaise and then climbed up beside her. She moved over to the other side of the seat, leaving a respectable distance between them.
“Now, what did you say was the color of Miss Gwen’s parasol?”
“You aren’t going to let me worry about the girls, are you?”
The relaxed tone of their conversation was enjoyable. Louisa had seldom been so calm and easy with him. He admired her for taking the responsibility of caring for her sisters so seriously, even if she seemed to carry it to the extreme on occasions, when she did things such as putting her hands over her sister’s ears.
“I’m willing for you to worry all that you want about the girls, but which ones do you want to worry about first this afternoon—the three with the grandfather and other children to play with, or the one with the rake?”
“All right, all right, you win.” She smiled and then laughed lightly. “Let’s go find Gwen and her green parasol.”
Bray picked up the ribbons, released the brake, and they started riding through the bumpy park again. Louisa was no longer sitting right up next to him, and he couldn’t feel her heat, but it was blissfully quiet.
“I suppose you have been patient today, Your Grace.”
“Very patient,” he said.
“It was nice of you to let the girls come with us.”
“Very nice,” he added, and threw a grin her way.
“I know they loved the ride, and they will enjoy the puppet show, too.”
She would never know how happy he had been to see Seaton and with his grandchildren. “I didn’t really mind,” he lied without really thinking about it.
“Are you sure?”
“No,” he said, and clicked the ribbons on the horses’ rumps to pick up their pace. “But I’m trying to be as nice today as you seem to think I’ve been.”
“That will make your mother very proud of you.”
“I doubt that, Louisa. I am her only child, but my mother has never favored me.”
“Did you just call me Louisa?”
“Yes, so what are you going to do about it, Miss Prim and Proper?”
“I’m going to say that is a terrible thing for you to say about your mother.”
He laughed. “Terrible, sad, and true. She would agree with me, I assure you. The duchess was an only child and never quite knew what to do with a child of her own, but the nurses, tutors, and governesses she hired did. Her Grace’s happiest day was when I was sent off to Eton to live.”
“I’m sure that’s not true, either.”
Bray looked over at Louisa’s wide eyes and realized how much he enjoyed being with her. “I’m sure it is, but don’t look so aghast. We get along well enough now that I’m grown.”
“What about your father? Was he the same way?”
Worse.
But he didn’t like to talk about his father. He didn’t even like to think about the man. “I saw very little of him when I was a child. My parents weren’t fond of each other, Miss Prim. Their purpose for getting married was to give my father an heir. After I was born and declared a healthy child, my mother moved into her own house. She and my father never lived together again.”
“Oh, I see,” she said softly. “That must have been a challenge for you.”
“Not really,” he said, watching for Standish and Miss Prim. “Boarding schools were always in my future. I adapted.”
“I suppose your life has been very different from mine.”
“I’m sure. For some reason, I envision you growing up with the whole family sitting around a dinner table, enjoying your food and your chatter. In the evenings, all of you probably played chess and cards, or listened to your father read to you by the light of a roaring fire.”
Her eyes brightened. “Yes, we did so often. Dinner and evenings were always family time. How did you know?”
I see it in all you say and do.
“My friend Harrison had family. He told me about his life.”
Bray looked away from her and clicked the ribbons again. A sudden longing for that elusive thing called “family life” gripped him tightly. He felt a lump in his throat and heaviness in his chest. He quickly shook the unwanted feelings away. Bray knew what family time was, though he’d never experienced it.
When he was a young boy, his meals were taken on a tray in his room with his nurse or governess. At boarding school, their food was served in a large hall at a long table with all the other boys who were just as lonely as he was. And as an adult, he never ate at home in the evening. He ate at one of his clubs. Bray’s father had invited him to dine with him one evening a couple of years before his death. Bray decided to be a good son that day and obliged him. The meal was so painfully long and quiet that repeating the occasion was never broached again by either of them. His mother was barely a little better, inviting him to dine with her only on Christmas day and Easter.
Family time was for vicars and the like, not for dukes, and it was best he not forget that.
“Look, Your Grace, to your right,” Miss Prim said. “There they are. See them, sitting on a blanket under that tree?”
Thankful for the change in conversation, Bray pulled on the reins to slow the horses. He surveyed the terrain, which was lightly dotted with trees and tall shrubs. “We’ll go past them and move around to the other side. We’ll find a place that can shield you from your sister’s view. If you can recognize her from this distance, she will know you, too.”
“That’s a good idea. They don’t seem to be sitting too close together. What do you think?”
“I think they look as if they are talking and enjoying something to drink, which is what we wanted to see.”
Bray maneuvered the horses and chaise around the park until he found a place near a patch of tall spindly shrubs that looked as if Mother Nature had forgotten to give them their spring coats. It was a goo
d place to watch Miss Gwen and Mr. Standish and not be seen by them. There was no one else in the vicinity because the bushes were barren and offered no shade from the sun. They would have more privacy than if they tried to find the sunshade of a tree.
Bray set the brake, jumped down, and reached back to help Miss Prim descend the steps.
“I’m afraid I don’t have a blanket or a basket filled with refreshments.” Bray swung his cloak off his shoulders. “But I have this to sit on, and it will work as well.”
“I don’t want to ruin your cloak or for you to get cold, Your Grace. I don’t mind sitting on the ground. I’ve done it many times with my sisters.”
“Perhaps you have, Miss Prim, but you will not sit on the ground with me. And no, I will not get cold. I find that whenever I am in your company, I am usually hot.”
“Hot with anger because I’ve usually said something that has riled you.”
“I will not make a comment concerning that.” He spread his cloak near the shrubs so that there was a barrier on that side of them. He then helped her to sit down and made himself comfortable beside her. She reopened her parasol and let it rest on her shoulder.
“Comfortable?” he asked.
She nodded. “Tell me, what made you decide we needed to follow Gwen and Mr. Standish today?”
I was aching to see you.
“You didn’t seem so concerned last night,” she added.
“Today I felt it was the right thing to do.” Not that he had ever been noted for doing the right thing. “I know that Mr. Standish already has two fathers angry with him over wooing their daughters last fall during some house parties and then not offering for their hand. And for now, I am Miss Gwen’s guardian, and it’s my duty to look after her. Besides, I knew you would be worried about her, too.”
She gave him a grateful smile. “Thank you for caring.”
Did he care or was it just an excuse to spend some time with Louisa?
“Though, I have to say that Mr. Standish was the perfect gentleman when he had tea with us before they left for the park.”
“As I would expect him to be.”
Bray looked at Miss Prim’s face and smiled warmly back at her. Without a doubt, she was the prettiest young lady he had ever seen. Her eyes were bluer than heaven. Her lips were a delicious shade of pink, and he was thinking he’d love to feel them beneath his once again. He wished she didn’t have on the matronly brown bonnet. He loved looking at her golden blond tresses.
“Have you ever been on a carriage ride with a man, Miss Prim?”
“No, I can’t say I have.”
“Watch how quickly this can be done.”
Bray looked from his left and then to his right. There were other people sitting on blankets scattered within sight of them but none very close. He grabbed hold of the handle of her parasol and slid it down her chest until the canopy touched her bonnet. He then lowered his head underneath it and placed his lips on hers. He meant only to give her a quick kiss, but the moment his lips brushed hers, desire soared through him and he lingered, letting his lips rove softly and for much longer than he had expected. It was difficult to leave her sweetness, but he finally raised his head and gave her two more quick kisses before he lifted the parasol back to its original height and moved away from her.
“Now, Miss Prim, you know why a gentleman wants to take a young lady for a ride in the park.”
“Yes.” She moistened her lips. “I also just learned another use for the parasol, Your Grace.”
Bray gave her a satisfied expression. “I don’t think parasols were ever intended for keeping the sun off a young lady’s face. You have your bonnet for that, right?”
She cleared her throat. “Well, I’m happy to say that Gwen isn’t using her parasol right now. They seem to be enjoying their refreshments.”
He looked over at them. “She’s probably drinking chocolate with a little brandy in it, and he is drinking brandy.”
Miss Prim’s brow furrowed. “Gwen has never had brandy. It’s very strong.”
“So you are familiar with it?”
“When my father was so ill, I would pour him a glass in the evenings, and I have to admit that my curiosity got the better of me one night, and I took a little sip.”
“Ah, that does surprise me. But don’t worry. I don’t think Mr. Standish would put enough in her chocolate to cause her to forget herself. But like you, she must grow up.”
“And have her first kiss.”
“And hopefully she will enjoy it as much as you enjoyed your first kiss.”
She looked at him and matched his smile. It pleased him that she didn’t try to deny she’d enjoyed the kiss.
“But I’m twenty and will be twenty-one before the end of the year. Gwen is only eighteen.”
“She’s of age to have her first kiss, Miss Prim and Proper.”
“But last night was her first dance, and Mr. Standish the first man she has ever been alone with. At least I had been to a few dances and enjoyed conversations with gentlemen before you kissed me that afternoon at my house.”
Bray reached up, swept his hat off his head, and dropped it to the ground. “And while no one is near and Gwen is not in any danger from Mr. Standish at the moment, I am going to kiss you again.”
Bray took the parasol from Miss Prim and once again pulled it down until their heads were covered by the pale yellow canopy. He dipped his head low and pressed his lips on hers, and moved unhurriedly over her mouth. He placed his free hand to the back of her neck, where he could feel her warm bare skin, and gently caressed her. She parted her lips, giving him permission to probe the depths of her mouth, feeding his arousal. He heard short, choppy gasps and long generous sighs as his lips glided across hers.
She lifted her hands and circled them behind his neck briefly before stretching her arms wide around his back and hugging him closer to her. Bray softly moaned his approval and, in response, dropped his hand from her nape to hug her to him as well.
His lips left hers and he kissed his way down her chin, over her jawline. He swept his tongue down the length of her neck to the base of her throat, where the ribbon of her bonnet lay. With his teeth, he grabbed the ribbon, and in three quick tugs, the pieces of satin were fluttering away from her skin. He planted a moist kiss in the hollow of her throat before finding her lips once more to share in a deep, satisfying kiss that had him aching to lay her back and rest his body on top of hers.
The ribbing of the parasol dug into the top of his head, but Bray paid it no mind. His hand slipped back up behind her neck, then down her shoulder, under her arm, on her breast. He slowly applied pressure to the soft mound, letting his palm stroke and massage her. He felt her tremble, and her reaction caused his lower body to swell beneath his trousers.
Her lips parted again. Bray knew it was madness to continue kissing, fueling the passion that was growing hot and demanding between them, but he didn’t want to stop. His lips roved hungrily, greedily over hers, and she matched his fervor with such excitement, it heated him all the more. It pleased him to hear her swallow small gasps of pleasure as his tongue explored the warmth inside her mouth. She was feeling what he felt, and it elated him.
He loved the way her lips moved with his, the way she tentatively searched his mouth with her tongue, but somewhere in the back of his mind, Bray knew it was time to withdraw. He’d always had a sixth sense about when to step back, and he needed to stop right now.
Reluctantly, he let her go and leaned away from Louisa.
Calming his labored breathing, he inhaled deeply and smoothed down his hair with his palm. He lifted the parasol and returned it to her. He picked up his hat and gave a quick look around as he settled it back on his head. He adjusted his coat and trousers while she retied the ribbons under her chin. No words were necessary while they gained control of their feelings.
Moments later, an elderly couple walking arm in arm came from around the other side of the shrubs and wandered past them. Bray tipped his
hat and they nodded.
“That was too close for comfort, Your Grace,” she whispered.
Privately, Bray agreed, but he didn’t want to alarm her. “I heard their footsteps and knew they were close.”
“Do you still think I am Miss Prim and Proper, now that I let you kiss me under the umbrella?”
“Yes,” he said truthfully. “I have no doubt that it would take more than a few kisses and caresses to change you.” He looked over to where Miss Gwen and Mr. Standish were seated. “They are rising,” he said.
“Already?” Miss Prim asked, and rose to her knees. She looked around him. “I’m surprised. They haven’t been here very long.”
“They’re not taking the basket with them, so they’re not leaving. They’re just going for a stroll.”
“Do you think Mr. Standish kissed her while we were—?”
“Kissing?” he finished for her.
“Yes.”
“If he did, it was a short kiss and not at all like what we just shared, so do not worry. She has not had time to be ruined, and neither have you.”
“Perhaps we should take a stroll, too.”
“I do feel the need to cool off,” Bray mumbled under his breath.
He got to his feet and then helped her to stand, and they started walking in the direction that Miss Gwen and Mr. Standish had headed. They remained silent for a time. Bray assumed that, like him, Miss Prim was thinking back over their passionate embrace.
“My goodness,” she said, breaking the silence for the first time. “Look at all the carriages on that pathway in front of us. I’ve never seen so many bunched up together like that. Why is it so crowded?”
“Rotten Row is usually well traveled this time of the afternoon.”
“Oh,” she whispered, and stopped.
Bray halted, too, and looked over at her. She stood transfixed to the spot and stared at the road as if seeing something for the very first time. He couldn’t imagine what had mesmerized her so suddenly. She didn’t face him, but he could see that her eyes started glistening. His stomach knotted. His chest tightened.
His gaze scanned the area, looking for whatever had caused her to stop. He noticed that her shoulders shook for a few seconds, but she made no sound as she stared straight ahead.
