Four Times a Virgin (Irresistible Aristocrats Book 2)

by Suzi Love

  “If the man is your guardian, he has lawful rights.”

  “The law may say that a male relation has the right to control a woman’s inheritances, her dowry and, to a certain extent, whom she must marry. But nobody should be allowed to sell women to depraved men where they’ll suffer unspeakable atrocities.”

  “I’m not sure what you want of me.”

  “Merely to pretend to have a friendly relationship with us so my sisters are protected.”

  Carina was making demands he’d normally refuse, if anyone dared ask him such a thing; but he looked forward to the time when she became his, and with more enthusiasm than with his month-about-mistresses. He reminded himself that Carina was a warm receptacle for his release, nothing more, and pushed aside thoughts that she was also the woman for whom he’d searched for eight years.

  “Fine. I’ll play the part and gain entrée for you, and your sisters, to events around the city for one month.”

  “Good, then I─”

  “I’m not finished!” Not looking at her, he snapped out his orders. “At the end of that month, you’ll remove yourself from my life, completely, regardless of whether or not your sisters have met marriage-minded gentlemen.”

  Carina glared at him, but his focus was on her hips where her hands pulled tight her skirt and coincidentally displayed her lush curves, while her chest rose and fell rapidly and her breasts tested the strength of her bodice fabric. He’d been with countless women whose bodies were both more alluring and beautiful, having prided himself on bedding the most exquisite courtesans in London. However, Carina drew him for reasons other than beauty, lineage or family titles. This was lust, desire and arousal; a purely physical response that he’d assuage quickly and then put behind him. As soon as he’d bedded Carina, he’d focus on softening his bride and ensuring that she came to their joining without fear. If necessary, he’d allocate time each week to display his eagerness to become a groom.

  “For three years,” Carina said, “I’ve not been beholden to any man, so I loathe having to stay in London one hour longer than necessary. But I’ll put up with any discomfort in exchange for giving my sisters a few outings where they’ll see that decent men do exist, even if our family hasn’t encountered very many to date.”

  Max ignored his sharp pang of regret at Carina’s desire to quit the city so quickly at the end of their association. Change disturbed him, so he should be pleased that any interruption to his routine would be short-lived.

  “I look forward to that day as much as you,” he lied. “To recap, for one month I’ll arrange entertainments for your sisters, and we’ll do a combined search of the boxes stored in my attics. We’ll exchange reports, and you’ll give me all letters in you possession that concern me.”

  Her smile held a hint of triumph as she quickly ushered him from the room, but if she imagined that she’d be gaining everything she wanted without paying the piper, she was sorely mistaken. She’d attempted blackmail and threatened his smooth transition into married life, so she’d not flee from him until he was satisfied they’d both accomplished their goals. He crossed to the small desk where her letters rested and reached for writing paper. Carina gasped.

  “Never fear, my dear lady,” he said over his shoulder. “I’m leaving your instructions and not stealing your secrets.”

  “My instructions?” She read the paper he passed over, and he watched and waited for her predictable reaction. Her eyes widened and her pretty mouth dropped open. “You’re ordering me to appear at Brent Street at two o’clock.” She glanced down again at the note shaking between her two clenched fists. “In two days’ time.” She scowled at him. “How dare you? You’ve yet to prove yourself trustworthy, especially when your arrogant, condescending and insufferable attitude to women has been proven time and time again.” Max raised an eyebrow and waited for her tirade to finish. “Only a fool would commit to you, especially physically, until you’ve given me something that I want.”

  “I’m the Duke of Stirkton and I do not lie. So, yes, two days hence, our liaison will commence. The sooner we start, my dear, the sooner we can be rid of one another.”

  “You’re an abominable beast and a—”

  “Monster?”

  “Monster of a man. And if I refuse your despicable terms?”

  “Then you’ll learn nothing about the men you seek. Can you surrender your quest so easily after three years plotting against them, and me? No, you’ll be there. Meantime, I’ll be here at four this afternoon and we shall drive through the park. Make sure you’re ready, as I dislike standing my horses for long.”

  Max turned and walked to the door, tensed and ready for her predictable reaction. He already knew she had a temper. A vase hit the wall beside him but he kept walking, hiding his smile. Then, as he strode down her steps, Carina’s voice could be clearly heard as she vented her fury on a now empty room.

  ***

  Lawnton Place; a quarter past four that afternoon.

  Carina paced with customary military precision around her drawing room, stopping on each rotation to peer out window in the same way she had earlier that morning, only this time, on every second rotation, she glanced at her clock. Carriages came and went along her street, and she fumed over the upcoming arrival of one particular gentleman’s carriage.

  Gertie, Georgie, and Lucille sat in a subdued row on the settee and listened to her rant. “Fifteen minutes late.”

  “But,” Gertie murmured, “this morning you taunted His Grace for arriving early.”

  “Ooooh! The Duke of Stirkton is insufferable and inconsistent.” Gertie laughed, then covered her mouth with her ‘kerchief in a futile attempt to smother the sound when Carina directed a black expression her way. “He expects us to meekly await his arrival as if we’ve nothing better to do this afternoon.” She gestured to her two sisters who wore their best day-gowns. “Look at us. We’re like lambs to the slaughter.”

  “My dear, wasn’t it your idea that the Duke should take Georgiana and Lucille out and about?”

  “It may have been my idea,” Carina huffed, giving Gertie another glare, “but I’d no intention of being trapped into accompanying that man, because having to share the same air as him irritates me beyond belief.”

  “Yes, you definitely seem out of sorts. Yet, you’re not as angry at the Duke as you were.”

  “What do you mean?” Carina snapped. “Of course I’m angry. Maximus Meacham thinks he can bend me to his will as if I were a green girl.”

  “Methinks thou doth protest too much, my dear.”

  “Spare me your theatrical nonsense.”

  “I simply meant that having spoken to the Duke in person after eight years of trying to hate him, you’re seeing him as a man, with all the strengths and frailties of every man and woman, even you.”

  “I left frailties behind me many years ago and now concentrate on my strengths.” She glanced at Georgie, who looked ready to bolt from the room. “Gertie is correct, darling, and the Duke of Stirkton is merely a man, so you’ve nothing to fear.”

  “But he sounds to be such a fierce man,” Georgie whispered, her sapphire blue eyes luminous with unshed tears. “I can’t be near another large and fearsome man.”

  “Not all big men are as coarse as your late husband.”

  Georgie nodded but looked unconvinced, and Lucille’s posture was ramrod straight, her fingers pleating the green satin ribbon hanging from her waist. Carina met Gertie’s eyes in shared understanding. When Georgie’s husband had died, nothing had been left of the vibrant and robust girl who’d been married at seventeen and she frequently suffered nightmares. If offering her sisters a new life included spending time in the presence of Maximus Meacham, then it was a small price to pay, though she needed to find a way to avoid going to Brent Street in two days’ time.

  Nature provided her with a simple excuse and she’d bet that the Duke was too upright and uptight to question her over her monthly courses. On Wednesday morning she’d send a miss
ive explaining her indisposition, and before Max could summon too many arguments she’d be gone. She’d been proclaimed a virgin three times, and if there was to be a fourth man in her bed she’d selecting him, and not for money or titles or desperation.

  She longed to spend one night of passion, the sort of shared desire that penny dreadful novels made seem possible. But her next night with a man wouldn’t be with the one selected by the late Earl because, if what she suspected proved true, the very idea was unconscionable and illegal. Even after living with depraved Meachams, Max would be shocked if she shared her suspicions with him; this level of evil would repulse even the most hardened of men.

  At last, a large and elegant carriage displaying the Duke’s coat of arms pulled up before their house, and Carina braced herself for the arrival of Maximus Meacham in all his pompous glory. His long legs appeared out of the coach door before the footman could lower the step and he leapt, fit and lean, onto the footpath. God help her, the man was glorious.

  Thompkins announced their visitor, “His Grace, the Duke of Stirkton,” after which Carina took her time introducing her sisters and enjoyed Max’s obvious impatience.

  “May we proceed, ladies, as I’m engaged for this evening and I dislike tardiness.”

  Carina pointedly looked at the clock, before smoothing her skirts and making a show of checking the girls’ outfits.

  “Yes, it would be unseemly to keep sweet Lady Johnston waiting,” she said, as she breezed past him towards the door. She waited until the footman was seating her sisters in the Duke’s luxurious coach before she spoke in a low voice that only Max could hear. “Because Alice’s parents are known to be sticklers for the strictest of propriety and we wouldn’t want them, or Alice, to be upset.”

  She dipped her head to hide her grin when he snapped, “I do know how to behave.”

  “And did I tell you our exciting news? When I explained to Lady Johnston that we were dear, dear friends of yours, recently returned to town, she graciously extended an invitation us to dine with them, and you, this evening.”

  Max’s eyes darkened from deep brown to angry black. “You’re dining at the same place as I am tonight?”

  “Yes, isn’t that wonderful?” She patted his arm and gave him a guileless smile. “And Alice suggested that you call here and to take us up in your carriage.”

  Max’s open mouth resembled a gaping fish, until the waiting coachman cleared his throat to signal they should move along. Carina picked up her skirts and placed one booted foot upon the first step before adding, “One more thing.” She let him see, and comprehend, her gloating expression. “Do not be late, as I so dislike tardiness.”

  Max gritted his teeth, while Carina settled herself into the seat with several small wiggles and leant forward to rearrange her skirts far enough that her breasts pressed into the deep V slash of the bodice of her burgundy carriage dress. Every twitch, every quiver of exposed pink flesh, captured Max’s spellbound gaze, as she doubtlessly intended.

  To add to his torment, Carina shifted her shoulders and thrust her bosom further into his view, daring him to forget his manners in front of her sisters and Gertie. He hunched into his corner and ignored the complacent look on her face. The Countess would learn that nobody outwitted a Duke of Stirkton, ever. To his irritation, they encountered a line of acquaintances at the park, and he was forced to show a polite face and introduce the ladies to the procession of gentlemen eager to make the acquaintance of well-bred, pretty young women previously unknown to them.

  Carina leaned out of the carriage to converse to Lady Secombe, while her son engaged a reluctant Georgiana in a discussion of the weather. The young man was immaculately attired, as befitted the first son of a viscount, and judging by the way he gazed at Georgiana he regarded her as a diamond of the first order. Max studied the young ladies in his carriage for the first time, having been distracted by Carina previously, and noted the new flush on the cheeks of shy and retiring Lady Georgiana due to the rapt attention of young Lord Secombe.

  A scheme unfurled in his mind, much like the smile unfurling on Lady Georgiana’s face at some jest from her new admirer. The sooner Carina’s sisters were launched, the sooner their elder sister would be free to concentrate on their liaison, and him.

  Lady Georgiana’s quiet beauty, and her vulnerability, would ensnare a young cub like Secombe and his devotion would see her protected at all cost. And despite Lady Lucille appearing for the first time in public, she wasn’t a gauche chit for, like her sisters; she radiated warmth and sincerity, and though self-contained, energy and passion lurked below the surface. Judging by their crowd of gentlemen admirers, the girls’ success was guaranteed, which should relieve Carina’s worries, not to mention the added bonus for him of having more time alone with her, and also more time to discover the truth about that fourth man.

  He was close to uncovering the identities of the two men who’d bedded her after her night with him and when that happened, he’d claim vengeance and save her having blood on her hands again, if she had indeed hurried along the Earl’s demise. The least he could do was ensure her time with her sisters was incident and murder-free.

  Several gentlemen had persuaded Carina to stroll along the paths with them and others implored her to dance with them at this week’s balls. “Gentlemen, step back,” he said loudly. “Allow Lady Dorchester room to breathe.” His growling astonished them all, especially him, considering that he sounded like a jealous lover. Though he intended becoming her lover, he’d never been a jealous one and he wouldn’t be starting now.

  The animalistic desire to rut with a mate had been held in check because of who he was, where he was, or who he was with. But at twenty-nine, those raw and lusty urges were screaming for release. His unbridled lust would terrify sheltered Alice. But when Carina had spoken of taking a man to her bed, he’d longed to be the one to unleash her suppressed passions. He longed to see her quake with release and to find pleasure alongside her.

  Every few minutes, Carina glanced between the shoulders of her admirers and studied him with pursed lips and a small frown. He closed his eyes and anticipated the excitement of Carina warming his bed. Despite the Countess’s cool, calm façade, if he applied the right pressure she’d agree to his terms and be his for the taking. Though he’d much rather she came willingly to Brent Street, and into his arms.

  Chapter Four

  The Countess of Dorchester slipped the strings of her beaded reticule over her gloved wrist with slow precision, before sliding from her snug corner towards an outstretched hand. Accepting the Duke of Stirkton’s assistance, she stepped down from his ducal carriage.

  An hour earlier, Max had collected Carina, her sisters and Gertie from Woods House with much pomp and ceremony. During their slow journey through crowded streets to the outskirts of London, and the sprawling residence of Lord and Lady Johnston, Max addressed Georgie, Lucy and Gertie with unfailing politeness, but to Carina he said nothing. Despite being personally dispatched to a coach’s equivalent of Coventry—the squashiest corner—Carina smiled.

  As Gertie remarked several times, the well-sprung carriage was the height of luxury and the livery of the Duke’s servants immaculate. Georgie, Lucy and Gertie sat forward on the edge of their seats, peering past the lace curtains and lapping up every knowledgeable word the Duke spouted as he described the passing sights.

  Despite herself, Max’s behavior had impressed Carina as well, even though none of them were impressionable girls. Footmen had helped her sisters descend from the carriage, and they now climbed the steps to the imposing front door, skirts lifted to prevent soiled hems.

  Noticing Max’s scowl, Carina couldn’t resist a little more goading. “You seem a trifle disconcerted. But don’t concern yourself on our account, because your carriage is well sprung and we’ve arrived safely and in good time. Dreadfully impolite to arrive tardily at the house of your betrothed.”

  Max’s face muscles barely moved, yet undercurrents of emotion swirle
d beneath his rigid features. His left eyelid twitched and his heavy breathing stretched his evening jacket until she feared the buttons would pop.

  “I’d never cause the slightest unrest for the girl I’m to marry, nor her family, and I shall be displeased, most displeased,” his eyes narrowed in a fierce scowl, “if anyone upsets their evening.”

  “My goodness.” Carina made a show of clutching her chest. “Is that a threat?”

  “More of a warning to behave well or suffer the consequences.”

  “Once again, you’ve underestimated the influence of rumor and innuendo. I hold the upper hand in our battle because you’ve more to lose from rumor mongers. Every shred of dignity I possessed was stripped from me long ago.” She turned to where the butler awaited them and murmured, “In a Dorchester inn.”

  At his sharp hiss of inhaled air, she wondered if he was capable of human emotions after all. An intriguing possibility, although she’d no intention of exposing her feelings. She’d schemed and plotted various ways to make this shadowy man from her past suffer a fraction of the torments she’d endured, and now she enjoyed watching him squirm the way women did when under the control of bombastic men. Holding the whip hand over Max, for even this one evening, would be worth it.

  His fingers clenched over hers until, with exaggerated care, he loosened his grip and placed her hand on the sleeve of his black evening coat. “Let us proceed. The sooner we dine, the sooner Alice’s family can be rid of our tiresome presence.”

  “Ah! A sentiment similar to the ever-so-romantic one you expressed regarding your cottage? The sooner our liaison commences, the sooner we’ll be bored with each other.”

  With great difficulty, she restrained herself from looking him in the face. His labored breath delighted her, because dealing with a man of his ilk meant using any means to gain the advantage. Influencing Alice might prove advantageous, as her parents were anxious for the betrothal to proceed smoothly. So if she insinuated that the Duke should be kept under tight control, lest he stray and embarrass them, they’d apply pressure to bring him to heel.