by Meara Platt
Her cheeks heated, surprised he’d called her by her given name. “My sutures–”
“Everything about you is perfect.” She believed he meant it, for he was looking at her with such wonder and an aching need that revealed she wasn’t the only one in fiery torment.
She wrapped her arms around his neck as he carried her to the bed and set her down on the mattress. He quickly undressed, removing his trousers last. He settled his big body over her, his chest lightly pressing against hers, although he took care to avoid touching her wound. “I love you,” he whispered and claimed her mouth in a scorching kiss that left no doubt of his desire.
The Book of Love spoke of connections between a man and a woman. Beast spent the night showing her how intimacy was built in so many ways. In the gentleness of his touch. In the coiled tension of his release when he entered her and claimed her for his own. In the affectionate way he held her in his glorious arms as they lay hot and spent.
In the way he touched her.
In the way he tasted her.
In the morning, she awoke to find herself still cradled in the circle of his arms. She turned to look at the beautiful beast-of-a-man as he slept, unable to resist the urge to run her hand lightly over the spray of gold hair along his chest.
Her curves were soft, but his big body was lean and hard, and the strength of him was exciting.
She caressed his muscled arms. She traced her finger along his jaw and felt the rough stubble of his morning beard.
He’d taken off his eyepatch, and her heart tightened at the sight of the scar that ran across his eye.
“How long do you mean to inspect me?” he asked in a sexy rumble, turning onto his back and stretching like a magnificent lion basking in the sun. He grinned and opened his good eye to stare back at her.
“As long as you’ll allow me. I love you, Beast. I never thought such happiness was possible. I look at you and my heart bursts with joy.” She liked that he felt comfortable enough with her not to reach for his eyepatch. But she felt similarly about her stitched wound that was still healing. He’d been so careful around that still tender spot even as they’d both lost themselves in shattering release.
Three times last night.
By the look of him, he looked ready to couple again, and she had no intention of denying him. He’d held back last night, refusing to claim her a fourth time. But it was now morning and the sun was shining through the window. A gentle breeze rustled through the sea-blue curtains so that they looked like ripples upon the water.
“You have starlight in your eyes, Little Goose.”
“It’s the sunlight. It’s glistening in my eyes.”
“No, it’s starlight.” He took her in his arms and rolled atop her. “I like that you have that starry look just for me.”
“I always will, you know.” She loved the weight of him atop her, even as he rested most of it on his elbows.
He nodded again. “I hope so, for that look feeds my famished soul.”
She melted as he kissed her hungrily on the lips.
“It’s the look of love,” he said. “It’s the same as I have for you.” He repeated words similar to what he’d said at their wedding. “I’ll love you forever, Little Goose.” He gave a devastatingly sexy growl before claiming her willing body along with her heart that he’d captured long ago.
The Touch of Love
Book of Love, Book Two
Meara Platt
To all who are noble at heart
Chapter One
Wellesford, England
August 1815
“Heaven help all bachelors,” Nathaniel Sherbourne, Earl of Welles, said to his companions as they stared out the window of his study at the three young ladies seated on a fallen log beside the Sherbourne Manor pond. Despite the heat of the August sun, their bonnets had been tossed aside on the grassy bank and their heads were bowed over a book. “Beast, your wife has just handed The Book of Love to Poppy.”
Alexander Beastling, Duke of Hartford, shook his head and laughed. He looked quite the pirate with a black eyepatch over the eye he’d lost during the Napoleonic War. “Are you quaking in your boots, Nathaniel?”
“Should I be? They’re handling the blasted thing as though it’s Merlin’s mythical book of spells just recovered after a thousand years buried in the earth.”
Their third companion, Thaddius MacLauren, Laird of Caithness, had been quietly staring at the young ladies, but now spoke. “The lasses believe it contains a powerful magic. After all, Beast was the bachelor who could not be taken down. But look at him now, not only married, but besotted and deeply in love with Goose.”
Nathaniel frowned. “Thad, what are you thinking? The book had nothing to do with it.”
His friend shrugged. “Och, but what if it did? You and I will be in deep trouble, my friend. We like to think we have control over our own destinies, but that book could prove us wrong.” He ran a hand across the back of his neck. “Lord, it’s hot. My throat is parched. I’m going to walk to Wellesford for a drink. Care to join me in a pint of ale, Beast?”
“What about me?” Nathaniel frowned once more. “Am I to face Poppy alone? Not that I’m afraid of the girl. She’s pretty, of course. Who wouldn’t be enchanted by those big, blue eyes and dark curls? But she’s like a sister to me. I’ve known her for most of my life.”
“Death knell,” Beast teased. “They’re conspiring to make you Poppy’s test frog. I was Goose’s, and look where it got me.”
Nathaniel folded his arms across his chest. “I’m up for the challenge. As I said, I’ve known her forever. I’m not going to fall for her simply because you fell hard and fast for your wife.” Besides, he had bigger problems on his mind and wasn’t about to add Poppy Farthingale to his already thorny complications.
Thad returned his gaze to the pond. “Ye’d better not fall in love with Poppy, or I’ll be doomed. That would leave me with your sister, and you know how much Loopy hates me.”
Nathaniel sighed. “She doesn’t hate you. At least, she wouldn’t if you stopped provoking her at every turn. Calling her Penelope instead of Loopy would help, for starters.”
Thad grinned. “But where’s the fun in that? Besides, Beast never called Olivia by her given name. She’s always been Goose to him, and she has never minded. Bollocks, they’re looking this way. They’re coming for you, Nathaniel.” He slapped his friend on the shoulder. “Come on, Beast. Let’s head to the Golden Hart before they spot us. We’ll go out the back way.”
They both cast Nathaniel parting grins as they strode to the door.
“Cowards,” he called after them. “You can’t leave me alone with the three of them.”
“Join us afterward. We’ll save you a pint.” Beast was unable to stifle his mirth. “Assuming you survive Poppy’s first onslaught.”
“The girl is harmless and I’ll prove it to you. I’ll prove it to all of you,” he shouted after his friends who were deserting him like rats on a sinking ship. “Blast it,” he muttered after they’d left. “She’s never been kissed. And she thinks to seduce me? Hah! I’ll show you all.”
Nathaniel strode into the entry hall and casually leaned his hip against the elegant table that stood in its center. He folded his arms across his chest and fixed his expression to appear bored and unaffected.
“Good morning, Nathaniel,” his sister said, walking into the house with her bonnet in hand and an irritating smirk on her face.
Beast’s wife, Olivia, cast him a similar smirk. He bowed his head to acknowledge her presence. “Morning, Goose.”
“Is my husband still here or has he fled to Wellesford?” She was so cheerful, she practically chirped.
He arched an eyebrow. “He’s fled to town with Thad.”
She shook her head of ginger curls and sighed. “The cowards. Come on, Penelope. Let’s go find them. Poppy, will you come with us? Leave the book upstairs. It’s too valuable to tote around town.”
“Yes, I’d love to. I hea
r Captain Gordon is visiting Lord and Lady Plimpton again. I hope we run into him. I’d love to hear more about his adventures.” She hurried upstairs without so much as a nod in Nathaniel’s direction.
He turned to scowl at his sister. “When did Poppy meet Plimpton’s nephew?”
“Last month and again at Olivia and Beast’s wedding last week.” She rolled her eyes as though Andrew Gordon’s arrival was something he ought to have noticed. “Don’t you remember him? You hosted their breakfast and invited everyone in Wellesford to attend. He looked quite dashing in his regimentals. Why are you surprised that Poppy is eager to see him? He danced two dances with her and couldn’t take his eyes off her the entire day.”
“Gordon is a horse’s arse. She can’t seriously choose him as the man she wishes to marry.”
“And why not?” Penelope tipped her chin up in that irritatingly indignant manner she’d perfected. “Do you have a better man to suggest? Such as yourself, perhaps?”
“Put the absurd notion out of your head at once.”
“Then why are you so put out? You ought to be relieved that she has no interest in you. So you needn’t worry that we’ll interfere with your courtship of that… of Charlotte Winthrow.”
“Lady Charlotte will arrive at the end of the week with her father.” He clenched his teeth to stem his annoyance, knowing his sister was purposely goading him. “Be nice to her. She isn’t a dimwit.”
“I never said she was.”
“You implied it with that look.” He said no more as Poppy came bounding down the stairs, her steps light and carefree.
“I’m ready.” Her cheeks were pink from rushing to drop off the book in her bedchamber and hurrying back to her friends. Perhaps they were also pink from her time spent in the sunshine. Her gown was a pale blue confection that looked quite fetching on her and brought out the crystal blue of her eyes and the lushness of her long, dark hair that was loosely pinned up at the moment.
Not that he was looking at Poppy or suddenly noticing anything about her.
Certainly not her lips.
Or that they were slightly pouty and her lower lip had a nice, plump fullness that would make kissing them quite pleasant.
He shook off the thought.
She was merely his sister’s friend.
Poppy finally deigned to acknowledge him, casting him a warmhearted smile. “Will you join us, Nathaniel?”
Is it a trick question? Was she about to test one of the spells she’d read in The Book of Love on him? Why was she smiling at him? No matter. He was ready to meet the challenge. “Yes, I think I will.”
Poppy cast him another sweet smile and continued out the door.
In truth, she’d always been a pleasant girl, but she was now in possession of this book and he feared it would turn her into… what? An irresistible siren? A dangerous seductress? Hardly likely since the girl had no experience whatsoever.
Did she understand the first thing about men?
He doubted it.
Not that he cared one way or the other, but she was a guest in his home and it was his duty to make certain she did not get into trouble. Right now, he had enough on his mind and did not need Poppy’s attempts to find love compounding his worries.
There was nothing he could do about the other concern at the moment. But The Book of Love in innocent hands was dangerous, and Poppy was still an innocent.
He fully intended to keep her that way. Andrew Gordon was not going to get his lecherous hands on her.
“Why are you frowning?” his sister asked, falling back to walk beside him as they strolled along the shaded hedgerow paths toward Wellesford. Goose and Poppy had run ahead, leaving them out of earshot for the moment, which was a good thing. He had plenty to say to her.
“That book should not be in Poppy’s hands. She does not know what she’s doing.”
Penelope laughed in disbelief. “Are you afraid?”
“Don’t be absurd.”
“Jealous, perhaps?” His sister rolled her eyes. “I saw the way you three nodcocks were whispering by the window. You thought Poppy would use you as her test frog and now you’re miffed that she’s chosen Captain Gordon instead.”
“I am not miffed. I’m worried about her. There’s a difference. Besides, he’s a useless dolt.”
“He’s a captain in the Royal Dragoons.”
“A commission recently purchased for him by Lord Plimpton. He’s never been to war. He doesn’t know what it means to be a soldier. Besides, he’s a rogue.”
His sister gasped lightly in disbelief. “And you’re not?”
“Of course, I’m not. I’m a respected earl. Not to mention I’ve actually fought in several campaigns against Napoleon, unlike that pizzle Gordon. I’d never take advantage of Poppy. Quite the opposite, I’m duty bound to protect her.”
Penelope shook her head and sighed. “Fine, so she isn’t to test her feminine wiles on Andrew Gordon.”
“Or any other man,” he said, casting her a warning glower.
“She has to test them out on someone. Perhaps Angus Carmichael.” His sister referred to Wellesford’s only doctor who was far too necessary to its citizens to be distracted by this nonsense.
“He isn’t suitable.”
Penelope frowned. “What’s wrong with him?”
Nothing. In truth, Nathaniel liked him. “I thought you wanted her to find someone with a title.”
“I do, but Poppy is reluctant. She isn’t convinced she would make a proper wife to a nobleman. I think she’d make an excellent countess.”
“Stop beating that drum. I am not going to marry your friend.”
“Then what about the vicar for Poppy? He’s also a good man.”
“Adam Carstairs? He isn’t suitable either.”
“Why not?”
“He’s obviously struggling to save his soul.” Which was a preposterous statement to make and would not commend him to the Higher Authority. “Besides, she can aim higher.”
“Which brings us back to you. Fine, we’re agreed then. She’ll test The Book of Love out on you. I’ll let her know that you insisted upon it.” Penelope ran off before he had the chance to stop her.
“Bollocks.” There were times he wanted to throttle his sister. He watched as Penelope whispered something in Poppy’s ear and the girl turned to him in surprise. Her big blue eyes grew wide as saucers and she pursed her lips in obvious displeasure.
Poppy walked toward him, still frowning. “Penelope says you’ve forbidden me to kiss Captain Gordon.”
Dear heaven, who said anything about kissing?
A warm breeze blew across her curls, lightly nudging a few out of place. “Of course, I forbid it.” He tucked a wayward strand behind her ear as he spoke to her. It was the natural thing to do. He’d known Poppy forever and there was nothing wrong with treating her as he would his own sister. “You’re a guest in my home and therefore under my protection. What would your parents say if I allowed that bounder to kiss you?”
“I would be kissing him.”
“It’s the same thing. You are not to lock lips with that man. Your parents would expect me to do all in my power to stop you.”
“My parents?” She laughed and shook her head. “I adore them, of course. But I’m not sure they realize I’m here at Sherbourne Manor with you and not at home. There are a lot of Farthingales, and after a while, every head of dark hair and face with blue eyes begins to look the same. I would not be surprised if they counted my sister Violet twice.”
“Thinking she was you?”
She cast him a disarming smile.
Poppy always did have a pretty smile, but that did not excuse her idiotic plan to kiss Andrew Gordon. “You are not to go near that man.”
“Honestly, Nathaniel. He isn’t an ogre. He’s quite nice, actually.” She had beautiful eyes, too. He’d looked at her often, but why hadn’t he noticed this before? Perhaps it was the way the sun glinted on her hair and face just now, seeming to light up her eye
s. “I’m sure he wouldn’t mind if I kissed him.”
“You are to kiss no one.” But me. Hellfire, that wasn’t right. Where did that thought come from?
“Well, that won’t work. How am I to test the findings in The Book of Love if I can’t–”
“Come to me if you have any questions. I’ll answer them for you.”
“I’m not seeking answers. I’m seeking experience.”
“Mother in heaven, are you mad?” He wanted to put his hands on her shoulders and shake her soundly.
“Olivia says that merely reading about the five senses won’t do, that to fully appreciate the power of the book, I must perform tests for each sense.”
“Perform them? On a man?”
“Did you just growl at me? For pity’s sake. How else am I to learn about the five senses? You know, the sense of sight, smell, hearing, taste, and touch.”
She paused a moment, as though expecting him to respond, and then continued when he merely frowned. “She says the senses of taste and touch are the most dangerous and should not be tested all at once. She recommends I start with the sense of sight first. That seems harmless enough, don’t you think?”
He tried to remain calm as they continued to walk along the hedgerows, wondering why he’d allowed himself to be drawn into Poppy’s experiments. But to allow this innocent around any other man was a recipe for disaster.
Much of the road was covered in shade cast by tall trees whose branches were lush with green leaves. It made for a pleasant walk even though it was late morning and the sun was shining brightly against the blue sky.
It made for a pleasant walk even though he found this conversation with Poppy most irritating.
He paused when Poppy suddenly stopped and began to turn slowly while in the middle of the road. “What’s wrong now?”
“Nothing, Nathaniel. Did you just growl at me again? I was practicing the sense of sight. Looking at my surroundings and doing my best to really take notice.” She stopped turning and looked up at him. “Try it, why don’t you? Even this road is quite lovely, lined with ancient stone whose crevices are filled with dark green moss. There are tall trees and vibrant green meadows dotted with yellow and purple wildflowers in the distance, and a stream with crystal-clear water runs through the meadows.”
