Clearing her throat, she arched a brow at Roth. “Is everything well at Rothgale, my lord?”
“As well as can be.” He folded the letter, slid it into his pocket and tucked his eyeglasses away. A stare down his nose at her. “Unfortunately, one of my stable lads was found half an hour ago trampled to death by a horse.”
“Oh, good grief.” Shocked, she fluttered a hand over her mouth. “I’m so sorry.”
He shrugged. “The lad was deaf and mute, which is likely the cause of the issue. Still, I need to return home and see to matters. I’ll return tomorrow for the hunt.”
“Take as long as you need.” Her heart heaved for the lad’s family.
A dip of his head, his gaze still on hers as he stepped up to her. “Remember my words, my lady.” Which sounded entirely like a threat as he snapped a fierce look at Winterly then her brother before marching out the door.
Once the echo of his footsteps trailed away, Avery swung around and eyed her. “Remember what words? Speak of them now.”
“I can handle Roth.” Raising a hand to hold her brother from his coming spiel, she added, “You know how strong and resilient I can be.”
“You are my sister, my only sister. I will protect you, with my own life if need be.” He searched her gaze. “Tell me what the hell Roth is holding over you, what he’s holding over Father.”
“I’m not permitted to speak on the issue.” The truth, which wouldn’t placate her brother one little bit, so she reached up on her toes and kissed his cheek. “I love you, Avery, although I’m a lady who doesn’t need to hold affection or even have tender feelings for my forthcoming husband.”
“Yes, you do.”
“No, I don’t. Such emotions aren’t expected when marriages take place within our Society. We are simply fortunate that our parents love each other dearly, that we’ve seen how wonderful such a union can be. I’m well aware I won’t have that, a fact I have accepted. You need to accept it too.”
“You still need more than what Roth can ever offer—”
“I would even go so far as to say any hint of emotion within a marriage could be considered very unfashionable amongst the ton,” she muttered as she interrupted her brother. “Lord Roth holds no great sentiment for me, but that shall simply ensure an uncomplicated marriage. His only requirement is that I provide him with an heir, while my only requirement is for a husband who resides close to Hillhurst Hall, and a husband who will allow me to visit my family’s home so that I might remain as Mother’s companion for as long as I possibly can. I can’t leave Mother, not when she needs me.”
“Lord Roth mightn’t need to engage his heart with his next marchioness, but you will slowly wither and die away should you not be permitted to engage yours. You would be better off choosing say—” Her brother raised his hands in supplication then pointed at Winterly. “Winterly would be a far better match for you than anyone I know. Winterly Manor is only a four-hour ride from here.”
“Avery.” Frustration thrummed through her. “Winterly isn’t looking for a wife.”
“Not many men are until it becomes a necessity.”
She growled under her breath then shook her head at Winterly. “Please, ignore my brother. He is half out of his mind.”
“I’m not out of my mind at all.” Excitement suddenly ringed Avery’s tone as he clasped Winterly’s shoulder. “Gad’s, why didn’t I think of it sooner? You need to wed eventually, so why not right now? Beat Roth to the mark, so to say.”
“Oh goodness, are you trying to force your friend into offering for my hand?” Shocked, she swatted Avery on the arm. “You are even more out of your mind than I thought.”
“If not Winterly, then cast your net wider.” Avery gripped her shoulder, just as he still clasped Winterly’s.
“That’s impossible. If I broke my betrothal to Roth, my actions would cause a scandal, which would impact our entire family. Mother doesn’t need that kind of worry when her focus must remain on her recovery. Her toes now tingle, an improvement in sensation since she began using the water therapy the doctor advised.” Father had commissioned the building of a small indoor bathing pool at the rear of the house where glass windows on one side allowed Mother to view the gardens as she rested in the warm water while her maid moved Mother’s legs in a gentle kicking motion. Indeed, those sessions in the pool had stimulated her senses. “Are you aware of that?”
“Excuse me while I cut into your argument.” Winterly stepped in between her and Avery, then with a firm nudge toward the door, he steered Avery in that direction. “Give me a moment alone with your sister, if you will.”
“Good man. That’s a superb answer to this atrocious dilemma. Spend some time with my sister and see if you can bring her around to my idea.” Avery’s eyes shone bright, his smile wide as he clapped Winterly on the back. “I’ll be down the hallway. If you intend on proposing, then take your time. I’ll ensure no one interrupts you.”
“Avery don’t you dare leave us alone.” She hurried after him, but her brother stepped through the door and closed it firmly behind him. With a huff, she spun around and turned on Winterly. “I don’t need your pity.”
Winterly actually had the audacity to smile as he lowered himself onto one knee before her. “Rosamonde—”
“No. My answer is no. Please, you must stand and—well, I’m not accepting any possible offer of marriage from you, no matter that you kissed me down by the lake and curled my toes when you did.”
“Your kisses curled my toes too, my seductive Rosamonde.” Still on one knee, he caught her hand and held it captive in his, his gaze mesmerizing as he looked at her. “Avery is right. I do eventually need to wed, so why not now?”
“I said up.”
“My dear lady, I have had the pleasure of knowing you since you were but a child in short skirts. You’ve always been a sweet young lass, a bit too mischievous during your youth, but you’ve got a delightfully pleasant countenance, are sensible and intelligent and can speak three languages fluently.”
“Four languages.” She tugged her hand back and crossed her arms. “You must cease this charade immediately.”
“I apologize, four languages fluently.” He rose from one knee back to his full height. “You are also adept at entertaining and socializing among polite society, can play the pianoforte and sing as beautifully as a sparrow from a tree top. You would make a wonderful female companion, a wife to comfort me when I have need of your gentle touch, and”—he lowered his tone as he dipped his head to her ear—“a passionate nature which I intend on encouraging at every possible opportunity.”
“Now you’ve gone too far.” Scorching heat flared across her cheeks, his words beyond scandalous and panting a little, she pressed the backs of her hands to her heated cheeks.
“No, I’ve not yet gone far enough.” He grinned, rather rakishly. “I wasn’t aware until my arrival here at Hillhurst Hall of exactly how much I desired you.”
“It’s not desire you feel but pity.”
“Which brings me to the question I must ask you,” he uttered, as if she hadn’t just interrupted him. “Lady Rosamonde Raven, I wish for you to be my countess. Will you do me the great honor of accepting my proposal and marrying me?”
“No. The answer is still a resounding no.” Hopefully now he’d put this teasing interlude behind them. She tapped one foot, crossed her arms. “My lord, your house party etiquette is atrocious. You do not propose willy-nilly to a lady simply because you don’t approve of the man she will soon wed, or because her brother doesn’t approve of the man, but approves of you instead.”
“You can’t marry Roth.” He crossed his own arms, matching her stance exactly. “I also insist you cease calling me ‘my lord’. When we’re alone, you must call me by first name.”
“I don’t know your first name, and Lord Roth asked that I no longer repeat my earlier behavior of today, that I be found alone with a gentleman, particularly you, otherwise I will suffer his wrath for any disob
edience. I must ask you to honor his decree and no longer speak to me again in private.”
“It’s Richard, my first name.”
“I’m quite serious. My lord, it has been a pleasure to spend time with you today, but alas, it can be no more. I must join my family and yours in the drawing room. I wish you a good evening for what remains of the night.” She grasped her skirts and lowered into a graceful curtsy, the loose curls her maid had piled atop her head brushing forward across her cheeks.
She swept to the door and—
He beat her there, his palm pressed against the dark wood over the top of her head.
Taking an unsteady breath, she turned around and met his striking blue gaze.
The gaze of a man who wouldn’t be deterred.
The gaze of a man she’d always admired.
The gaze of her childhood hero.
Chapter 6
“We haven’t finished our conversation yet.” There wasn’t a chance Winterly would allow Rosamonde to leave, not when she believed his proposal had been spoken out of pity. Pity had never existed between them and he doubted it ever would. No, there was far more at stake here for both of them. Of course, he truly did desire her, that emotion having roared to life this day, of which it would no longer abate.
Pressing both palms on the closed door either side of her head, he leaned in until the lapels of his evening jacket brushed the fine blush-colored lace overlaying the silk of her gown’s neckline. Perhaps a little intimidation was in order, so she understood exactly where the two of them now stood.
Clearing his throat, he looked deep into her eyes. “Rosamonde, I have known you for years, just as you’ve known me. I’m always in full command of my actions and emotions, but with you today, any command I’ve had over myself has been swept away by the intensity of my need for you. You are a woman proper, and I proposed because I’m also fully capable of making my own decisions. I want to take you as my wife.”
Breath stuttering, she tipped her chin up as she searched his gaze. With the long, slim line of her neck fully revealed, her rosy lips parting as if she were fully prepared to counter his words, he waited as she opened her mouth, closed it, then opened it again. More stuttered breathing, her gaze on his lips, which caused fierce desire to shoot straight to his nether regions. His cock pressed painfully hard against the opening flap of his black breeches and he groaned at the swift intensity of passion she once more roused within him.
Damn it all, but he wanted to kiss her again, to taste her sweet lips. By the lake, her eager kisses had nearly undone him, her sweet raspberry and vanilla scent clinging to her, just as it clung to her now. That sweet scent filled his senses and taunted him, as it would surely continue to taunt him every day that was to come.
With her breasts rising and falling rapidly, she licked her lips, which drew his gaze directly to her mouth. He leaned in closer still, his desire roaring forth. Never had he experienced such a defining moment as this in his life. If he allowed her to walk away from him now, he might never get her back. A certain truth. He had to ensure she embraced this moment just as he currently did.
He took one of her hands in his and pressed her palm flat against his pounding heartbeat, directly over the dark silk of his waistcoat inlaid with gold thread. He waited for her to say something, do something, and when she curled her fingers inward and held on to him even more tightly, he touched his nose to her nose.
Dark and dangerous sensations swirled through him.
Those emotions weren’t only of passion, but of far more complicated feelings. The thought of her marrying Roth and starting a family with the man had caused an ache to grip his heart in a fierce hold. He truly wanted her as his wife, and since this might be his last chance to convince her that they needed to be together, he had to take the bull by the horns.
Yes, he intended to get a little underhanded in his coming actions, but he had everything to lose if he didn’t act fast. Moving swiftly, he caught her other hand and wound it around his neck, then he licked her lower lip and whispered, “You are so beautiful. I want to ravish you.”
“You are making me lose my mind, for the second time today.” She speared her fingers deep into his hair.
“You’ve already made me lose mine.” He covered her mouth with his, wanting only to share his breath with her and have hers fill his lungs in return and she granted his wish, her breath mingling seductively with his as it whispered across his tongue.
He kissed her, their tongues dancing together, their mouths moving in a heated duel as desire roared through his blood and hardened his cock even further. He shifted and pressed his hips against her hips, every curve of her soft body now molded to his. When she gasped and moaned, he greedily demanded more. Gently cupping the weight of one of her breasts in his hand, he flicked his thumb across her nipple poking through the thin blush-colored cloth of her bodice. Caressing and stroking her lush flesh, he deepened their kiss and muttered, “You feel so good in my arms, Rosamonde.”
“We shouldn’t be doing this.” She moaned in return and once more opened her mouth fully under his.
He welcomed the dark intimacy their position now afforded them. Slowly sweeping his lips downward, he trailed kisses down the graceful line of her neck and along the upper swells of her breasts.
“Oh, Richard.” She slid one hand inside his waistcoat and spread her fingers across the thin white linen of his ruffled shirt. “I’ve never felt this kind of passion in my life. Is it always like this between a man and a woman?”
“No, and it’s a passion neither of us will be able to sate with mere kisses tonight. I need to touch more of you.” He tipped her chin up and captured her mouth with brutal deliberateness. Over and over, he kissed her as if it might be his last chance to do so. A reality at the moment, if he couldn’t convince her to accept his offer of marriage.
“Touch me again, as you touched me before,” she breathed as she broke their kiss and pressed his hand more firmly over her silk-covered breast. “Right here.”
With his mouth covering hers, he kissed her deeply as he pinched and plucked at her nipple. The feel and taste of her drugged his senses, his need for her an unstoppable beat in his blood. He craved her, quite simply and forcibly, the intensity of his need unable to be extinguished. He dragged his hand down her side, clutched her skirts and lifted them. With the fabric bunched over his hand, he stroked the bare skin of her outer thigh, right above her garter. He should be making allowances for her youth and inexperience, but her soft moans urged him on.
He stroked the silky softness of her flesh then moved with boldness toward her mound and cupped her intimately. She whimpered, trembling in his arms and a need unlike anything he’d ever known before surged through him. He teased her entrance with a sensual slide of his fingers, and she grasped his shoulders and clung to him.
“Don’t stop,” she demanded.
“I won’t.” Pushing one finger deep between her folds and into the exquisite tightness of her channel, he captured her mouth again and kissed her until they both panted for air. “My sweet seductress, you’re so wet and tight and perfect. Once we are wed, I intend on burying my cock within you, as deeply as I can.”
“I need more.” She dug her nails deeper into his shoulders. “Goodness, give me more.”
“I will.” He intended to deliver all that she needed. He added a second finger and swirled deep inside her with a loving caress, and she widened her legs farther and when he rested his thumb on her nub and stroked that tiny bud which would bring her pleasure, she jerked her hips, her eyelids fluttering closed and her lips parting.
He caught her cry with his mouth and kissed her as tremors shuddered through her and only once they had subsided did he move his hand from her heat and allow her skirts to fall back in a soft ripple of silk to the floor. As she opened her eyes, he smiled at her. “You’re so beautiful, astoundingly beautiful. I want to make you come again and again at my hand.”
“I’ve touched myself there be
fore as I’ve bathed, but never have I experienced such overwhelming sensations as I did just now with your fingers inside me.” She searched his gaze. “What about you? How does a man come?”
“Since I’m in a rather randy state at present and I’m fairly certain I won’t be able to walk out of here without doing something about that state first, then you’re about to see.” He flicked a handkerchief from his top jacket pocket, unbuttoned the flap of his breeches and covered his shaft with the cloth. Arching a brow, he smiled at her. “Do you wish to watch me come?”
“Yes. Yes, please, yes.” She leaned back against the door, her chest rising and falling fast once more, her hungry gaze on his shaft. “What’s your appendage called?”
“A penis or a cock.” He hadn’t yet allowed her a good look at his manhood, but now he removed the cloth and as her eyes widened on the sight of his rigid staff saluting her high, he couldn’t help but grin. “I would like it immensely if you aided me in coming.”
“How?” With one shaky hand, she hovered her fingers over the head, which was turning a vivid shade of purple under the pressure contained within it.
“Wrap your fingers right around me, like so.” He caught her hand and curled her fingers around the width of him.
“Oh my, your penis is rather hard and firm, yet also smooth too. How unexpected.” A mischievous twinkle lit her eyes as she slowly glided her hand up to the head then back down to the base. “Like the finest velvet, you feel so silky.”
“You’re doing a wonderful job of aiding me.” With the cloth over the top, he covered her hand and moved her fingers in a deeper stroke and as she released a soft moan, he couldn’t help but release one too.
“I like touching you.” She pressed her lips to his lips, her kiss sweetly delicious, her hand moving faster with perfectly timed firmness.
Heat flared at the base of his spine and sizzled around to the front and without any further aid, he throbbed, his seed pulsing from him. It splashed the cloth, hot and wet and thick and as she gentled her touch, he slowly came back down from the heights of ecstasy she’d taken him to.
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