Beth knew she should push him away again, but she just couldn’t as he kissed her again. This time, he gently pried her mouth open with his tongue and then he was sucking her tongue into his mouth. Oh, God. That made Beth tremble, and she found him slipping his arms around her again, hauling her against his body. A very hard, firm body.
One that was hard in very specific places.
Beth started as she felt something pressing into her belly. Was that …? She had never been schooled on the intimate parts of a man – or anything regarding a man, for that matter – but she wasn’t a fool. A man could become aroused by the slightest thing, especially a kiss.
And he was certainly aroused. Beth had a sudden urge to press even more against him to feel more.
Whoa, she had to stop! This was certainly not proper, and anyone could come along and see what they were up to. Granted, it was a lovers’ lane, but Beth would be recognized; her father’s name was already banded around London due to Flora’s indiscretions. Beth was the quieter one, but once word got out what she was up to in secluded areas, their family would be ostracized.
That would devastate her parents.
She had to get away from him. Even if she wanted to keep on kissing him. He was making her resolve melt the longer it went on. She couldn’t …
He moved his mouth from hers to her jaw and down to her neck, pressing kisses to her ear and right over her pulse. Beth started. Her hands tightened on his shoulders.
“What if someone sees us?” she gasped. “We’ll be ruined.”
She felt his laughter vibrate against her skin.
“Considering what the Prince Regent’s reputation is like, I don’t think our ... indiscretion will be of any comparison. Besides, embracing in a lovers’ lane isn’t going to raise an eyebrow.” He paused, brushing his tongue over her pulse. “Yet.”
He was like an addiction. Beth trembled and had to fight back a moan. This was not right. She wanted it to be, but it wasn’t. Her heart began to race, but whether it was because of their scandalous position that felt good or panic at the thought of being caught, Beth wasn’t sure. All she knew was that she had to get out of there. Flora would be able to find her way out of the gardens. Right now, Beth had to get home.
“Sir, please …” She started to push his shoulders. “We can’t …”
“If you want me to stop, tell me.” He lifted his head up, his eyes piercing into hers. “It won’t be easy, but I’ll stop.”
Beth’s gut believed him. She didn’t want him to stop. That startled her. And yet, she had to remember herself. Her reputation was now on the cusp of teetering on the edge. She had to claw it back.
But not without one more kiss. Grabbing his head, Beth pressed a hard, fierce kiss on him before withdrawing and ducking out of his arms. He had started to reach for her, but Beth darted out of reach, backing away from him.
“I have to go.” She wished her voice wasn’t trembling. “I shouldn’t be here.”
“At least tell me your name.”
Her name. She couldn’t. Once he found out who she was, he would know everything. And believe the entire Campbell family were scandalous. Beth should have given him a false name and left. Or not given a name at all.
But she couldn’t do that to him.
“Elizabeth.”
“Elizabeth what?”
“Just Elizabeth.”
She certainly wasn’t giving her family name. He frowned, looking bewildered.
“You don’t want me to seek you out later?”
Seek her out. A man wanted to know more. But Beth knew as soon as he found out about her family, he would run away. It pained her, but it was the best decision.
“It’s best that you don’t, sir.” Beth backed away as he started towards her. “That’s all I can allow.”
Then he smiled. God, that smile could stop women in their tracks. It certainly stopped Beth. An arrogant, self-assured one, but it was a smile that made Beth’s insides feel like she was housing butterflies.
“I’m sure I can find you.”
Beth shook her head.
“No, you won’t.”
Then she turned and ran, going back the way she came. If she was lucky, she would be able to find a carriage to take her home. Hopefully, she could find her sister and they could get back before her parents returned. And the bruises would go down.
Oh, no. The bruises. It was going to take some creative dressing, make-up and a lot of lies to talk away those bruises. Her parents were not stupid people. Maybe if she claimed to be unwell and made her maid Tatiana swear to secrecy, she could hide away until the bruises went down. If they didn’t, Beth would have to rethink what to say.
But even as she hailed a carriage and jumped in, backing away from the window as the carriage started off down the street, Beth couldn’t stop thinking about the gentleman who had rescued her from a thug, who looked like an Adonis, and who could kiss a woman until they were melting. Dangerous thoughts, but they did make her smile.
#
“Your Grace?”
Gerard looked up. A tall, red-haired man in his late thirties wearing a dark coat and trousers was standing in the doorway to his study. He hadn’t realized that someone had entered the room. Gerard had been sitting by the fire, staring into the roaring hearth. Even with the weather being as warm as it had been for the last month and a half, Gerard still wanted the fires lit. It gave him some comfort, made the place a little more homely.
And it helped him to think. About anything. Tonight, of only one particular person.
“Oh.” Gerard rubbed his eyes and sat up. “Come in, Evans.”
His valet closed the door and walked across the room to him in long, purposeful strides.
“I did try to get your attention, Your Grace,” he said. “But you seemed to be elsewhere.”
“Forgive me. I didn’t realize anyone was here.” Gerard rubbed his eyes again. His headache, which had been building since the fete, hadn’t gone away. “Are the children asleep yet?”
“Mrs Evans says they’re all sleeping now.”
“Even Hermia.”
“Even her. She was still reading when Mrs Evans went to look in on her half an hour ago, but just now she found her spread across her bed with the book on her chest snoring away. I’ve just helped put her into bed properly.”
Gerard couldn’t help smiling. His eldest daughter was becoming a tearaway, turning into a young woman who lashed out with the slightest provocation. Out of all of their children, Hermia had taken their mother’s death the hardest. But there were times when she reverted back to the old Hermia, such as falling asleep while reading, and Gerard wished he could have that child back.
“Did she give your wife any problems while getting ready for bed?”
“No more than usual.” Evans shrugged. “Mrs Evans can handle it.”
“I’m sure she can.” Gerard gestured at the chair across from him. “She has got the patience of a saint, that woman.”
Evans smiled.
“I know she has. We’ve been married long enough for me to notice that.”
He took a seat. Normally, servants weren’t meant to take a seat in the presence of their employers and social betters, but Evans had been Gerard’s valet for nearly twenty years. They were as close as brothers, Gerard looking to Evans for advice when he needed it. Unconventional, but Gerard didn’t care. He liked to do things a little different, within reason. And he wasn’t about to push Evans aside in private.
Evans was a valuable person, as was his darling wife. Patricia Evans had taken on the extra job of being a temporary governess until the new one arrived in the morning. Holding on to a woman who could look after his children and teach them their lessons was not as easy as Gerard expected.
Mostly because of Hermia. She was a bright girl, and yet she hated her lessons. She did everything she could to disrupt them, to the detriment of her younger sisters.
All because their mother was their teacher. Allegra had
done the unconventional thing and become the one who schooled her children in everything. She was a very bright young woman and loved to learn as much as her children. They came first. People raised their eyebrows, but they didn’t say anything. Allegra was a natural teacher, a perfect hostess and a loving wife and mother. Gerard couldn’t have asked for better.
Now Hermia saw the governesses as replacements for her mother. She couldn’t have her mother back, so she didn’t want anyone else. Gerard understood her reasoning, but it was getting frustrating.
Patricia Evans was the housekeeper, not the governess. She didn’t need the extra job. She and her husband were the most loyal servants in the household, along with the butler Bartlett, and even they were getting fed up with Hermia’s behaviour.
Gerard couldn’t blame them.
“Is there something wrong, Your Grace?” Evans asked as he brushed his trousers down.
“What makes you say that?”
“You’ve been a little ... off.” Evans spread his hands. “I don’t really know how to describe it, but you’ve not been in the same frame of mind since you came back from that fete in Vauxhall Gardens.”
Gerard grunted.
“I think if you had to spend time at an engagement where the Prince Regent and his loyal cronies are present, turning into a debauched affair, you’d be in a different mindset as well.”
“I suppose.” Evans chuckled. “He certainly likes to put on a show.”
“Anything to make him look good,” Gerard grumbled.
The word around London was that King George had made his eldest son go through rigorous lessons to make him ready to become king when he passed on. And the Prince Regent had hated it so much that once he was old enough, he went over the top with his antics.
Now he was old, fat, and ugly but still managed to bring the women in and the men to fawn over him as well. Gerard couldn’t care less. The man did not have the conduct of a king. Hopefully, King George’s madness would ease back enough that he would be in charge again, and they wouldn’t have a useless, fat fool pretending he was running the country.
“I heard that he was commissioning the painter Thomas Lawrence,” Evans said. “Something about painting all of the generals and main figureheads of this campaign against Napoleon with his own portrait as the main masterpiece in the centre of it all.”
“I’ve heard that as well. His followers can’t stop talking about it.”
“The Prince Regent has never been to war. I doubt he’s ever seen battle. Certainly not against Napoleon.”
“I don’t think that bothers him much.” Gerard grunted. “As long as he looks like the stronger, better commander than the Emperor of France, he doesn’t care.”
And with a fake portrait as well. The Prince Regent never wanted his real portrait up for anyone to see. What was portrayed was a handsome, younger-looking version of the man Gerard had been in the presence of. It was difficult at the beginning to remember that it was the same person.
Talk about vanity. The man’s vanity was ridiculous.
Gerard looked into the fire. He didn’t want to talk about the Prince Regent. He wasn’t worth it. Right now, he wanted advice. Evans was always straight with him, and Gerard needed his perspective on this right now.
“Is it possible to find a member of the opposite sex attractive when your loved one dies?”
“Your Grace?”
Gerard sighed.
“You’re not deaf, Evans. You heard my question.”
“I did, but I am surprised at it.”
Gerard looked at him. Evans was surveying him curiously. Gerard stretched his legs out in front of him, feeling the heat from the fire tickling up his legs.
“Do you think it’s possible?”
“Of course, it’s possible.” Evans gestured at himself. “I’m my wife’s second husband. She certainly found me attractive enough to marry me, even if I was a bit of a cad towards her.”
“That part is true enough.” Gerard tilted his head. “And you didn’t mind that she was a widow?”
“Why should being a widow stop her from finding happiness again? Doesn’t make them tainted because they were married before, no matter what people say. It is possible to find love after the person you promised to love until death has gone. It’s not the be-all and end-all.”
“If only Society had more people like you.”
Evans chuckled.
“I think my opinions on matters would have their heads exploding.” He sat forward. “Did you find someone who caught your eye, then?”
“I did.”
Gerard was still coming to terms with it himself. He sat back and rubbed his chest. It had been feeling a little tight since Elizabeth had run away from him. And run was the best way to describe it.
“It wasn’t in circumstances I expected, either. I was leaving, saw that she was being attacked, and I rescued her.”
“How gallant.”
“Was that meant to be a helpful comment?”
“My apologies, Your Grace.”
Gerard grunted.
“You know I’m not a forward man. I don’t do that. But there was something about her, and I …” He swallowed. “I couldn’t help myself.”
It took a moment before realization dawned. Evans’ eyes widened.
“You took pleasures of the flesh?”
“Not like that. It was just a kiss.” Or several kisses, but Gerard didn’t divulge that. “But I now feel like I want more.”
“And you’re feeling guilty about it,” Evans mused.
Gerard wasn’t entirely sure. There had been guilt at the beginning, but the more he thought about it, the more the guilt disappeared. He was a widow. Allegra was not here. This wasn’t adultery. Although there were brief moments when Gerard winced as he thought about his wife.
Even then, there were moments in Gerard’s mind when he felt like he was having an affair. He sighed and looked at the flickering flames.
“I loved my wife, Evans. I still do. I shouldn’t be feeling this for somebody else. Especially when all I know about her is her first name.”
“Maybe that’s a good thing.”
Gerard blinked.
“How so?”
“If you wanted something carnally from her and nothing more, there’s a good chance you won’t want to see her again when you’ve satisfied yourself. But by that time, she might have become attached to you and won’t let go. Then you’ve got a mess on your hands.”
He did have a point. But Gerard had a gut feeling that this went much deeper than carnal thoughts. He shook his head.
“I don’t take a woman to bed and then cast her aside, Evans, and you know it.”
“It was just a suggestion. Besides, you’ve been married practically your whole adult life, so you don’t know what you’re capable of doing.” Evans shrugged. “You’re a single man now, Your Grace, so you can get away with it. And from the expression on your face, you certainly want more than just a kiss.”
What A Wicked Duke Demands (Historical Regency Romance) Page 5
