by Fiona Miers
“Yes, my lady.”
The butler bowed himself out of the room and Charlotte turned on her.
“What has happened? I thought you hated John.” Charlotte’s eyes grew wide and then her mouth made a large o as though shocked. “Please don’t tell me you’re falling in love with my brother. He’s family, so I must speak well of him, but he is a total rake.”
Hannah collapsed onto the chaise, her belly tightening with need as she heard John’s deep voice ricochet down the hallway.
“Tell me Hannah, and quickly.”
Charlotte seemed worried now, her brow tightening into a frown.
“Oh, no, Charlotte. Please don’t worry about me in that vein. I know what sort of man John is.”
She knew the type, had met many of them back home. Rakes. Dandies.
Although she had to admit that she respected the fact that John hadn’t tried to get her into his bed, not since he learned she was a virgin anyway.
But he was also the first man to tempt her, and if ever there was a man to dally with, it was Lord John Dunford.
“Good. Because although I do not believe him to be a debaucher of innocents, he is still a man. And a highly sexed one at that.”
“Yes. I know. I am not intimidated by him.”
Charlotte’s eyebrows flew up and a strange look of shock passed over her face. Perhaps Hannah shouldn’t have agreed so readily?
“Then what troubles you still Hannah?”
Should she tell Charlotte what tortured her? She didn’t have a sister, nor any other friends in England, so perhaps Charlotte was the best person to speak to? Although would Charlotte be biased, as John was her brother?
“I… had a moment with John at Lizzie and Rupert’s dinner party the other day, and I.. would like to enjoy some more time with him if you think it would be possible.”
Charlotte’s eyes went wide and she shuffled to the edge of her chair, her small, round tummy protruding from the dress.
“Did my brother do something inappropriate? If he did, I will punish him severely. You are in our care!”
The poor woman’s face was turning red and her hands were clawing into her legs.
“Oh no, Charlotte. Please never worry about me in that way. I can take care of myself.”
Charlotte seemed to relax a little but she chewed on her lips in a worried way.
Hannah tilted her head, pondering the wisdom of her decision here. “Maybe it’s best that I speak to someone else about this?”
Lizzie might be better. She was a lot more relaxed that Charlotte and very newly married.
Charlotte shook her head viciously. “No, I’m sorry. I struggle to see my brother in a different light, than how I’ve always seen him. How the other ladies in the ton see him is quite different.”
That was interesting. “But how do you see him, Charlotte?”
Charlotte softened, her whole body relaxing and a genuine smile rising onto her features.
“John’s wonderful. Sure, he’s a rake and slept with half the women in London, but he’s always been a great brother to me. Kind, loving, patient.” She giggled. “He punched Archie, one of his best friends, in the face when he found out I was pregnant.”
“Pregnant? Before marriage?”
Charlotte nodded, her pretty face staining red in embarrassment. “Yes, we were more passionate than we should have been.”
Seriously? Hannah couldn’t imagine the quiet, reserved cousin she knew being passionate or anything near it.
“I didn’t know.”
Charlotte shrugged. “I was in love with him, so making love to him was very natural.”
She’d never thought of it like that.
“I can’t imagine such a thing being natural, or, well, I couldn’t until the other night.”
Being with John had awoken a devil inside of her. Need clawed at her belly through the night and she finally understood the hunger that people spoke about men having.
Her mother had always said she should have been born a boy the way she rode horses and rough housed with her cousins. So perhaps this was another one of those things she had inherited from her father.
“The other night, John… kissed you?”
Hannah nodded, her belly jumping with nervous energy as she waded into this much-needed conversation. “Yes, and touched me until we both, I don’t know what the word is for it.”
Charlotte swallowed obviously. “Well then, I can see why you would want to see him again.”
“I do, Charlotte. And I know your brother is not the marrying kind. So what do I do while I wait for the right suitor to come along?”
“What about Lord Tulloch that you met at Lizzie’s home the other night. Was he not a good match for you?”
Hannah sighed her heart at odds with her head in this way. “Yes, he is a good match, but I did not feel anything for him. I have waited this long to be married Charlotte, I don’t want to choose the wrong person now.”
She didn’t want a boring life, nor a husband she would soon grow indifferent to. She wanted fire, and passion, just like Charlotte said she had.
“I agree with you, Hannah. Marriage is for life and you want to pick a man who loves you or at least respects you. If I have learned anything from my marriage, and those of Sarah and Lizzie, those two things are essential.”
Hannah took a deep breath, unsure how what she was thinking would sound once she said it aloud.
“But in the meantime, do you think it would be all right, to perhaps, dally with your brother a little?”
Charlotte bit her lip again, obviously conflicted and Hannah’s heart squeezed tight.
Hannah tried not to panic as the time stretched, but instead, waited for her cousin’s wife to respond. This was something she very much wanted to know. She hadn’t met anyone in London so far that made her feel the way John did. He made her angry. So angry she wanted to throw things at his head. But then she wanted to kiss away his pain and find out why he seemed so very broken.
All very worrying signs that she perhaps was more enamoured with him than she would like.
And yet she could not and would not stay away. She hadn’t waited this long to finally feel that spark, to walk away.
“I believe it wouldn’t hurt for you to spend time with John, as long as you are careful not to be found out. If you are compromised, he will have to marry you. And I would not wish that sort of marriage on you.”
That sounded very ominous. “What sort do you mean, Charlotte?”
“The sort that my parents have, that my older brother has. John would be the same, I am sure of it.”
Hannah still did not know what sort of marriage that was, but before she could ask, the door swung open and Archie stepped in.
“Are you ladies accepting visitors now?”
Charlotte stood up, extending her hand so that her husband would walk forward and kiss it, as he did. Hannah watched her cousin move and saw the hints of the romance that Charlotte had mentioned.
Then John walked into the room and liquid heat poured into Hannah’s belly. The man was so handsome her eyes ached from staring at his perfectly sculpted lips and cheek bones.
When he looked her way and their eyes met, Hannah’s body quivered in that place that John had so cleverly stroked with his fingers the other night.
“Hello, Hannah.”
“John.” She curtseyed and gave him a smile, unable to stop herself from expressing how happy she was to see him.
If Charlotte thought it was a fine idea to spend some more intimate moments with John, why wouldn’t she?
“I have invited John to stay a few nights with us, my dear.” Archie was saying when Hannah’s senses finally relaxed enough to hear what was being said in the room. “He is quite stifled at your brother’s home and until he moves into his new townhouse, I thought here would be a good place for him to stay.”
Charlotte shot her a worried look and Hannah smiled back at her cousin’s wife. This was perfect.
&n
bsp; Charlotte turned back to her brother. “Of course John, you are always welcome in our home.”
The men bade their farewells and the rest of the afternoon passed quickly.
Hannah was soon being dressed for dinner and a plan was firmly in her mind. She would ask John to teach her the ways of the bedroom.
She wanted to know more before she got into a marriage with someone where she would be expected to perform a duty she did not understand. And if there was one man who could teach her such things and then happily walk away, it was Lord John Dunford.
****
John went down for dinner with a happy heart. Just being around Hannah made him happier than anywhere else. His club made him sullen, even the boxing ring lacked luster. But here, surrounded by his family and friends, and a woman who tested every limitation set on her sex, he was home.
“Do you have plans for tomorrow Hannah? I thought perhaps we could go for a ride, or I could show you some more of London?”
Hannah smiled and opened her mouth to reply, but Charlotte cut her off.
“Hannah has a walk with Lord Doveton tomorrow afternoon.”
“Damn,” Hannah muttered and John felt his eyebrows climb his forehead. What other cuss words did the American know?
“Hannah. You liked Lord Doveton.”
“I did, but walking in a park cannot compare to riding Brutus.”
John flashed his sister a smile. He knew the way to Hannah’s heart.
“Keep to your engagements, Hannah. You are here to look for a husband, and John is not a candidate for that. Are you dear brother?”
John lifted his wine glass up to his sister and gave her a silent salute, not answering the question as he drank some of the peppery wine. It was too early to show his cards and Charlotte was the last one he wanted messing in his affairs.
“True. All right Charlotte. Can we go riding the day after, John?”
“Yes of course, please enjoy your day with the lovely Dovey” He smirked as he continued to drink.
That man was as interesting as a glass of water, but let Hannah show the ton what a respectable lady she was. It would make it even better when he married the American and stole her out from under all their noses.
“Port and cigars, John?” Archie asked him.
John nodded and stood up, walking around the table to clasp Hannah’s hand. “Perhaps I will see you later?”
She smiled up at him and leaned forward to whisper. “I may read a book if I can’t sleep.”
So, she would be in the library again? Oh, good. His talents in the library had not been forgotten.
“Good night, Hannah.”
She gave him a blinding smile and he walked away, his loins aching with her implied seduction.
He spent the next few hours playing cards with Archie and relaxing by the fire, images of Hannah’s glorious hair dancing in the fireplace.
She would be red hot in the bedroom, he was sure. With her need to throw herself into everything she did. Her body strong from all the horse riding, the fiery temper that he’d seen, rolled into passion between the sheets could only translate one way.
His cock ached and he groaned as he pulled himself away from the fire.
“What else is going on with you John? Since when do you get an additional house in town?” Archie arched an eyebrow at him and John grinned.
Not much got past his friend, indeed, practically nothing.
“My brother has made me his heir, officially, and has asked me to marry this year.”
“He what?” Archie sat up straighter in his chair, still nursing the same port he’d poured hours ago.
“He demanded I marry and produce an heir, so I asked for my own home in town. On Oxford street, of course.”
Archie’s mouth was wide open and John laughed at his friend. “Oh come on Archie, you knew this day was coming.”
Archie nodded, his eyes still wide and staring straight ahead. “I did, of course, but only if our sister in law did not produce an heir for your father.”
“Well, she has not, and it doesn’t look like she ever will. So, the pressure has fallen on me to do the right thing by the family.” And amazingly, the more he thought about it and said it aloud, the more he felt comfortable with his new direction.
“Did you tell him you wanted more time? What about the next in line? Could you just pass the Dukedom on to your cousin?”
John frowned at his friend. “No, I will not pass on the title to some dim-witted cousin. What’s wrong Archie? Do you think I’ll be such a terrible husband that you can’t imagine me ever being married?”
He continued to glare at his brother in law and Archie raised his hands in a sign of submission. “I didn’t mean that John, it’s just that, as long as I can remember, you did not want to marry. I don’t want you being forced into something that you don’t want.”
John let go of his anger as quickly as he could and blew out his breath in a long sigh.
“I’m not sure what you know about my parent's marriage, but it is an ugly state of affairs.”
Archie inclined his head. “As is my parents.”
“Yes, but not like mine. My father has always openly flaunted his mistress in our faces, in my mothers, and I… did not want that for my own family.”
“There is a choice, John. You don’t have to be like your father. I think I would take a gun to my own temple if I was anything like my own father.”
John shuddered at the idea. “Don’t even joke about it, Archie. You are my sister’s whole world. She would die without you.”
Archie lifted his port glass as though to say thank you and John felt an unusual swell of love for his long time friend. “You are a good husband Archie. Charlotte is very lucky to have you.”
Archie looked at him with searching eyes. “Thank you, brother. I am very lucky, also. She is my everything.”
John began to shuffle in his chair and stood up, moving to the door. This much emotion was not normal and it made his chest hot, and heavy.
“Good night, Archie. Thank you for your hospitality.”
He opened the door and as he turned to leave, he twisted back around.
“Please don’t tell anyone, even Charlotte about my marrying this year. I don’t want her to influence my search.”
Archie nodded, a quirk at the edge of his mouth indicating that he understood John’s request. After all, he knew Charlotte better than anybody. “I won’t.”
“Thank you.”
John walked to his room, passing the library on the way and finding it empty.
Perhaps Hannah found that she could fall sleep and was already in bed?
No, he was not wrong about the invitation he’d heard in her voice earlier on. He would get changed for bed, then come back and check for her again.
He went back to his room, got into his nightshirt and wrapped a dressing gown around himself. His heart was beginning to pound in his chest, the excitement building before he’d even left his own room.
He marveled at the effect Hannah had on his body, he’d never experienced anything like it.
He picked up the candlestick that looked remarkedly similar to the one she’d thrown at him in the country house and grinned with good humour as he moved down the hallway and towards the library.
He stepped up to the door and pushed it open, his breath catching when he saw the candelabra, five glowing candles lighting up Hannah’s beautiful face.
“You came.”
He stepped into the room and clicked the lock into place.
“Of course I did.”
He placed his candlestick down and stepped closer. Hannah jumped to her feet and wrapped her arms around his neck, lifting her mouth for his kiss.
He wasted no time in accepting her invitation, and he swooped down to devour her. He pulled her tightly against his hungry body as his tongue plundered her mouth. She tasted divine, like everything sweet and sensual. Wine, chocolate desserts, and brandy all in one.
Her nightgow
n was thin and as his hands roamed over her lush behind, he reveled in the feeling of the firmness, the strength.
Ladies of the ton were soft, fragile, and somewhat like a pillow if they weren’t painfully thin. Hannah was tight and felt completely different beneath his hands. He’d never confuse her for anyone else, that was for damn sure.
He pulled away, breaking the kiss so that he could stare down at her. “I want you so much, Hannah. Will you come back to my room with me?”
