Scenting Scandal (Scandalous Siblings Series Book 2)

by Suzi Love

  Yet, he’d need to be dragged away screaming and kicking before he willingly conceded the right to any other man. Unless he helped by finding her perfect man for her. Ensuring her future happiness. Only then could he rest easy.

  Lottie announced, “I’m off to test my particular skills on Henry Mortimer.”

  “You won’t need to, Lottie. Henry’s so smitten with you already, he’d even reveal the name of his latest lady-love, if you asked him. My search is going to be harder. I need a tutor in the sensual arts, but one who knows the meaning of the word discretion. An unknown trait amongst the majority of these men.”

  Richard frowned, wondering yet again what skill Lottie possessed that could be added to Laura’s scientific experiments, her testing of men. He swallowed again, trying to ignore the lump in his throat. It galled him to know that Laura contemplated any sort of sensual play with any man except him. He banged his head against the wall behind him, cursing himself for his predicament.

  If he declared himself to her, his own feelings, his hidden yearnings where she was concerned, she would construe it as some sort of a promise. A vow she had a right to assume he made to her, the sort of thing any respectable lady expects from a respectable man. Though such promises were not ones he should make to her, hiding secrets from her as he did. He was damned if he did, and damned if he didn’t.

  Lottie moved away from her sister and went to greet her latest dance partner, leaving Laura cowering behind her leafy coverage. He stiffened his spine, and his resolve. Leaving her open to harm and hurt was unthinkable. Somehow, he must make her see the foolishness of the plans she and Lottie were concocting out of desperation.

  “Good Lord! What are you two thinking?”

  He spoke so close to her ear that she startled, jumped, spun around to face him. Her eyes, as dark as the night outside the balustrade doors, widened in shock and surprise. Sparks flashed in them, like the stars that twinkled outside in the inky sky.

  Those flashes, those bright sparks, made Laura unique. They encompassed her character. She held secret dark depths that were few were privileged enough to glimpse, yet she possessed a temperament fiery enough to ignite sparks, flash fury and defy the Gods when aroused or cornered.

  Christ, he wanted her! Who was he fooling with ideas of finding her another man? He wanted her. He alone. Wanted to capture some of that zest for life, that passion, and hold it against himself. Let some of it fill the empty spaces in his own being. They’d fit together like the soft leather of her gloves molding to her capable fingers.

  Why, then, did he still resist? Because he couldn’t bear to imagine the day in the future when she discovered what he’d successfully kept hidden for so many years. To have her uncover his weakness, have her reveal his ineptitude, even to gain her pity, would destroy him. No, better to stay away. When she took several quick swallows, he watched, fascinated, and followed the tinge of red creeping up her face. Laura embarrassed?

  Amazing. Interesting. Worrying.

  “You were eavesdropping,” she said, stabbing a finger into his chest. He took hold of the accusatory finger and held it still, assessing her expression, trying to read those deep thoughts and concerns. Wishing he could do more to ease the burdens he knew she uncomplainingly shouldered for her family.

  “Perhaps you could explain to me the exact nature of this secret skill Lady Charlotte wields so easily amongst men. The one everyone hints about but leaves me guessing.”

  Laura shrugged, a gesture he recognized well, as she’d used it on him countless times when wanting to deflect the topic of conversation to something more amenable to herself.

  “Men are inclined to tell Lottie…”An idle flick of a few fingers. “… things.” The minx excelled at off-putting gestures.

  “Things?”

  Another shrug, upwards and sideways, a gesture she’d practiced to distract the fops who fawned over her. The edge of her gown loosened, so that the neckline slipped another tantalizing inch. Being as crassly male as the rest of her leering flowers, the tiny glimpse of the side of her curved breast caused his mouth to dry and his pulse to speed. It would not, however, deflect his line of questioning.

  With a nonchalance he was far from feeling, he reached over, tugged the small puffed sleeve of her gown higher, and lifted the neckline with it.

  “Is that another of the gestures you practice in front of the mirror?”

  Horror flitted across her face, before she recovered her equilibrium. “My gown slipped.”

  “I noticed,” he said with dry irony. “Every male with a pulse notices when you perform that same act for him. That is precisely what I need to speak to you about.”

  “Oh, please, someone come to my rescue. I sense another of the Earnest Earl’s lectures about to commence.”

  “The Earnest Earl?” He couldn’t hold back a startled chuckle at this unheard title.

  “One of many names we Jamisons have labeled you on occasion.” Her honey-sweet smile belied the sarcasm with which she delivered the words.

  “Have I become so staid and calculated in executing my duties as stand-in guardian for Sherwyn, that I’m now being accused of becoming overly earnest?

  “Ironic. Every other woman of my acquaintance accuses me of being overly frivolous, lacking in attention, and the normal accusation is of my insincerity.”

  There was another sickly-sweet smile, this time with a small glimpse of her barred teeth, as she asked, “How is your dear, dear friend, the Countess, this evening?”

  “Tut-tut.” He waggled a finger under her nose. “That green-eyed monster reappears. But to set your inquisitive little mind to rest, I’ve managed to avoid the Countess. You should be commending me on my finesse as a sneak-thief, rather than condemning me on my acquaintances.”

  “Unfortunately, we both know the Countess has been far, far more than that to you. And if her presence at every event we’ve attended for the past week is a guide, she urgently seeks another acquaintance with your bed posts.”

  He laughed. “Laura, Laura. Your evil mouth will be your undoing. What if someone should overhear you? They’d think you a brazen hussy.”

  “Do you think I really care about these shallow creatures?” She waved a hand towards the chattering crowds in the room beyond them.

  “Yes, I heard the disparaging comments you and your sister made about many of these fine upstanding members of our peerage. Which brings me back to my main concern.”

  He sighed, knowing no matter how he addressed the predicament she would revile his advice. “Sweetheart, you’re far, far too lovely a lady to be drawn into any scandalous arrangements with gentlemen. You cannot draw these men into experimenting with you, as many of them—No. The majority of these men, most especially the ones who’ll forget their principles and agree to introduce a young lady of good birth to the sensual arts, are rakes, rogues and scoundrels. They’ll assume you’re far more experienced than we both know you are.”

  “You’ve no idea of the level of my experience.” Her nose rose in that haughty manner he’d come to watch for. Hauteur in Laura meant strength of character to spar with him. What he loathed was the times her head and shoulders drooped, like a kicked dog with its tail between its legs. “Not that it any of your business, but I may have already commenced on my research. Filled countless note books with descriptions of the sensual liaisons I’ve had with innumerable men.”

  “Liar.”

  “I beg your pardon?”

  “If, little innocent, you’d had countless encounters with men—men of experience, not wet-behind-the-ears boy who snatch a kiss on the balcony between sets—your breath wouldn’t catch in your chest every time I step near you.”

  He deliberately pressed the length of his body closer to hers. “Like that. And your midnight eyes wouldn’t grow extra stars when I bend my head to nuzzle your neck and nibble your ear.”

  He matched actions to his words, and her breath caught so hard that he feared she’d stopped breathing completely. He
lifted his head and stared into her eyes, frozen as wide as saucers.

  “Breathe, sweetheart, breathe for me.”

  Her eyes closed and she gasped for air.

  “Those are the reactions of an innocent. Pure, sweet, breathless anticipation. That’s how I know no man, at least no experienced man, has touched you. Yet. But be warned, little tempter: if you allow any one of those idiots over there to lay a hand on you, you shall be responsible for the messy consequences when I catch up with him.”

  Her hand went to her hips and she assumed her usual position of defiance as she challenged him. “How dare you!” A finger to his chest again. “You. Are. Not. One of my brothers.”

  He scowled at her, his own temper rising to match hers. “If I was your brother, and having these sort of thoughts about you, my lovely, the authorities would lock me away. Wherever they put people of depraved natures.”

  “Ooh! You’re not my keeper. And I’m not some young chit like them.” She flicked a hand towards the young timid girls sitting in demure fashion with chaperones. “I’m quite old enough to take care of myself.”

  A tell-tale tear leaked from the side of one of her eyelids, a demonstration that Laura’s bravado of late resembled the thin ice covering the pond at the beginning of winter. One hard push and it would crack wide open. His anger deflated like the air leaking out of the hot air balloon they’d viewed yesterday.

  “Sweetheart, it’s not cowardice to allow others to assist you. You take so much weight on your own shoulders that I hate to see you bent over with the heavy burden. Please, I beg of you, at least until the honeymoon couple return, accept my offers of help and don’t fight me every step of the way. No one will think less of you.”

  “You will.” As if fearing the words slipping out of her mouth, she put a hand to it and silenced it.

  With a gentle tug, he pulled her hand away. “What I think is, that lovely and lively Laura is one of the most courageous and selfless ladies I’ve ever had the privilege of meeting.”

  She studied him, head tilted to one side, appearing stunned by his revelation.

  “Really?”

  He nodded. “Truly. As to the other matter you were discussing with Lottie, those tests, like the ones Becca did–” He shuffled his feet, unable to finish. Ridiculous. Now he suffered from embarrassment.

  “Yes?”

  “If–if you’re determined to test the waters. To find out why people indulge in affairs. If you have such a strong desire to experience passion first hand, let me make it clear that I will not stand by and let you attempt these–these studies—with anyone untrustworthy.”

  “Fine. If that is what it takes to put your mind at rest and your scowling face out of my sight, I’ll seek out men of whom you shall approve.”

  “Damnation! Can you not understand my problem here? There are no blasted men out there of whom I can approve. Not a single one of them.” He lowered his head to mutter, “Not when I think of you as mine.”

  She bent closer, frowned. “What did you say?”

  He closed his eyes and prayed for deliverance from a conversation he should never have started, and now longed to finish. His stomach tied itself into tight knots. Through half clenched teeth, he ground out, “I said, the next dance is mine. Your aunt will be searching for you by now, anyhow, so we must go.”

  He placed Laura’s hand on his sleeve, and when another cluster of couples strolled past, merged with them to lead her back through the crowd. With a quick maneuver, he placed them in the center of the floor. He lifted her gloved hand in his, held it high, and awaited the commencement of the music. As the strain of the waltz began, he led her off into the steps, letting years of training take over as his mind drifted to other questions.

  “Oh, it’s a waltz,” she said in a surprised voice, as he swung her through a turn at the corner.

  He smiled, relieved. She’d obviously been as distracted as he was, though possibly not for the same reason. His preoccupation occurred from his mind obsessively returning to thoughts of Laura coming to his bedchamber; Laura begging him to teach her all he knew about seduction and pleasure.

  Her dark hair would flow like a river across his pillow as he laid her naked on his bed. Starting at her toes, he’d happily spend hours demonstrating all the places on a woman’s body that she could find exquisite pleasure, until she screamed her release like a wild animal calling her mate. Calling him to finish what he’d begun.

  And, oh, how he wanted to finish it, though he also knew that once he started on that path with Laura, there would be no ending. His wanting her was bound to increase threefold when he’d tasted her once.

  Without thinking, he pressed her closer and swung her into another turn, his leg extended between her thighs, his half arousal pressing against her skirts. Damnation! His arousal. He’d been so lost in the feel of her in his arms, and his fantasies of her in his bed, that he’d forgotten they also twirled between dozens of other couples and in front of hundreds of onlookers.

  Her eyes widened, an incredible look he adored; a look of dawning understanding, of purely feminine recognition of a male who wanted her in a physical manner. To his consternation, it had occurred more and more frequently of late. She sucked her bottom lip into her mouth, drawing his eyes to the action like a child counting cakes on a tea plate.

  Hungrily. Greedily.

  He shifted positions for the next twirl and swung her out a little, then tightened his hold and pulled her close again, while they executed another perfect movement of the waltz. Their bodies fitted together as if welded like metal joints in one of the factories they invested in.

  He nudged her legs apart as he thrust further forward with his knee, pushing his groin against hers, just enough to help push himself over the edge of insanity. Her breath hissed in and out, hard inhales and exhales that matched his own, as well as his rising level of excitement.

  “Of course we’re waltzing,” she said, with a quick shake of her head and more deep breathing through the turns. “What must… you think of me. Making such… inane comments.”

  “I think … little one…you’re as unfocused… as haunted… by the idea of us. Together. In bed. Or any other place. As I am.”

  He swirled her around another corner, marveling at how perfectly they blended together, like butter melting on his morning toast.

  “It’s a ludicrous idea. You don’t love me. You don’t even like me.”

  He threw back his head and laughed, as he slowed their steps and dodged other couples dancing past. “Loving is very seldom the reason people in this City of Sin bed each other, little innocent. And the nuisance is, lovely Laura, that I like you far, far too much for my own health. Or yours.”

  “Then–then why… why do we always argue?”

  He grunted. “Have you never heard the saying… opposites attract? We fight because we continue to deny the attraction between us; the sensual pull that tugs us together, no matter how much we pretend to dislike spending even an hour in each other’s presence.”

  Keeping his eyes fixed on hers, he shook his head. “In all probability, sweetheart, the time has arrived to relinquish all our presence. To give in to the inevitable.”

  They’d almost come to a stop as the band played the last notes of the tune and the twirling couples around them slowed and halted.

  “What is the inevitable?”

  He smiled softly, stilled, but didn’t release her. “The inevitable is that your charms become too strong for me to resist. You and I … are destined to become lovers.”

  He took the hand she held suspended in the air, placed it again on his sleeve, and made his way towards where he could see her aunt peering with an anxious expression into the crowds.

  “There you are, Laura, darling. I wondered where you were. If I had known Winchester was with you, I need not have worried. It’s so comforting to have a capable man like him to attend to us tonight. Don’t you agree?”

  Laura opened her mouth to state her thoughts,
most likely to disagree, but he gave her no chance.

  “If we are to avoid causing a scandal, it may be better to not allow Laura to voice her strong opinions on having me as an escort tonight, though I fear she would not agree with your assessment, dear lady.”

  He dipped a little bow to Lady Jamison, and that delightful lady tittered. Predictably, Laura continued scowling at him. Funny, he wouldn’t have it any other way. Igniting strong passions in her, even if directed against him, proved the most entertainment he’d ever had in long monotonous years around similar functions.

  “Richard, my darling man, where have you been hiding? I’ve been searching everywhere for you.”

  Hell! He didn’t have to glance down at the woman now clutching his arm, with claws like a jungle cat’s, to recognize who’d stalked him once more, cornered him again. At the worst possible time. No. He only needed a glance at Laura’s scowling expression. With difficulty, he unlatched her claws from his coat fabric and removed her hand, taking a small sideways step, determined to put himself out of her reach.

  “Countess.” His required bow was executed without directly facing the lady, though nothing deterred this hunting countess once she’d decided on her path. Or, in this instance, her prey.

  “Richard, sweetie, come dance with me. I long to have your arms around me again.”

  In unison, the Jamison women audibly groaned. They’d delight in tearing verbal strips off his hide later. Never mind. A little ridicule could be endured. However, the clinging Countess’s continual hints to everyone within hearing regarding them resuming their past association would not be tolerated.

  “I regret, Countess, we are about to depart.”

  The Countess of Newbery ran her eyes over the older Lady Jamison, and then turned towards Charlotte. She ran through the formalities of greetings before her intense scrutiny fixed upon Laura. Warning bells clanged in his ears. This woman was an infamous cat, vicious and gossipy when she was thwarted, and by the sinister look in her eyes, her intention might be to unleash her wrath upon Laura.

  “And you, Lady Laura; the room is abuzz tonight with your strange exploits.” She giggled, a deliberately ridiculing noise.