Miss Sophia's Spirited Spinster's Society

by Charlotte Stone

  “What do you call that?” she asked.

  He lifted a dark brow. “What?”

  “Your eyes,” she whispered. “What color do you say they are?”

  He grinned with the certainty he knew who beguiled her. “Blue.”

  “But they’re not blue,” she told him. “I mean, they are, but they’re not. Lorena’s eyes are blue.” She looked around and realized that both Lorena and Ashwick were gone.

  “Green then.” His thumb swept over the back of the hand he still held.

  Sophia gave a small start and turned to him, once again falling into his spell. “No. They’re not green either.”

  “Your eyes are green.” It was a simple fact, yet it was like he spoke it into existence. Had her eyes been any other color before, they were definitely green now.

  “Yes.” Do you think our children will have green eyes? Would you like to make them now?

  He leaned forward. “Most people say my eyes are teal but they can look different in candlelight. I could show you.”

  Sophia knew her shock showed on her face but prayed her answer didn’t. Yes. Yes. Yes. She cleared her throat. He wasn’t the first man from the brotherhood who’d flirted with her that evening. She had to keep a hold of herself. “There will be candles at dinner. I suppose I’ll see them then.” She offered him her most innocent smile when she usually gave a gentleman her very best alluring grin. But she didn’t feel comfortable doing so with this man. This man might take the bait and, even worse, she’d allow him to do so.

  His gaze fell to her mouth and his smile fell away. “Ashwick and Calvin said Lorena's new friend Sophia was pretty. They were wrong.” He tucked her hand into his arm and started to stroll them around the room.

  Sophia had met Calvin Lockwood, a wealthy landed gentry man on the night she and the other women had visited a tavern. Calvin, not knowing Sophia, had thought to set her to set her straight on a few matters, making it clear that women of Society were not to be seen at taverns, but she’d shown him her fury, which he’d not been prepared for, and in the end set him straight by advising he never offended her again. He’d grinned when she’d finished and escorted her, Maura, and Genie home.

  Calvin thought she was pretty. She liked that, though she realized that Morris’ opinion mattered more to her.

  She straightened. “I’m not pretty?”

  His gaze moved to her lips then back to her eyes. “No, you’re so much more than that.”

  Her cheeks stung as color moved to her face. “I believe I just heard you tell Lorena to not settle for anything less than your dukedom.”

  His expression changed and his jaw tightened. “Lorena will marry Ashwick.”

  “Does that upset you?”

  “No, I don’t love her but I must marry a woman like her.”

  “What do you mean?” she asked.

  “I have to marry the daughter of a peer.”

  She took a deep breath and allowed his words to settle into her shattered heart.

  Obviously, she’d not be having his babies after all. How unfortunate that her father had been born second and her mother a mystery. Her father had told her about most of his past and the truths she needed to know the most but she knew there was more to the story, far more to the case of her abandonment. It had all made her fear becoming a parent herself.

  Hadn’t she vowed to never marry anyway? “I’m not the daughter of a peer.”

  “But you are very beautiful.” He said it with a conviction that forced her to believe it.

  “Yet you didn’t kiss my hand,” she countered.

  He smiled then. “The first time I set my mouth on you, I plan for us to be alone.”

  She stopped walking just as they reached a dark corner of the room. There were so many ways she took offense to his words, beginning with the assumption that they would kiss and the added assumption that they would do it more than once. “You’re very arrogant.”

  He turned and nearly pressed her into the wall. “Don’t worry. You’ll like it.”

  Heat made her press her legs together, and she swore she would not let this man take liberties with her. He had already informed her that he had no plans to marry her, so their relationship could go nowhere.

  “We won’t be kissing.” Even to her own ears, she sounded breathy.

  He chuckled. “Now, the only question is exactly where to start.”

  She hesitated. “What do you mean?”

  “I mean, when I kiss you. Where should I start?” His eyes swept her body and when they returned to hers, his dark expression made her toes curl.

  “Good Lord,” she whispered as her mind immediately pictured the places she wished for his mouth to go. The burning in her cheeks spread down her throat. “You can’t say that to me.”

  “Why ever not?”

  “I’m gently bred,” she told him, though that wasn’t truly the case. She knew far too much for an unmarried woman of wealth.

  “You’re not a virgin.”

  Her lips parted but nothing came out of her mouth. She wanted to ask him how he knew.

  He spread his fingers against her belly, backing her into the wall, burning her through her clothes. The move was unseen by the rest of the room, the view of his hand blocked by his own body. His eyes became predatory. “I saw it in the way you looked at me when you first entered the room. You’ve eaten the forbidden fruit and have enjoyed it.”

  It was true. She’d been intimate with a man before, a man she’d loved, but it was only that one man and it had been nearly a year ago. This man, the one who stood before her, was not him. “You’re right. I’ve slept with a man before, however, your analogy is wrong.”

  His eyes darkened. “How so?”

  She placed her hands on his wrist at her stomach. “I am the forbidden fruit, and you’ll never have me.” She shoved his fingers away.

  He groaned and let loose a chuckle. “I like you.”

  “I don’t like you.” She started to walk away but he still held her other arm and easily set them back into the motion of circling the room.

  “Oh, I’ll have to change that.” His smile made her heart flutter.

  “I don’t think you can.” She was embarrassed to have revealed something so intimate on their first meeting. She’d never told any man but her father the truth and while Sophia could handle herself where men were concerned, there was something different about Morris, something ungentlemanly, that made her forget where they were, make her picture them in a time and place where a man could simply throw a woman over his shoulder and claim her as his own.

  His voice broke her from her thoughts. “You don’t want to challenge me.”

  “This is not a challenge. This is me stating what is. I don’t like you and I never will.”

  The footman’s announcement of dinner gave Sophia reason to snatch her hand back and move away from him. She sprinted from the room and no longer had to wonder at what the sensation at the back of her neck was. His eyes were on her, and Sophia tried to think of a way to ensure they were the only part of him that ever touched her again.

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  CHAPTER TWO

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  Sophia sat in the quiet of Lorena’s parlor and went through the invitations that some of the Men of Nashwood had dropped off earlier in the week. The table before her overflowed with them and it was all her fault.

  Last week, she’d told Levi what had gone on at the tavern and details about the man who’d burned out Ashwick’s home and he, in turn, had gone to the papers. The article had included mention of the Spinsters’ Society and every one of the Men of Nashwood. yet while the Spinsters thought the article in good taste, the men had not.

  They’d called a meeting to explain their position about the beau monde. They didn’t wish to go to balls and parties, yet now that everyone knew they we
re going out to taverns, everyone wished to host them, so Sophia had been forced to come up with a plan to appease them.

  She declared that the Spinsters would oversee the men’s schedule and fill it with various parties amongst themselves. Therefore, none of the ton would be hurt by their absence. She’d been glad when they’d given her permission to write her own stories about the two clans, ensuring the reputation of the groups remained.

  Sophia’s article about Lorena’s dress had somehow become about the ten Men of Nashwood and her female readers from every class had adored it. The next morning, she’d been offered her own page in the latest female magazines if she continued to write about London’s most sought-after bachelors.

  It had been a genius plan at the time, Sophia thought, at least writing had been but as she set to creating a schedule, she recalled why her plan didn’t work for herself.

  At the meeting, Morris had stood grinning in the corner and Sophia and realized she’d set herself up to run into him over and over again. If she was in charge of their schedules and the planning of parties, then it meant seeing him repeatedly and giving him a chance to lure her into his bed.

  Since the first night they’d met, Sophia had avoided him and the other men, yet she’d been right to assume that she’d be whispering his name in her sleep. Not one night had gone by without her envisioning his large body lying on top of hers. She shamelessly admitted that she’d touched herself with thoughts of him, his voice in her ear speaking wicked things, his hands roaming her body, his mouth on hers… and other places.

  She tried to remind herself that he was arrogant and thus not a good candidate for her bed, yet try as she might, whenever she heard his voice, she grew wet. Not looking in his eyes hadn’t helped because the rest of him was just as magnificent. She’d spent most of the meeting staring at his hands, thinking them large, remembering the feel of them on her body.

  “Good lord.” She placed her elbows on the table and leaned her forehead into her palms. She could barely get her mind away from him once she began.

  “What are you doing?” He was right in her ear, his breath brushing the fine hairs at her nape. She hadn’t even heard him enter.

  Sophia’s pulse quickened. She froze at the feel of his tongue running up the back of her neck. She gasped, stood, and spun around but words fled her as he crushed his mouth to hers, groaning and taking her with a force that shattered her reservations and filled her with need.

  She pressed closer. He grabbed her waist and set her on the table. Letters and papers fell to the ground. His hand moved to her skirts, pushing them up as their lips frantically mated.

  “Please.” She cupped the bulge in his pants and rubbed him hard, wanting to feel him deep inside her.

  He groaned again, his lips vibrating against her mouth. His body shook in answer. His hands found her thighs, sending thrills through her body.

  Footsteps sounded and Sophia broke from the spell and pushed him hard.

  Caught off guard, he fell back into her chair.

  She pushed down her skirts and stood just as Calvin appeared, a bag in his hand.

  “Brought my invites.” He held it up for her to see.

  “Uh, so many? It’s only been a few days,” Sophia managed to say, though her heart was racing.

  Calvin smiled. He was very handsome and often reminded her of a bronze statue. He was golden from his hair to his skin and even his eyes. He walked over to her, not stopping until he was only inches away, then leaned forward, causing Sophia to lean back. Their eyes held as he placed his bag on the table and straightened, smiling proudly. Lorena and Genie had called him a cad and she could easily see why. She prayed for the girl who would eventually win his heart. He was just as flirtatious as the others, though harmless where men like Morris were concerned.

  He looked down at Morris then and frowned. “What are you doing here?”

  Sophia, who’d not dared to look at Morris since Calvin’s arrival, found herself doing so now.

  Morris sat with his legs wide, an elbow settled on the armchair, and his head resting in his hand. He looked upset and she wondered if it were due to them being interrupted or Calvin’s nearness to her. From the look he was giving them, she’d say both. “I dropped my invites off, just like you.”

  Calvin nodded. “I’m returning to Francis’. Care to join me?” Francis Cullip lived right next door to his sister Lorena. Their parents’ families had been friends before they married. Lorena inherited the house from her mother and Francis his mansion with the rest of his father’s dukedom. He was the Duke of Valdeston.

  “I’ll join you in a minute,” Morris told him.

  Calvin looked between the two of them with an expression that set Sophia’s heart racing again and then left.

  Sophia licked her lips once he was gone. “You should have gone with him.”

  “Easier said than done.” He stood and made a tortured sound as he did.

  Sophia looked him over. “Where are you hurt?” She searched for where the pain could be coming from, already blaming herself for pushing him so hard.

  He grabbed her hand and rested it over the large bulge at his beeches. “Here.”

  She allowed herself a moment to feel the hardness that pumped under her fingers, then slowly retracted her hand. She wondered how she’d missed something so… obvious. Her first lover had not had that particular issue.

  He cupped the back of her head. “You’re not as experienced as you make yourself seem.” He pulled her close.

  She placed her hands on his chest. “You know nothing.”

  He grinned and lowered his head.

  Already, her body was prepared for what was to come. She began to panic and recalled her plan. “I’m with someone.”

  He froze, his mouth an inch from hers. “Who?”

  “Levi.” He was an actor she’d met two days ago while hunting for the man who’d burned down Ashwick’s home. The Spinsterhood would not rest until they found him. Only then did Lorena feel she could accept Ashwick’s proposal without guilt.

  “Levi?” Morris asked. “Does Levi have a surname?”

  “He’s yet to select one. He’s a very good actor. He wishes to pick a surname that will further his career.” She smiled as the hardened expression that came over his face. Then she changed the topic, wishing he would go. “Don’t you have somewhere to be?”

  He sighed. “I do, in fact.” He didn’t move. “I’ve a meeting.”

  “With the other men?”

  “Some of the Men of Nashwood will be there and others who are more interested in the latest bill in the house.” Though they were all part of a brotherhood, she’d learned that each man partook in their own pursuits. Morris’ sport of choice was politics. She’d also been told that he enjoyed shooting and was very good at it. Sophia had never been outside the city, so had never joined in on a hunt and therefore had no opinions on it.

  “Planning to make everyone see things your way? Why does it not surprise me that you’d enjoy Parliament?”

  He laughed and her heart skipped. “It’s tradition in my family.”

  “Again, I’m not surprised.” He seemed a man bent on traditions and customs. The Duke of Cort would follow the rules. A thought came to her mind. “Your father was Prime Minister, wasn’t he?” She recalled seeing it on a list of government officials while looking for information on an article.

  “And his father before him,” he told her.

  “Tradition.” Everything made sense, why he continued in his pursuit of the perfect wife, someone she would never be. “You wish to be Prime Minister.”

  He nodded. “One day.”

  She didn’t stand a hope of having him unless it was in the shadows. She pictured Lord and Lady Cort walking arm and arm into balls, dancing, hosting dinner parties for his political acquaintances. In every image, it wasn’t her. “Well, you better run along. You wouldn’t want to keep your party waiting.”

  His smile was breathtaking. “I’ve a few m
inutes.”

  “Then stay until Levi arrives to get me.”

  He chuckled. “Levi. I don’t believe you. I don’t believe he exists.”

  “I’m not lying. I plan to bring him to every event that the Spinsters hold.” Which meant Levi would stand between her and Morris at every opportunity.

  Morris stepped back and fell back into the chair. “When did you meet him?”

  “Two days ago.” She moved to the other side of the table and took the chair opposite him.

  Morris smiled again. “Two days ago? How convenient for you to have found true love right after I vowed to make you mine. It won’t last and when it ends, I plan to have you.”

  Her hands shook as she reached for another invitation. This one was addressed to Rollo and was covered with perfume. She put it in the discard pile. “And why do you think Levi and I won’t last?”

  He leaned forward. “Because it’s not convenient for me.”

  She scoffed. “Levi and I might marry. Who knows the future for us?”

  He laughed boisterously.

  She glared. “What’s so funny? You can’t see me as a man’s wife?”

  “Oh, I most certainly can. You’re very efficient.” He waved at the piles on the table. “You’re beautiful, charming, and wise. You’d be wasted on an actor. You need a man of power.”

  She tried to guard herself against his compliments but the soft-hearted woman that she was, the part that wanted a man to care for her, took as much joy as she did pain from his words. “Well, we bastard daughters of second sons must settle for what we can get.” She couldn’t be his wife, therefore he had no right to tell her who she could be with.

  She angrily grabbed another invitation, made a note, and moved on to the next one. She did this for some time and realized that Morris had not answered. She looked up to find he was still there, watching her, a haunted look in his eyes.