Regency Scandals: Touch Me, Tempt Me & Take Me Box Set

by Lucy Monroe

  How incredible to be alike and yet never have met.

  She returned to her aunt’s table, her hands unsteady so she carried her plate with both of them.

  Drake had arrived and sat regaling her aunt with the tale of Jacob, the blacksmith, who lived on an island, but was afraid of the water.

  He stood as she approached and pulled a chair out for her.

  She took it still lost in her thoughts of her sister. “Thank you.”

  He smiled at her and picked up a stuffed mushroom from her plate. He popped it in his mouth.

  Her mouth drew down in a frown.

  “What’s the matter?”

  She could not very well share her heart’s confusion where they could easily be overheard, but she wanted to tell him about meeting Irisa. Her aunt’s expression gave nothing away, but Thea knew the dowager had seen her talking with Irisa.

  Drake filched a canapé off of her plate.

  “If you are hungry, get your own food,” she said, still annoyed he had left her to face the torture of the musicale alone.

  He laughed. “I’m doing you a favor, but if you don’t appreciate my sacrifice, by all means finish your own food.”

  She let her gaze slide to the innocent looking fare still on her plate. He must be teasing her. She picked up the lobster patty and took a small bite. It tasted a little different than those back home, but she attributed that to English cooking. She ate the rest of it and the remaining food on her plate to prove to Drake that she didn’t, for a minute, believe he was helping her by eating her food.

  “Are you ready to go now, dear?” asked Lady Upworth when Thea had finished.

  “Yes, if we hurry, we’ll be able to make an appearance at the Bickmore Route.”

  Thea’s gaze flew to Lady Boyle. “Bickmore Route? I thought we were going home.”

  “Nonsense. The evening has just begun. You must realize that once the Season starts you will be out until dawn most evenings.”

  Stay out until dawn? When would she sleep? Panic coursed through her. Being introduced to society was going to be a horrible inconvenience.

  Drake stood and helped his aunt, then hers and finally Thea to her feet. “I’m afraid I have some things to discuss with Thea this evening. She will have to forego the pleasure of the Bickmore Route.”

  Lady Boyle’s eyes narrowed. “I trust it will not require locking the library door as it did the other afternoon.” She turned to Lady Upworth. “These young people have no idea how their actions appear to others. Can you imagine the disaster if a servant had happened upon the locked door instead of me?”

  Thea almost groaned aloud.

  She had not told her aunt about Lady Boyle catching her and Drake locked together in the library. She was still mildly irritated with him for forgetting to unlock it after they had finished making love. His aunt had rung a peal over both of them that rivaled anything her mother had ever done when she was a child.

  Thankfully, Lady Upworth did not demand explanations. She merely raised her brows and said, “I’m sure their actions appeared much as they were. Speaking of which, while you are conversing with my niece this evening, I suggest you take time to discuss setting a wedding date.”

  “It’s one of the first items on the agenda,” Drake said blandly.

  ******

  Thea managed to hold her tongue until Drake had seen Lady Boyle and Lady Upworth to her aunt’s carriage.

  As he helped her into Lady Boyle’s closed carriage, she chastised him. “Does nothing shame you? Our engagement is a sham. Do you think to add a false wedding date that must then be broken?”

  He settled her on the carriage seat and then joined her.

  The carriage lurched into motion and she fell against him, bumping her nose on his shoulder. “Ouch.”

  Setting her back against the squabs, he kissed her gently on the offended body part. “We will set a real date, one I have every intention of keeping.”

  “You are so stubborn.”

  His laughter filled the small confines of the carriage. “Then we are a very good match. I’ve never met another woman as obstinate as you.”

  In the darkness, she could not tell if he were teasing her.

  She frowned. “For a man who is supposedly my betrothed, you do a poor job of playing your part.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “You abandoned me practically the moment we arrived at the musicale.” Remembering her annoyance at being left to listen to the awful entertainment, her voice turned waspish. “Surely no one will believe we are engaged if we are not seen together.”

  “An engaged couple may attend the same functions, but no one expects them to spend all their time together.”

  She tried to ignore the heat emanating from his body, so close to her own. “Do not tease me.”

  “I assure you, I am not.”

  “But that is ridiculous. How can you wish to marry someone you do not want to spend your time with? Why, after the marriage, the close proximity could drive you mad.”

  He laughed again and she wanted to throttle him. “Marriage in the ton does not require close proximity. Some husbands and wives keep separate residences entirely.”

  A different home than Drake? The thought appalled her. “That’s terrible.”

  Drake shrugged, his arm rubbing against her shoulder. Even through her cloak, she found his touch exciting.

  He said, “It isn’t unusual.”

  She stiffened in her seat. “Is that what you expect of marriage? It sounds like a very lonely existence.”

  “I have no desire to spend my time alone, particularly my nights.”

  She shivered at the promise she heard in his voice.

  This conversation was getting dangerous. “Nevertheless, you deserted me tonight. Why?”

  “I wanted to verify some things my man of affairs has discovered regarding Emerson and Barton.”

  “What things?”

  “Emerson appears to have very expensive tastes in mistresses and Barton buys his clothes at the most exclusive tailors.”

  “I told you there was something fishy about him, but the news about Emerson must be old information. He became engaged recently.”

  “Yes, I know. To the daughter of a wealthy cit.”

  “Then you must realize that his taste in mistresses, expensive or otherwise, is no longer an issue.”

  “Thea, do not be naïve. Many gentlemen keep mistresses after marriage.”

  How dare he sound so condescending? “If I were to marry, my husband would not keep a mistress.”

  He reached around and pulled her chin toward him and kissed her firmly on the mouth. “No, I won’t. You are the only woman I want.”

  She warmed at his words, but wasn’t ready to let go of their earlier conversation. “What makes you think that Emerson is one of the men that will keep a mistress?”

  “He already has one.”

  “Are you certain? Perhaps she used to be his mistress.”

  “That’s what I tried to verify tonight. My man of affairs said that Emerson’s current paramour was a widow in the ton. A lady with very expensive taste in jewelry. Unfortunately, the gentleman I hoped to speak to was too involved in his hand of whist to gossip. He did say that he’d heard the widow was seeing someone involved in trade.”

  She chewed on that thought for a moment. “Drake?”

  “Hmm?”

  “You are involved in trade, but no one appears to censure you because of it.”

  “I am very discreet.”

  “Oh.”

  “It makes my mother happy.”

  “I see. She would be embarrassed if you flaunted your business acumen.”

  He shrugged. “It’s part of living among the Polite World.”

  “The thing is, I don’t know if I can live my entire life under such strict scrutiny.”

  Would he understand her need for freedom? He had refused to accept her fear of marriage, taking it as a personal aspersion on his considerabl
e honor.

  “You are unique, Thea. I don’t expect you to behave as every other English lady of the ton.”

  She bit on her lip and tried to marshal her thoughts. “You do expect me to be proper.”

  He slipped an arm around her waist and pulled her onto his lap. “I expect you to be you.”

  “But, what if that is not enough? What if I embarrass you, or Lady Upworth? Aunt Ruth says that I’m not at all proper in most of my thinking. On the island that didn’t seem to matter, but here every word I utter is scrutinized. I can’t even wear the same gown to more than one major engagement or I’ll be considered gauche. Your aunt said so. It’s all so frustrating. Why do the gowns I wear matter more than who I am and what I think?”

  During her tirade, he had begun to kiss a path down her jaw line.

  He kissed the corner of her mouth. “You’ll get used to the ton and they will come to adore you.”

  She turned her head away. “What if I don’t want to get used to them? I don’t like the way everyone here avoids discussing the really important things like abolition, yet will spend hours exploring the ramifications of wearing kid gloves versus silk ones with a ball gown.”

  He went back to kissing her, this time focusing on the nape of her neck since her face was turned away. “I’m not in the least bit interested in gloves and I’ll talk abolition with you any time you like.”

  “No you won’t. You don’t want me to discuss important moral issues for fear I will offend someone. You said so aboard ship.”

  His hand slid inside her cloak and strong, warm fingers skimmed over the exposed flesh above her bodice. “I thought someone had tried to kill you because of it.”

  She couldn’t think when he touched her like this. “Pierson, you must stop. We cannot become intimate in your aunt’s carriage.”

  He squeezed her breast through the thin lawn of her gown and she groaned.

  “Why not? We did in her library.”

  She sucked in a breath as he lowered his hand to caress the apex of her thighs through her gown. “Please stop. We will soon reach her townhouse and I prefer not to have the footman open the coach door and find me in a complete state of dishabille.”

  “I thought you did not wish to bow to the dictates of society.” He kissed the side of her neck.

  Heat pooled inside her, ready to erupt in the passion that he instigated.

  It took tremendous effort to continue resistance. “I want to be free to discuss important matters, not be labeled no better than I should be.”

  He sighed and removed his lips from her nape. “You are right, but I don’t have to like it.”

  The bulge against her hip testified that he truly did not wish to stop. Neither did she and that knowledge galvanized her to action.

  She scooted off his lap and moved to the opposite seat, hoping the small distance would help both of them to maintain better control. She gripped her hands tightly together to prevent herself from reaching out and touching him. She fought a desperate urge to launch herself back into his arms and hang the consequences.

  “What are we going to do about our investigation?”

  “I have set a watch on the warehouse. Someone is moving cargo. Our most promising alternative is to catch them in the act.”

  “That is perfect. Even if the culprit is not one of our suspects, we shall catch him. I should have thought of that earlier,” she said with no little chagrin.

  She saw the outline of his shoulders rise and fall in a shrug in the shadow of the carriage.

  “No. Truly. The idea is inspired,” she insisted.

  “It was the logical next step.”

  “For someone with a brilliant mind like yours, perhaps.”

  He shrugged her praise away. They sat in silence for several moments, Thea lost in thoughts of her sister and what meeting her had meant.

  Drake’s voice caught her by surprise. “What are you going to do about your father?”

  Did he but know it, his question carried more weight than it ever had before, but she could not yet see a solution to change her course of action. “Ignore him.”

  “That will be difficult once the Season is officially begun, particularly if you plan to spend any significant time with Lady Upworth. According to my aunt, she is a very social creature and has her family members to call often.”

  “It is a problem, but not insurmountable. She will understand if I do not visit when he is expected to be present.”

  “What of entertainments? Your father undoubtedly attends them as well. How will you avoid seeing him?”

  “The same way you avoid seeing your father,” she couldn’t help saying, and not with a little bit of exasperation.

  Of all people, Drake should understand her desire to stay clear of her father.

  “The avoidance is mutual,” was his clipped response.

  She sighed.

  She had hurt him. “I’m sorry, Drake. I didn’t mean to bring up a sore subject, but surely you can see that I find the discussion of my estranged parent just as wearing.”

  “I see that your stubbornness extends even to your family and that although you should consider reconciliation for both your aunt and your brother’s sake, you won’t.”

  Incensed, she replied, “What about my sake? I don’t want to be reconciled to the man who tore my family apart. He destroyed something inside my mother. What about my loyalty to her?”

  “That’s what this is all about, isn’t it? Your mother. You think that if you reconcile with your father, you’ve desecrated her memory. Well, she’s gone, but others are still alive. Lady Upworth wants peace in her family. She wants you to take your place in society. She helped your mother and you. Don’t you owe her loyalty too? And what of your brother? He deserves to know you.”

  He didn’t mention Irisa because she’d never told Drake about her sister, but his arguments applied to the younger woman as well.

  She felt tears prick at the back of her eyes for the second time that night. “I am loyal to my aunt.” Her voice threatened to break. She took a deep breath, trying to calm herself. “I explained that I will make myself known to my brother.”

  And her sister too. Someday.

  Suddenly he was on the seat beside her with his hand laid gently against her cheek. “I’m sorry, sweetheart. I’m pushing you too hard.”

  “Why are you doing it?” she asked, unable to help herself.

  He remained silent for so long, she thought he would not answer, but then he spoke. “I thought it was because I wanted you to settle in life in England, to develop ties here so you wouldn’t want to leave.”

  When he didn’t go on she prompted him. “That’s not the reason?”

  “It is part of it. Understand something. I mean for you to stay.”

  She did not doubt he spoke the truth. He had been very clear about his intentions from the afternoon they made love on the ship. Perhaps if he loved her, it would make a difference. She was honest enough to admit that her desire to remain unwed was wavering.

  But he didn’t love her and she wasn’t sure passion was enough. She didn’t want to dwell on those thoughts now, however.

  She wanted to understand why he kept pressing her to acknowledge her father. “What’s the rest of it?”

  “I hated not knowing my father.” His voice came out stark, full of remembered pain.

  “And...” she prodded gently.

  “Although I have long since determined he is not a man worth knowing, the desire to be acknowledged by him has never completely left me.”

  He would feel weak needing the approval of a man who had never once admitted his parentage and she felt badly for him because of it.

  “You’re trying to force me to reconcile with my father because it’s an option you wanted, but never had.”

  “Perhaps.”

  She knew the one word admission had cost him. The pain in Drake’s voice tugged at her heart.

  “Did you ever tell your mother or grandfather how
you felt? Perhaps they could have arranged a meeting.”

  His hand fell away from her cheek. “I never admitted my weakness to anyone else.”

  It was her turn to comfort him.

  She turned toward him and took his hand in hers. “It isn’t a weakness to want to know your family.”

  “My sisters and brothers don’t even know that I exist.”

  She could imagine how that knowledge must have eaten away at his pride and sense of honor. “That’s why you are so adamant that I meet my brother, but Lady Upworth said my brother has not yet come to Town.”

  “He deserves to know you.”

  Just as Drake deserved to know his siblings, but never would.

  She couldn’t leave it at that. “You don’t need your father’s acknowledgement or approval, Pierson. You have become the most honorable and worthy of men without it, a man others would do well to pattern themselves after.”

  “If that is truly how you feel, then you would not be afraid to marry me.”

  “You don’t love me.”

  He pulled her shoulders around until she faced him. “You don’t believe in love any more than I do. You think it weakens women. Ashby Merewether told me.”

  She couldn’t deny his charge, so she focused on something else. “What happens when you stop wanting me?”

  “I’ll never stop wanting you.” The words sounded suspiciously like a vow.

  ******

  Thea slid another surreptitious glance at Drake as he took notes on the ledger spread open at the library desk. His fingers holding the pencil were so strong and she remembered how much pleasure they brought her. Pleasure that had come with a price, if only he knew it. What would he say if she told him about her experience over the chamber pot this morning?

  She felt perfectly well now, which was more alarming than if the nauseous feeling had persisted. If it had persisted she could convince herself that it was due to illness, or land sickness, though that ailment was better known to occur after long sea voyages. Her time aboard The Golden Dragon had neither been so long in duration, nor recent that land sickness could be a realistic explanation for waking this morning with an overwhelming urge to cast up her accounts.

  She had never heard of a flu lasting only as long as it took to void one’s stomach either. And although her skin had been clammy to the touch, she had not had a fever. She had to definitely rule out illness as an excuse. That left only one alternative.