“I do think I will enjoy the game,” she said.
“As do I and I hope we have another opportunity to play.” Except he hoped that next time it would end far more pleasantly and not in the uncomfortable state he was currently experiencing.
“Do you have a billiards table at The Emerald Garter?” she asked.
“No,” he answered before he sipped his wine.
“Why not?” she asked.
“Gentlemen bet against each other when they engage in a game. It may draw players away from the tables at The Emerald Garter where I make my profits.”
Her eyebrows raised in understanding as she nodded. “Then I will not suggest to Tessa or Bethany that they add one to the salon.”
“A gambling establishment they call a salon,” he corrected because that is what it sounded like.
“A salon for the pursuit of knowledge with gambling offered to support that pursuit.”
Now he understood. There would be no gambling if funds were not needed. “They could always raise the subscription price,” he offered.
“Then it would not be accessible to all.”
“All, meaning anyone but me.”
“Or the Duke of Claybrook,” Lady Bethany announced as she entered the library.
Thank goodness he had stopped kissing Frances when he had and that they were seated apart from each other. There could be no objection to how they were found.
Lady Bethany frowned as she looked from Frances to Seth and back again. “I thought you would be playing billiards.”
They had been gone long enough that had she truly been interested, Lady Bethany would have found them much earlier. And, given her facial expression of finding them sitting and sipping wine, Seth was convinced she had hoped to discover them doing something quite different.
“How was the game?” Blythe asked as she entered.
Had his sister been waiting in the corridor for Lady Bethany’s outraged or surprised cry of finding Seth and Frances in a compromised position? “It went well,” Seth finally answered and tried not to grin at just how enjoyable it had been.
Thank goodness Bethany had not walked in a few moments earlier or Frances would have been quite ruined.
As it was, she still did not know what to make of her body’s reaction to not only when Seth innocently touched her during his instructions, but also when he kissed, held and caressed her.
She had been kissed by him many times in the past, but he had never touched her breasts, or brought himself fully against her body where she could feel the hard length of him pressed against her.
Heat had coursed through her veins when he touched her. When in his arms, her breasts began to ache and she wanted to cling tightly to him, growing so heated that the gown was becoming uncomfortable. When he pressed against her, heat pooled in the most private part of her body as an aching pulse developed there, which was something she had never experienced before.
Goodness!
She desired Seth, which wasn’t a surprise, as she had always enjoyed it when he kissed her, but this was beyond anything she had experienced at the cottage. Had he not broken the kiss when he had, she likely would have allowed him all liberties because she desperately needed …oh, blast! Frances had no idea what she had needed but no doubt his mouth, hands and manhood knew and would have taken care of those needs.
“If you are done playing, we should probably return home,” Bethany said.
“Yes, of course.” Frances then glanced at the clock. Goodness, they had been playing billiards for over an hour. “Thank you for the lesson, Lord Seth, and the wine.” She stood and placed the empty glass on the table.
“There is still more to learn and I look forward to our next lesson.”
What more could there be? “Yes, well, as do I.” Her blood heated at the anticipation of him teaching her even more, especially if it required that he must touch her to teach her how to properly thrust a stick.
“Thank you for a lovely dinner, Lady Blythe,” she said as they walked toward the entrance.
“We shall need to do this again,” she said.
