He bent and kissed her lingeringly once more, and she moaned softly, her aching renewed with a vengeance. Tonight couldn’t come too soon for her liking.
“Do I need to arrange your transport home?”
“No,” she said quickly. “It is but a short distance. I cannot risk being seen in your carriage in the light of day. I often go out on walks, albeit with my maid, but I will come to no harm.
He cast her a doubtful look. “I don’t like the idea of your walking home, no matter the hour of the day. I hardly think it is your usual custom to go about unescorted.”
“Indeed not,” she replied. “But then it isn’t my usual custom to go to the home of an eligible man...any man...and make such an outrageous suggestion.”
“Touché. Until tonight then, my lady.”
“Good day, sir,” she said as though she hadn’t just asked a complete stranger to become her lover. She turned and exited the library.
Once outside, she hurried to the street. Snapping up her parasol and yanking her gloves back on, she did her best to look like she was doing nothing more than taking a morning stroll. But underneath, she was a raging sea.
She’d actually gone through with it. Never would she have imagined that she would carry out what she’d only fantasized about in her wildest dreams. But she had.
She’d have to be the soul of discretion if she wanted to remain undetected. To say that it would be disastrous were she discovered was a vast understatement.
When she reached her house, she briefly entertained the idea of entering through the servants’ entrance, but decided to go through the front. If her brothers were awake, she didn’t want to appear as if she were sneaking about. They would lecture her for going out alone, but they would hardly suspect the reason behind her outing.
She laid her parasol inside the door and headed to the kitchens. After requesting a tray to be brought up to her room, she retreated to her bedchamber.
Once upstairs, she slipped inside her room and began loosening the buttons on her dress. Not wanting to summon her maid, she performed the arduous task alone and soon found herself clad only in her chemise and corset.
Padding over to her window, she opened it to let in the light spring breeze. As it washed over her, her nipples puckered beneath the thin undergarments and hardened to pebbles. A delicious thrill tantalized her as she remembered the same response when Grayson had kissed her, touched her, and teased her.
She rubbed the chill bumps from her arms and moved back to her bed, sliding between the covers and closing her eyes. The rugged, handsome face of Grayson Douglas floated temptingly through her thoughts, and she felt her body quicken in response.
Somehow she’d always known she was a person of great passion. She’d longed to unleash the power she felt beneath her prim and proper surface, and now that she had, she wasn’t entirely sure she could restrain herself.
She would spend these few weeks with Gray and then resign herself to a passionless life with Stuart. No matter her feelings for her fiancé, or the fact that he wasn’t remotely attracted to her, she would never take a lover once she was married. She couldn’t do that to her children. Couldn’t be the woman everyone whispered about. She wasn’t completely without honor.
She’d marry Stuart and be the perfect wife and mother. But she’d always remember the few weeks she spent loving with reckless abandon.
###
Gray sat down behind his desk and leaned back in the chair, expelling a long breath. Lady Jenna Wycliffe. Beautiful. Impetuous.Trouble.
When she had breezed into his library, he never dreamt she would make such an outrageous suggestion. Oh he’d seen her staring at him at the Montvales’ ball, but then she was no different from all the other society women peering at him microscopically.
His first impulse had been to send her on her way, but she intrigued him in a way no other woman had. Perhaps it was her direct approach. She didn’t whisper behind her fan, or pretend not to be looking at him when in fact she was. No, she came right out and boldly said what every other woman in London was thinking.
There was plenty of time to cancel their rendezvous before tonight. If she wasn’t thinking rationally perhaps it was up to him to halt her reckless behavior.
A scowl crossed his face, wrinkling his eyes. He was tired of fending off unwanted advances from scores of women. They all viewed him like a piece of meat at the market. If a spoiled society darling wanted to experiment with the lower class, who was he to dissuade her?
It wasn’t as if he sought her out. On the contrary, she had come to him. But he would not be used in such a fashion. If he was going to proceed with this affair, it would be on his own terms.
A slow smile replaced the frown. Lady Jenna Wycliffe was by far the most fascinating specimen of a woman he’d come across in many years. She may not know it yet, but their nightly visits would be interesting indeed. That is if she even came. She had scurried from the library like a scared rabbit after he had kissed her. Chances were she had gotten far more than she had bargained for.
He chuckled softly, remembering the way she melted against him, her soft curves molding to his body. Even now, his body simmered in reaction. Yes, she hadn’t expected that. And if she carried through with their agreement, he would be very surprised indeed.
But if she did, she would have her passion. He would see to it she never forgot the nights they spent together. But he, too, would benefit from this arrangement. While she seemed to think he had much to offer her, she, too, had much to give him. Perhaps a chance to exorcise the demons of his past.
But first he wanted to find out as much about the enchanting Lady Jenna Wycliffe as he could. And this fiancé of hers.
###
