While Glynnis would never dream of going two flights up to the private rooms, at least not until she became Lord Dodd’s wife, she decided to make herself comfortable in the drawing room. Hopefully, he would be made aware of her presence and come find her. They could have a glass of wine and get to know one another better.
As she approached the drawing room, she heard noises.
Pausing, she nearly fled back down the stairs. But alarmingly, the distinct sound of moaning floated through the closed double doors, and then she heard a male voice groan.
Gracious! Was Dodd injured?Perhaps a dangerous London light-fingered napper had accompanied the other people from Town and had broken into the house to pilfer valuables. If Lord Dodd had surprised the varlet, violence might have occurred.
Before she could think better of barging in, Glynnis did exactly that. Tossing open one of the cream-colored doors, she took two steps into the drawing room and halted in frozen disbelief.
She could barely credit her eyes. There, on the sofa where she first saw Miss Montrose, Glynnis now saw a lot more of her! Naked as a needle, Isabelle was straddling Lord Dodd, who was fully clothed but with his breeches pushed to his knees. The woman appeared to be riding him, going up and down on his hips as if he were a horse.
Pausing, Isabelle stared directly at Glynnis. Then, without even the stain of embarrassment coloring her cheeks, she smiled before closing her eyes, putting her head back, and beginning to move her hips even more rapidly.
Meanwhile, Lord Dodd, whom Glynnis had thought to marry a mere few minutes earlier, craned his neck to see what the interruption was.
“Oh, blast!” he exclaimed upon seeing her. “Isabelle, stop. You must ... stop.”
But she didn’t, and he groaned again. Glynnis realized the sound wasn’t one of pain at all, but absolute pleasure.
Glynnis couldn’t unfreeze her feet although she desperately wanted to. Yet it was as if observing a naughty book come to life. She watched as Isabelle Montrose continued enjoying herself, rising up and sinking down. Lord Dodd appeared helpless to extricate himself from under her, and in fact, aided her movements with a hand on either side of her waist.
The agreeable sensations were obviously too good for him to push her aside and end the love-making. His fingers dug into the soft flesh of the woman’s hips, and he rose to meet her body, driving deeply into her core.
All the while, Isabelle’s large breasts bounced in a mesmerizing fashion. And then she gave a full-throated scream, making Glynnis jump despite watching it happen. It was followed a moment later by a guttural cry from Lord Dodd as he performed a series of rapid thrusts before he finally stilled.
Only then did Isabelle open her eyes again and look at Glynnis.
“You are early, Miss Talbot,” she said. “How shocking of you!” Then she grinned. “But I assure you, he’s quite good. If you give Hugh the better part of a half hour, he’ll be up to it again. Even better by the time you’ve eaten dinner.”
Then Isabelle climbed off of him and unhurriedly took her gown from where it was draped over the back of the sofa. Holding it in her arms, barely covering herself, she brushed past Glynnis and out the open door.
By this time, Lord Dodd had swiveled his legs to the floor, fastened his breeches, and rose to his feet.
“I’m sorry you came in unannounced,” he said as opposed to apologizing for any number of other egregious events.
“But she’s youraunt,” Glynnis pointed out, her voice hardly above a whisper.
He cocked his head. “Only by marriage.”
As if that gave him leave to give her a good swiving.
Glynnis shook her head, still stunned. She couldn’t deny seeing the act played out before her had been eye-opening in the extreme.
“Do you wish to wait?” Lord Dodd asked, confounding her with his meaning until he added, “Shall we put off our own enjoyment until after dinner? That had been my plan. My pole is at half-mast now, but Isabelle is incorrect. It will be stiff as a tree limb in far less than a half hour, especially if you undress for me.”
“Undress for you?” Glynnis was sure she’d walked into an asylum. “Are you mad?”
He took a step closer. “Don’t tell me you are now becoming prudish. Or are you feeling jealous of her?” He ran a hand through his blond hair, smoothing it. “I promise you, Isabelle and I arenota couple. She has lovers, I have lovers. When it suits us, we satisfy one another. It doesn’t mean I desire you any less.”
“I thought you wanted to marry me,” she protested, instantly wishing she’d kept her naïve notion to herself.
His expression became one of astonishment. “But you’re already engaged. That’s what makes you perfect, Miss Talbot. I assumed you were looking for some excitementbeforethe dreadful day when you marry a man you barely know and whom you seem so little interested.”
That was why he’d asked if she were in love with her fiancé and whether she knew him well. She supposed some women would, in fact, consider this a good bargain — if one were none-too-happily engaged.
“Never mind all that, Miss Talbot. I haven’t changed my mind. Are you up for the sport? I can give you a tupping to remember. More than one if we suit and decide to enjoy each other’s company for the remainder of my stay in Brighton. That is, until your fiancé arrives. And even then...,” he trailed off with a lascivious smile and reached out to take her hand in his.
Glynnis dodged backward. Hargrove had refused to tup herbecauseshe was engaged. Lord Doddwantedto swive with her for the exact same reason.
