Yes.
His hand slipped farther down and caught her breast up in his palm. Keeping his gaze settled on hers, he gently massaged her. Seconds ticked by before he said, “I want to kiss you here where I can feel your heart beating so fast beneath my hand it excites me.”
With his gaze still penetrating hers, his hand moved down to her waist and cupped it briefly before moving around to let his open palm and splayed fingers rest firmly on her abdomen.
A soft moan escaped her lips. She heard his breathing increase.
He waited.
Slowly his hand slid down her gown and cupped the apex of her legs.
She gasped in surprise but didn’t move. She was still too engrossed by his seduction.
“Your allure is great. I want to lie with you and make you mine. Now do you understand why you can’t stay here where you are so easily within my reach?”
Esmeralda’s body tingled with the discovery of yet another new sensation. The duke’s hand was warm, firm, and strangely comforting, though it should be outrageously horrifying that he would touch her in such an intimate and inappropriate way and place. Yet she had no desire to ask him to move it.
“If you’re trying to frighten me, it’s not working.”
“It frightensme,Esmeralda.” His voice was low, husky, inviting. “You tempt me like no other lady ever has. Don’t you know that now that I have held you and kissed you, it will be even harder to stay away from you?” He lowered his hand, stepped away from her, and asked, “So what am I going to do with you?”
“Leave me be. Don’t relieve me of my duty here. Let me stay here and continue watching over Lady Sara and Lady Vera.” She pressed harder, heedless of the fact she had no right to do so. “If you are a true man of honor, you will not go back on your word to me.”
“Honor?” He smiled ruefully. “There are two honorable reasons I should have never touched you the first time. You are in my employ, and you are an innocent lady of noble birth. I have never pursued either with thought of seducing.”
“I believe you.”
“I’m not sure you do. I am a strong man, but still just a man. Your charm is almost impossible to resist.”
“I understand the risks you have outlined so intimately, and I accept those risks.”
“I can’t,” Griffin whispered and turned away.
From somewhere deep inside her the courage to continue challenging him rose up. Perhaps it was because she’d poured her heart out to him and felt she was deserving of more from him in return, or maybe it was just that she had nothing to lose and so much to gain.
Esmeralda quickly grabbed his arm and forced him to face her again. “You are a fair man. You must realize that if you dismiss me because of who you are and who I am it will be very difficult for me to find another post anywhere in London. I may even lose my position with Mr. Fortescue. If that happens, Josephine and I would have no place to live.”
“You ask a lot of me, Esmeralda.”
“I must. You relentlessly pursued me for this position, and now I must keep it.”
His gaze raked across her face, and she shivered with a need she couldn’t explain.
“All right, for now, you can stay and continue your duties. I can’t make any promises for the weeks to come.”
“Fair enough,” she whispered.
My Dearest Readers:
The long-awaited debut of the Duke of Griffin’s twin sisters, Lady Sara and Lady Vera, came to an end last evening. And, yes, they are remarkably alike in appearance, manner, and temperament. However, whether or not the duke was aware of it, much attention was on him last night as well to see how ably he carried out his duties as guardian for his sisters. Conscientiously I’d say, much to the chagrin of all the young ladies who were hoping he’d forsake his post of watching over the twins for a dance with a lovely maiden. But perhaps the most scintillating gossip from the first ball of the Season wasn’t about the duke or his sisters. It centered on their intriguing chaperone, Miss Esmeralda Swift.
MISS HONORA TRUTH’S WEEKLY SCANDAL SHEET
Chapter 21
Do listen to your friends. There’s a reason they aren’t your enemies.
MISSMAMIEFORTESCUE’SDO’SANDDON’TSFORCHAPERONES, GOVERNESSES, TUTORS,ANDNURSES
