by Olivia Drake
“How else am I to address you?”
“My friends and family call me Guy.” He aimed one of those darkly intense looks at her. “Though I suppose Carlin will do.”
Her heart fluttered a warning. She might not be versed in all the rules of society but being on first-name terms with her employer implied intimacy. She could only imagine how aghast Lady Victor would be. Not to mention the other servants.
“Thank you, Carlin.” That name at least didn’t seem so peculiar since she’d already been thinking of him as such in her mind.
They reached the far end of the library, where the duke held up his lamp to dispel the shadows. His attention half on the books, he cast a droll glance her way. “Now you have the better of me, Miss James. You know my first name, but I don’t know yours.”
“Tessa. Tessa James.”
“Tessa … a very pretty name. It suits you.” His deep voice was like a caress drifting over her skin. “Is it short for Teresa?”
Swallowing, she shook her head. “Not to my knowledge.” Unwilling to admit to an ignorance of what was written on her baptismal record, she said rather quickly, “What makes you think the book is right here?”
“The library is organized into sections. This is where the dictionaries and references are kept, and Debrett’s is a sort of encyclopedia of the nobility. But I don’t see it, so perhaps we should try British history.”
Tessa followed him to the opposite corner of the library, where he scanned the books on several shelves. She peered past his broad shoulder, spotting titles like A Biography of Illustrious British Statesmen and Smollett’s History of England. Even such weighty tomes called to her like a new world waiting to be explored. She glided a fingertip down one spine, relishing the smoothness of tooled leather.
She caught Carlin watching her with that slight quirk of a smile. “If you see something of interest, feel free to borrow it. In fact, here’s one.” He walked a short distance away, hunted on a shelf, then returned to hand her a book.
She scanned the lettering imprinted on the calfskin cover and reverently touched the gold-edged pages. “Robinson Crusoe,” she murmured. “This edition looks expensive. What if I were to drop it on the floor or rip a page?”
“Better that books be read and ruined than gather dust on a shelf.” The duke gave the section one more inspection before turning toward her. “Alas, I don’t see anything on heraldry, and I can’t imagine where else to look. I’ll ask Banfield tomorrow. Since he was my grandfather’s secretary for many years, he knows this library down to the last pamphlet and treatise.”
“That’s very kind of you.” Recalling the interview when she’d first met Banfield, she added in jest, “I certainly wouldn’t wish to ask him myself after the embarrassment of having mistaken him for you.”
Carlin laughed. “To be honest, I’d as soon he was the duke. Then I’d have more time to work on my book. In fact, I was just now going through my diaries and deciding what information to use.”
Tessa stared at him, then glanced at the many notebooks that lay scattered on the table by the fire, including the one he’d fetched from the trunk in his study. The long white strip of his cravat had been tossed over the back of a nearby chair, and his shoes had been left near the hearth.
Was that why he’d come home early from the ball? To go over his journals? And why should her heart leap at the notion that there hadn’t been a lady there beautiful enough to hold his attention?
The fleeting thought vanished beneath the rise of one equally startling. “You’re truly writing a book, Carlin? One that will be published and put into libraries?”
He nodded. “It will be a scientific study of flora in the coastal areas of the world. Not comprehensive, of course, since I haven’t been everywhere. Nevertheless, I’ve an overabundance of material that must be organized and condensed.”
She studied the duke with new eyes, seeing him as more than just a privileged nobleman sailing around the globe on a whim. “Lud, I’ve never before met an author. I’m most impressed.”
His teeth flashed in a grin. “Whether the book will make for dull or lively reading remains to be seen. Perhaps you’d care to judge my paltry illustrations for yourself.”
The temptation of spending time with him was so potent that she found herself seated beside him on a chaise before her natural sense of caution could warn of any impropriety. The flicker of firelight, the radiance of candles, the stillness of the night all conspired to create an aura of warm intimacy. As she held Robinson Crusoe in her lap, Tessa felt a tingling in her veins. Perhaps it was his easy manner or the lack of a cravat that made the duke seem so approachable tonight. He was treating her not as an employee but as a friend, and she didn’t know quite what to make of it.
Well, she would only stay for a little while. She dearly wanted to see his work, after all. What harm could there be in glancing at a few sketches?
As he reached for the notebook, she was intensely aware of his masculine presence, the long fingers with their blunt nails and the stark white of his linen cuff against his sun-burnished skin. Everything about him called to her senses and hastened her heartbeat. With effort, she doused the dangerous fire of attraction and concentrated on the superb drawings of flowers and plants that he began to show her. There were pictures of birds and animals, as well. Under each one, he had penned a detailed description.
When he turned another page, her eyes widened on the depiction of a peculiar, doglike creature with a bushy tail, clawed feet, and a pointed head that narrowed to a long tube. She swallowed a gurgle of mirth. “Oh, my. What in the world is that?”
“Whenever the ship put ashore, I sometimes caught sight of unusual animals as I was gathering my botanical samples. This one is an anteater. The snout is designed to poke into ant hills and termite mounds.”
Tessa wrinkled her own nose. “Are they dangerous?”
“They’re actually shy, solitary beasts who pose no threat to people. Unlike crocodiles that would as soon make you their next meal.”
“Crocodiles?”
He leafed through several more pages to the sketch of a lengthy, lizard-like reptile with scaly skin and a set of wickedly sharp teeth. “They thrive in tropical areas all around the world. One must always take care on riverbanks, lest a crocodile snap you up in its jaws. They hide just beneath the surface of the water, and it’s easy to mistake them for a floating log. In Australia, one lunged at me as I was crouching down to fill my canteen.”
The duke had a gleam in his eyes as if he expected a squeal of terror from her. But it wasn’t that faraway incident that caused a shudder in the pit of her stomach. It was the thought that if there really was a Carlin Curse, as Lady Victor believed, he would have died on that riverbank. “It’s remarkable you returned alive, then.”
“There were as many delights as there were dangers.” Carlin related an amusing anecdote about a monkey that had snatched off his hat and then described seeing hundreds of tiny, newly hatched sea turtles scrambling across a sandy beach to the water. His experiences fascinated Tessa, who had never ventured outside the city, let alone crossed oceans to distant lands.
Several pages later, she leaned closer to stare at an amazing sketch. It was a trio of sleek fish leaping out of the sea in formation. Their wild grace captivated Tessa. “Why, I never knew there were fish so large—except for whales, of course.”
“It’s a school of dolphins. They would sometimes swim alongside the ship for hours, as if they were as fascinated by us as we were by them.”
She cast an admiring glance at him. “You’ve a gift for capturing motion and light … the sun glinting on the water, the smooth glide of their bodies, the flow of the waves. And by framing the scene with the rigging of the ship, it makes me feel as if I were right there aboard with you watching the dolphins.”
Her words appeared to please him. “You seem knowledgeable about art. Do you draw?”
“A little, although my skills are limited to more comm
on objects.” She turned her gaze down to the book. “Nothing so exciting as your voyage around the world. I’m anxious to hear more about it.”
His fingers caught her chin and tilted her face back toward him. “Now, don’t play coy, Tessa. Tell me what it is you like to sketch.”
The interest in his eyes mesmerized her, as did the husky vibration of her name on his lips. She decided it would do no harm to make light of the matter. “If you must know, my attempts are mere doodling compared to your subject matter. You see, I enjoy drawing … bonnets.”
He raised an eyebrow. “Bonnets. I might have guessed. On the day you first walked into my study you wore a particularly pretty one.”
“Thank you,” she said, surprised that he’d remembered. “I just had a thought, Carlin. Lady Sophy would enjoy seeing these drawings and hearing your stories. You know how much she adores animals.”
“An excellent notion. Yes, I can certainly do that.”
He gave Tessa an enigmatic look as if wondering at her reluctance to talk about herself. The firelight added a golden tint to his features, and she curled her fingers around the book in her lap to stop the mad impulse to brush back a lock of black hair that had tumbled onto his brow. The air between them seemed to sizzle as the power of his presence engaged all her senses. Did he feel the attraction, too? The dark depths of his eyes seemed to confirm that suspicion, especially when he glanced at her lips.
Lud, what was wrong with her? One look from him could melt her insides into a pool of longing. Never before had she felt so drawn to any man, especially one who was so wrong for her. It would be fatal to her position as governess to fall in love with the Duke of Carlin. Nothing could ever come of it but heartache.
And yet she found it dangerously easy to forget he was a duke.
She blurted out the first neutral topic that came to mind. “May I ask, how many countries did you visit while sailing around the world?”
“I lost count. Come, it would be simpler to show you.”
He set aside his notebook and arose, helping Tessa to her feet. That brief touch of his fingers played havoc with her equilibrium, but she busied herself with bending down to leave the copy of Robinson Crusoe on the chaise. Carlin picked up a branch of candles and led her to a window, where gold draperies formed a backdrop for a large sphere that rested atop a carved oak stand.
A globe of the world! Tessa had heard of such an object but had never actually seen one. Unable to resist, she brushed her fingertips over the rounded surface. “I never realized how vast the oceans are.”
“Indeed, one can spend months at sea without ever spotting land. Which is why much of my journey followed the continental coastlines.” He traced the route with his forefinger. “After setting sail from England, we went south to the Straits of Gibraltar and into the Mediterranean, skirting the shores of Spain, Italy, and Greece before proceeding to the Ottoman Empire and Egypt and then on to Morocco. At many points along the way, we dropped anchor so that I could go ashore to study the local flora.”
He launched into a description of the various landscapes and the many botanical specimens he’d collected. Tessa knew only enough about flowers to distinguish a rose from a daisy, and certainly nothing of the unfamiliar Latin names he used for them, and so she was content to let his words wash over her. She loved the sound of his deep voice, the fire of zeal that animated his features. His enthusiasm for botany was akin to her own passion for hats, and it made her feel curiously at one with him to know that they each had a consuming interest in their lives.
It struck her that in a way they were both outsiders to their respective classes. She had the ambition to be more than just a shopworker in a back room, while he had sailed around the world in disregard for what society expected of a fine gentleman. One thing was certain, Carlin wasn’t at all what she’d initially anticipated. He was far more personable than the snobbish ladies who had frequented Madame’s shop and more industrious than the idle aristocrats she’d observed on the streets.
Tonight, he looked very much the fashionable nobleman in his black coat and gray silk waistcoat. Yet with his longish hair, suntanned skin, and solid build, he didn’t fit the mold of a duke. She could more easily picture him standing at the prow of a ship, a dagger gripped in his teeth, like the dashing pirate on the cover of that penny novel she’d once read.
Reminded of something, she touched Carlin’s sleeve. He broke off his description of the habitat of the papaya tree and gave a rather sheepish smile. “Forgive me, Tessa. Your eyes must be glazing over from my monologue.”
“Oh, no, I merely have a question. When we were in the conservatory, you mentioned meeting an old pirate who’d been shipwrecked on an island. Where did this happen?”
He twirled the globe and then pointed at an expanse of water off the northern coast of South America. “Here in the Caribbean Sea, on a sandy sprit of land containing little more than a patch of jungle. It was off the usual shipping routes, and we’d have never found it, but a hurricane had blown us off course.”
“You said the pirate gave you a treasure map.” She imagined a wooden chest overflowing with Spanish doubloons. “Did you ever find the buried gold?”
Amusement tipped up the corners of his mouth. “I see you’re intrigued. Well, if you wish to learn the rest of the tale, you’ll have to attend my lecture here on Thursday evening.”
“Lecture?”
“Yes. On the day we met, you advised me to enlighten the swells about my voyage. Since it was your idea, it’s only fitting that you should join us.”
The opportunity to hear Carlin address a glittering throng appealed to her. But although gratified to know he’d heeded her suggestion, she hesitated to accept the invitation. “What, the governess, mingling with the cream of society in their jewels and silks? Only imagine what people would say.”
A look of intense fervor came over his face. Reaching for her hand, he brought it to his mouth and brushed a stirring kiss over the back. “They’ll find you beautiful, Tessa, as beautiful as I do.”
His sudden declaration robbed the breath from her lungs. The warm feel of his fingers quickened her pulsebeat and triggered a pleasurable throb in the depths of her body. Did he truly find her beautiful? Oh, how she wanted to believe it. Yet surely nothing could be more perilous.
She lowered her eyes, but that was a mistake, for her gaze landed on the strong column of his throat. The absence of a cravat gave a tantalizing glimpse of his chest revealed by the open collar of his shirt. How she longed to touch him, to caress his bare skin. Beset by wayward desire, she looked up again to find him watching her, the ghost of a smile on his face.
Nothing could have been better designed to melt her than that tender look. She leaned infinitesimally closer, and his arms came around her, clasping her to his firm chest. His gaze scorched hers as a visceral heat flashed between them. He brought his head down, his mouth hovering just above hers, his breath warm and inviting. Succumbing to temptation, Tessa arose on tiptoe to meet him halfway.
At the first touch of their lips, fire seared her veins. On some hazy level, she knew she oughtn’t allow him such liberties. Yet need outweighed wisdom, and she looped her arms around his neck. How tall and muscled he was, how dizzy and excited he made her feel. It was an enthralling experience to be held by Carlin and kissed with such ardor. The world faded away until there existed only the two of them, taking pleasure in each other.
It seemed utterly natural when his tongue slipped inside her mouth to play with hers. Desire flourished, spreading its honeyed heat throughout her insides. She moaned in her throat. Never had she known that a kiss could be so intimate—or that her body could respond with such passionate eagerness.
One of his hands was flattened to the back of her waist, holding her close against him, while the other played with the sensitive skin at her nape. All the while she returned his kiss with vibrant delight. Just then, she felt his fingers surrounding her breast. When his thumb stroked across the tip, t
he thrill generated by his touch made her shiver with the intense desire for something more, a longing to feel his caress beneath her gown, moving over her bare skin. She craved a surrender so forbidden that it snapped her back to her senses.
Shaken to the core, Tessa arched back and thrust at his chest. Even then it took a moment before he lifted his head to regard her in a daze. His passion-glazed eyes cleared, and at once he loosened his hold on her.
She retreated a few steps, her arms wrapped around her midsection. Her mind was in such a tumult that she felt on the verge of a swoon. Shock at her own foolishness made her voice tremble. “Lud! I won’t … you mustn’t…”
Carlin reached out as if to touch her again, then raked his fingers through his hair instead. “Tessa.” His gaze focused on her, he took a deep breath. “I ought not to have done that. Pray forgive me.”
She believed him to be sincere. Neither of them had planned that kiss. Yet it had happened nonetheless and the power of her craving for him made it all the more disturbing.
“I wanted it, too, Your Grace, so you needn’t apologize.” She used the formal address purposefully to remind herself of his high rank. “But it must never happen again.”
He nodded curtly. “Never.”
They stared at each other, and her heart thrummed at the fire still smoldering in his eyes. She felt that same fire, too, much to her chagrin. In defiance of good sense, she ached to be in his arms again and to let him do with her as he willed.
She swallowed. “It’s best that I return to the nursery.”
Carlin made no reply as she pivoted on her heel and fled the library. Her last view of him from the doorway was of his brooding figure standing in the shadows. His aura of solitude struck a pang in her heart. He had lost his wife and numerous close relatives, cut himself off from society for years, and returned home only to find that his young daughter despised him.