The truth of those words settled over her. Did Logan care? He’d given up the club for her. Moved her entire hodgepodge family into his estate.
“Perhaps it’s time I talked with Logan,” she said in the quiet of the carriage.
Minnie winked. “I quite agree.”
Penny twisted her hands. “Thank you for this.” A new wave of heat surely colored her cheeks. “If we could possibly keep this conversation private, I’d be most…”
“Say no more.” Minnie reached out and covered her hand. “Your secrets are safe with me. Now go talk to your earl. He’s likely to be worried.”
Penny gave one last nod and then snapped open the door, climbing down from the carriage.
A mix of worry and relief made her draw in a ragged breath. She didn’t know what Logan expected from their future but running away wasn’t likely to get her answers.
It was time for them to talk.
“Darlington,” Logan’s voice boomed over the biting wind. “Come out here, you rat.”
Penny blinked, her eyes focusing on the pair of riders in the drive. Logan was there next to the Earl of Baxter.
Darlington? A rat?
He pushed his horse forward, his face set in lines of granite. “What were you doing in his carriage?”
She frowned, looking up at him. “His carriage?” she asked, shaking her head.
The door snapped open. “I object to being called a rat, Goldthwaite,” Minnie said from behind her.
“Your Grace,” Logan replied, his voice as stricken as his wide eyes. “Apologies.”
Then she leaned down, and in a loud whisper, clearly meant for Logan to hear, Minnie added, “Jealousy is another very good sign. But, if you need a protector, I will have my husband intercede on your behalf. Good day.” Then the door snapped closed again and the carriage began to roll down the street.
Penny looked up at Logan, blinking against the large flakes of snow. “I think it’s time we talked.”
“I agree,” he answered.
Baxter called from the drive. “Is this going to take a very long time? I’ve been waiting for an answer for hours.”
“I’m afraid so.” Logan swung down from his horse and took Penny’s hand. “You’ll have to come back tomorrow, Baxter. Get home before the weather gets any worse.”
“Fine,” Baxter replied, not sounding irritated at all. “But do make sure you actually discuss the proposition before I come back.” And then he kicked his horse forward and started down the street.
“Come on inside and get warm.” Logan began escorting her back up the drive. “Once you’re ready, we’ve much to discuss.”
Chapter Sixteen
Logan had tucked several blankets about her as she sipped on her tea. Somehow, he wasn’t certain how to start. There was too much, and he preferred to just look at her. He liked the way she curled in his chair in front of the fire. It made this place seem…homier.
“Are you going to that ball?” Penny asked, her eyes still on the flames.
“No,” he answered honestly. “I’m not.”
A small grin touched her lips. “Good.”
Slowly, he leaned forward and took her hand in his. “I promised you that I would not take advantage of you in any way.”
Her eyes fluttered from the flames to his. Warm, wide, and brown, he lost himself in their deep pools. “You did.”
“I want you to know that I wasn’t trying to take advantage of you last night either. I just wanted to help you and—”
“I know.” She squeezed his fingers. “At least I understand now.”
He grimaced, not entirely certain what that meant but he decided not to ask. “I would never have touched you if my intentions weren’t honorable.”
She drew in a shaky breath. “What are your intentions?”
“I intend to marry you.” There, he’d said it.
She shook her head. “You don’t have to, you know. I know that we didn’t make a baby last night, and I would understand if you wanted someone better suited to the role of countess.”
“What?” He was taken aback. Did she not wish to marry him?
“It’s not that I don’t want to be your wife but…” Her lip trembled. “I come with Natty and the girls. I would understand if you didn’t want that much responsibility.”
“I love the girls,” he said. “I love you.”
Her head snapped up as color flooded her cheeks and her eyes sparkled. “You love me?”
“With all my heart,” he answered. “I know I told you about my father, about his nickname, but I didn’t tell you about how he always chose a game of cards over me. How he spent months off on some lark, and later, what it was like at school as the son of the Earl of Gold.”
She slipped from her chair, still holding his hand, and settled on the floor at his feet. Then she reached up and took his other hand in hers. “What was it like?”
“It was lonely,” he said, the single word seemingly easy to say, but he’d hidden that feeling deep within himself for so long, it felt Herculean to push out the word. “But with you here…” He pushed the chair back, sliding to the floor so that their faces were close. So close, he could place a soft kiss on her lips. “But now you’re here and for the first time in a long time, I have someone to share my life with. Someone who understands.”
A single tear slid down her cheek. “I do understand.” She leaned her forehead against his. “I had it easier than you in some ways. I remember love.”
“Penny.” He gathered her into his arms and pulled her into his lap. “You were living in the slums.”
He felt her laugh. A small one. “That is a good point.”
“You’ve had plenty of your own hardships.” He gathered her closer, wanting to be near her. “But I can make your life better. I’m sure of it and you can make mine better too.”
“I think you’re right,” she said, wanting to say more but he didn’t let her get the words out. Instead, he kissed her, long and hard.
She coiled her arms about his neck, her fingers sliding into his hair as she returned his kiss.
He lightly caressed her back as the kiss deepened and lengthened, their bodies needing to secure the bond their words had created.
When his hand slowly slid about the front of her dress to cup her breast, she arched into the touch.
And he groaned into her mouth.
The trouble was that he’d been aching for her for what seemed like forever and that need had gone unsatisfied. Her breast filled his palm, the nipple peaking into his hand.
Her neck arched back, and he trailed a kiss down its length, loving the taste of her. “Penny,” he ground between his teeth. “I need to stop. I can’t—”
But she pushed harder into his hand. “You’ll have to teach me how to please you. I’m afraid I don’t have the faintest idea.”
For a moment he was speechless.
How to please him? ‘You please me with every kiss and every touch.”
She paused then. “Yes. But. Last night. I had some sort of…” Her voice trailed off and her head dipped down.
Then he understood. “Penny.” He trailed his lips to the shell of her ear and tickled the skin with his lips, tongue, and teeth. “It is ridiculously easy to please a man. There is no need to concern yourself.”
Her chin pulled back and those brown eyes assessed him again. “Yes, but how do I please you now?”
His rod roared to life in his pants even as his hands tightened on her body. It took every ounce of his control not to toss her skirts above her waist and press into her wet, waiting warmth. “That will come in time,” he choked out.
She shook her head. “No. I don’t like that. Here is what we’ve discussed so far. We make each other’s lives better. Because we understand and love each other, we give to the other.”
The word love hung in the air like mistletoe or snow. “We love each other?”
“We do,” she answered and then she brushed her lips against his wit
h a light teasing touch that made his rock-hard muscles clench even tighter. “Very much.”
He slid his hand under her skirts, desperate to stroke her heat once again. And when his finger traced her slick folds, they both groaned aloud. “Logan,” she begged.
Would she ask him to stop or keep going? He didn’t give her a chance to continue as he traced a circle about her most intimate area. “Did you know,” he murmured against her lips. “That there is more than one way for you to finish?”
“Logan,” she gasped. “I meant to please you—”
“This pleases me. Very much.” And then he lay her down, as he pushed up her skirts.
Penny knew allowing him to touch her like this was wrong, but she arched into the touch anyway, grasping his shoulders like an anchor in a storm.
She’d meant to return his gift last night.
Instead, he was systematically removing her clothing as he caressed her everywhere.
Her legs, hips, abdomen, breasts. And his lips trailed after his hands, causing her to gasp and moan with each new touch.
The rug was thick and soft underneath her back, the fire crackling merrily next to them just a few feet away.
She stretched her arms up over her head as he kissed a trail back down her belly. His whiskers tickled and scraped in the most tantalizing way. But as he kissed lower, toward the triangle of hair between her legs, she gasped, an ache throbbing at her apex.
He growled out a response, catching her behind one knee with his hand to spread her legs further apart.
And then his mouth kissed her…flower…and she lost all ability to reason as sensation exploded inside her. His tongue dragged along her flesh, causing her to convulse and moan, her head thrashing back and forth.
She threaded a hand into his hair and pulled him closer, wanting more, wanting all he had to give.
He answered by quickening his pace, and suddenly she was climbing to dizzying heights from her spot on the floor. He was relentless in the pace and before she could even beg, she careened over the edge of her pleasure, spasms rushing through her body. She cried out his name digging her fingers into his scalp.
When he looked up at her she realized she’d allowed it to happen again. She’d had this beautiful experience while he remained unsatisfied. Not that she knew how to make that happen.
“Logan,” she murmured, pulling at his shoulders, wanting to give him everything he deserved and desired.
He’d already taken off his shirt and moved up her body, his chest skimming along her abdomen. She shivered again, loving the feel of his skin against hers.
He gave her another passionate kiss, his tongue tangling with hers.
Sliding her hands down his naked chest, she reached his breeches and began to undo the falls. If he wasn’t going to teach her, she might just have to figure it out.
But he let out a groan and began pulling at them himself until the pants landed in a pool about his knees.
Suddenly, something hard pressed against her soft wet flesh and she gasped as she remembered her lesson from earlier.
Slowly, he pressed inside her, and she was amazed how large he felt, her body stretching to accommodate him.
“Penny,” he said with his teeth gritted. “This first time it can hurt, love. I need to deflower you.”
Why did everyone keep mentioning flowers? Her insides were burning. But she wanted to be his and so she held him tighter. “I’m ready.”
He thrust into her, breaking something inside. She only just managed to keep a cry of pain from escaping her lips. “This…this feels good to you?”
He was inside her, holding still, but he dropped his head against her shoulder. “Yes.” Then he drew in a long breath. “But it will feel better when I start to move.”
“Move?” she asked but then she remembered the rhythm he’d set to bring about her pleasure.
He slowly slid out of her and back in, a groan tumbling from his lips.
He did it again and again and with each thrust the pain lessened until he felt nice moving inside her. And then it was a whole lot better than nice.
Clutching about his neck, her own pleasure built again. She tried to hold back her release. This was his turn. But as his body tensed, hers did too and suddenly they were both crying out, her body convulsing in pleasure even as he gave a moan, his eyes squeezing shut.
Shudders wracked his body and then he collapsed on top of her, covering every inch of her with his large frame.
“Logan,” she murmured, her eyes drifting closed once again. What was it about being together that sapped every ounce of her energy?
“Yes, sweetheart?” he asked as he slid to the side, cuddling her into the crook of his shoulder.
“We still haven’t discussed the Earl of Baxter’s offer. Whatever that is.”
“Who cares,” he answered, snuggling her closer. “I’ve decided what’s important to me. You. The children. I don’t need society anymore.”
But her eyes snapped open. “Is he really offering you a chance to be part of society. Because I won’t give that to you and—”
“Penny,” he murmured against her hair. “Sleep.”
She let out a sigh. This conversation wasn’t over.
Chapter Seventeen
In the end, Logan mused, he was pleased with what they’d decided. They lay in bed, their soft voices holding an intimacy he’d never experienced in his life. It made him ache with tenderness.
He was going to join the Wicked Earls’ Club. Penny had been adamant. She wished for him to have the connections he’d worked so hard for.
And though he’d happily give them up for her, he understood. Her dream, the orphanage, was coming true. She wished to do the same for him.
He reasoned that with this new club, he’d have access to all sorts of new donors and so he relented.
But he wouldn’t be a partner in the Den of Sins.
He’d be a consultant instead. That would have to suffice. In exchange, he’d accept no money, his name wouldn’t be on any papers. But the men who did own it would have to become yearly donors to Penny’s cause.
Baxter had rolled his eyes when Logan had shared the news.
The man had leaned over, raising a single brow and asked, in all seriousness, “Now you’re trying to be the Earl with a Heart of Gold, aren’t you?”
Logan had shrugged. “I am trying to become a man married to the woman I love.”
Baxter had shaken his head. “It’s amazing how one woman, not even of the peerage, can make an earl beg for her hand. Change him inside forever.”
Logan paused, hearing the almost sad tone in Baxter’s voice. There was a story here. But it wasn’t Logan’s place to ask. “Are you satisfied with our bargain?”
Baxter gave a curt nod.
They’d hastily concluded their meeting. He had another far more personal discussion to conduct and he didn’t wish to waste any more time with this errant earl.
After heading up the stairs, he knocked on the nursery’s door. Clarissa answered, opening it wide for him to come in.
The three other girls sat about the table in the corner, working on their letters.
“May I interrupt?” he asked.
They all rose, bobbing curtseys as they lined up in front of the table. He smiled to see them. Soon enough, he’d outfit them in proper clothing.
“Please sit back down. May I join you?” He gestured toward the table.
As they nodded, he crossed the room and folded himself into one of the tiny chairs.
“Do you need to learn your letters too?” Natty asked as she handed him one of the journals they worked in.
“No, I’m fairly good at them already,” he answered with a smile. “I came here to ask you girls for permission.”
“Permission for what?” Ethel asked, straightening. She cocked her head to one side, looking rather grown up.
“Permission to ask for Penny’s hand in marriage.”
The room was silent for a moment and
then Natty jumped up letting out a cry of joy.
Fran followed suit and the two of them danced about.
But Ethel didn’t move.
“What’s wrong, Ethel?” Clarissa asked as she reached out to stroke the child’s hair.
“Nothing.” Ethel tapped her chin. “I am just wondering what would happen to us if Penny marries the earl.”
Logan grinned, relieved. “That is an easy question. You’ll stay here with us.”
“All of us?” Clarissa asked quietly. “Even me?”
Logan looked at Clarissa’s bowed head. “If you choose to do so. Yes. It will be your choice if you decide to run one of the orphanages or launch into society.”
“Society?” she shrieked, her hands coming to her lips. But when she dropped her fingers, her features were drawn into thoughtful lines. “I could never. But I’d like to work at one of the orphanages. I wish to help people.”
His brow creased. Clarissa was a beauty and now had an earl as a guardian. She ought to consider his offer, but that was a conversation for another day. “So do you all agree to my proposing to Penny?”
“What’s proposing?” Natty asked, scratching her chin.
“Asking someone to marry you, silly.” Fran’s hands coming to her hips. “And I vote yes.”
“Oh, me too,” Natty answered. “I like it here.”
“I like you here too.” Logan pointed to their journals. “I’ve got an idea, but I’ll need your help. Why don’t you girls have a seat again?”
Penny walked down the hall, wondering where everyone had disappeared to. The house had been quiet for hours.
She’d spent the afternoon in a study that Logan had set up for her to use. She’d met with the seller of the Mayfair house and a barrister. The day had been productive but exhausting, and what she wished for now was a nice hug from any member of her family, but none seemed available.
Finally, she found all of them in the nursery.
Logan, Clarissa, and the three girls sat around the table chatting with open journals in front of them.
Earl of Gold: Lords of Scandal Page 12