Debutantes Don’t Date

by Kristina O’Grady

  It was the light in Hoskins’s eye that eventually put his mind at ease. Hoskins wouldn’t see her hurt either.

  He had just arrived home when the note was delivered. His heart got tighter and tighter with each passing minute. One did not send a note like that if there was something good to discuss. This could only be bad. Had she changed her mind? The wedding was in a few days but they had agreed to call it off if either of them decided marriage to the other was undesirable.

  Desirable. Grace was the only thing he desired. She had consumed his entire life so much that he couldn’t picture it without her. The thought that she may want to call the wedding off made him double over in pain.

  “Jasper, are you all right?” The concern in her voice gave him hope and he straightened to watch her walk into the room.

  “I was just stretching my back. How are you, Grace?”

  She gave him a look he couldn’t read and his heart dropped again.

  “I need to talk to you.” She paused before adding, “In private.”

  “We are in private.”

  “No. I mean with the door closed.” She shut the door with a firm click and turned the key before walking over to the chair nearest the fire. “I have asked Hoskins to hold off on the tea, if that is all right with you,” she said as she sat. “I would prefer to get this over and done with before I chicken out.”

  Jasper noticed her hands in her lap were shaking, even though she clasped them tightly. He crossed to the fire and forced himself to be seated in the chair next to hers. He turned it to face her and held his breath, awaiting the verdict.

  Grace held her trembling hands together tightly. They were shaking so badly she was afraid they may fall off. Her stomach clenched and she knew if she didn’t get the words out soon something else would make its way from her mouth, and it wouldn’t be pretty. She took a deep breath and sent a quick prayer to heaven before letting the words tumble out.

  “You’re what!?” Jasper couldn’t understand what Grace had just said. He sat there stupefied.

  “I know it doesn’t make any sense. Trust me; it doesn’t make sense to me either.” She reached out and grabbed his hand. “I did tell you the truth the night I met you. Remember I said I organised the Kensington ball? Well I did, only I organised it in 2013, not 1813. Somehow I ended up travelling through time to here.”

  Jasper couldn’t believe she would go to these lengths. “If you want to get out of marrying me, just tell me. There’s no reason you need to make up such an outrageous story.” He couldn’t get out of here fast enough. He wished the ground would open up and swallow him whole. Who knew getting rejected could hurt so much? His heart lay in pieces on the floor at her feet. This, he knew, he would never recover from.

  “Wait!”

  Against his better judgement he turned back just as he reached the door. He couldn’t resist having one last look at her. He drank in the sight. There was a warm glow all around her from the fire at her back and he could only too easily picture her standing before him naked. In fact, as the wedding day drew closer and closer he found it was the predominating thought in his mind all day…and night. The glow from the fire gave her an angelic look, as if she had come down from heaven just for him. He barely resisted taking a step towards her. He stepped back instead and grabbed the door knob.

  “Please wait,” she begged him and walked closer.

  He pushed himself up against the door to distance himself. He dared not let her touch him.

  She stopped about a foot away and held up a strange black object with a shiny front. Until now he hadn’t noticed that she carried her reticule in one hand.

  “What is that?”

  “My cell phone. I would turn it on for you, but the battery died and I can’t plug it in to recharge it. I showed your sister the night of the ball when she invited me to stay, so she can tell you about it.” She pushed the item into his hand and dug into her bag again. The smooth glass-like surface of the ‘cell phone’ was cool in his palm. Little buttons filled the bottom half. He looked closer and saw they contained the alphabet and numbers. “Here, this is my lipstick.”

  He was handed a sleek stick. She pulled the top off and twisted the tube until colour rose from inside. She took it back off him and applied the colour to her lips. The red made her lips look swollen and just kissed. The blood quickened in his veins.

  This time when she pulled the next item out of her bag her face flushed and she looked away in embarrassment. “This is my bra.”

  “What’s it for?” He looked at the contraption but for the life of him he couldn’t figure out what she would use it for.

  “Umm…it is for keeping me in place, shall we say.” She wiggled her eyebrows at him and he had a feeling she thought he would know what that meant.

  “Sorry? How does it keep you in place?”

  “My boobs OK! It holds my breasts in place so they don’t flop around everywhere.” She held it up to her breasts with both hands to demonstrate.

  It was his turn to flush. He could all of a sudden picture all too clearly where the material lay on her skin.

  “Do you believe me now? I have more make-up in here,” she said as she dumped the rest of the contents out on the floor.

  Jasper reached down and picked up a small black box with a long wire coming out of it. He held it out to Grace. “What this?”

  “It’s part of my headset. The actual piece that goes on my head was left behind when I travelled here, but that part attaches to it. You are more than welcome to take it apart if you want. It is no use to me now.”

  He looked down at the item in his hand and realised it didn’t belong in his world. He looked up at Grace; could she be telling him the truth after all?

  “Think of my speech. Half the time you can’t understand what I’m saying and the other, profanities roll off my tongue. You must know other Americans. Do any of them sound like me? What about how I stand and walk? I know I’ve gotten better but I slump. My corset helps, but my posture is still shocking. I couldn’t sit straight in a chair if I tried.” Grace paced back and forth before him and yes, her shoulders weren’t as straight as they could be, but what did that really mean?

  “Please, Jasper, I know it doesn’t make sense. It really doesn’t. I can’t explain how I got here; I have no idea if I can go back and if I can, when it could happen. We could be sitting down having dinner ten years from now and I could disappear in front of your eyes. And there would be nothing you could do about it. I had to tell you before the wedding. I couldn’t marry you knowing I could just disappear and never come back. You needed to know where I’m from. Besides, I don’t want to keep secrets from you, Jasper.” Grace stepped closer to him and placed her hand on his chest over his heart. “I lost people suddenly and I couldn’t put you through that.”

  Jasper looked into her eyes and knew, right there and then, she was telling the truth. He lowered his mouth to her red lips and took what he had dreamed of since he vowed to stay away. His heart soared; the relief of knowing that she was still his consumed him. He dropped the things she brought to show him to run his hands up and down her sides, bringing her closer to his own hard body. She fitted him exactly right; her curves fitted into his grooves, her breasts into his hands, and his tongue into her mouth.

  She tasted hot and sweet and his desire for her rushed to his groin. His penis strained against his trousers, yearning to be free from its confines and inside her sweet heat instead.

  He could feel her pleasure mounting. Her small hands clenched into the muscles on his shoulders. Her hips started grinding against his and her breath came in pants. Jasper groaned when her hands roamed his back and found his buttocks. She cupped them hard before pulling him closer to her. He let out a bark of laughter when he nearly lost his balance and fell on her.

  “Have a care, Grace, I think we need to lie down before I fall on you.” He picked her up and carried her to the fire where there was a deep, soft, conveniently placed rug. The warmth of the fi
re did nothing to abate the heat rising in his veins. He gently lowered her to the floor and followed her down, allowing his body the luxury of finally having her where he wanted her since he laid eyes on her the night of the ball.

  He looked into her eyes before he touched her and saw deep emotion he could not bring himself to understand. He decided to distract both of them from the feelings raging through their bodies and build the flames of passion. Jasper sat back on his heels and ever so slowly ran his hands up her toned legs. She gasped when cool air touched her thighs and moaned when his hands found the exposed skin just above her stockings.

  It was the most beautiful sight he ever saw when her hips arched into the air. He touched her centre then and she exploded around him, flooding his fingers with wetness. Her eyes rolled into the back of her head and he just managed to catch her scream with his lips as she came undone in his arms.

  I want more, he thought before he replaced his fingers with his tongue. He kissed and sucked her there until she was again at the peak.

  “Jasper, please.” Grace tossed her head from side to side, begging him to continue. He could do nothing but comply with her request.

  He pulled the front of her dress down to expose the tops of her breasts.

  “Do you want this?” he asked as he pushed her breasts out of their confines. “Do you want me to touch you here too?” he said as his finger lightly, teasingly circled her nipple.

  “Yes,” she moaned and arched her body towards him, silently begging him to touch her and send her past the point of no return again.

  “Do you want this?” Jasper watched her face as his finger flicked across the beaded nub. She flinched and her back arched again in response. It was the most amazing thing. He marvelled at her sensitivity. Finally he could stand it no longer and bent his head to taste what she was so desperately offering.

  With one hand he played with the other breast, pulling and pinching until it too was beaded and hard. He tasted that one as well, rolling his tongue around the nub.

  His other hand was at her centre, stroking in and out between her folds. He gently slipped a finger inside and he nearly climaxed when she clenched around him.

  “God, you are so tight,” he whispered in her ear before moving his mouth to her lips and driving his tongue into her mouth in rhythm to his finger thrusting into her.

  He could feel her tension rising and, just before she exploded for a second time, the doorknob rattled with someone trying to get in.

  “Grace, are you in there?” Anne’s voice called through the door. “There’s something wrong with the door. Do you have it locked? What are you doing in there?”

  She could hear her name being called and belatedly registered the door was rattling and the someone who was calling her name was not the man who was on top of her only a moment ago. Said man had jumped up as if a bee had stung him in the backside.

  “Quick,” he whispered, “delay her.” He pulled her to her feet and began straightening her clothing.

  “Um, I’m coming, Anne,” she called out, hoping her voice didn’t sound as breathless as she felt. “I just need a few minutes alone.” She turned to Jasper and whispered, “Hide!”

  Jasper ducked out of sight and she opened the door to her friend. She just hoped Anne didn’t notice the tips of Jasper’s boots poking out from behind the curtain.

  “What were you doing in here? And with the door locked?”

  “I was thinking about the wedding and wanted a few moments alone to decide a few things.”

  “Are you feeling completely well, Grace? You looked quite flushed.” Anne placed her hand to Grace’s forehead. “You’re not coming down with something are you? You’d hate to be sick for your wedding.”

  Grace quickly changed the subject. “Um, my head is swimming from all the wedding preparations. I didn’t realise how much there would be to do. Fancy a walk in the park?” Grace held her breath. She wanted to give Jasper a chance to escape the house without being detected.

  “If you’re sure you’re feeling fit enough? I’ll just get my coat.”

  “I’ll meet you in the hall.”

  Grace followed Anne from the room on wobbly legs into the hallway; she dared not look back.

  Leaving his sister’s house had never been harder. When Jasper had a clear view of the door and thought it safe to make a break for it, his sister spotted him, making it necessary for Jasper to say he was just arriving, which of course came into question when Hoskins inquired if Grace had met him in the drawing room.

  “Oh, are you here to see Grace?” Victoria asked.

  “Lady Anne and Miss Grace have gone for a walk, your ladyship. She came from the drawing room where Lord Bingham was waiting for her,” Hoskins informed her. Jasper was sure the old man was enjoying watching him squirm.

  “So you have already seen her? I thought you said that you were just arriving.” Victoria’s brow puckered in confusion.

  By now his hair was standing on end from running his fingers through it so often, and his face was as red as Victoria’s sofa in the library, which really was a ghastly colour. “I have seen her, and I am just leaving. Please excuse me.” He made a break for it, but was stopped at the door, this time by Neal. His hand clenched briefly on the door handle, his escape so close.

  “Why the hurry, Jasper? Are you running away from my wife?” Neal’s voice held a hint of laughter in it, something so rare Jasper couldn’t help but turn to see the smile on his brother-in-law’s face for himself.

  “Come to my study, will you, we won’t be disturbed there.” Neal turned and walked away expecting Jasper to follow.

  “Sorry, Neal, I have a few errands to run before the wedding. Maybe I can come after dinner?”

  “Can you make it back before dinner? I find myself needing your advice.” A smile spread across his face and Jasper was tempted to stay…almost. But he had jobs to do and a few appointments to keep this afternoon that really couldn’t wait.

  “I’ll try my best. Don’t wait for me for dinner, but I will get back as soon as I can. I do need to stop off at my house before I come back, so that might make me later. I’ll see you then.”

  Jasper made it out the door and down the street about half a block before he ran into someone he was unable to avoid.

  “Good day, Lord Bingham.”

  “Good day, Lord Wester, how is your sister faring?”

  It was the wrong thing to ask. Jasper realised his mistake as the words exited his mouth. He would have dragged them back in if he could.

  Wester’s face mottled with anger, red spots vivid against his white complexion. His voice hissed low in threat when he spoke: “You can ask her on your wedding day. Don’t you think she will look lovely in my mother’s wedding dress?”

  “I’m sure that she will. Am I to offer happy tidings to your family then? I hadn’t realised she had become betrothed. When is her wedding to take place? Who is the lucky man, is he someone I know?” Jasper held his breath. The man before him was far too unstable for his liking. At least Grace wasn’t here to be subjected to his presence.

  “Yes, you know the man quite well, I believe. The man is you.”

  “You do know I am marrying Grace in three days, do you not? I’m sure Anne would have told you herself, why, she is even staying with Grace to prepare for the wedding. It’s not Lady Anne that I am marrying, Wester.”

  “You will,” he sneered, “you ruined our family and you will fix what you have done!” Where Wester’s voice started low, it had now risen to an embarrassing level.

  A glance around confirmed Jasper’s suspicions that they were attracting attention. He needed to end this conversation now; the last thing Grace needed was even more gossip on the eve of her wedding. They’d created enough of a scandal already.

  He stepped in close to Robin and grabbed the man’s coat close to the throat, making sure that no one on the street could see what he was doing. “I am doing no such thing. Get this through your thick head, I am marr
ying Grace.”

  “That hussy, she is nothing but a whore, lifting her skirt at a ball.”

  So much for not making a scene. Jasper lifted Robin off the ground and planted his fist into his face. “You listen to me, and you listen well. I will tell you this once and only once. I am not marrying your sister, I am marrying Grace.” He gave his hand a shake, knocking Robin’s teeth together. “If you so much as look at Grace, you good for nothing little shit, I will see you in the ground. Do you hear me?” He gave Robin a final shake and turned and walked away. He hoped against all hope it was the last time he saw the slimy little man.

  Robin called out through swelling lips as Jasper headed around the corner, “You will marry Anne, just see if you don’t!”

  The desire to turn around and plant his other fist was almost overwhelming but he had an appointment with the minister and a wedding to plan.

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  “I’m really glad we went to the park, Grace. I would never have thought to go this time of day. It was most relaxing. Thank you. I’m not afforded such freedom to wander at will. Mamma would keep me to the paths and of course we can only go when everyone else is about, so we could be seen. It’s refreshing to do as one pleases just because it pleases one to do so.” She let out a merry laugh. “Does that make any sense?”

  Grace was laughing too. “Yes, it does. I know exactly what you mean.” It warmed her heart to see Anne so relaxed and joyful, especially after all the stress her brother had caused. She wasn’t sure if Anne had forgiven herself yet for being talked into getting her to take that walk at his request.

  They walked through the park with arms linked and their heads close together. Grace hadn’t had a friend this close since she was in elementary school. She felt she could tell Anne all her secrets. She didn’t, of course. It had been nerve racking enough telling Jasper. She was lucky he believed her. Thank God she kept her stuff from her old life. What would she have done if she had thrown it all away? She wasn’t going to push her luck with Anne. She didn’t want to risk losing her friendship. Besides, the less people who knew, the better. She wasn’t sure if they still hanged people for witchcraft in the 1800s but she didn’t want to find out first-hand, either.