Prince of Persuasion

by Scott, Scarlett

  He swallowed. Conjured up images guaranteed to vanquish his fierce reaction to her, the discomfort in his breeches. He pictured his chef’s face. A dead fish being cut open. Recalled, in desperation, the fists of one of his mother’s paramours, smashing into his body when he’d been a wee lad.

  At last, the overwhelming grip of lust began to dissipate.

  “You have not displeased me,” he said gruffly then. “But you have distracted me. I am a busy man, Lady Frederica. This club will not run itself, and I have much work awaiting me. I have been more than accommodating.”

  “Yes, you have.” Her voice was quiet, redolent with an emotion he couldn’t define, something soft and intimate. As if it were reserved for him alone. “I thank you for that.”

  Her gratitude made him roll his shoulders, clench his fists. He did not know what to do with it, how to accept it. Duncan Kirkwood was not a man of kindness or generosity. He had spent his youth clawing to survive, and as a man of means, he remained loyal and true to one goal, his need for revenge.

  “Think nothing of it.” He gave a flippant shrug. “I merely did not wish to have word of your murder or ravishment taint my club.”

  It wasn’t true. He had wanted to see her. From the moment she had begun blustering, spinning her fantastical tale of an ill mother and a Melancholius Ague, he’d been fascinated by her. How bitterly ironic that the one woman he was drawn to as no other was also the perfect means for him to secure the vengeance he desired.

  Another emotion crossed her expressive features, and this one he could discern well enough. Hurt. But how could it be that he, the bastard son of a duke and a Covent Garden whore, had the power to wound a true duke’s daughter? Why would she care what utterances he spewed?

  But then, her brilliant gaze searched his, probing, and he could not escape the notion she saw him. Saw straight bloody through him.

  “I think you may have taken a liking to me, Mr. Kirkwood.” A small smile curved her luscious lips, and he was once more grateful he had filched her ridiculous mustache. A mouth like hers did not deserve to be hidden. “That is why I am here. That is why you not only sent a brougham for me but also accompanied it. That is why you are wishing me to leave in such a rush as well. I make you uncomfortable.”

  Beelzebub’s breeches.

  Heat rose to his cheeks. He, Duncan Kirkwood—who made grown men weep, who did not possess the capacity for sympathy, whose philosophy of life was to make the first cut with his blade lest he be cut, who had presided over orgies and commissioned chairs upon which his patrons could cavort, who dressed in midnight black because it matched his soul—yes, he was blushing before her like a maiden in a schoolroom.

  “What an imagination you have, my lady,” he said coolly, irritated anew by his unwanted reaction to her, by the feelings she stirred within him. “Little wonder you have decided to try your pretty hand at scribbling.”

  He intended for his condescension to nettle her. To send her on her merry way, never to return to his club or his life, never to cause him further distraction. Damnation, he already had what he wanted, what he needed from her. Prolonging the torture was unnecessary.

  But Lady Frederica again proved to him she was a woman with mettle and determination.

  “What of the other chambers?” she asked suddenly.

  He nearly swallowed his tongue. Surely, she did not mean… Christ, but she did, the minx. He could read it in her countenance. She had a wicked, wild side to her he could not have fathomed.

  “Other chambers?” he repeated in a hoarse voice, feigning confusion, though in truth he knew precisely what she referred to. Damn it. A raging, rampaging lust threatened to take the reins.

  Her tongue darted over her lips, this time leaving a sheen he longed to lick. “The… depraved chambers. I wish to view those in addition to the gaming area.”

  Bloody hell. There was no way he could remain in this hall with her if she made use of the scarlet chamber’s viewing window again. Watching her watch others, wondering if the acts she observed filled her with need…damn it all, corrupting her…thrilled him. It sent lightning through his veins, made his ballocks draw tight and his cock press harder against the fall of his breeches. The mere notion he could be the one to teach her. To undo the fall of her breeches as she watched and dip his fingers inside her sweet folds. What sounds would she make if he played with her clitoris? Would she be wet?

  Somehow, he knew she would. She would soak his hand, drench his wrist. She would come like the wild tempest she was, loud and unapologetic, owning her pleasure.

  The image in his mind had him grinding his jaw.

  No. He could not surrender to his need. Duncan shook his head, sending the unworthy, dishonorable thoughts to the ether. “You have already seen them once, my lady, and even then, I ought never to have allowed such a travesty.”

  “Why did you allow it?” she asked softly, taking a step closer to him.

  Undoing his resolve just a bit more.

  He swallowed, fists flexing at his side. “I wanted to shock you. To send you from here with no wish to return.”

  Nearer still she ventured, unaware or uncaring of the danger she was in. “You did not shock me, as you can see. I must observe everything I can. Spare me from nothing. Show me all, Mr. Kirkwood. I need to learn. I must know if I am to accurately portray the baron and the netherworld he occupies.”

  “No,” he denied her. Denied himself. No good could come of her lingering a moment more within his domain, the two of them alone, her delicious curiosity making his blood hum. “Remain where you are, my lady. I will go send for the carriage and have it brought discreetly to the back entrance so you may safely return home.”

  He forced himself to turn away, leaving her to watch him as he stalked to the door leading to his office. It was done. He had the willpower to leave her alone. Gaining his retribution upon the man who had sired him had nothing to do with him taking the innocence of a sheltered young lady. He would find someone else—anyone else—to slake the hunger she had kindled within him.

  Trouble was, something told him no one else would quite do.

  *

  He was going to make her leave his club after a mere hour.

  Frederica stared at Mr. Kirkwood’s broad, retreating back, trying not to notice the ripple of elegant strength beneath his perfectly cut coat as he stalked away. His shoulders were so large, larger than those of most gentlemen of her acquaintance. His entire air was a combination of primitive, dark, and debonair that left a quivery feeling in her stomach whenever he was near.

  Or even when he was in the act of leaving her, as he was currently doing.

  She had to stop him.

  She needed more time.

  “Mr. Kirkwood,” she called out, her feet moving toward him. She could not chase in the shoes that dwarfed her feet—as it was, she’d needed to wedge several pairs of stockings inside the toe to render the things wearable—but she managed well enough.

  He stopped just short of the door, stiffening, keeping his back to her. “Lady Frederica, it would not be wise of you to encourage me to linger in this hall.”

  The subtle implication of his words thrilled her. Sent heat blossoming in her, settling in the forbidden flesh she could not seem to ignore. The unspoken suggestion that she tempted him ought to frighten her, but she was reveling in her newfound freedom whilst it was still hers. When her father returned to town, she would not dare to be so bold in her escapes. And with his arrival would come a fresh wave of urging her to wed. Willingham would not wait long.

  But it wasn’t just her fleeting freedom making her heart pound and an ache pulse between her thighs. It was him. This man. He was not the sort of gentleman she would have ever been allowed to know. Mr. Kirkwood was scandalous. Dangerous. Even if his club was frequented by the peerage’s loftiest lords, he was still the bastard son of a duke and a doxy. He worked to earn his living.

  Polite society shuddered at such a plebian notion.

  Fr
ederica found it intriguing. Admirable. Attractive.

  He was attractive. Frightfully so. He was forbidden, and it only made her long for more time in his enigmatic presence.

  “Why should I not encourage you to remain here?” she asked, inwardly cursing herself for the breathless quality of her voice.

  He already thought her a pampered, witless duke’s daughter. She did not need to further his opinion. She was still speaking to his back. His head was bowed, almost as if he attempted to cling to his restraint.

  She had seen the raw glint in his beautiful eyes. For a perfect moment, she had read his confusion. He, too, felt the connection between them—odd and unexpected yet so perfectly natural, as if it had been preordained. She knew it.

  And he had not yet left. Or moved.

  Temptation burned through her, along with an unaccountable boldness. Frederica scarcely recognized herself. The meek wallflower who was content to remain on the periphery of society was nowhere to be found. It was as if she had shed her old self in favor of her new identity. Here and now, she found herself in the midst of the most interesting bustle of people and vice and sin she had ever imagined. She found herself just a step away from the man she had only read about in scandal sheets.

  One more step forward. She took it.

  Frederica placed a palm on his back. She’d shucked her gloves, which had only hindered her ability to properly take notes, and the heat of him through his coat seemed to singe her skin.

  “You did not answer me,” she prodded, fancying her hand absorbed the steady, fast thuds of his heart.

  He was rigid beneath her touch. Strong and male and lean. His scent washed over her, and the pulse in her core turned into a throb. She felt suddenly as she had when she had pressed her eye to the viewing slot and witnessed the most shocking acts imaginable. Hot. Achy. As if she needed something but did not know precisely what that something could be.

  Only this time, it was magnified by one hundred.

  “You should not touch me, my lady.” His voice was rough and low, a decadent rake over her senses.

  Naturally, his warning only made her bolder. She flattened her left palm to his shoulder as well, daring to slowly move her hands. The slope of his bones and sinew, the cords of his muscle, the solid strength of him—she learned it all, for the first time. She had only danced with gentlemen in ballrooms, driven with them in the park. So proper, a necessary degree of separation at all times. But this—Duncan Kirkwood—was real, and she could not deny how much she adored exploring his virility.

  “Why should I not touch you, Mr. Kirkwood?” She continued her perusal of his back, unashamedly. It felt far too good. All of it.

  She felt like a prisoner who had been locked away all her life, only to suddenly be handed the key. She wanted to fit the key to the lock, swing open the door, and run free. Dear heavens. Perhaps something was wrong with her. Perhaps she was inherently wicked. Whatever the case, she wanted her research to include him.

  She could acknowledge it to herself if to no one else.

  “Because you are an innocent,” he growled then. “You are a lady of quality, and I am decidedly not a gentleman.”

  “What if I do not wish to be an innocent?” The question fled her unintentionally. Her tongue was always ahead of her mind, saying what she felt. Speaking out of turn.

  Was it her imagination, or did he sway toward her?

  “Lady Frederica, I can assure you that you are out of your depths,” he gritted.

  Was she? Yes. Without question. But that did not mean she longed for him any less. There was so much she wanted to know. So much she wanted to learn. Frederica was insatiable for knowledge. For research. To make her novels come to life.

  Perhaps also to make herself come to life.

  “Would you kiss me?” she asked, and she did not know why. Kissing Duncan Kirkwood had not been her purpose in coming here this evening. Nor had her own ruination.

  His silence seemed to fill the softly lit hall, echoing all around them, mocking her.

  She had made a fool of herself.

  Humiliation burning through her, she tore her hands from him and spun on her heel. It would be better if she allowed him to fetch the carriage and she remained where she was, too far away to further embarrass herself. Too far away for him to tempt her. She could only hope he would leave with haste.

  She could not bear to return tomorrow. Not after begging for his kiss. A man like Duncan Kirkwood would have no use for a sheltered miss. What had she been thinking? Likely, everything she had read in him had been wrong. Drat her observational skills. They were flawed. Just as she was.

  Tears stung her eyes.

  How would she ever write a novel when she could not even understand herself?

  She heard him mutter something behind her, and then the fall of footsteps.

  Hands clamped on her waist, spinning her. She lost her balance and fell into him, into his hard chest. Perplexed, Frederica glanced up at him. “What are you do—”

  But she could not finish her question, for his lips were upon hers. Firm and warm and so different from the one and only kiss she had ever received. This kiss was aflame.

  She forgot her shame. Forgot her tears.

  Forgot everything but Duncan Kirkwood’s mouth on hers, his hands spanning her waist, his lean body burning into hers. His tongue coaxed her lips to part, and when she did, he shocked her utterly by thrusting it inside her mouth. Not roughly or rudely but slowly, a sleek foray as his kiss continued to play over her. It was voracious and yet gentle all at once, a breathtaking contradiction of slow seduction and sensual mastery.

  Her hands went to his shoulders, holding herself steady against his devastating onslaught. At this proximity, one of his long legs thrust between hers thanks to her breeches, he made her dizzy. His scent filled her, and he overwhelmed her. He was everything she felt, thought, tasted.

  She tasted him, she realized, giving his tongue a tentative nudge with hers. And he tasted of pleasure and passion, of the forbidden and…cocoa with a hint of anise. All this iniquity surrounding him, liquor on every sideboard, and Duncan Kirkwood tasted of chocolate. She felt powerful in that moment, as if he had divulged a secret to her alone.

  Growing bolder, she tangled her tongue with his once more, and he rewarded her with a low sound in his throat, part growl, part hum, and all satisfaction. She never wanted this moment, this kiss, to end. Closing her eyes, she gave herself over completely to the sensations, to the passion vibrating in the air, in her, between them.

  His lips moved over hers with reverence, soft and slow, steady and deep. She forgot who she was, who he was. Nothing else signified. He owned her with his passionate kisses. His hands began to move, sliding inside her coat, making her tremble as he traveled slowly upward, gliding over her waistcoat.

  He did not stop until he reached her breasts. They burned and ached inside her painfully tight binding. His fingers splayed open, as if cupping the mounds he knew were hidden beneath her gentleman’s attire, and through the layers, she felt that touch like a brand. His thumbs swirled, unerringly finding her nipples.

  A fresh wave of sensation burst. Desperation laced through her—to tear away her coat, waistcoat, and shirt, to undo her bindings. She wanted those thumbs stroking her skin, easing away the sting, his fingers plucking at the tender buds until the only ache in them was caused by him.

  Again and again, his thumbs moved while his mouth claimed hers. It was the most intimate touch she had ever received, and it changed everything. Something inside her shifted. Here was the key, in the lock, and she turned it. The lock opened.

  She wanted to touch him everywhere, and so she did. Her hands found his neck first, strong and surprisingly soft to the touch above his cravat. And then her fingers sifted through his thick, sleek mane of golden hair. She framed his cheeks next, desperate to maintain their connection. Here, the tiny pricks of hundreds of his shaved whiskers abraded her skin in most delicious fashion.

 
His lips left hers burning, tingling, and forever altered, moving down her throat. Her fingers returned to his hair, so thick and lustrous. Somehow, his kiss upon her bare skin, directly above her madly pounding pulse, drove just as intense of a sensation through her as his kiss on her lips did. She hungered. Yearned. His mouth opened to suck her flesh above her neck cloth, his teeth delivering a bite that had her crying out, her fingers digging reflexively into his hair.

  “So sweet,” he murmured against her throat, his tongue flitting over her skin. “Forbidden fruit always tastes best.” His thumbs raked over her bound nipples again, inciting an almost painful rush of pleasure.

  Frederica was mindless. Breathless. She didn’t wish to think about his words, what they meant. All she wanted was more of him. More of his mouth, his tongue, his touch. The heat that had been building within her made her arch her back, seeking, urging him to continue. She wanted him to open her waistcoat, unbutton her shirt and lift it over her head. She wanted him to slice away her bindings. She wanted his hands on her bare skin without impediment.

  She wanted…

  A knock sounded. Quietly at first, and then more persistent. Rap. Rap. Rap.

  Mr. Kirkwood stilled. For a beat, silence descended, and there was no sound save the muted din of the club and pleasure chambers beyond their private little viewing hall and the ragged sound of their breaths mingling until they became one. She fancied she could hear their hearts pounding in unison.

  Rap-rap. Rap-rap. Rap-rap.

  “Mr. Kirkwood?”

  “Beelzebub’s ballocks.” Cursing, he tore away from her as if she were a live coal shot from the fire grate, and he had plucked her up from the floor with his bare fingers only to realize his folly and fling her as far and as fast from him as he could.

  She swayed, wrapping her arms about herself as a sudden sense of loss hit her. Her lips felt swollen and tingly. Her body was alive as it had never been. Even the patch of skin on her throat he had sucked and nipped stung. Her mind seemed separate from her body. Mad thoughts rained through it.