Seduced by an Irresistible Lady: A Historical Regency Romance Book

by Henrietta Harding

  Helena smiled.

  At least he remembered.

  “Thank you,” she said, staring into his eyes.

  “I felt you would be expecting me,” he said.

  His eyes took her in. Helena could see displeasure in his eyes as he spoke. He didn’t like it that she was still in her morning gown. Helena wanted to address his demeaning tone, but she bridled her mouth.

  Second time I’m keeping quiet with this man. I am in the wrong. I should have been ready for him. We planned to see the play.

  “It escaped me. Give me a short while; I will be out and ready.”

  She looked back and saw Miss Justina and Lady Lavinia walking closer. Helena gestured to Miss Justina to come after her. Miss Justina broke into a slow run as Helena walked into the house. Helena saw Lord Jeffrey take and kiss Lady Lavinia’s hand as she got to him. Lady Lavinia had broken into a smile and was already chattering as Helena closed the entrance door behind her and Miss Justina.

  She appeared close to an hour after. She had taken a warm bath and dressed herself up in a low cut pink gown. The neckline of the gown had heavy lacy decorations, and the gown had long sleeves pinched at its ends. Helena had powdered her cheeks, making her appear even whiter than normal when she checked in the mirror before coming down. She added a bit of blush to her cheeks and rouge to her lips.

  “He will be barely able to keep his hands off you. His eyes, he will be powerless to keep from staring,” Miss Justina said as she saw her mistress stroll out of her bedroom to meet Lord Jeffrey downstairs.

  She was right. When Helena walked down the stairs to meet Lord Jeffrey and Lady Lavinia, Lord Jeffrey was so obviously impressed his first compliments were a clutch of fumbled words.

  “You, you really look … You look, amazing, just amazing.”

  Helena blushed.

  “Thank you,” she replied and curtseyed.

  “After you,” Lord Jeffrey said, pointing to a carriage waiting just in front of the gate.

  Helena touched Lady Lavinia on the arm as she walked to the carriage. Lord Jeffrey walked beside her.

  “You didn’t get to see the gift I brought you, from Drew,” Lady Lavinia shouted to her as she was getting into the carriage.

  “I’ll be back soon. Maybe you should give it to Justina. You really should have given it to me long before now, Lavinia. Thank you very much, tell Prince Drew I said thanks,” Helena replied.

  She got into the carriage, and Lord Jeffrey got in beside her. He looked at her eyes and down into her peering cleavage. Helena smiled.

  Men could be so predictable.

  She no longer felt any dissent at him. She was elated she had obviously charmed him.

  The things we do for family.

  Helena touched Lord Jeffrey on his right arm, finally snatching his eyes away from her big bust.

  “So tell me about the play we are about to see?”

  *******

  Helena waved the fan at her face as the carriage started its return journey. It was still hot but would cool down when the carriage got into a proper run. Helena looked to Lord Jeffrey beside her. He was staring out the window back at the huge door that was the entrance to the Beaufort theatre. Helena could not count the number of members of the peer and other people of high station that came to share greetings with Lord Jeffrey. Many accorded respect to him and therefore accorded her with the same esteem. Many of these people were women, some young debutantes or daughters of members of the peerage. It was obvious Lord Jeffrey was very hot commodity as an eligible bachelor. Helena felt proud that she was the woman Lord Jeffrey had chosen to attend the play with.

  The play itself was interesting but familiar. Helena had read about the secret life of Henry I many times from her father’s books. She ended up explaining many a scene to Lord Jeffrey. Her explanations drew appreciative glances from the young man and woman sitting beside them. She made sure to speak seldom and mutedly, in order not to disturb other viewers.

  “You know so much about the lives and acts of the English royal family,” Lord Jeffrey said as he took his gaze away from the window.

  “The English peerage,” Helena corrected.

  Lord Jeffrey grabbed her right wrist and held it between his palms.

  “You never cease to amaze me, whether by looks or by brains,” he said.

  Helena smiled. It could have been a blush; she wasn’t sure she managed to stop her cheek from reddening.

  “How is your ankle?” Lord Jeffrey asked.

  “It’s much better. Dr Frederick is coming to check it during the week.”

  “I met him at my house. He’s a calm man.”

  Helena felt her heart lurch as she remembered Dr Frederick. She looked at her wrist in Lord Jeffrey’s hands.

  If it was Dr Frederick holding me, my wrist would be burning. A deep yearning would have enveloped my lower gut.

  Helena felt nothing with Lord Jeffrey.

  He has the solution to my father’s problems and that’s reason enough to be with him.

  She wondered if she could ever have anything with Dr Frederick. She wished she could.

  But we don’t always get our wishes.

  Chapter 12

  If she had tarried

  Dr Frederick waited in the sitting room as the steward went in and told Miss Helena he was around. The sitting room was cool, even in the afternoon’s heat. He had been glad he wore his black hat as he rode to Strabolgi.

  Who could ever have thought a sun so scorching hid behind the morning clouds?

  He had dressed simple in short knee-length breeches and a white cotton shirt. He decided against bringing his medical box.

  Why would I?

  If he was being frank; he was only going just because he wanted to feel the waves of warmth once again. The emotion that ran through him any time he was with Miss Helena was indescribable and completely addicting. He only took his balm in case he needed to massage her ankles. He touched the skin of the cushion chair in front of him; it felt like sheep wool. It wasn’t, he was sure. It didn’t look like it. Footsteps from the corridor made him raise his gaze.

  “Dr Frederick,” Miss Helena said smiling as she walked in from the corridor with her maid behind her.

  Dr Frederick removed his hat with his left hand and bowed gently to Miss Helena. She looked at home and beautiful still. Her lips had a pink tinge today, not as bloody as he had seen them formerly. She was in a short, sky blue gown with a cone-shaped skirt. Her maid was dressed in the same grey overall the stewards he had seen outside wore.

  This is the first time she’ll dress like a normal steward.

  “Miss Helena, you look well,” Dr Frederick said.

  “My continued expectation of your visit threatened to make me less well,” she said.

  Dr Frederick smiled.

  “So it’s safe to say you will be well now that I am here,” he answered.

  Miss Helena nodded. Dr Frederick looked at her stance and took his gaze to her left foot. She stood well on it, placing all her weight on it as normal.

  The ankle’s fine.

  “So can I get a look at the ankle?”

  “Why, of course,” Miss Helena answered.

  She turned to her maid.

  “Justina, go and get a bowl of warm water and wet towels, Dr Frederick might need them.”

  Dr Frederick was about to say he wouldn’t need them, but the maid walked too fast. She was out of the sitting room before he could open his mouth.

  “Why don’t we go to the garden? It’s more open, less stuffy,” Miss Helena said.

  “That would be fine,” Dr Frederick said.

  Miss Helena walked past Dr Frederick carrying a rich scent of spices and a faint whiff of lavender mixed in it. Dr Frederick swallowed and dabbed at the sweat that he felt was forming on his forehead with his handkerchief. He followed her out the door, down the stairwell, and round the back into the garden.

  Miss Helena took him past rows of roses and small shrubs. She walked
past a small bench and took him around a clutch of short trees. The foliage of the trees was splattered with small red flowers. Dr Frederick saw a much bigger white bench behind those trees. That was where Miss Helena sat, resting her head on the curvy designs of the headrest the bench had. Dr Frederick stood in front of her.

  “So how was your week, Doctor?” she asked him.

  Dr Frederick bent down in front of her. His eyes were on the same level with hers. Her colourless eyes surprised him with the way they absorbed him. Dr Frederick could see a miniature him in her globes, a swimming image in a sea of clear ice.

  “You stare at me like I said something wrong, or is there something wrong?” Miss Helena asked.

  Dr Frederick broke their eye lock and cautioned himself. He always teetered at the edge of control anytime he was with Miss Helena.

  “No, nothing is wrong. I was just surprised by the colour, or rather lack of colour of your eyes. It is a rare occurrence medically,” Dr Frederick explained.

  Helena smiled. Her cheeks reddened deeply, making her look dollish. Dr Frederick folded his fingers into his palms for fear of them moving to touch her in a moment of madness.

  Her beauty is pushing me closer to that.

  “Doctor, you haven’t answered me. How was your week? We are at the weekend, today is Friday,” she said.

  “Yes, we are. My week was calm,” Dr Frederick said.

  Miss Helena nodded her head.

  “So can I see the foot now?”

  Miss Helena nodded and eased the shoe off her left leg with her left hand.

  “I’ve noticed you do almost everything with your left,” Dr Frederick said.

  “That’s great observation, Doctor. I am a lefty,” Miss Helena said, smiling at the end of her sentence.

  “I’m impressed the Baron did not try to change you while you were still growing,” Dr Frederick said.

  Miss Helena shook her head. Her gold dangling earrings danced as she did.

  “My father has a far more liberal mind than the common man older than fifty. He would never do that,” she said.

  No wonder you are said to have the audacity to oppose and argue against views of men in balls and parties. Your father puts no bridle on your thinking or views.

  Dr Frederick was impressed. He had never met a woman like Miss Helena. He looked at the small foot resting on the lawn. It wasn’t purple anymore, only pink due to the pressure from the just removed shoe. It had returned to its normal size. Dr Frederick held it with his right hand. He put his left hand under it, lifting it up. Miss Helena jerked and drew the foot back rapidly. Dr Frederick reared back suddenly, alarmed something was wrong.

  “What is it?” he asked as he raised his gaze to her eyes.

  “Nothing,” Helena answered, smiling uncomfortably.

  “Your fingers were tickling, and I wasn’t ready for the sensation. I am sorry if I alarmed you,” she said.

  Dr Frederick nodded and picked up the foot again. He placed his left hand under it again, using it to hold the foot. Miss Helena twitched and smiled a little as he did that. Dr Frederick pressed the ankle a bit. Miss Helena didn’t react. Dr Frederick pressed it with the same force again, this time looking at her eyes. He wanted to see if she was just keeping herself from reacting to pain, no matter how small. Miss Helena’s eyes were closed.

  Is she closing them due to pain or pleasure?

  “Do you feel anything, any pain?” Dr Frederick asked.

  She opened her eyes and shook her head. Her eyes looked, raw, naked. Her eyes mirrored a feeling Dr Frederick could not lay a finger on yet. He moved his left hand up her leg so he could hold her ankle better. Miss Helena moved her legs slightly, opening them wider and allowing Dr Frederick to glimpse her naked limbs under the cone-shaped skirt. Dr Frederick moved his hands deeper, moving them past the soft skin under her knees and onto her lap.

  Her lap was soft and warm. Dr Frederick’s throat constricted and warmth poured into his member, fueling its rise. Dr Frederick’s right hand still remained at Miss Helena’s ankle. He pressed more, both at her ankle and onto her lap. Miss Helena’s eyes were closed shut.

  “Do … do you feel any pain?” Dr Frederick asked her.

  His voice shook and sounded like he had caught a cold. Dr Frederick didn’t understand why Miss Helena always had this effect on him. All he knew was being close to her, touching her, brought a flood of want to him.

  Miss Helena shook her head.

  “No, I don’t feel any pain.”

  Dr Frederick’s hand wandered a tad deeper, nearing Miss Helena’s very crux. Miss Helena slammed her eyelids open and placed her hands on Dr Frederick’s shoulders, holding him tight as if she needed him to maintain balance. The force of her weight was much and threatened to fell Dr Frederick. He removed his hands from her leg and held her at the waist. Miss Helena lowered her gaze and looked into Dr Frederick’s eyes. Dr Frederick saw her pupils shake. There was want in her eyes. Dr Frederick felt the hunger in him flood and overflow. Her mouth was slightly open, her lips parted at the centre. Dr Frederick wanted to fill that opening.

  His eyes were riveted on her red lips and their silent allure. His gaze fell to her heavy bust. He noted the small rise and fall motion they made as she breathed. Dr Frederick noticed her head lowering. He didn’t wait for it to get to him. He nudged his head upwards and met her mouth with his.

  The force of their impact was great. Dr Frederick felt unable to shackle the want that had raged in him since he first saw Miss Helena. His lips enveloped hers, first a parry of lips, no tongue. Dr Frederick took hold of her lower lip and feasted on it. He sucked at it like he was trying to drain it of its redness. Miss Helena moved her lip out from between his and twisted her head slightly, changing the angle and causing Dr Frederick to take a breath. Her tongue flew out, quick and without warning, moving swiftly through the space between his lips and clashing with his tongue. Dr Frederick heard a moan. He didn’t know whose throat it escaped from.

  His hands moved up from her waist, one moved to her lower back while the other rested on one of her breasts. He tried to wrap his palm around the soft bust of her breast, but his palm couldn’t provide cover enough. The tender feel of her bust under his palm tingled Dr Frederick’s skin. Dr Frederick dropped his mouth from her mouth to her bust area. He pushed his face into the abyss above where her breasts lay. Dr Frederick searched for her nipple with his tongue, nibbling and biting gently when he found it. His teeth couldn’t get a firm grip of the bud. Dr Frederick cursed gently at the fabric of her gown that separated his mouth from the naked skin of her bust. He moved his head back up, attacking her mouth with ferocity.

  Miss Helena’s hand wrapped around his waist and wandered till it touched his erect member, through his fabric of his breech. She held tight to it causing Dr Frederick to groan.

  “I have had so many dreams about this,” Dr Frederick said.

  Miss Helena smiled.

  Dr Frederick moved back from her a bit. He took a long look at her flushed face. Her skin was flawless and glossy. Her face was round, no sharp angles where bone and muscle massed. She was a beauty. And now he wanted her more than anything. Dr Frederick was about to move his hand back under her skirt when he heard a ruffle. Someone was coming.

  Dr Frederick jerked back from Miss Helena. He rubbed his face and mouth, taking care to bring out his handkerchief to clean any powder stains on his face. Miss Helena had heard the steps too and composed herself quickly.

  The footsteps stopped. Dr Frederick waited for a few seconds and heard nothing. He looked into Miss Helena’s eyes and saw exactly what he wanted to see.

  Unabated hunger.

  Dr Frederick shook his head. He shouldn’t be doing this. It wasn’t because she was meant to be a patient.

  She is a patient no more since she suffers no ailment.

  It was because he knew of the designs Lord Jeffrey had for her. Dr Frederick wanted no contest of the heart with a man so powerful. His research needed the e
nergy he would have to expend on the affair. He turned to leave.

  “Dr Frederick,” Miss Helena said.

  “Dr Frederick,” he heard from the turning around the trees.

  He looked up to see Miss Justina carrying a bowl with water in it.

  “I’m sorry I took so long. As I was coming the rag dropped, and I had to go back to get another,” Miss Justina said.

  Dr Frederick met Miss Justina’s gaze but quickly dropped it.