Intentions of the Earl (Scandalous Sisters, Book 1)

by Rose Gordon

  Her hands left his face and she wound her arms around his neck. Andrew gently pushed her backward until she was lying on the ground. She ran her fingers through the curls that rested on his neck before she moved them to explore his hard shoulders.

  He sought to deepen their kiss, and she willingly responded by opening her mouth to his. His fogged brain remembered this. He remembered how sweetly she tasted the other day in the orangery and when they kissed on their picnic. His hands finally freed all of her hair and he broke away to look at it.

  “Your hair is so beautiful,” he panted, running his fingers through her long, silky brown locks.

  “So is yours,” she said.

  Andrew smiled. “As much as I admire my hair, it pales in comparison to yours.” Then before she could argue or say another inane comment, he took her mouth again.

  Gently, he came to settle his upper body directly on top of hers, his legs on the ground next to hers. His hands left her hair and went to her sides where they skated up and down her ribs.

  Brooke’s hands squeezed and kneaded his shoulders before they moved down to explore his muscled chest. After a minute she moved them inside his coat, and ran her fingers along the top of his shirt and waistcoat. The warmth of her fingertips radiating through the layers of his clothes.

  He pulled away from their kiss and looked down at Brooke. She was staring at his face as it hovered right above hers. Her eyes were wide with wonder; it was a sight he could look at forever.

  It took only a matter of seconds for him to remove his coat and waistcoat then toss them in a pile beside them.

  Taking hold of Brooke’s hands he brought them up to his chest and leaned back in to kiss her again. “Touch me again,” he said, breaking their kiss for a second.

  Instantly, she resumed touching his muscled chest through his shirt. When she reached a finger in between his buttons and touched his bare chest, Andrew groaned. When she started to undo his shirt, he groaned again. “You’re too much for me, sweetheart,” he panted, rethinking his decision to leave his shirt on. He had only left it on so she wouldn't think he was pushing her.

  Brooke’s fingers worked the best they could at getting the buttons at the top of his shirt undone. When she had three undone, she ran both hands up and down his chest. Her fingers set out to explore his chest, searing his skin with each and every touch.

  Taking advantage of Brooke’s interest in his chest, he moved his lips from hers and kissed her jaw, then moved onto her neck. When his kisses lingered to the top of her chest, her fingers stopped moving and her head lolled to the side. His hands slid down the front of her body, caressing every part of her they could. She was so soft and curvy in all the right places.

  His hands traveled down to her skirt and grabbing handfuls of the thick masses, he pulled it up, baring her delicate stocking-clad legs, inch by delicious inch. Moving his body lower, he kissed the plane of her chest while reaching for the leg he'd just uncovered.

  He put his hand on her slim ankle and with his thumbs gently massaged a steady rhythm right above it before sliding his hand up the delicate curve of her calf. Her flesh was smooth and pliable, just like a woman ought to be. His hand found her knee and he ran a gentle finger along the back.

  Brooke released a gasp when Andrew’s fingers touched her thigh and massaged the soft flesh around her garter.

  Andrew took her gasp as encouragement, and he hooked his fingers around her garter and undid the tapes. Her body tensed and he moved his hands lower to caress her knee and calf.

  “Are you all right?” he asked.

  Brooke bit her lower lip, but didn’t answer.

  Seeing her hesitation, Andrew removed his hand from her leg. He resettled his body with one of his legs settling in between hers then came up on his elbows, to look into her beautiful brown eyes. “Brooke, I’ll stop if you ask it of me.” His lust-riddled mind hoped she would not ask it, but he needed her to know he would never force her.

  Her body relaxed once again, and she moved her hands to his neck and pulled him down to her. Their mouths met and they were kissing again. Brooke’s hold of his neck loosened and she ran her hands back down to his chest and slipped them inside his shirt, but this time she moved her hands to feel the broad expanse of shoulders.

  Slowly breaking their kiss again, Andrew’s lips kissed her chin and jaw while his hands went to her chest to gently trace the curves of her breasts, going under and to the sides of them without actually touching them, the same way he’d done yesterday. He remembered how much she had liked it before and how relaxed she had been when he’d done it then. Once her fingers relaxed on his shoulders and her eyes shut, he moved lower.

  She was enjoying this, he was sure of it—and he was, too. He was so caught up in the present, all thoughts, beside his immediate actions on her body, were forgotten. He forgot about everything and everyone except this moment with Brooke.

  He moved one hand to her thigh and tenderly massaged her supple flesh. Slowly, he moved his caresses higher. She offered no protest when he reached the bottom of her drawers and slipped his fingers inside to run along the bottom of the fabric.

  While his bold fingers moved higher to do a slow and thorough exploration of her thigh, his mouth kissed her upper chest and around the bodice of her dress. He wished now he’d taken time to lower it, but at this moment nothing could make him move his hand from where it was.

  He moved his lips back to hers and his hand glided higher inside her drawers until it was at the juncture where her leg joined her body, his fingers resting near the slope of her leg and the dip that led to her most secret area. Cautiously, he brushed his fingertips back and forth, delighting in the way her body arched in response to his touch.

  He shifted his hand just a fraction and silently rejoiced when she didn’t stop him. He could now feel her springy curls and knew he was within inches of touching the core of what made her a woman. He was shocked to discover just how much he wanted to touch her, and only her, there. He would have never known the truth himself if he currently was not so close to doing so.

  He reached his fingers closer to where he longed to be: tangled in her nest of curls, when abruptly Brooke was no longer kissing him and her whole body went stiff. Her legs violently clamping together and her hands suddenly shoving at his chest. “Stop! Stop! I cannot do this,” she exclaimed.

  Andrew took his hand out from under her skirt and pulled her skirt down the best he could to cover up her legs. “I didn’t mean to go so far,” he lied in a voice that sounded uneven to his own ears.

  Brooke looked at him blankly like she was still trying to comprehend everything herself. “I’m sorry, Andrew, I just cannot do this,” she said fiercely.

  ***

  Brooke could read the disappointment that was stamped on Andrew’s face. But as disappointed as both of them were, she had to be true to herself.

  Long ago she had made her mind up that she’d never let a man who wasn’t her husband seduce her. Fortunately, she hadn’t learned this hard lesson for herself, but she had seen more than one of her intimates fall victim to men who would seduce them then discard them quickly afterward.

  One of the most drastic situations she had been privy to had resulted in the girl getting with child, and after telling the father, he had denied involvement with her and abandoned her. Brooke shivered just thinking of it, but the memory helped her to hold her resolve.

  “Thank you for keeping your word,” Brooke said, gaining more control of her voice.

  “It’s all right, I respect your wishes. I told you I'd stop if you wished it,” Andrew assured her with a faint smile, then moved away to go sit with his back against a tree.

  Brooke sat up and looked at him. He was taking this rather well for being denied what all men wanted above all else—or at least that’s what she’d been told.

  Where they were sitting was very dim, but there was enough moonlight shining on them she could make out his features, which did not look as calm as he w
as pretending. His jaw was tense, his face looked as dark as a thunder cloud, and his chest was rising and lowering considerably with each breath he took.

  “I—I um, well, thank you, I just can’t…” she trailed off and waved her hand as if that would state what her voice could not.

  “It’s quite all right,” Andrew said in a measured voice. “You owe me no explanation, a lady is allowed to change her mind.”

  “I didn’t change my mind,” Brooke snapped. “I never said that I wanted to do…to do…that. You just took my lack of protest as confirmation that I would allow further advances.”

  “Once again, you are correct.” Andrew reached for her and pulled her to his lap.

  “I shouldn’t,” she protested weakly.

  “I promise not to do anything other than hold you,” Andrew assured her.

  Brooke trusted him to keep his word and clumsily allowed herself to be pulled onto his lap.

  She wiggled to get settled and Andrew groaned. She felt a hard ridge below her bottom. She cast a questioning eye to Andrew who just looked at her and said, “Not to worry, it will go away shortly.” When she relaxed a little, she could have sworn he muttered, “I hope.”

  She wanted to ask what he had in his pants that was hard and prodding her, and then ask him to move it because it was rather uncomfortable. But then she remembered the day at the museum and the statue she'd seen and decided not to mention it. She knew what it was, and there wasn’t anywhere he could move it. It was attached. Her face flamed and she was glad it was dark outside so he couldn’t see her face.

  “Andrew, I’m sorry for my reaction. It’s just that I cannot allow you to go so far. I cannot allow anyone to go so far.”

  “I see.”

  “No, I don’t think you do. I have convictions.”

  “Convictions?” he echoed.

  “Yes. I cannot give my virtue to the first man who comes along,” she said before giving any consideration to how that sounded.

  “Of course not,” he agreed.

  Brooke’s body shook on its own accord and her mind went to war over all the reasons this was right against all the reasons it was wrong.

  She had come to realize she did indeed love Andrew, but did he love her? That was what it all came down to. If he truly loved her, he wouldn't rush her, right? But he hadn’t rushed her, not yesterday and not today. He’d stopped both times without complaint. She was so confused. The feelings she had just minutes before came flooding back to war with her decision.

  She had felt so safe and comfortable with his caresses, but once he touched her as no man ever had before, she panicked. What if he took what she offered and abandoned her? What if her feelings for him outweighed his feelings for her and she ended up alone and stripped of the only valuable thing that a woman had? Her virtue. That realization shook her to the core. She had been so close to throwing it away. All for a man whom she loved, but had no idea if he felt the same.

  After a few minutes of them both sitting there consumed with their own thoughts, Andrew wrapped his arms around her and pulled her as close to him as he could. “Are you all right?” he asked soothingly.

  With his strong arms wrapped around her, she felt safe, like nothing bad could ever come to her. “Yes. I was just thinking of something,” she answered, looking up to meet his eyes.

  “What are you thinking about?”

  “It’s nothing.” Brooke tried to keep her voice firm, but it cracked anyway.

  “You can tell me anything,” Andrew said with a tender smile.

  “I feel that I’ve ruined everything. That you won’t feel the same about me now that I’ve ended…” she trailed off and lowered her gaze.

  Andrew gave her a reassuring squeeze. “I can assure you my feelings for you are the same as they were half an hour ago, and if they have changed, they’re stronger. Why would you think that my feelings would change?”

  Brooke turned her gaze back up to his and said, “Most men change their minds when they’re denied.”

  “Not this one,” he said softly. His embraced tightened slightly. “How would you know that? How many men have you gotten to know in the dark?” he asked in a rough voice.

  “No need to be jealous,” she teased. “I have never been this far with any man. However, anytime I've let a man kiss me then stopped him from advancing, he never speaks to me again, or not kindly at least.”

  Andrew laughed softly; the rumble of his chest tickled her cheek. “Their loss, I’d say,” he told her, placing a tender kiss on the top of her hair.

  “I’m fairly certain they don’t think so,” Brooke said laughingly.

  “They’re just angry you didn’t allow them to hold you like this,” he said, giving her another tight squeeze.

  “You’re too kind, but I do not think holding is what Gateway had in mind when he took me in the bushes, nor did he feel at a loss when I ended it and he called me a tease.” Brooke brought her hand up to his face and pushed some of his hair away from his eyes.

  “Gateway?” Andrew thundered.

  “Yes, Townson,” came a reply from ten feet away in the dark bushes.

  Chapter 24

  Brooke jumped nearly a foot in the air, knocking Andrew squarely in the nose, when Gateway’s voice floated to her ears.

  Andrew’s reaction was slightly different from Brooke’s. Instead of jumping, he went still as a portrait, his big arms squeezing tightly around Brooke’s midsection.

  When it was clear Andrew wasn’t going to speak, Gateway stepped closer and looked them over.

  The blood rush to Andrew’s head. This was what he planned, wasn’t it? He wanted someone to discover the two of them in an inappropriate situation that would result in her shame and his success. However, now that it happened, it all felt different, wrong even.

  “What are you two about?” Gateway inquired, cocking his head to get a better view.

  In his arms, Brooke’s body stiffened and she buried her face against his chest. His bare chest. In less than a second he comprehended just how bad the situation really was. He was without a coat and waistcoat, his shirt was for the most part undone, Brooke’s hair was down, her gown half unbuttoned in the back and she was sitting on his lap.

  “Just out enjoying the night,” Andrew replied smoothly.

  “Enjoying each other seems to be a more accurate description,” Gateway said with a chuckle.

  Something wet touched his chest. He tensed. It was Brooke’s tears. The one thing he had hoped to eliminate for her was complete mortification, which was exactly what was happening.

  Andrew relaxed his right arm and brought his hand to her back where he rubbed small, comforting circles, trying to calm her shaking body.

  “Now, now, Miss Banks, was his performance so bad you have to cry about it?” Gateway asked with a grin.

  “Better than yours would have been, I'm sure,” Brooke retorted hotly as she twisted around to face him and swiped the tears off her cheeks.

  Andrew couldn’t see her face, but he imagined rage was visible in those expressive eyes of hers, because Gateway did not immediately respond to her taunt.

  Their good luck did not hold out for long though. “You’ll never have the privilege to find out what it’s like to have a real man. It seems to me that you have made your selection.”

  Brooke’s body stiffened again at the duke's implication that if—no, when—someone found out what they'd been doing, or how they were found, they’d be forced to marry. Her body’s reaction to that knowledge hit Andrew like a punch to the gut: he wasn’t the man Brooke wanted.

  He should feel relieved, but instead he felt agitated. Why was she so affronted at the idea of marriage to him? Not that he was going to offer it, but to know she was so opposed hurt.

  Brooke settled Gateway with a stern look. “You would not be so much a cad to spread this story, would you?”

  “No,” Gateway allowed. “I have nothing to gain from your circumstances, unlike your companion.” The duke g
lanced pointedly to Andrew.

  Andrew seethed. Was Gateway about to expose him to Brooke and ruin everything? What purpose would it serve for him to do so? And what did he mean he had nothing to gain from her circumstances? He had everything to gain. This whole thing was his idea. He was the one who wanted them to go back to America for whatever reason.

  As if hit by lightning, Andrew had a revelation. He still didn’t know why Gateway wanted them to be sent all the way back to their homeland, but he figured out why he wanted the family shamed: Brooke had rejected him.

  Andrew let out a loud, harsh laugh. Brooke had told him as much just before they had been discovered, and if he had been able to think about it for a minute before they were interrupted he would have solved that piece of the puzzle already.

  Brooke turned a quizzical eye on Andrew. “How can you laugh at a time like this?” she demanded.

  His amusement ended instantly. He turned his eyes back to Gateway. “As delightful as this conversation has been, I think it’s time I return Miss Banks to her parents.”

  Neither Brooke nor Andrew made a move to stand up, they both waited for Gateway to leave so they could repair their clothing.

  Gateway’s eyes met Brooke’s and he said in an earnest tone, “I will not mention this to anyone.”

  Brooke gave a relieved sigh.

  Andrew gave him a questioning look, which Gateway didn’t respond to before he walked away.

  They stood and were fixing their clothing when Brooke whispered, “Do you believe he’ll hold his tongue?”

  Andrew stopped buttoning her gown. “Truthfully, I have no idea. He said he would, and for all his faults, I’ve never known him to go back on his word.”

  Brooke released another sigh of relief. “Good. I have no idea how I could ever be accepted around here again if he were to tell about my disgrace.”

  Andrew bristled next to her. “Would it be that bad?” he asked bitterly. Not that he planned to marry her, but once again she was pricking his pride by declaring she didn’t want to marry him.