The thought perplexed her. “I?”
He nodded as he pulled the satin slippers from her feet and tossed them over his shoulder, then ran his hand up her leg until he found her garter and the bare flesh beyond. He rolled the white stockings down her legs, then slid the garters downward, too, grinning when she gulped.
He was so practiced and skillful—she did not want to think how—that he found the fasteners to her gown quickly and divested her of it. Reaching behind her, he undid the laces of her corset and cast if off to leave her in nothing but her chemise.
He tugged the ribbons securing that last vestige of modesty, and the chemise slipped down to her waist. A moment later, it lay atop the heap of her discarded clothing. She shivered in the cool night air and looked for something to cover her. Charles looked down at her tightened nipples and groaned. “You won’t be cold much longer, Georgiana. Bear with me.”
She was embarrassed. The other times—with her husbands—the lamps were off and she was under the blankets in her nightgown. Never naked. To be exposed to his view seemed so...naughty. So erotic.
As if he sensed her fears, he leaned over and blew the candle out leaving the soft glow of the firelight—revealing, but somehow kinder. She sighed in relief. She did not want him to find her lacking in any way.
He smiled and she was momentarily reminded of that younger Charles. The one who had wooed her so sweetly, the one she’d given her heart to. But this was a new Charles. Experienced, determined and relentless.
He sat on the edge of the bed and pulled the pins from her hair. “Like silk,” he murmured as he tangled his fingers in the curls. Bending slightly, he lifted a strand and held it to his cheek. “You are so completely beautiful that you take my breath away. What is that scent, Georgiana? It reminds me of spring.”
“L-lilacs,” she said, amazed that he would notice such a thing.
“Lilacs...” He straightened and stepped back from her bed to shrug out of his jacket. His gaze never leaving her, he removed his cravat, waistcoat, shirt, shoes, stockings and trousers in that order. She felt heat sweep up from her toes as he turned to her and undid his drawers and let them drop to the floor.
Good heavens! She’d never seen a man naked before. Mr. Huffington had worn a nightshirt and joined her beneath the blankets. Arthur had tumbled down the stairs in his nightshirt on his way to the water closet, but Gower had stayed the course—twice. With a little fumbling, he had managed to find the parts that fit together and finish the job rather quickly. The discomfort he’d caused had come and gone as quickly as he.
This, she gathered, was going to be an entirely different experience.
Charles’s physique was stirring. She noted an angry red scar high on his left shoulder and knew what had caused that damage—the shot he’d taken when standing beside Adam Booth. But then all she could see was his strongly muscled chest, narrowed waist and hips and...and that he was impossibly large below. Though she hadn’t actually seen Gower’s member, it couldn’t possibly have been this large.
He lay down beside her and she turned from her side onto her back, ready for him. She hoped that he would do some of the things he’d done to her in the coach first, though.
His hands, as deft as she’d ever known them, slipped over her form, from her shoulders to her knees. His eyes were closed and his mouth was open in a sigh, as if he were blind and learning what a woman was for the first time.
“I’ve wanted you for so long. You are everything I thought you’d be, Georgiana.”
Had he? But why had he run away after that first fierce kiss? Why had he not gone further then? She opened her mouth to ask the question, but he kissed her, blocking all thought and reason, as consuming as their first ill-fated kiss. She prayed it would not end the same way and moaned when he finally lifted from her lips. Why couldn’t that kiss go on forever?
But he turned his attention to the hollow of her throat and she could feel the heat of his breath there. The soft brush of his lips quieted her protest, alerting her that he was not done with her yet.
Her muscles relaxed and she felt as if she were melting. She was ready when he moved lower and took one firmed aureole between his lips and nibbled. An instant tingle began deep inside her. She couldn’t describe it, had never felt it before but had come close that night in the coach. She only knew something inside her was tightening, tensing for some unknown event, drawing ever closer with an indescribable compulsion. Whatever it was, she knew she wanted it, needed it. He moved his hand downward, touching her, stroking her in that most tender spot. She heard a whimper and realized that it was hers.
Charles made an answering sound, part groan, part growl. Had she done something to displease him? His knee slipped between her thighs and she raised her own knee to welcome him.
He sighed. “Everything and more...”
She twisted beneath him, reaching up to him. “Please,” she said, not knowing what she asked for, but knowing she wanted whatever came next. Yes, and trusting that Charles would know what she wanted, even if she did not. “Please.”
And for the first time, there was something familiar—the experimental push of his shaft against her softness. But with Charles, she wanted it. Welcomed it. She lifted to him in desperation.
“Ah, Georgie,” he groaned, thrusting again, harder this time.
He was thick and long and sure. She bit her lower lip to keep from crying out, knowing this was what she’d been waiting for, as he entered and filled her. But he did not stop there. He drew back and thrust again and again, creating an exquisite friction that rapidly built to a new and even more compelling need. So compelling that she could not catch her breath.
She joined his rhythm until a shattering spasm overtook her. Wave upon wave of pleasure washed through her and she was dying. Dying of sheer pleasure. Charles was with her, panting and whispering her name as he thrust one last time.
“Georgie...Georgie...Georgie...”
That was all she’d ever wanted.
* * *
Sometime before dawn, Charles bent over Georgiana to brush her hair back from her face and kiss her cheek. “I really must be going. Servants are one thing, but it would never do to have the neighbors see me leaving at the break of dawn.”
Her eyes were heavy-lidded and drowsy, and her flawless skin had the glow of a well-satisfied woman. A fact in which he took immense pride. She managed a smile and touched his cheek. “Once more?”
He laughed. When she’d recovered from their first coupling, she’d wanted more, and he’d been only too happy to accommodate her. Then again. And again. If she’d been insatiable, he’d been a satyr. “You wear me out, Georgie. I’d be pleased to accommodate you, but I will need a bit of time. I fear you’ve drained me.”
“Mmm.” She gave a feline stretch and blinked. “Is there anything I can do to persuade you?”
He groaned. All she needed to do was ask! If duty did not call he would be content to lie abed all day satisfying her every desire. She’d been worth the wait. Worth every moment, every day, every year.
He’d known from her responses that she’d been new to such pleasure and he thanked God that her previous husbands had not ruined her for this particular sport. She was so inherently sensual that he could easily teach her every delight she could imagine. And others that she couldn’t. Yet.
“I will fetch you for Vauxhall Gardens at eight,” he said, straightening the lapels of his jacket.
“Hortense has taken to her bed with a cold, so I told Harriett I’d go with her. Will you meet us there?”
Was that a twinge of annoyance he felt? Had he become so possessive of her in the space of one night that he could not share her with her female friends? Did it really matter whom she arrived with as long as he escorted her home? “Very well. I will meet you there. Shall I speak to Hathaway on my way out?”
She sighed and propped herself up against her pillows, pulling the sheets up to cover her breasts. Pity, that. He’d have enjoyed the view.
“I shall give him two weeks’ notice.”
“I think it would be best if he were gone today. Otherwise the next fortnight is likely to be exceedingly uncomfortable.”
“Yes, but I cannot just toss him onto the street after so many years of service. He may have financial obligations.”
“You are too considerate,” he said. “I doubt the man would do the same for you.”
She shrugged and the sheet slipped to reveal one rosy semi-circle. He grew instantly hard again, and wondered if he’d ever get enough of her. Or if, when this affair was over, she would leave him still wanting more.
“Give him two weeks’ wages instead,” he said, “and send him on his way. I warrant your household will function well enough without a butler. If not, promote your footman or hire another butler.”
“I shall think on it.” She sighed, her eyelids drooping again.
He savored the sight of her sunken against the pillows, still flushed from his lovemaking. Though he’d always known he’d have her, and that their coupling had been inevitable, he hadn’t suspected it to be so intense. So difficult to leave her. Arrogant ass that he was, he’d thought he could seduce her and then turn his back, just as she had turned hers after their first kiss.
He steeled himself against those thoughts. There’d be time enough for regrets later.
* * *
Georgiana found the sly looks cast in her direction difficult to endure. Word had spread throughout the house that she had taken a lover. To her chagrin, she’d been forced to perpetuate the lie and tell Clara that she and Charles Hunter were engaged to be married. She knew she could depend upon Clara to share that bit of information with the other servants.
But the worst came when she’d returned from a quick errand to find Hathaway in her bedroom rifling through her wardrobe. When he heard her, he turned very slowly and faced her with an unreadable expression.
“Is something amiss, Hathaway?”
He blinked. “Everything appears to be in order, madam.”
Did he really expect her to believe he’d been checking Clara’s work? When he’d never done so before? She saw a sly glint in his dark eyes and she’d suddenly had quite enough. “Wait for me in the library, Hathaway. I shall be down in a moment.”
The instant he left the room, Georgiana dropped her reticule and tossed her bonnet on the bed. What had the man been looking for? Because she was certain he’d been hunting for something. Was it possible...? Could Hathaway be responsible for all her little missing items? But why? They’d been trinkets of little value for the most part. Surely the man would have aimed higher if he was to take the risk of being caught, wouldn’t he?
Aunt Caroline’s jewelry was locked away in a safe at the estate in Kent and only she had the key now. She opened the little box where she kept her jewelry—and the key. Still there. Then what had he wanted?
She glanced around, searching for any other trace of Hathaway’s invasion, and noted that the stack of books by her bedside had been rearranged. Had he gone so far as to...but no, they were all there, though in a different order. And every trace of Charles’s presence there last night had been erased.
I think it would be best if he were gone today. Otherwise the next fortnight is likely to be exceedingly uncomfortable. Charles’s words echoed in her mind. He’d been right. She did not want to think of the man in her house any longer.
She patted her hair into place, brushed the wrinkles from her gown, and hurried down the stairs to the library.
As she entered the room, Hathaway looked down his long nose at her—no smirk, just a dark look of disapproval. Of superiority, actually. And, perhaps, just a hint of anger? “Yes, madam?”
“Hathaway, it is my belief that you have been unhappy in this household since Lady Caroline’s death. I have been painfully aware of the awkwardness between us. I think, therefore, that it would be best for all if we severed our relationship. I am prepared to offer you half pay for the next month whilst you find other employment.”
Hathaway stiffened and managed to look even sterner. “Half pay, madam?”
She nodded. She had not expected gratitude, but she had thought he would see the sense in her plan.
“I served his lordship, then Lady Caroline, and since her death—you. Three-and-twenty years, madam, and you think to pay me off with one month of half pay and push me out the door with nary a ‘by your leave’?”
She gritted her teeth. Hathaway had been left generous bequests by both Lord Betman and Lady Caroline. What he’d done with them, she had no idea. But had she been unfair? Ungenerous? She, herself, owed Hathaway very little. Based upon his short service in her employ—less than a year—he’d shown her little but impatience and disrespect. She could not imagine living indefinitely with him in her home and subjected to his behavior. But in the interest of expediency, “Full pay, then.”
She straightened her back and strengthened her will as she went to the desk and removed the leather packet that held the cash she’d withdrawn from the bank for household expenses. She removed the required sum and pushed it across the polished surface toward him. “On second thought, I would rather you leave today, Hathaway. If you are unable to find lodgings on such short notice, you may sleep here tonight, but I expect you to have made other arrangements no later than tomorrow.” Perhaps he could find employment wherever his lady love worked.
His expression was incredulous. Could he really have thought he could treat her and her guests with such disrespect and yet remain in her employ? “Surely you realize most employers would have dismissed you long ago, Hathaway. I would think you’d be relieved to depart when you find working for me so odious.”
His eyes narrowed and Georgiana suppressed the shiver that went through her. Evidently he read the resolve on her face because he snatched the banknotes from the desk and spun on his heel to leave the library without another word.
* * *
Lord Carlington signaled the waiter at White’s gentlemen’s club to pour Charles a sherry and nodded toward the deep upholstered chair across from his. “Good to see you again, Hunter. Coincidence? Or have you come looking for me?”
“Looking,” Charles admitted. Indeed, he’d been one step behind the man all day. It was time for their long-delayed talk.
“Something I can do for you?”
Charles settled back against the cushions. “If you are agreeable, I’d like to ask some questions regarding Georgiana.”
“I cannot help you with that, I fear. I’ve seen her across a room on occasion, but never met her until last night.”
“Actually, it was more Lady Caroline and her friend that I wanted to ask about. Georgiana has very few memories of her early years, and I hoped you might be able to help me with that.”
Carlington grew contemplative. “I knew a few of Caroline’s friends. Was there anyone in particular?”
“Georgiana’s mother.”
“Ah, Mrs. Carson. No, I did not have that pleasure. I believe I heard that Caro went to finishing school with her, but the woman married before she even had a season.”
“That is unusual, is it not?”
Carlington nodded. “Quite. If she was of sufficiently good birth to be accepted at a finishing school and become Caroline’s friend, she was certainly eligible to be presented to society. But if she’d been betrothed beforehand, I suppose there wouldn’t be much point in a season. Expensive, I hear.”
Charles smiled as he realized that Carlington had no firsthand knowledge of female expenses. “Then you don’t know Mrs. Carson’s maiden name?” He accepted the sherry from an impassive footman.
Carlington shook his head. “Don’t believe it was ever mentioned. I knew a George Carson who was a captain in the Royal Navy. Just assumed he was the husband. George—Georgiana, you see.”
There was sense in that, Charles thought.
“But you’re engaged to the gel and don’t know about her family?”
He shrugged. “I am inquiring now, sir. Appar
ently, I only know what you do. Lady Caroline was silent on the matter at our one meeting.”
Carlington sat forward, a spark of interest in his blue eyes. “You met Caro? When?”
“Georgiana’s come-out year. She summoned me to discuss her ward. I was a bit smitten by her even then.”
“What was she like?”
“Beautiful even then. Lively and quite popular. I had a great deal of competition.”
“Not Georgiana. Caroline. That was...after, you see. And Caroline would never receive me after.”
“After?”
“Her accident. The one that sent her back to Kent, never to appear in society again.”
Charles noted the sudden redness in Carlington’s eyes, which spoke of threatening tears. “Did you love her?”
Carlington blinked and leaned back again. “Completely. As I hinted at our last meeting, we were engaged, though it hadn’t been announced.”
So Wycliffe’s information had been accurate. Sympathy should have kept him silent, but he had to know. “What happened, Carlington?”
“Coaching accident. I handed her into her coach one night after a ball, and never saw her again. She wrote me that the coach tipped and either the window or the coach lamp broke and cut her badly. What did she look like, Hunter?”
He sighed. Lying would be kinder, but that would be a disservice to the man. After all these years, he had a right to know. Perhaps it would ease his mind. “She wore a veil, but even so, I could see her scars. They were...extensive. I gather the doctors were unable to repair her to any semblance of her former self. I’ve seen a portrait of her at her town house, but it bore little likeness to the woman I met.”
Carlington nodded as if Charles was confirming his own information. “I hoped to persuade her that her appearance mattered little to me. It was the woman I loved, not the face. I even went to see her in Kent but she would not receive me. She wrote to me afterward, begging me never to call upon her again, and saying she could never impede me with an unpresentable wife. I was pleased when I heard that she adopted her friend’s daughter. I would not have wished a life of solitude on her.”
A Daring Liaison Page 11