Chapter One

by Tamara Gill

  “I see.”

  “I’m not sure of Miss Lancer’s exact words to Charlotte but I was accused of using Miss Lancer for my own amusement in Bath. She even asked me if I’d kissed the girl.”

  “Had you,” George asked, taking a sip of his drink. “I always wondered.”

  Mason ground his teeth. “I wouldn’t call it a kiss. We were at a ball and she was upset over something trivial. I strolled with her about the pump room before I kissed her hand on departing. The way Charlotte was speaking, anyone would have thought ‘d that I lifted Miss Lancer’s skirts and taken her there and then.”

  George frowned. “You did seem to take to the girl more than any other in Bath. Even you knew her attachment to you was growing.”

  Mason ran a hand through his hair. “I know, damn it. And I should have been more circumspect in my interactions with her. I made a mistake.”

  “And one I doubt Lady Remmick would be willing to forgive. You need to apologize and speak to Miss Lancer. Tell her that you’re sorry but your affections lay elsewhere. And then speak to Lady Remmick and grovel at her silk slippers until she’s inclined to forgive you as well.”

  “When did you become so knowledgeable?” Mason said, meeting his friends gaze for the first time.

  “It’s not something I like people to know, unless the need arises from a close friend.”

  Mason laughed. “Thank you.”

  “Don’t thank me yet. You apology hasn’t been forgiven,” George said.

  Mason cringed and wondered just how he was to win Charlotte back and gain her forgiveness for a sin he never actually committed.

  Chapter Eleven

  A week later, Charlotte sat a circular table at Lady Bates’ garden party and tried to keep her attention on the conversation going on around her. Yet, no matter how much she tried, the fact that Lord Helsing was present and right at this moment deep in conversation with Rose at another table, made it impossible to do so.

  “If you keep looking over at them, he’ll know you’re wondering what they’re talking about.”

  Charlotte took a sip of tea and raised her brow at Amelia. “I am wondering what they’re talking about.” She sighed. “I know. There is no hope for me.”

  Amelia laughed. “Yes there is. But your fixation is creating a little attention. Although I do believe they think your staring is due to the fact Lord Helsing is only days away from proposing to the girl.”

  Charlotte clenched her jaw at the thought of Rose and Mason married. Not that she didn’t wish the very best for her dearest cousin and his lordship was certainly that, but because her life would continue on as before. With bouts of serenity followed by episodes of fear.

  She heard laugher and clinking glasses and spied James flirting with some elderly matrons of the ton. He could certainly charm the ladies when he wished too. Pity he couldn’t control his anger as well.

  “I wrote to my father yesterday about James.”

  Amelia clasped her hand and smiled. “I’m glad you did. What do you think he’ll do?”

  Charlotte shrugged. “I’m not sure he can do anything. James is the one who’ll have to initiate a divorce by catching me with another man. He’ll never do it even if he had found out about me and Lord Helsing.”

  “I’m so sorry, Charlotte. I wish I could help in some way.”

  She smiled. “You do help by listening when I need someone to talk to. Like now for instance,” Charlotte paused. “I’m going to ask James to depart for our country estate. I know he’ll probably say no but if he doesn’t then I’m going to leave instead. I’ll not let him hurt me anymore.”

  “Under the circumstances I think this is a wise decision for you.” Amelia cleared her throat. “Rose is coming–”

  Charlotte looked up and the breath in her lungs hitched at the sight of Mason standing beside her cousin. His masculinity all but oozed from his attire and his casual elegance made her ache in all the naughty places on her body. She shifted on her chair and refused to react to his knowing grin.

  “Lady Remmick,” he drawled, picking up her hand and kissing it lightly.

  Charlotte felt her mouth open before she realized what she was doing and closed it again. “Lord Helsing,” she managed to say without sounding breathless like she felt. “Are you enjoying the garden party?”

  “I am. The temptations she has on offer this afternoon positively make my mouth water.”

  Charlotte heard Amelia giggle and heat suffused her face. “Yes the cakes are very nice.” Mason smiled and she knew he was laughing at her. She narrowed her eyes.

  “Is it alright if I go and speak to Jane Carter, Charlotte? She’s just arrived.”

  Charlotte nodded to Rose but didn’t take her eyes off Mason. “Of course.” She started when Mason sat beside her. Again, she was tempted by his very essence and she cursed herself for being a woman without willpower.

  “Please, take a seat.” Sarcasm all but dripped from her tone.

  Lord Helsing watched her, his gaze intense and a shiver ran down her spine. Charlotte absently heard Amelia excuse herself and before she could join her friend, she felt a finger slide against her knee.

  Charlotte shut her eyes for a moment and reveled in the contact before she pushed his hand away. “Don’t.”

  “When can I see you again?”

  Tension coiled inside the pit of her stomach and she almost moaned at the thought of being with him just one more time. Of having his lips on hers. All over her, in fact.

  “You are seeing me,” she said, laughing to hide her unease.

  Mason leaned toward her. “I want to hear your voice rasp against my ear as I make love to you,” he said, his breath but a whisper against her cheek.

  Charlotte turned her attention to the other guests and realized with dismay the ladies once sitting at her table were no longer there. Cursing and thanking them for the small tidbit of privacy she met Mason’s burning gaze and shook her head. “No.”

  His finger ran along her arm and she shivered.

  “Yes,” he said. “There is a room two doors up from the conservatory. Meet me there in half an hour or so. Please, we need to talk.”

  Charlotte squeezed her legs together as the temptation to be with him made it hard to remain immune. Mason stood and left before strolling about the lawns, talking to other guests at the party.

  She took note of where Rose was and smiled as she watched a young gentleman amicably talk to her, his hands gesturing wildly with some tale.

  Should she join him? The temptation to do so was beyond anything she’d ever known before. And Mason knew it. He knew what to say and do to her to make her crave him; want him, as desperately as she sensed he wanted her. And what did he have to say?

  Seductive fiend.

  Charlotte stood and noted Lord Helsing watching her from across the lawn. She walked over to Amelia and let her know where she was going before heading toward the house. Excitement thrummed through her veins and a smile quirked her lips. Poor, Mason. After she’d finished with him today, he’d never try and seduce her before the ton. Never again.

  Mason watched Charlotte casually stroll toward Lady Bates’ grand London home and his body tightened painfully. The unconscious sway of her hips pounded his blood directly to his groin and all he wished to do was clasp her delicate body hard against his and have her in any way possible.

  He took note of Lord Remmick’s whereabouts and noted with distaste the gentleman’s attempt at flattery and polite behavior. The bastard didn’t know the meaning of either word and he doubted if he ever would.

  Mason walked toward a footman and taking a glass of champagne started to stroll toward the house. He entered off the terrace and headed toward the conservatory. The house was quiet and inside one could barely hear the party taking place out on the lawns.

  Walking past the conservatory the smell of exotic plants and fruits wafted across his senses before he entered the room further on that he sought. Charlotte lounged on a chaise longue,
her elegance of ease sending a frisson of uncertainty to course through him.

  “Lord Helsing.” She smiled and his gut clenched.

  “My lady,” he replied, snipping the lock on the door behind him.

  “I would like to get a few things clear before we go any further. What is about to happen between us does not change what I said to you a week past at Lord Wilson’s ball. Our liaison must end and you must marry. Is that understood?”

  Mason ground his teeth but nodded. “I understand that as long as you know I’ll always care for you. I also wish to clear up your confusion about Miss Lancer. I never seduced or kissed her. I always acted with the most gentlemanly behavior around your cousin. Today I apologized not having realized that she’d read more into our association than I had intended. She has forgiven me.”

  “Really?” She smiled and his gut clenched. “You never kissed her?”

  “No,” he replied walking toward her. “It’s not Miss Lancer I want.”

  Charlotte held up her hand and he stopped. “I’d like to try something that I saw in a book once. You must allow me my way or I won’t forgive you either.”

  Mason grinned. “What do you wish to do to me, my lady?” All sorts of erotic thoughts began racing through his mind.

  “Come and sit on the day bed.”

  Mason did as she bid and watched as Charlotte knelt before him. The breath in his lungs hitched when she slid her hand up his thigh, his body wholly focused on what she was doing.

  “I’ve been fascinated ever since I overheard some women talking as to whether a man could be pleasured in such a way. I searched out some books of James’ and it seems to be true.” She unclasped his frontfalls and Mason shifted in his seat. He moaned when she ran a finger down his length. “It is true, my lady,” he managed.

  “I enjoy your tongue against me. Love how wantonly you make me feel when I’m against your mouth.”

  “I’m more than willing to show you again, my dear.” And he would if she’d allow it. Nothing in this world would please him more than to make Charlotte happy. He stilled when she kissed the end of his cock, her sweet, tongue tasting the very essence of him.

  “It’s my turn to make you moan, my lord.”

  Mason clenched his jaw, lest he follow through on his urge to thrust between her sweet lips. Dear God, how was he to get through this exquisite torture she had concocted for him. A quick learner, she licked down his length then took him wholly into her mouth. Heat and the lightest suction made his balls ache. “Charlotte.”

  She threw him a wicked smile and then continued her ministrations. Mason shut his eyes and prayed he had the stamina to last longer than he thought possible at this point. Her innocent loving of his member, her sweet sighs and moans as she tasted and enjoyed her attention to him near unmanned him.

  Tension coiled inside as she relentlessly took his full length. Her goal to make him come, unfortunately all too close. “Charlotte, come away. You’ll make me–”

  “I want you too.” She glided her hand up and down his length and he swallowed. Hard. “In my mouth. I want to taste you.”

  Mason watched as she continued to love him. He wanted to run his hands into her hair, hold her against him and fuck her mouth, but he could not. Instead, he saved the fantasy for another time and alternatively grabbed the daybed for support.

  Lights blazed behind his eyelids as he came. His balls ached and never had an orgasm flowed throughout his body sending shivers of pleasure that consumed him. Charlotte moaned and kissed his member, making sure to lick the last drops of his essence before she sat back. “Did I please, my lord?”

  Mason pulled her up on his lap and took her lips in a searing kiss. He let her know through his embrace, what she made him feel. What he would continue to feel for her if only she would let him. “Just knowing you’re in this world pleases me, Charlotte. Everything else is a boon.”

  She laughed, the sound more carefree than he’d ever heard before and his heart thumped loud in his chest. “I meant what I said the other night, Charlotte.”

  She met his gaze, her own visage becoming serious at his tone. “What was that?”

  Mason pushed a lock of hair from her brow. “That I love you.”

  Charlotte nodded, her eyes overly bright. “I know.”

  Chapter Twelve

  Two days later, Charlotte sat in the library of her London home and waited for James to wake up. He lay, sprawled on the settee before the unlit hearth, his clothing askew and an empty flask of liquor lying uncorked on the floor.

  She thought about throwing a vase of water on his head, before common sense halted her actions. The conversation she was about to have with her husband would be bad enough. She didn’t have to make it any worse.

  When the lunch gong sounded, James stirred. She absently watched him wake up, his shaking hands and sickly demeanor no way resembling the man she had married. “When you’re able I wish to speak to you, my lord.”

  He started at her voice and looked over the settee’s back. “What do you want?” James rubbed his jaw and yawned. “Your lover owes me five-hundred pounds. Make sure he pays up.”

  Charlotte stemmed her urge to throw the blotter on James’ desk at his head. Instead she remained calm, and waited for him to join her. He heaved himself up from the lounge only to sprawl into his desk chair a moment later. Nerves churned in her stomach over the coming conversation.

  “I want you to leave,” she said, her voice stronger than she felt. “I have informed my father of your treatment of me and my desire to separate from you. You will leave this house today, or I will.”

  James threw his head back and laughed. Charlotte glared. “I mean what I say James. I’ll no longer allow myself to be treated with unkindness and violence.”

  “You stupid whore. I’m not going anywhere and neither are you.” He stood and Charlotte lifted her chin, refusing to give way to her fear of him. James came around the desk and leaned casually against its side, watching her silently.

  “But then, I suppose I could divorce you and have you publicly shunned and termed a adulterer. It would certainly make our acquaintances happy knowing I’d be rid of the common trash I so wrongly married.”

  “Common or not I saved your estate with my money. You’re a liar and a fraud. You give off this persona as someone loving, kind and charismatic when it pleases you and yet you’re capable of the cruelest touch and words that I’ve ever known.”

  James shrugged, seeming not to care of his downfalls. “A divorce would ruin your sister’s chances of a good marriage.”

  “Louise is old enough to look after herself. And over the last few months I’ve come to realize that if the gentleman who wishes to marry her would cry off because of my indiscretions as you call them, then he is not for her. I want my sister to marry for love and nothing less.” Charlotte sat back and felt, deep inside her soul, that what she stated was true. Louise would never wish for her to continue living this type of life. A life that was no life at all.

  For all her father’s wish for his children to marry high into the peerage, his children themselves were never inclined to aspire to those great heights. And Louise would probably marry a local boy from the sphere in which they circulated in Somerset and be happier with her choice than any town dandy with status and great connections.

  “So honorable,” he scoffed. “And when we’re divorced will you run off to your lover, Lord Helsing? Beg his lordship to marry you and try and redeem some sliver of your reputation.”

  “I have no immediate plans other than to move on with my life,” she said without censure. “Now I asked you before and I’ll ask you again. Which one of us is leaving? You or me?”

  “Neither. Now get out. The sound of your voice droning on makes my head hurt.”

  Charlotte stood. “Good bye, James.”

  He clasped her arm, his grip painful, biting into her skin like tiny daggers. “Do not attempt anything foolish, Charlotte or you’ll pay dearly for it.”
>
  “I’ve already paid dearly for my foolish action by marrying you. I’ve paid for it every, single day for the last two years.” Charlotte wrenched her arm free and walked out the room. She chastised herself for the fear she felt whenever she was around him. It was like walking on cracked ice.

  She heard James bellow for the carriage as she headed toward her bedroom. Charlotte rang for her maid and started to place the items she wished to take with her on her bed. Having received word from her father that he’d support her whatever decision she made, she began to prepare her departure to Grillon’s Hotel.

  Charlotte ignored her maid’s shocked countenance when she told her of her plans, and instead thought over what she would do with her life away from James. Of course, if he chose to divorce her, she’d be ruined, but so would he be. She’d not allow him to come out of the trial in the House of Lords smelling of roses. No, Charlotte would ensure all his misdemeanors behind closed doors were aired along with any he could name against her.

  When James sobered up and thought on his threat of divorce, he’d soon change his mind. No matter how much he hated her, or regretted their marriage, he wouldn’t want anyone to know what type of man he was. It would seem she would have a separation but no divorce. Which would suffice, she mused, taking a watercolor painting down from the wall and placing it in a trunk. As long as she didn’t have to live under the same roof as her abusive husband, her life would be much brighter. She was sure of it.

  *

  Later that day, Charlotte checked in at Grillon’s and followed a footman to the second floor and her suite of rooms. The hotel in Albemarle Street had everything she’d hoped for, a drawing room for guests, a private bathing suite and a more than generous bedroom. Her maid had a small room adjoining the drawing room to enable her privacy.

  Charlotte wrote a quick missive to Amelia, notifying her of her change of circumstances and contemplated informing Lord Helsing. She should probably let him know, and yet, somehow it seemed wrong to run to him as soon as she’d left her spouse. It was silly of her to think that way, but then, Mason couldn’t marry her, so she should hold true to her wish for him marrying someone else. There were many women in London who’d suit him and could create a loving home he so deserved. And with her out of his life, he’d be free to pursue such a future.