by Lauren Smith
Her Wicked Longing
Lauren Smith
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is coincidental.
Copyright © 2017 by Lauren Smith
Edited by Noah Chinn
Excerpt from Wicked Designs by Lauren Smith
Cover art by Erin Dameron-Hill
Scene Art Illustration by Joanne Renaud
Romance Art by Theresa Sprekelmeyer
All rights reserved. In accordance with the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976, the scanning, uploading, and electronic sharing of any part of this book without the permission of the publisher constitutes unlawful piracy and theft of the author’s intellectual property. If you would like to use material from the book (other than for review purposes), prior written permission must be obtained by contacting the publisher at [email protected]. Thank you for your support of the author’s rights.
The publisher is not responsible for websites (or their content) that are not owned by the publisher.
ISBN: 978-1-947206-00-7 (e-book edition)
ISBN: 978-1-947206-01-4 (print edition)
Contents
Other Titles by Lauren Smith
Foreword
His Wicked Maid
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
His Wicked Lessons
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Wicked Designs
Wicked Designs
Wicked Designs
About the Author
About the Artist
About the Illustrator
Other Titles by Lauren Smith
Historical
The League of Rogues Series
Wicked Designs
His Wicked Seduction
Her Wicked Proposal
Wicked Rivals
Her Wicked Longing
His Wicked Embrace
His Wicked Secret (coming soon)
The Wicked Earls Club
The Earl of Pembroke (coming soon)
The Seduction Series
The Duelist’s Seduction
The Rakehell’s Seduction
The Rogue’s Seduction (coming soon)
Standalone Stories
Tempted by A Rogue
Sins and Scandals
An Earl By Any Other Name
A Gentleman Never Surrenders
A Scottish Lord for Christmas
Contemporary
The Surrender Series
The Gilded Cuff
The Gilded Cage
The Gilded Chain
Her British Stepbrother
Forbidden: Her British Stepbrother
Seduction: Her British Stepbrother
Climax: Her British Stepbrother
Ever After
Legally Charming
Paranormal
Dark Seductions Series
The Shadows of Stormclyffe Hall
The Love Bites Series
The Bite of Winter
Brotherhood of the Blood Moon Series
Blood Moon on the Rise (coming soon)
Sci-Fi Romance
Cyborg Genesis Series
Across the Stars (coming 2018)
For Amanda,
You have been an inspiration to me and my dearest friend.
Foreword
Dear Reader,
Sometimes a story must start in a very particular place and that means that some scenes are left out. Before I ever started to write Audrey or Gillian’s stories, I had a sudden and (hopefully you will agree) wonderful idea to tell two short stories that would lead up to Gillian and Audrey’s full length adventures. So these two stories are not deleted scenes, nor were they left out of Audrey and Gillian’s books but I feel like these two stories had to be told.
These two short stories will show you what the a lady and her maid got up to in the day leading up to their adventures when they decide to infiltrate a hellfire club. So please forgive me for these stories end on a note of uncertainty, but rest assured, Audrey and Gillian will have their happy endings with Jonathan and James in their full length books: His Wicked Secret and The Earl of Pembroke which come out in 2018.
His Wicked Maid
A Short Story
Chapter 1
Gillian Beaumont knew the day was bound to be full of trouble. As she worked to tame the curls of her mistress’s hair, she fretted over the wicked gleam in Audrey Sheridan’s eyes. Gillian was used to this mischievous glint, but today it seemed doubly intense, and the way her lips curled at the ends in a little smile added to Gillian’s worry even more. The last time she had looked that way, Audrey had been chasing a rogue around a sofa, demanding to be kissed.
“There you are, my lady.” Gillian finished putting the last pin in her mistress’s hair.
Audrey’s brown eyes twinkled as she met Gillian’s gaze in the mirror. “Perfect. I have to look my best today. The League is coming over for tea in an hour and…” A delicate blush bloomed in her cheeks.
“And Mr. St. Laurent will be there?”
“Er… I suppose so,” Audrey replied vaguely.
Gillian was all too aware of how her mistress felt about that particular gentleman. He was a fine man with green eyes and sun-kissed blond hair. Gillian supposed he was attractive, but he never made her feel the way she’d heard women ought to feel around a man they fancied.
Gillian glanced at her own face in the mirror as she tidied up the vanity. Perhaps she was different from other ladies. She placed the ivory-handled brushes next to a set of exquisite tortoiseshell combs. Unlike Audrey’s dark chestnut hair, Gillian’s hair was an unremarkable brown and her eyes a soft heather gray. She’d never stood out as a beauty, but she wasn’t unattractive, either. She was, in short, the perfect sort of plain woman who worked best as a lady’s maid or a companion.
As the bastard daughter of an earl, Gillian had been taught not to expect much of her circumstances, though her father had provided enough for her and her mother. They had lived comfortable if unassuming lives in a little townhouse near Mayfair. When she was fifteen, her father died and she’d been forced into service to support her ailing mother. She’d had no real experience as a companion, but she’d heard from a friend of her mother’s that Viscount Sheridan was searching for a lady’s maid for his youngest sister, someone close to her in age.
It was unusual to have a lady’s maid so young, but Audrey had insisted her maid be close in age. And that was how Gillian, almost sixteen by then, had become Audrey’s maid and loyal, protective shadow. A year later, Gillian’s mother had passed away.
Now Mama is gone, and I’m all alone.
She frowned. That wasn’t true. In many ways, being lady’s maid to Audrey was a bit like being Audrey’s friend. They shared secrets and went on far too many adventures for Gillian to feel comfortable about. There was a familiarity between them that certainly wasn’t normal for a maid and a lady. Audrey had a large heart and a spirit that could not be caged.
“Gillian, could you run a few errands for me today? I believe we have a few articles to post in the Quizzing Glass Gazette that will need to run in the next few weeks. Would you mind seeing to that for me?” Audrey was plucking at the waist of her blue cambric muslin gown, where it was fitted perfectly to her trim waist. The dress had ornamented de
signs on the bodice. Her dress’s style and its high waist made Audrey’s tiny body look longer. The full skirt was trimmed with lavender gauze that made it look light and almost feathery at the hem.
Audrey had exquisite taste, something she’d insisted her maid cultivate as well. Gillian wore a lavender muslin gown with more flair than a usual lady’s maid would wear. It was close in style to the gowns she’d worn when her father was alive.
“Well? Do you mind very much?” Audrey’s voice pulled Gillian out of her thoughts.
“Of course, my apologies, my lady. I was woolgathering. Yes, leave me the articles, and I will see them placed in the proper hands.”
“Excellent.” Audrey walked over to her escritoire and withdrew three carefully packed articles and handed them to Gillian.
“Do you need anything else, my lady?” Gillian asked.
“Not at the moment. Oh, and remember, tonight we will be going to that hellfire club.”
Gillian froze midstep, her spine stiffening. The hellfire club, how had she forgotten?
“My lady, I really don’t think we should—”
Audrey tapped a dainty foot and crossed her arms over her chest. “Gillian, you know that awful Gerald Langley belongs to that club. What was it called?” Audrey tilted her head, looking up as she seemed to search her memory. “Sinners and Sadists, no… Wait!” She lifted a finger in the air. “The Unholy Sinners of Hell.”
Gillian flinched. “Must we go tonight? The men could be dangerous.” It wasn’t as though their lives were free of gossip and trouble, what with Audrey’s elder brother, Cedric, being a member of the infamous League of Rogues. Cedric and his friends had been in life-threatening situations more than once and caused scandals at least every other week. The last thing Audrey needed was to run off and find more trouble—at least that was Gillian’s opinion.
“Nonsense. We should be perfectly fine. They allow ladies to attend their unholy festivities, and if we bring along Charles and his valet as escorts, we shall be quite safe.”
“Lord Lonsdale? He’s not exactly a man of sterling reputation. You remember the swans. Everyone was so scandalized.”
Audrey giggled. “Of course I do. I was there. Charles isn’t so bad. I had a bloody hard time trying to kiss him, you remember. He’s more of a gentleman than he lets on.”
With a little hum that wasn’t exactly agreement, Gillian headed for the door, but Audrey stopped her.
“The dresses! I completely forgot. You must go to Madame Ella’s and retrieve the gowns. Try them on to make sure they fit,” Audrey said.
Gillian sighed and nodded. It wasn’t the first time she had been asked to try on one of Audrey’s gowns. They were almost identical in stature, both short and full-figured. She suspected her mistress was trying to give her a little thrill of pleasure, but Gillian feared longing for things she could never have.
From the moment she’d grown old enough to understand her place as an illegitimate child to a member of the peerage, she’d stopped oohing over the prettiest gowns and had given up dreams of finding a nice gentleman to marry. The acceptance of her fate as a domestic servant had been wearying, and while she adored working for Audrey, even when they were knee-deep in trouble, it didn’t stop her from wishing for a quiet life in a little cottage somewhere.
“Thank you.” Audrey gently shoved her into the hall, and Gillian headed down the stairs to find her bonnet and coin purse. By the time she finished her errands, the League of Rogues and their wives would have arrived for tea, and Audrey would have little chance of getting into trouble.
Gillian smiled at Sean Hartley, the handsome young Irish footman, as he handed her a small coin purse.
“And what errands does our lady have you running today?” Sean asked, his Irish lilt and fine looks a temptation to all the upstairs maids in the Sheridan residence.
“I’m to collect a few dresses and a few items need to be posted. Could you have the carriage brought around for me?”
Sean grinned. “More dresses. One would think she has enough,” he teased and winked at Gillian.
Gillian smiled back. “One would think.” She liked Sean. He was like an older brother, playful and kind.
He left her alone in the hall as he summoned a coach. She clutched her purse and the Gazette articles to her chest, making sure she wouldn’t drop either by accident. No one was around to see, which was good because Sean knew the truth of Audrey’s double life. He could be trusted, but neither Audrey nor Gillian wanted to risk anyone else knowing.
It was her lady’s best-kept secret. The infamous, sometimes overly critical pen of Lady Society, the anonymous social columnist for the Quizzing Glass Gazette, was none other than Audrey Sheridan. Gillian’s mistress had written articles for years now, challenging gentlemen to fall in love and publicly exposing those in society who sought to harm others, but her favorite pastime was matchmaking for the rogues she held dear.
Her latest victory had been exposing the betting book at White’s, where a man named Gerald Langley had offered five thousand pounds to have a woman publicly ruined. But Audrey wasn’t finished with him yet; she had every intention of exposing Langley’s involvement in the hellfire club.
And I must go along with it, or else she will get herself into real trouble. Gillian shook her head, tempted to laugh. Was she always to be the voice of reason? It was exhausting keeping her mistress out of trouble time and again. What Audrey truly needed was a man to chase after her and keep her out of harm’s way while she led her life of adventures. A man like Jonathan St. Laurent. Once Audrey was married, Gillian would have an ally in her mistress’s husband, and she could finally relax.
Sean returned and opened the front door of the townhouse for her.
“Don’t worry—I’ll keep an eye on her,” Sean promised.
“Thank you.” Gillian meant it. She worried, as did all the servants, that Audrey would get into a scrape she could not get out of if they did not look after her. Gillian climbed into the coach, settled back, and closed her eyes briefly. She would be facing a long night ahead if they were to infiltrate the hellfire club after midnight.
By the time she reached Madame Ella’s modiste shop, she had rested and successfully dropped off the Lady Society articles to their publisher. She felt refreshed and ready to deal with the dress fittings for Audrey. Knowing her lady, it could take a while if the gowns were elaborate, and they were always elaborate.
She had the driver wait for her while she entered the shop. A matronly woman with silver-gray hair was kneeling by a young woman who was wearing a rose-silk gown. The young woman seemed to be around Audrey and Gillian’s age of nineteen. She had light-brown hair, professionally styled, and smiled pleasantly at Gillian, assuming by her clothes that she was likely a young woman in a similar social circle.
Madame Ella glanced up and smiled. “Miss Beaumont! What a treat. I have the dresses, but you will need to try them both to be sure.” The dressmaker knew Gillian would try on gowns when Audrey could not come herself.
“Of course.” Gillian crossed the shop and set her things down in a small curtained area, then took the two gowns from Madame Ella. She quickly removed her own walking dress and tried on her simply tailored evening gown first. It had buttons up the front and was easily examined in the narrow mirror of the small fitting area. But Audrey’s evening gown required assistance to be laced up in the back.
“Madame Ella?” she called out. “I need assistance with the laces.”
The curtain moved, and she turned halfway, glanced over her shoulder, and gasped. A handsome man with dark hair and soft brown eyes was staring at her, his lips parted. He held a pair of fawn gloves in his hands but didn’t move. Her partially unlaced back was exposed to his view. His eyes traced the length of her bared spine, and she could almost feel his gaze, like invisible fingers tiptoeing down her skin.
It made her feel dizzy to know he was seeing her like this, exposed and vulnerable in such a sensual way. His lips curved, just s
howing a hint of what he must be thinking about as he swept her again from head to toe. Gazing into his brown eyes, she felt like she was falling into an abyss of dark, erotic thoughts. A small voice in the back of her mind warned her she was in dangerous territory. If she’d been a lady like Audrey, she could have been compromised by this.
“My apologies.” The man recovered and averted his gaze, his cheeks turning a ruddy red. Gillian’s face flushed as well. Yet she still couldn’t find her voice to speak. When she stared up at the tall, dark-haired stranger, she simply couldn’t think. Her heart fluttered wildly, and her stays were suddenly too tight.
“James?” A feminine voice called out. “Where are you? I would like to see if the gloves match this gown.”
James, her handsome stranger, half smiled at her and then slowly lowered the hand holding up the curtain. Right before his face vanished from view, his eyes locked on hers, and with a cocky grin he whispered, “Never be ashamed to show such lovely skin.”
The curtain fell back into place, and it was as though Gillian could suddenly breathe again. She clutched her arms to her chest, her breasts heaving. She tried to calm down. Who was he? Why had hadn’t he dropped the curtain at once? Surely he knew how scandalous he’d been.
“Miss Beaumont? Are you ready for me to help with the lacing of the gown?” Madame Ella called outside of the curtain.
“Yes, please come in,” she replied, her tone breathless. The dressmaker came inside and made quick work of the laces.