She smiled. “You’re early.”
His face held no expression. He turned his eyes away to look at the ground. “I’ve much to do today. I hope you don’t mind.”
Genie stepped closer until she could see his face again. “I’m glad you’re here.”
He lifted his head, seeming startled by her closeness. “I don’t have much time. You should go dress.” He took a step back.
Genie gave him a soft smile. “All right.” She ran to the room she was sharing with Sophia and quickly changed into her riding habit. It was a dark blue with gold buttons on the double-breasted jacket. Once finished, she snuck from the room and returned to the door.
Francis turned from Prince at her approach. “That was very quick.”
“You said you didn’t have much time,” she told him, taking his arm.
Genie’s horse Jenkins was brought around and Francis helped her onto the seat. Then he took her own and started them at a slow pace.
“Look forward,” he told her.
Genie bit her lip and turned away from staring at him.
The world around them was just waking up with the call of birds breaking the silence. The sun was higher than it had been when she’d woken up that morning and cut through the gray clouds of dew that covered the fields.
“You’re getting better,” Francis told her. “Your posture is excellent.”
“Thank you.”
“Soon you won’t need me at all.”
She looked at him. “I’ll always need you, Francis.”
His jaw flexed.
She reached out and placed her hand on his.
He allowed it but only for a second. “Hold your reins, Genie. This is dangerous.”
“We’re barely moving,” she told him.
He gripped her hand and pressed it back toward her reins. “It’s not proper.”
It’s not proper. This is dangerous. Soon you won’t need me at all.
But never, I don’t want you. I don’t love you, or I’ll never marry you.
Genie had minded his words over the years and it was what he said and didn’t say that allowed her to hope. How often had she waited for him to finally break her heart? To tell her to move on with her hopes and dreams and place them somewhere else? One could think he simply enjoyed her attention but she knew in her heart it was more than that. He had to love her.
She looked at his horse and asked, “Are you excited about Assize-week?”
His smile grew like the morning. “Very. There’s nothing like the races.”
She sighed. “If I weren’t in mourning, I would participate in the women’s race.”
“You’d do well,” he admitted.
She blushed at his praise. “You truly think so?”
He looked at her. “I would never encourage you to do something I thought you couldn’t handle. You’re a wonderful rider when you take our lessons seriously.”
She bit her lip.
His eyes moved to her mouth before settling on hers again. “Is everything all right in London?” he asked, giving her the opening she needed to test him.
They started down a dirt path that curved up. The top of Kidd Castle came into view.
“Everything is fine in London,” she told him. “I simply needed to get away from someone.”
“Someone?” Francis turned to her. “You mean your cousin? Has he hurt or threatened you in any way?”
His anger at the thought of her being mistreated warmed her. “Not really, it’s simply a friend of his that is always about, a Mr. Cross. He owns an ice company.”
Francis stared at her and then turned forward. “Does he make you uncomfortable?”
Genie sighed. “Slightly. He’s made it known that he wishes to marry and has mentioned I’d enjoy life in Norway.”
“Norway?” Francis frowned and looked at her. Then he turned away. “Lorena would miss you if you left.”
It was not the reply Genie had been looking for. “Only Lorena?”
“Everyone would miss you,” he told her, his eyes trained on the horizon.
“Would you miss me?” she asked bluntly.
She watched his shoulders fall and the tension leave his face. “You know I would, Evie.”
She smiled.
“You’re my friend after all,” he went on. He glanced her way again. “We’ve been friends for many years.”
“I want to be more than your friend,” she told him.
“Let’s quicken the pace,” he told her, looking forward again. He pointed to a tree in the distance. “First one there wins.”
Genie let out a frustrated breath. “What do I get if I win?”
He frowned at her. “The knowledge that you’ve won.”
“How about you recite me a poem from your vast repertoire?” A sly grin touched her cheeks.
Francis glowered mockingly. “Don’t you dare—”
“No woman is as fair as thee, my dear Bernice.”
Francis hung his head in shame. “You couldn’t possibly remember the words to that dreadful poem.”
Genie laughed and went on. “With plates of food my hunger ceased but not my love for Grandmother Bernice.”
Francis flung his head back and laughed.
Genie felt chills run through her at the sound. Francis had recited the words nearly twelve years before to his grandmother, the Dowager Duchess of Valdeston, after his mother had promised him a horse if he did. Francis’ poem had been so horrid that she and Lorena had recited the words to him at every chance for years.
He looked at her, his eyes bright with laughter. “You shall not receive poetry from me. I’m not a poet.”
She sighed. “Perhaps you are right. Well, then, I’ll settle for a kiss.”
Prince let out a sound, and Francis swayed when his beast moved sideways.
“That would be inappropriate, Evie,” he told her.
“Then you better win,” she told him, right before she kicked Jenkins and started at a full gallop. She kept her body close to the horse as her speed quickened. It was only then she realized just how far the tree was, standing alone with a wide crooked trunk split three ways and covered with a full bush of leaves. She kept her body low just as Francis had taught her and prayed she’d win, though she knew that even with her head start, Francis could beat her, which meant he’d have to let her win. If she did win, he would be honor bound to kiss her and if he kissed her, it would because he wanted to.
The furious sound of hooves made her look over just in time to see Francis catching up. Prince came alongside her and Francis’ dark hair blew in the wind, his cheeks pinkening from the whipping wind.
Their eyes met.
Genie’s pleaded for him to allow her to win.
Francis’ blue eyes filled with an emotion she couldn’t read right before he covered it with determination. Then she watched him turn and all but fly toward the tree, leaving her to watch his victory.
Genie slowed Jenkins as she approached. “Congratulations,” she all but spat at him.
Francis leaned off his horse, went to hers, and assisted her down.
Genie left her hands on his shoulders and leaned toward him. Her mouth caught his cold cheek.
“Evie.” The hands he had on her hips set her back. “You lost.” He wouldn’t meet her eyes as he spoke.
Her hands fell from his shoulders. “Who cares?” she whispered.
Francis frowned at the tree and shook his head. “We’ve done enough for the day. We should head back.”
She took a step toward him. “I don’t want to head back.”
He glared at her. “I’ve things to do today, Evie. I can’t ride with you all morning.”
She wrapped her arms around his waist. “We can do other things.”
He averted his eyes and placed his hands on her upper arms. “You have no clue what you’re asking for.”
“You can teach me.”
He turned to her, lifted her chin, and whispered, “God. Evie, please.” His eye
s were impassioned.
Evie, please.
That had become his favorite phrase over the last few months. Why? Why did he insist they stop?
She sucked her teeth and chose that moment to lighten the mood. She’d not get her kiss today but there would always be another opportunity. The war was not over. “Are you a virgin, Francis?”
Francis rolled his eyes but his lips twitched and he shook his head. “We’re not discussing this.”
She pressed closer. “Are you saving yourself for me?”
He smiled and his eyes warmed. “That’s it, my little minx. I’m saving myself all for you.”
Genie had no illusions that Francis was a virgin but she thought it nice that he played along.
He lifted a heavy brow. “Let me go.”
Genie slowly released him, letting him go physically but never with her heart. Never.
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CHAPTER FIVE
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Francis shut the door to his room, quickly undid the buttons of his breeches, and let out a trembling breath at the release of his swollen shaft. He braced his back on the door as he wrapped a hand around his hardened member and began to pump in full strokes while he thrust his hips forward. Drops from the slit at the top wet his fingers and made the work easier. Genie filled his mind, the curve of her pink lips and their soft brush to his cheek. He imagined her delicate mouth elsewhere, wrapped around him and sucking.
“Dear God.” He closed his eyes as his balls tightened, the motions of his hands quickening. He tightened his hold, adding pressure. His entire body went rigid as he came in his other hand, hot spurts filling his palm until he was emptied and his body calmed.
He slid to the floor and took a breath.
His sweet Evie was becoming bolder.
When she’d pressed herself into him at the tree, he’d already been hard. He’d been forced to ride back to Maura’s house with his body in a state of fullness. It had taken everything in him not to steer them toward the trees and have his way with her. It would have been so easy to lift her skirts and give in to what they both wanted, him buried deep inside her, her arms around him, his mouth on hers as he came deep in her womb.
Being around her was becoming dangerous and he blamed Lorena. It was not stupid. He knew that she and Emmett were having sex. The same went for Calvin and Alice. Many of the peerage did so during courtships, which was the reason more than half the babies of the ton were born less than nine months from the wedding and the true reason why a man was not allowed to break an engagement. Chaperones were used less once a couple was betrothed, which left little wonder what a couple got up to when they were alone but others were much better at hiding it.
The thought of simply having an affair with Genie while they married strangers who’d be none the wiser had entered his mind more than once but Francis was loathe to cuckold another man and would never be unfaithful to his wife. He would also never ask that of Genie.
But what would happen if he and Genie simply did as they pleased until she wed? There was the risk of pregnancy but there were precautions they could take to make it work.
Yet the issue remained that he wanted more than Genie’s body. He wanted her as his wife.
Francis stood, washed himself, and redressed before heading downstairs. The house was alive with everyone wide awake. Francis found the men in the smaller of the dining rooms and poured himself a cup of coffee.
“Went for a ride?” Hugh asked. He was seated at one of the ends.
Francis nodded and sipped his coffee.
“Alone?” Hugh pressed with a grin.
Francis narrowed his eyes. He knew about him and Genie. “Who told you?”
“I saw you returning as I left the house,” Emmett told him as he took the seat across from Francis, a plate loaded with food before him.
“You left?” Francis asked. “For what?”
Emmett’s gray eyes were warm. “To see Lorena.”
“That was a quick visit,” Hugh said.
Francis lifted his hands. “And let us end this conversation right here.”
Emmett chuckled as he bent his dark head and started to eat.
Francis narrowed his eyes and moved them to Morris. “What are we doing today?”
Morris was at the other head of the table, sporting a grim expression. “You’re all on your own today. Apparently, my mother has received word that I am here and demands my presence.” The Duchess of Cort lived in a dowager’s house on the other side of the estate with a wall that blocked sight of the house. Kidd Estate had been a fort during England’s civil war and the wall had kept the Crown’s enemies at bay. Currently, it was used to keep the duchess at bay.
Julius laughed. “I’m surprised it took her this long to find out you were here. We’ve been here for a month.”
“I pay my servants to keep their mouths closed more than she pays them to keep it open,” Morris said as he stood. “If you all will excuse me.” He left the room.
“I still say my mother is worse,” Emmett said. “At least his doesn’t hate him. She simply hates everyone else.” This was true. Emmett’s mother, the Countess of Ashwick, detested him because he looked like his father.
“No one’s mother was worse than mine.” Julius sipped his coffee without meeting any eyes.
Everyone turned to Julius and silently agreed.
Calvin stood. “Well, if we’re free for the day, I’ll go visit Alice.”
“No one said you were free,” William said. “I think we should work on hand-to-hand combat while Morris is gone.”
Calvin sat and frowned. The light left his hazel eyes. “If we could do so without the blades this morning, I would be grateful.” Calvin rubbed his arm where he’d been cut the previous day.
William nodded.
Francis had his own slash on his back. It was the first of many, William had told him.
They left the table and Emmett fell into step beside him.
“I may have mentioned Genie’s presence before you arrived at the table this morning.”
Francis glanced at him. “What happened?”
“Morris made a comment that he planned to see Genie one his way home from his mother’s.”
Francis’ stomach turned. “He still intends to court her?”
Emmett nodded. “It would seem so. He did give you until the end of the summer to ask for her hand. It’s autumn now.” Emmett frowned as they went into the room they used for their fights. The entire room was exposed wood, the floor perfect for keeping one in his place and balanced during a fight.
Earlier that year, Morris had mentioned marrying Genie as a way of ending the Spinster’s Society. He was not a supporter of Lorena’s club for women and thought marriage to be the best way to end a spinster’s club. So far, both Lorena and Alice’s weddings were postponed, Lorena’s was being held off until Emmett’s London residence could be rebuilt, and Alice was waiting for her father to return from war. Genie would have no reason to wait and, as Morris saw it, once Genie was with child, Lorena’s more adventurous side would calm without her closest ally at her side.
“You should tell Morris why you won’t ask for Genie,” Emmett told him.
Telling the others would only lead the brotherhood to try and pay the debt for him and Francis to be in the debt of his friends. He refused to do it, to have money come between them as it had obviously come between his father and Buckley. He didn’t know if he could ever repay the debt. It was better to leave the brotherhood out of it.
Francis had told one person the truth. Emmett. Why he’d chosen Emmett, he wasn’t sure but out of all the men, he was closest to Emmett, though they’d been unable to spend summers together, thanks to Emmett’s controlling father.
“What would telling Morris do?” Francis’ heart raced. “Genie still needs to marry and Morris
is a good choice.” He wasn’t in any man’s debt, as he was the wealthiest, most powerful titled gentleman in England.
Emmett’s eyes widened as they chose one another as partners. They took off their jackets and handed them to the footmen who were walking through the room. “So, you’re just going to let her go?”
“No,” Francis admitted and wondered if it was better for Morris to marry Genie so that she could remain in England or to encourage her to accept Mr. Cross and move far enough away where they could both move on with their lives.
Or maybe he should simply leave himself. It was another thought that had come to him repeatedly. The world would be a better place if he moved, took what money he had and tried to start a new life in America. Once a certain amount years passed without word from him, the Crown would decree him dead and his title would go to whatever distant cousin was next in line.
He shook his head. “I don’t know what to do.”
“Tell Genie the truth before it’s too late.”
William came around and gave instructions on their stance.
Francis spoke once he moved away. “If I tell Genie, she’ll believe herself capable of happiness while we starve.”
The fighting started, with each man avoiding the fist and body of the other.
“We’d never let you starve,” Emmett assured him. By ‘we’ he meant his friends.
“I know,” Francis said as he blocked a hit. “Which is another reason I shall say nothing. I will not live off the rest of you for the rest of my life.” He threw a punch.
Emmett ducked. “Why not? You’d allow us all to do the same? How many of us fed off the kindness of your parents?”
“It’s not the same.”
Francis’ chin was nicked by the edge of Emmett’s fist.
Emmett grinned.
William called for everyone to rest.
“Tell Morris,” Emmett told him. “His solicitor may be able to help find a way out of your current contract.”
“Your solicitors already tried,” Francis told him. “What’s the point?”
“Morris’ men do more than estate law. Talk to him.”
Genie’s Scandalous Spinster’s Society (The Spinster’s Society Book 3) Page 4