Penelope's Guardian (Promises Book 3)

by Laura Clarke

  She wiggled some more and moaned softly. “You like that sound, right?” She couldn’t stop the moans that were escaping her mouth. They were coming out louder, deeper. “Please touch me.”

  “I am touching you,” he said as if she’d asked a question to which she already knew the answer.

  “You’re doing nothing more than teasing me,” she countered. “You said you would make me climax.”

  He kept his hands on her thighs, not moving them anywhere near the area she knew would bring her the pleasure Mary had described.

  “I’ll beg you,” she said. “Will that help?”

  The carriage continued down the road. Penelope thought about the other conveyances that were occupying the same road. What were the people inside those carriages doing? Surely, they were not having sex? Or were they? Was this something people did normally? Was she the only one who sat and stared out the window while they traveled?

  “How can you beg me when you can’t even pay attention?” He chuckled, the sound deep and seductive. “Go on, sweet one, beg me for what you want.”

  “I want you to touch my quim,” she said.

  “You’re boring me,” he responded.

  Tears sprung to her eyes. “That’s not fair. I’m new at this, and you know it.”

  “Be creative,” he said.

  “Put your fingers in my quim,” she said. “Please.”

  “Like this?” He pressed the index finger of one hand at her opening as his other hand caressed her thigh.

  “Yes,” she moaned. “Just like that.”

  He slipped his finger inside her and she clawed at the seat in front of her.

  “Do you like that?” He took his finger out and pressed it back inside her.

  “Oh yes,” she said.

  He moved it in and out, in and out. She wanted to tell him how much she enjoyed the feeling, but she couldn’t think of the proper word, until he slipped a second finger inside her, stretching her soft flesh.

  “Oh, fuck me,” she yelled. She didn’t care if the driver, or anyone else heard her. She pressed back against the hand that was inside her. The other hand slapped her bare bottom.

  “Where did a sweet girl like you learn a word like that?” he asked.

  “Mary told me,” she managed to say. “She said men liked to hear a woman talk that way when they were making love.”

  “What else did she teach you?” He was still moving his fingers in and out of her.

  “Since you’re inside me, does that mean I’m not a virgin anymore?”

  He slapped her ass again. “Tell me what else she taught you.”

  “Just words,” she said. “I swear.”

  “Then let me teach you something else.” His fingers left her, and he flipped her over and onto his lap. “Spread them, now.”

  “Not here,” she said.

  “I said spread them!” They wrestled as she tried to keep her legs clamped shut and he tried to spread them. He won and when his fingers found the hard nub at the top of her quim she gasped, and then he pinched.

  The world around her exploded, just as Mary had told her it would. Her nerves tingled, and her body felt as if it were on fire. She bucked in his arms as he continued to play with her, stroking and pinching and feeling until she started to cry, tears streaming down her face, caused by the sensations running through her.

  When he finally stopped it felt as if the carriage was spinning around her.

  “I’m not a virgin anymore,” she whispered.

  Emmett clasped the lobe of her ear between his teeth and sucked it into his mouth. He released it and then said, “Oh no, sweet love, you still are. There is much, much more to come than this, I promise you that.”

  He held her close as she continued to shake. He’d had his fingers inside her, so why did he still consider her a virgin? She let her head loll against his shoulder and she closed her eyes.

  If not losing her virginity brought this much pleasure, what would happen when she did?

  There were messages on the table waiting for them when they arrived at the Sway family home in Bath. The servants had prepared two rooms for Emmett and Penelope, right next to each other. And, once again, there was no chaperone

  “Clara will be upstairs with the servants,” Emmett said as he picked up the stack of letters sitting on the side table in the library where they were now waiting on tea. “I have a male servant who will be keeping an eye on her, to make sure she minds her manners.”

  “You’re going to lock her up?”

  “If necessary.” He sat down and let the letters fall in his lap, where he riffled through them until he selected a cream colored one. He opened and unfolded the paper. Penelope watched as his gaze moved from one side to the other.

  “Something important?”

  “Yes, it’s a note from Mary.”

  Penelope took a step forward. “May I read it?”

  “It says she’s going to be at the Parker gala tomorrow evening, and she hopes that we will join her there,” he said.

  Penelope took the paper when he offered it. She read the lines, which were, as he said, brief and to the point. There was nothing on there about Penelope, or how she was faring, or why Mary had left without a word.

  “I think she used me,” she whispered, more to herself than for Emmett to hear.

  “I think you’re right,” he said. “I’m sorry, Penelope. She knew you were getting money from Chester upon his death. I think she made a deal with Bixley for him to entice you and marry you, and they would split the money.

  “Would they really go to all that bother for five thousand pounds?” Penelope shook her head. “I think you’re mistaken.”

  “You really believed that was all Chester left for you?” He shook his head sadly. “He loved you like his own daughter. He left you much more than that.”

  “How much more?” she asked.

  “We’ll discuss it later.” He stretched his legs out in front of him. “I have a friend who is a very talented seamstress. I’m going to see if she has something already started that will work for what we need. I want a dress that makes every man in the room stand up and take notice of you when you walk in the room.”

  “Still looking for a husband for me, are you?” She felt a little disappointed about that, but she worked to keep her emotions in check.

  “How do you think we are going to get any information out of Mary about the books? We’ll just have to cause a scene, much like we did at the Avondale affair.”

  “You mean set me up to be birched again? No, thank you.”

  “Oh no, tomorrow night the contact between us will be much more pleasurable.”

  The look on his face made her shiver as she remembered the pleasure she’d experienced that afternoon.

  “What are you suggesting?” she asked.

  “You’re so eager to be a non-virgin that I’m going to reward you tomorrow night by taking it away from you.”

  Penelope stared at him. Sometimes she didn’t understand her new guardian at all.

  “I realize I’m excited to lose my maidenhead, but aren’t you the least bit concerned that men will look unfavorably upon me, with us residing under the same roof tonight, and in London? It will be difficult to find me a husband.”

  “You already have one,” he said. He stepped close to her and lifted her chin, so she could see into his eyes. “I had the banns posted for our marriage before we left London. We’ll marry next month.”

  He turned to leave the room and Penelope stared after him, her mouth hanging open in complete and utter shock.

  “Don’t run out on me!” she screamed after him, but he didn’t turn around. She hiked up her skirts and took off at a run. He had already opened the door when she caught up to him. “Please, stay here and talk to me. You can’t treat me like a child.”

  He stopped and turned around.

  “Everyone has always treated me like a child,” she said. “You’re just adding to it, making decisions for me withou
t letting me take part. How do I know you’re not marrying me for my money, now that I know I’m inheriting?”

  His smile made her stomach churn.

  “Darling, I don’t need your money,” he said. “I know you have questions, and I want to answer them, but I have somewhere I have to be, right away.”

  “Something that concerns me?”

  “I will speak with you after dinner.”

  He started down the stairs and she called out, “If you leave, I won’t be here when you return.”

  Emmett stopped in his tracks, and when he turned back to her she smiled in triumph. “This won’t take long, I’m sure, and when I’m done, you can get to where you’re going.”

  He crossed to her and put his fingers under her chin and tilted her head. “If there’s one thing you need to know about our relationship it’s that I will be in charge, always. I know you’re angry, but you’ll get over it. Now, I’m going to ask you nicely to go inside and sit and read, and I’ll be back in a few hours.”

  “I meant what I said.” She crossed her arms over her chest. “If you leave I won’t be here when you return.”

  A huge sigh escaped his mouth and now she knew he was giving in. But seconds later he grabbed her around the waist and tossed her over his shoulder. Her breath left her lungs as her stomach came into contact with his shoulders. She was able to capture a few lungs full of air right about the time he’d made it to the first floor.

  He crossed to her bedroom and unceremoniously tossed her on the bed. “Do I need to lock you in with Clara, or will you behave and stay here?”

  “If you think I will marry you and allow you to order me around my whole life you are sorely mistaken.”

  “Clara, it is,” he said.

  She took several steps away and held out her hands. “Listen, I don’t want to be locked up with Clara. I will stay here.”

  “I’ll lock the door to make sure,” he said.

  “Leave,” she said. “And I don’t care if you come back.”

  “I’ll be back,” he said. “We’ll have a long discussion tonight.”

  She heard the door slam and the key turn. She didn’t care. There were windows and there was a connecting door to his room, she could get out if necessary.

  Let him deal with the royal family and the missing books. She would go to Chester’s barrister and ask when she would come into her funds. She didn’t need a man.

  Penelope crossed to her wardrobe and pulled open the door, only to find the insides empty. Had the servants not brought up her trunks, or had he ordered them not to? It didn’t matter. She tried the knob to the connecting door, but it, too, was locked.

  Now she truly was stuck. She couldn’t go out the window wearing only a corset and stockings. Unless—she eyed the bed. Yes, she would get out of here one way or another.

  The door to her room opened and Penelope stayed in her chair, her legs crossed. Instead of Emmett, whom she was expecting, it was a maid she’d never seen before. The woman held the dress Penelope had taken off earlier to be cleaned. She stepped into the room and stopped, dead center, her eyes widening.

  Behind her were two men, carrying a trunk. They also stopped dead in their tracks and dropped the trunk when they saw her.

  “I have your dress,” the maid said. She swallowed hard. “His Lordship is downstairs, waiting on you for dinner. I’ll help you dress.” She snapped her fingers. “You two, out. You can deliver the rest when Miss Penelope is downstairs.”

  “No need to help me,” Penelope said as she moved past the trio and out the door.

  “But Miss Penelope, you’re naked!” the maid called out.

  Penelope stopped at the top of the stairs and held out her feet. “I’m wearing slippers.” She was happy to see the two footmen standing at the doorway, staring after her.

  “But Miss, his Lordship has guests.”

  “Good for him!” Penelope said as she quickened her pace. She’d thought long and hard about the way he was treating her, not giving her a say in her own life, and telling her what she had to do. After she’d rejected escape attempts because she didn’t have any money to rent a room, or a carriage to take her to London, she decided to be a royal pain in his behind.

  At the bottom of the stairs she turned toward the main part of the house. A maid carrying a tray dropped it and gasped when Penelope walked past her. She turned and said, “Where is the dining hall?”

  The maid pointed to the left, but didn’t utter a sound.

  Penelope stepped into the dining room and said, “I’m here. What’s for supper? I’m starved.”

  Emmett sat at the head of the table, with a man and woman sitting on either side of him.

  “Penelope,” he said, his voice dangerously low. “Where are your clothes?”

  “They haven’t been delivered yet, but you knew that when you left me locked in my room.” She moved toward the table. “Hello, I’m Penelope. And you are?”

  “Penelope, this is my friend Brent Hart.” Emmett said. He didn’t stand, and he didn’t repeat his question. “And this is his wife, Eileen.”

  “Hello,” Penelope said. She sat down next to Eileen. “It’s been a long and hard day, and I’m so ready for some food.”

  Eileen giggled. “I have to hand it to you, Emmett, this one is made for you. She’s going to be a handful.”

  “Eileen is a seamstress, one of the most popular ones in Bath,” Emmett said. “She agreed to come here tonight to fit you with a dress.”

  “How lovely,” Penelope said, putting as much glee in her voice as possible. “I hope it’s blue. I do so love blue.”

  “Your ass is going to be black and blue,” Emmett said. “March yourself back upstairs and get dressed. Right now.”

  Penelope perched on the edge of her chair. “What’s for dinner? I’m starved, but I think I’ve said that before, haven’t I?” She laughed.

  “Heaven forbid you should spill your soup while you’re wearing, well, nothing,” Brent said. “You’re going to need a firm hand with this one.”

  “Oh, I think I know the perfect punishment,” Emmett said. “Now, I won’t ask again.”

  But she didn’t have to go upstairs. The maid was in the doorway, holding Penelope’s robe in her hand.

  “That’s the blue I love.” Penelope pointed to the doorway. “Can we do the dress in that color?”

  “Hmm, I’ll see what I can do,” Eileen said. “Emmett brought me one of your dresses today, so I have your measurements. He didn’t tell us how much fun you are, though.”

  Penelope stood, and the maid hurried over with the robe. When it was wrapped firmly around her, Penelope sat back down. “I don’t want to say again how hungry I am. Please, bring out the food.”

  Brent and Eileen laughed, but Emmett stared at her as if he wanted to birch her for real this time. She certainly wasn’t happy about that. They started to eat, and Penelope worried that she might have taken things a little too far. The stone-cold look of anger didn’t shift from Emmett’s face during the entire meal, even though Brent and Eileen talked and asked questions about the books.

  Penelope was surprised that Emmett had told them about the books, but the fact that he had told them let her know he was very close to them.

  They were in the middle of the second course when she stood. “I’m going to go and put my dress on.”

  “You will not,” Emmett said. “Sit down and eat.”

  “You’d rather have me half naked?” She didn’t take her seat.

  “I’d rather finish my meal in peace,” he said. “But you’ve put a kink in things, so to speak. I want you to tell Eileen what they look like. She is going to the house where Mary is staying, and I want her to be able to look around, see if she can find the books before tomorrow night’s event.”

  “They are small, and made with purple cloth,” she said. “Each one of them has a golden crown stitched onto the cover.”

  “No letters, or titles?”

  “None,” P
enelope said.

  “Have you read them?” Eileen asked.

  “Not a word,” she said. “Chester was very protective of them. He kept them on the shelf in the library, but that room was usually locked when he wasn’t in there. I don’t know what Mary knows about them.”

  “I will look for purple books then,” Eileen said.

  Penelope toyed with her food. She knew coming down without clothes on would be risky, but she didn’t expect there to be guests here. She had overplayed her hand, because the more they ate, and idly talked about tomorrow night’s party, the more Emmett’s face darkened.

  By the time the servants had served pudding, Penelope knew she was in danger of getting another birching.

  “Perhaps I should invite myself along with you tomorrow, Eileen,” Penelope said.

  “Oh no, I don’t want you to see Mary before tomorrow evening,” he said. “And before you suggest something else, like the idea that you could go to Eileen and Brent’s house tonight to help work on the dress, you should know I will deny that request, too.”

  “You can’t keep me prisoner here.” Penelope glared at him.

  “I can keep you here to punish you for the stunt you pulled tonight,” he said. “I am, after all, your guardian.”

  “He promised to take care of me,” Penelope said. She turned her head to Brent. “Punishment is hardly keeping that promise.”

  “On the contrary, I believe punishment shows he cares.” Brent stood. “My dear, shall we go home? You have a great deal to do, and I have things to attend to, also.”

  When they were gone, Penelope gathered her robe around her and darted toward the stairs.

  “Run all you want, even though it rather takes away from your braveness of earlier, don’t you think?” His voice followed her as she ran up the stairs.

  What had she been thinking? She should have stayed in her room, put on the dress the maid brought in and come down totally dressed.

  Once she was in her room she slammed the door, only to remember the key was not in the lock.

  She backed away, waiting for the knob to turn, for him to come in, birch rod in hand. She didn’t want another birching. It was too much, really. She knew she’d done wrong by walking into the dining room naked, but that didn’t mean she’d done it to be punished.