He hadn’t said anything to the chief investigator yet. His priority had been to find Charlene and bring her safely home in time for the trial.
What’s more, he didn’t want the chief investigator to cover up his evidence, for some reason, when it came time for the trial. He didn’t want Lord Ambrose to be able to use his power, money, and prestige to pay his way out of the consequences that were due to him.
Mrs.Helene Wynter had begun his downfall, when she accused the man of corruption and improper use of his power. Eric wanted the man’s destruction to be total, though.
The Marquess was, after all, the reason that Charlene had felt that she had to run away from her aunt’s house. He was the reason that she had ended up here in the underworld of London, looking bedraggled and frightened as she was cornered in an alleyway.
Lord Ambrose would pay for what he had done to the young woman.
The spark was already beginning to come back to her eye, however. Eric was relieved to see that.
He knew that he shouldn’t be acting so familiar with her. That the last thing he should be doing was holding her near-naked body and kissing her. It was enough to share a room with her. But he ought to have rolled out a mat on the floor and made himself comfortable there while she took the bed.
He couldn’t seem to release her, however. Nor did Charlene seem as though she wished to be released.
She curled against him, resting her head against his chest while they weren’t kissing.
When they dozed off like that, it wasn’t a surprise. Waking up with her still nestled in his arms was, however.
He smiled down at her, watching for a moment as she slept. He tried gently to disentangle himself from her, but his movements woke her. She frowned and yawned, looking up at him. Slowly, her face broke into a smile that he wouldn’t have thought she was capable of anymore.
“Good morning,” she said quietly.
Eric simply had to kiss her. The kiss was sweet and gentle, nothing like the passionate kisses that they usually traded. But somehow, this was perfect. “Good morning,” he murmured as they broke apart.
Suddenly, he found himself imagining what things would be like if she could be his. If they could spend whole days in bed in his country estates, curled together beneath the sheets. They would have servants to bring them their breakfast, and they would have no reason to get dressed.
Or, how would it be to have her as a partner in running his estates? If their plans for the day could include going amongst his holdings and speaking to his tenants about the upcoming harvest and other of their worries?
In spite of the fact that Charlene had never been groomed to take over such a role, Eric couldn’t help but think that she would be perfect for it. She understood people, and she was so intelligent. She would win them all over with a smile.
Just as she had won him over.
For now, though, he had to resign himself to the way that she pulled away. At least he could read the reluctance in her every movement.
“I suppose I should get dressed,” she sighed, plucking at the dressing gown that he had provided for her the night before, courtesy of the youngest daughter of the innkeeper.
The green color suited her, Eric decided. If she could but become his wife, he would see that she had a dozen frocks made in the same shade of green.
He cleared his throat, trying to clear his head of the fantasies at the same time. “I will fetch something for us to eat,” he told her.
“You don’t need to,” Charlene protested, looking bashful. “I should be returning home. To my aunt’s house.” She bit her lower lip and ducked her head. “To be perfectly truthful, that house no longer feels like home. Too much has happened.” She sighed softly.
Eric couldn’t stop himself from pulling her close again, holding her against his chest. There was something so sorrowful in her expression and her words. As though she had lost all of her previous youthfulness.
“Things will be all right,” he said. “I know that it all seems dark now, but we will prove your father’s innocence once and for all, and your family’s reputation will be restored.”
Charlene sighed and lay a hand flat against Eric’s chest. He imagined that he could feel the heat of her palm and the soft touch of her skin through his shirt, even though that, of course, was ridiculous.
She turned her face up towards his, and it was only natural for their lips to meet again. She knew that she ought to pull away again. There were still so many reasons that they shouldn’t consummate their love.
Not least of which because this was neither the time nor the place for such things. She ought to be making certain that her father was all right. That his reputation was cleared.
All the stress from the past weeks, not to mention all of her lust for Eric, welled up inside of her now, though. She couldn’t stop herself from sliding her hands up underneath his shirt, feeling his firm body beneath her palms.
She gasped as he lifted her up and carried her to the bed, laying her down on the sheets and climbing on top of her.
Her dressing gown fell open as though it were made for this. She felt a little shy as Eric ran his eyes hungrily down her body, but she didn’t move to cover herself.
“I’ve never done this before,” she found herself admitting, however.
Eric smiled brilliantly. He leaned down and kissed her softly. “I’ll be gentle,” he promised her.
“I never imagined that you wouldn’t be,” Charlene said honestly.
He kissed her again, then moved his lips down her body. She cherished every brush of his lips against her skin. It woke a fire inside of her, and soon she was quivering and arching against him, desperate for more.
He trailed his fingers along the folds between her legs, then placed a gentle kiss there. Charlene quivered, feeling embarrassed by the attention. She couldn’t deny that it felt good, however.
She made a soft noise as Eric prodded his fingers inside of her, his mouth sucking at the nub of nerves at the apex of her folds.
He smiled encouragingly up at her even as he pulled back slightly. “It’s okay to make noise,” he said, his voice gone deep with the strength of his own desire. “I want to hear you.”
Charlene blushed. “The walls cannot be too thick,” she reminded him. What if they were overheard? She would die from the mortification.
“Trust me, we aren’t the first people to do this here,” Eric said, grinning crookedly. He returned to what he had been doing before, and all thoughts of holding back flew from Charlene’s mind.
She moaned wantonly as he sucked just so at her folds, make her insides squirm with heat. She had never imagined that this could feel so good. Of course, she had never truly imagined that she would ever experience this.
His fingers delved into her depths, drawing a warm wetness from within her. He licked and sucked and nibbled lightly at her skin, each new touch making her gasp with surprise.
After an eternity, he pulled back, smiling down at her. She couldn’t help but feel disappointed as he came back up the bed so that they were chest-against-chest again. Was that the end of it? All that he would give her?
Before she could truly complete that thought, however, Eric was tenderly brushing her hair back and rocking his body against hers. She could feel his firm length pushing against her folds, dragging through the dampness there.
“Oh!” she gasped as he pressed just his tip inside of her.
Eric froze, giving her time to adjust. At first, she wondered how he could possibly fit inside of her. Surely he was too long, and much too wide! But slowly, her muscles relaxed, allowing him to slide a little further inside.
There was a light pinch at one point, and the burn of the stretch made it hard for her to breathe. But as Eric whispered soft encouragements in her ear, she found that she could overlook that.
She could feel Eric twitching inside of her and knew the strain that he was under in holding back, in trying to be gentle with her. That, in itself, made her
want him all the more.
When he was fully inside of her, he kissed her, and she forgot all about her discomfort. This was Eric, inside of her, surrounding her. She was safe with him. She could see the love shining out of his gaze.
He pulled back, slowly beginning to move, first in tiny increments that still managed to take her breath away. He picked up speed, and before long, he was drawing nearly all the way out of her hole before thrusting back in.
Charlene clung to him, moans of encouragement falling from her lips as she forgot all about the coarseness of their surroundings or who might overhear them.
Her entire world narrowed to her and Eric, to the intimate feeling of his hot prick buried deep inside of her. She stared up at him, her fingers running along his body, still hardly believing that this was real.
He smiled, shattering her self-control, and suddenly it was as though she was flying, her whole body trembling as lust burst in hot waves through her.
She barely retained consciousness. She could but cling to Eric, mindless with the realization that he was here, giving her this amazing pleasure, after all these years of wanting.
When she came back to herself, Eric was cradling her against his chest, softly pressing kisses to her hair while his fingers trailed across her skin in aimless patterns.
She blinked and pushed away from him slightly, propping herself up on her elbow. “Did you…?” she asked, feeling horror mount inside of her.
What if it hadn’t been as good for him as it had been for her? What if he wanted nothing to do with her now? She had meant to ensure that his needs were met, but instead, she had only paid attention to her own.
Eric laughed and pulled her tight against him. “Oh yes,” he said, sounding more contented than she had ever heard a man sound before. “Oh yes, Charlene. I did.”
She relaxed against him, feeling relieved. “And it was okay?” she asked.
He kissed her hair again, his arms tightening even more for a moment. “Charlene, it was wonderful,” he told her firmly. “Truly, truly more than I could have ever imagined – wonderful.”
Charlene smiled and ducked her head. “Good,” she said, feeling her prior contentment come back to her as well.
There were a hundred things that she wanted to ask him. What would happen when they weren’t off in this inn, when they were back amongst society? Did they have any sort of future together?
And suddenly, she realized that she couldn’t go back with him. How could she hope to return to her aunt’s house now? With her virginity spoiled, there would be no recovering her reputation.
She would also surely have to watch him take another woman as his bride. He might say that he loved her, and he might want to bed her, but things were different for men. Things were freer.
He could keep her as a mistress, at no risk to his future or his family. She could never just be his mistress, though. It would mean the ruination of everything in her life. She swallowed hard. “I’m not sure that I should return with you,” she said softly.
Eric froze. “You cannot possibly mean that you wish to remain here,” he said, scandalized at the very thought of it.
He had been so glad to save her from Harvey’s harm. Would she throw that all away and remain here in Whitechapel?
The thought had never occurred to him. He had been certain that she would welcome his rescue. That she would return with him. But of course, there were reasons that she had left.
Still, he was doing his best to resolve those issues. Couldn’t she see that?
“You don’t need to worry about returning,” Eric said slowly. “Lord Ambrose will give you no trouble, or else I will have him trussed up in jail. As for your father, as soon as we go back to trial, I plan on presenting my evidence proving his innocence. He will be a free man in a matter of days. I am certain of it.”
Truth to tell, he wasn’t entirely sure of it. He hoped that the light of justice would prevail and that the evidence he mounted would be sufficient, but he was worried that Lord Ambrose had already made things too complicated.
He wasn’t going to say that now, though. Eric knew that if he didn’t manage to win her father’s freedom, then Charlene would have nothing to do with him ever again anyway. Best remind them both what the stakes were here.
“As for Harvey,” he continued, “I hope you’re not afraid of him. He won’t touch you once you’re out of Whitechapel. He would never dare to be so bold.”
That, at least, Eric was certain of. The man must know that there were men out looking for him. He would be especially conspicuous now, with the bruised eye that Eric had given him during their tussle and the scratches on his hand that Charlene had evidently drawn out.
Fortunately, this incident with Charlene was enough that Eric had been able to take the man’s description to the authorities and have them look for Harvey. He was sure to be found in time for the trial.
Things were going to be all right. Eric was becoming more and more sure of it.
Charlene still looked uncertain, though. She bit at her lower lip and picked at a loose thread on her sleeve. “There’s nothing to be done for my reputation, however,” she finally said. She glanced up at Eric and then quickly looked back down.
Eric shook his head. “Don’t worry about that,” he said fiercely. “I’m sure that once your father is cleared of guilt – ”
Charlene shook her head, though. “You know it’s about more than just that, and you know that people aren’t going to let the rumors fade,” she sighed. “I disappeared. For all they know, I’ve been whoring myself out the whole time since I left my aunt’s home.” She paused. “I will never be able to sell my little skin creams or other medicines again, and no one would ever dare let me chaperone their daughter again!”
“Well, perhaps that’s for the best,” Eric said. “Perhaps you simply need to find some new pursuit to occupy your time.”
“It’s not about occupying my time,” Charlene said, unable to help how peevish her tone sounded. He didn’t understand. He was a duke; he wasn’t like her.
Their differences in status had never been more pronounced.
“I have to find work,” Charlene said. “Even if you manage to prove my father’s innocence, I fear that his medical practice will never again be what it was. As for Aunt Helene, she shouldn’t have to work because I’ve brought down scandal on my head.”
Eric caught both of the young woman’s hands in his. “Charlene, I promise you that I will make sure your family is taken care of,” he said earnestly.
Charlene sighed. “You cannot promise me that,” she said.
“Whyever not?” Eric retorted. “I have money. I’m a duke. If you’ll allow me, I will ensure that your family is even more comfortable than before.”
“All because we saved your life when you were younger?” Charlene asked skeptically.
Eric laughed. “That is part of it,” he said, but from the twinkle in his eye, Charlene could tell that he was mostly jesting when he said that.
What could the real reason possibly be? Why should he want to take care of her family? Why had he gotten so involved in this from the beginning?
Charlene had asked him to help her, of course, but even if Eric was a man of his word, this help had gone beyond that. He had risked his reputation. If the way that Harvey had attacked her the previous night was any indication, he had risked his personal safety as well. Now, he was offering to help her family financially as well.
‘Good-hearted’ didn’t excuse his actions either.
“Charlene, I will do whatever is in my power to give you everything that you desire,” Eric continued, his eyes serious again. “Because I love you, Charlene. I love you.”
Chapter 34
Miss Charlene Ellington
After Eric’s pronouncement, Charlene could only stare at him. Had he truly said what she thought he had said? Had the duke just said that he loved her?
No. That was her immediate thought. No, he couldn’t possibly hav
e said that to her. This must be some strange fantasy that she had concocted in the aftermath of Harvey’s attack.
Eric had never shown up to save her from that alleyway at all; she was still there, lying on the cobblestones and bleeding, in the process of dying.
It would have been too much of a coincidence for Eric to find her in the first place. Even if the duke had somehow managed to come across her, by some chance, he would have marched her straight back to her aunt’s house, rather than spending the night with her in an inn, holding her close.
She had imagined the whole thing.
Except that this felt real. In fact, this felt like one of the realest moments in Charlene’s whole young life. How could that possibly be?
A Wicked Scandal For The Bluestocking (Steamy Historical Regency) Page 24