Three Times The Rake (The Northumberland Nine Series Book 3)

by Dayna Quince

  At four and thirty, he had over a decade of experience in this sort of conduct, hiding affairs from public scrutiny, arranging secret encounters even in overcrowded ballrooms filled with eagle-eyed gossipmongers.

  But now he felt exposed, stripped bare of his charm and expertise. His silver tongue eluded him in conversation, especially when she was present, and instead he stood silent. Every movement of her body, the tilt of her head as she listened, the arching of a brow, or the way she touched a hand to her chest when she laughed, enthralled him. He had to force himself to look away, to speak to another, to extricate himself from the group and pour a bracing drink.

  She, on the other hand, acted as if she barely knew him, smiling and laughing at Luckfeld’s quips, accepting Densmore’s arm into dinner. Only meeting his gaze fleetingly and giving her attention to everyone else but him.

  He loathed it. And yet all he could do was bite his tongue and wait.

  The occasion to steal her away would come. It always did. And then she’d be in his arms again, and this madness would be appeased, at least somewhat. Until the next breakfast, the next tea on the terrace, the next opportunity.

  The following afternoon, Georgie announced she would visit the stable and Gavin leapt at the opportunity to escort her.

  She nodded, her expression showing nothing but polite acceptance of his company.

  “Thank you, Mr. Cage.”

  He offered his arm and they left through the terrace doors as the others had gathered to watch the sunset before dinner. Buttery light filtered over them as they made their way down the shrubbery-lined path, out of sight and hearing of the others. Thick gorse lined the path, blooming with radiant yellow blooms.

  “Are your patients doing well?” he asked

  “Yes, Opal and Franklin are healing just fine now that they’ve grown accustomed to their new surroundings.”

  He nodded. “Good.”

  “Have I been discreet enough? I can’t stop thinking about… Well, I feel as though my thoughts are obvious to everyone,” she whispered.

  Thinking about their kiss? Nor could he. Gavin bit back a smile. “I assure you, your behavior has been perfect, too perfect. I’d hardly think you like me at all.”

  She gasped and squeezed his arm. “But I do.”

  He chuckled, patting her hand as they rounded the bend, concealed from both the castle and the stables by tall gorse. He turned her to face him, cupping her cheek and dragging his thumb over her lower lip. Her cheeks filled with color, matching the soft pink of the clouds overhead.

  “Do you?”

  She nodded and then her lips pursed, kissing his thumb.

  Heat shot to his groin. Such a sweet and innocent kiss and yet he was already on fire. Her gaze held his, wide and searching, but in it, he could see her desires. He slowly bent his head, giving her time to decide if she wanted his kiss, but she closed the distance, holding nothing back as she twined her arms around his neck and pressed against him. She opened her mouth, her tongue teasing his with soft licks. He let her take the lead and explore him, captivated by her swift understanding of the intricacies of kissing and her enthusiasm. He couldn’t stop himself from imagining her courageous exploration into deeper intimacies, a dangerous path, but with every heavy beat of his heart, his mind grew clouded by arousal. A busy path was not the place to do this, not when he had to keep a firm hand on both of their actions.

  He broke the kiss, reining in his pulsing need. “We should continue to the stables.”

  She licked her lips and nodded. He nearly groaned but took a deep breath and turned them toward sanity.

  They reached the stables, crossing paths with the head stableman.

  Mr. Dary nodded in greeting. “We’re off to our evening meal, Miss, but your patients await you.”

  “Thank you, Mr. Dary. They must be hungry as well.”

  Left alone again, Gavin swallowed as they entered, too aware of how quiet and empty the stable was of people, of barriers to his fervent wishes. She went on ahead of him into the tack room, clucking and cooing to her patients. He halted at the door, leaning against the frame and watching her. Her patients, the rabbit and the owl, perked up, appearing excited to see her. He understood them all too well. He was besotted too.

  He folded his arms, uncomfortable with the realization.

  He’d courted the most desired mistresses, dined with women so elegant and beautiful they may as well have been deities. Lain with courtesans so skilled they had legions of admirers.

  But this girl—this woman who talked to animals, who spoke with a frankness that made lesser men cower, she undid his carefully constructed barriers.

  The walls he’d put up to protect himself from feeling too deeply, from caring about a person who could leave him, or care for him enough to hate him for leaving as his mother did with his father.

  No. Gavin couldn’t afford to care for her. Not anymore than he already did. He knew the hurt he could cause. He’d seen it firsthand, felt it in himself as a boy. He refused to do that to another, not willingly as his father had.

  His business was his life. The forge he was building in Newcastle would transform the entire enterprise. It was his life’s ambition. He made room for leisure, for pleasure, but there was no more room for family, for being the kind of man a woman like Georgie, or any woman deserved.

  He needed to remember that. No matter how he ached for her, he couldn’t let it cloud his judgment.

  He would not marry.

  This was just another affair, another enjoyable encounter until it ended.

  She understood that. She had said as much, but he would need to be careful. They could only go so far, and then he would stop. He couldn’t risk damning them both to a marriage doomed to misery. He couldn’t risk breaking her heart.

  He’d never be able to forgive himself for it. And he also wouldn’t be able to turn his back on her. But he’d still be dooming her to a life of bitter loneliness like his mother and he had endured.

  Everything hinged on him remaining in control and keeping her safe from scandal or lasting repercussions.

  The only way to do that was to not take her virtue.

  He knew that, but did she?

  She finished with her work and turned. “All is well. They’re tucked in for the night and we can go on to dinner.

  Gavin considered the deepening light shining through the high windows in the stable, more lavender than pink now, but still light. There was time, and their solitude here should not be wasted.

  “We have some time before we will be missed.”

  She raised a brow. “Oh? What for?” She stepped close, her intent clear. “More kissing?”

  He took hold of her shoulders before she could press herself against him. The closer she stood, the harder it was for him to think.

  “We should set some rules in place.”

  She grimaced. “What sort of rules.”

  “Rules to keep you safe.”

  She touched his chest, running her hands up the lapels of his jacket. He was instantly hard.

  “I don’t need to be kept safe from you.”

  “Think of them as guidelines. A map to follow so we don’t get lost.”

  She cocked her head. “Get lost? Are we going somewhere?”

  “We’re going on a journey of pleasure, and if we get lost…cross certain barriers, we’ll both be in trouble.”

  Now she frowned. “I made it clear I don’t expect marriage.”

  “I know, but if we are not careful, we could both find ourselves standing before the duke and duchess having to explain our intentions, and the truth is, they will push for a marriage.”

  She shook her head. “I wouldn’t let them force our hands.”

  “I would. I may not be a gentleman in name but I have honor, and I would not let you stand alone in shame. I would marry you.”

  She chewed her lip and shifted her feet.

  “And should you become pregnant as a result of our intimacies, I would
insist upon marriage.”

  “But…you said you wouldn’t ever marry.”

  “But for those reason I’d have to, though being married to me could be worse than bearing my bastard. I’ve no time for a wife and family. Neither did my father. My mother and I both suffered for it. I won’t do that to a wife unless… There was no other option.”

  “How romantic,” she said dryly.

  “Exactly. I put business first, pleasure second, and leave no room for love.”

  She tensed in his hands.

  “That’s very sad.”

  “You see? I’d be a terrible husband. Which is why we must work together to make sure I don’t become yours.”

  “What do you mean by suffer? How did you and your mother suffer?”

  He let go of her and turned away. “It doesn’t matter now. I learned from his mistakes.” He strolled to an empty stall with stacks of hay piled high and shining like threads of freshly polished gold. “We must go only so far with our intimacies. Your virtue must remain intact, and above all else, we cannot be caught.”

  “You already said that.”

  He didn’t like the sadness in her voice. The disappointment. It was only a sliver of what she would feel as his wife, alone every night, stowed away in one of his houses far from everything she knew and the wild freedom she loved. Certainly with no creatures to rescue and rehabilitate. She’d be miserable.

  And it would be his fault.

  He turned toward her. “Do you understand? You have to understand all of this if we are to continue. Do you want to continue?”

  She rubbed her arms. “Yes.”

  He took a step toward her and presented his hand. “Then we don’t have another moment to lose. I’ve been aching for you all day, Georgie.”

  She looked up in surprise and color filled her cheeks. “You have?” She took his hand and he tugged her close. He swept his hands down her back and cupped her derriere, angling her hips and molding her to his arousal.

  “Do you feel that?”

  She nodded and swallowed.

  “That is the evidence of my desire for you.”

  “Your…your male appendage.”

  He grinned. “Yes. There are many things we can do, so many things I can teach you. Do you want to learn?”

  “I always want to learn.”

  He bent and nuzzled her neck, sniffing her skin, her scent making him salivate. He knew what he wanted to do with her, and he would have to be quick about it.

  “I’m going to show you another kiss but we don’t have much time.”

  Her head dropped back and he feathered kisses down her neck.

  “Then you better hurry.”

  He lifted her, grinding against her. She shuddered and clung to him, her hips moving in response. He knew they would be good together, his instincts telling him their lovemaking would be wild and insatiable. He pushed that thought aside. He couldn’t let himself dwell on those ideas.

  He lowered her to a pile of hay, leaning over her and reaching for her skirts.

  “You have only to say so if you want me to stop.”

  “I want you to kiss me,” she begged.

  He took her mouth, their tongues dueling for dominance, her hands working the buttons of his jacket free.

  Chapter 10

  Georgie was burning up in her skin, the cooler air on her legs so refreshing she didn’t realize what it meant until his hand touched her knee. She gasped into the kiss but didn’t pull away. Her body had taken over, and whatever he wanted to do, she was certain it would feel wonderful. He was a rake, after all, and a rather rational and considerate one at that. Stories of rakes always amused her, making them seem so powerful and beguiling, like a con man that would cut your purse while telling you a tale about mermaids. But Gavin was none of those things.

  He was more.

  He was sweet, making sure she knew exactly what she wanted. His consideration and forethought made trusting him all too easy, which was startling. Trust was her most prized possession. She rarely gave it to anyone who didn’t earn it.

  But Gavin was different from any man she’d ever known. He was the exciting rake, knowing, charming, dangerous, but also considerate, gentle, and at times too serious.

  Was that because of his father?

  What he had said before troubled her, but with his hands on her body, his manly scent filling her head, every thought grew more difficult to grasp.

  Later.

  She could dwell on it later.

  He pushed her knees open and his hips fell into the cradle of her body. The length of his hardness pressed against her, and the acute pleasure brought a moan to her lips. She couldn’t stop the twisting of her hips. His weight felt heavenly. She’d never dreamed a man lying on top of her could feel so wonderful. He nuzzled her neck, pressing sultry hot kisses to her skin in a blazing path to the neckline of her bodice.

  He pulled it down, her breasts falling free, and he brushed his tongue over her nipple.

  “Oh my God, Gavin,” she panted, unable to hold still as she arched her back, offering him more of her and grinding her hips against his.

  “You taste divine,” he said into her skin. Then he pulled her nipple into his mouth, the stinging tingling sensation unlike anything she’d ever felt. She clutched his head to her breast, shivering with pleasurable tension.

  “Please don’t stop,” she cried.

  He repeated his caress over and over, driving her mad with desire. The hand under her skirts moved higher, sliding up her thigh and pushing her legs farther apart.

  She had no resistance in her and eagerly obeyed. His fingers dipped into her damp folds, startling her, but the exquisite pressure of his palm on her mons robbed her of speech. Her mind blanked, and her mouth dropped open in soundless wonder. His devilish fingers massaged her velvet folds, spreading her liquid heat, toying with the entrance of her body.

  Georgie had only done a cursory examination of her own body and was aware of the limited sensations she could give herself, but his hand was so much better than her own. She could feel the calloused pads of his fingertips, the hands of a man who did things, who worked.

  He probed her entrance, dancing delight along her nerve endings. Her breathing hitched, her muscles tightening in anticipation.

  “So wet, so tight and ready for me. But I will only taste you, Georgie.”

  “Yes,” she said with a breathless sigh.

  “Don’t come apart just yet. I want to feel you on my tongue.”

  Georgie moaned. What wicked words—she didn’t understand them, but they bound her in his spell.

  He flipped up her skirts, dropping low and spreading her thighs and draping them over his shoulders.

  Georgie closed her eyes in ecstasy as his hot breath fanned over her flesh, her nipples, her skin, the fine hairs on her arms pebbling and standing on end.

  He nuzzled her folds, murmuring words she could not hear but she could feel the vibration between her thighs. Then his tongue, hot and slick, probed her folds, rolling against a place so sensitive and delicate she tensed to scream, but then he moved away. He returned to exploring her entrance with his fingers and tongue, first one finger entering her and then two. Her breathing fractured and her hips undulated involuntarily as if her body already knew what she wanted. He hummed against her sensitive flesh, rolling his tongue, but this time he didn’t stop. He continued his stroke inside her and pressed his tongue against her, flat and hard.

  Delicious warmth filled her body, her fingers and toes tingling as she shook in his hold, panting, her pulse pounding in her ears.

  “Oh my God,” she whispered.

  “Delicious. You are exquisite, Georgie.” He moved up to lie beside her and adjusted her skirts over her legs once more.

  Georgie couldn’t move except to open her eyes. “That was a kiss?”

  “My favorite kind.”

  She blinked at him, his eyes dreamy, his lips wet with her juices. She wiped his mouth, a little abashed but
too aroused to care. Her body felt like melted butter, gooey and warm. She wanted to stay right where she was and take a nap, or better yet…

  She rolled to her side to face him. “What’s next?”

  “Dinner. We must return with haste.”

  “I’m not capable of haste at the moment.”

  He grinned. “You will once the stable hands return. It’s almost full dark and we both have to dress for dinner.

  Georgie sat up. Blast him he was right. Her blissful drowsiness waned. “I can’t be seen like this.”

  “Stand up and I’ll put you to rights.”

  He helped her to her feet, and as Georgie suspected, her knees had turned to gelatin.

  He picked straw from her hair and Georgie righted her bodice.

  Georgie took a breath, her knees wobbly. “Am I satisfactory?”

  He stroked her cheek and her heart did a flip. This beautiful man so different from her had given her the greatest pleasure she’d ever experienced, and yet here he stood, seemingly unaffected. He’d seen every bit of her now. She blushed, feeling vulnerable, as if he could now see all her secrets and hopes.

  “You’ll make it to your room without stirring suspicion, I think. But we must hurry.”

  She nodded and followed him from the stable. There walk back was swift and without words spoken between them. But he’d held her hand until they were in sight of the terrace and they had to part ways.

  Chapter 11

  Georgie didn’t remember the journey to her room. Her feet never touched the carpet as she changed with the help of a maid. She floated through her movements, dressing, hair styling, and then she was ready to join the others.

  But she wasn’t truly ready. Her mind was still mired in foggy desire.

  She couldn’t think when she could still feel every sensation, his mouth on her breast, his hands parting her thighs…

  She entered the drawing room just as the dinner gong rang and Jeanette came to her side.

  “You’re later than usual. Did your pets take you long?”

  Georgie swallowed and tried to think. “My pets?”

  “You said you went to the stable, as you do every night before dinner.”