Chapter 9
CHAPTER NINE
“You look very beautiful this evening,” Julian complimented when Georgiana joined him.
He had been so eager to see her again that he had arrived in the family dining room far too early, only to then spend the remaining time pacing impatiently in front of the lit fire as he waited for Georgiana to arrive.
It was well worth the wait.
The purple of her evening gown was an acceptable color for a woman in mourning, which Georgiana was, even if she had told him she had not particularly liked her father.
The gown’s scooped neckline revealed the top of her creamy breasts, the high waist emphasizing their fullness.
The dark color perfectly complemented her pale porcelain complexion.
It also darkened her blue eyes until they almost reflected that same purple.
Her dark hair was a cluster of curls secured at her crown.
Georgiana was always beautiful to him, but this evening, she appeared even more so than usual.
Julian believed that might have something to do with the fact that he was coming to enjoy her company more and more, and that any time spent away from her now irritated him in the extreme.
His spirits felt lighter just from being with her.
A warning, if he had needed one, that with every day that passed, he was giving more and more of his heart to this beautiful young woman. Until, it seemed, he could think of nothing but Georgiana’s warmth and beauty.
“Thank you.” She accepted his compliment with a smile.
“You look very handsome too. But, in the interest of honesty, I believe I should tell you that I intend to use all my feminine wiles this evening, including my appearance, as encouragement for you to kiss me again.” Her eyes gleamed with mischief.
Julian drew in a sharp breath. “I thought we had agreed that could not happen until we have the evidence to prove my marriage is over.”
God knows his resistance to Georgiana had worn very thin these past three days of working so closely together. Indeed, by the time it came to the evenings, Julian had forced himself to continue to dine alone in his study rather than risk giving in to the desire he felt to kiss Georgiana again.
The self-pleasure he allowed when he was alone in his bedchamber each night was not something he cared for anyone else to be aware of. Most especially Georgiana.
“You suggested that should be the case, and, at the time, I agreed to it.” She nodded.
“But it is taking far longer than I would wish to attain the evidence we need. Indeed, I have never before felt such impatience with the time it takes for a letter to be received and a reply sent, answering the questions asked. As such, it has become extremely frustrating, on my part, to continue to adhere to your earlier ruling. Do not look so shocked, Julian,” she teased when he felt his eyebrows rise to his hairline.
“We have spent three days in close proximity, and every minute has been an aching reminder of how attracted I am to you. So, of course, I am now impatient to bring an end to that torment.”
Julian’s admiration for Georgiana, already more than he had ever felt for any other woman, grew deeper still. She was, without a doubt, the most beautiful and openly honest woman he had ever known. Something he appreciated even more after suffering through Annabel’s lies.
Even so… “You gave me the impression that you have little respect for women who use female machinations to claim a man’s attention.”
She smiled. “You have already admitted that I have your attention. And, as I have just clearly stated, it is my intention to break down any lingering resistance on your part over the course of this evening. As such, I do not see that my behavior could be in any way attributed to the use of feminine wiles.”
“No,” he conceded.
Her smile widened. “Then we are in agreement.”
“That you are going to do all in your power seduce me this evening?”
Georgiana’s eyes sparkled with happiness. “Does that not sound like a delicious adventure?”
It did.
Magnificently so.
Nor could Julian claim to be in any way averse to the idea of having a woman openly show how much she wanted him.
Annabel’s coldness toward him during their marriage had stripped his emotions until they felt raw and exposed, with the result that he had begun to doubt his ability to still be attractive to any woman.
Those feelings of uncertainty had included questioning his ability to make love to any woman and be able to give her pleasure.
Georgiana’s honesty about her desire for him had given that all back to him.
But he also knew it would be pure madness to allow her to seduce him.
Because he knew he could never settle for kissing Georgiana only once. That he would want to do so again and again. That he did not want to stop at merely kissing her. That he wanted all of her. To kiss. To caress. To taste.
He had lain awake every night since her arrival, unable to sleep despite the physical release of his self-pleasure. He ached to kiss and suckle Georgiana’s nipples, to lick between her thighs, to drown in the taste of that nectar.
Indeed, any previous doubts he might have had concerning his ability to make love to a woman had been well and truly dispelled during these past few days of working closely with one who showed no hesitation to reveal her desire for him.
The same woman Julian desired more than any other.
More than he ever had his own wife?
Oh yes.
There wasn’t a single doubt in Julian’s mind that the love he had once imagined he felt for Annabel had been purely that. A fiction, encouraged and fanned by a display of false emotions toward him on Annabel’s part.
The reason he knew this, beyond a shadow of a doubt, was because he now knew himself to have fallen deeply in love with Georgiana.
A woman so different from Annabel, in both looks and nature, that the deep love he felt for her made a nonsense of anything he might once have thought he felt for Annabel.
He now believed, as did Georgiana, that he had been deliberately duped as to Annabel’s true nature.
He was still gathering information as to why she would have done such a thing. Indeed, so far, he had only had his inner conviction and Georgiana’s that this was the case.
A great part of that belief was fueled by the fact Annabel had taken nothing with her when she disappeared apart from the three pieces of jewelry Julian had presented to her as a wedding gift.
Admittedly, the necklace, bracelet, and earbobs were worth many thousands of pounds, but the Moreland emeralds, locked away in a safe at the offices of his lawyer, were worth far more.
But perhaps that was the point. They were locked away, and only Julian could access them.
Whatever the reason, the only things Annabel had taken with her were those three pieces of jewelry.
She certainly had not taken Julian’s heart.
By the time Annabel left, she no longer held a place in his heart or his thoughts. Indeed, Julian’s initial emotion when she disappeared was relief at no longer having to even try to love a woman who no longer made any pretense of loving him.
Georgiana had not expressed feeling love for him either, but the warmth of her actions, every sincere word she spoke, revealed that she cared deeply about him.
It was enough.
For now.
“It does indeed sound like a grand adventure,” he finally answered Georgiana. “Except—” He stopped speaking when she placed two fingers gently against his lips.
“There will be no exceptions,” she told him firmly. “We are going to enjoy each other’s company and let the evening take us where it will.”
Julian knew, as he gazed into those beautiful blue and determined eyes, that he would happily allow Georgiana to lead him and his heart exactly where she wished them to be.
* * *
Georgiana had never enjoyed an evening as much as the one she spent in Julian’s company.
Not only because she took advantage of every opportunity she could to touch or smile at him as they ate their meal and chatted.
But also because Julian treated her as an equal during those conversations.
As if, unlike her own father, Julian considered her opinions to be as valid as his own, if not more so in some cases.
The latter, she knew, was partly because of the scars Annabel Sotherby had inflicted upon Julian’s heart and his ability to believe anyone could love him.
Georgiana loved him.
Deeply.
She loved the care and attention Julian showed toward his servants, tenants, and their families, all of whom he knew well enough to inquire about by name. An affection which was obviously returned by all of them.
She already knew his friends in London, primarily the Dukes of St. Albans and Hellsmere, held him in high regard. Just as she knew how difficult it was to attain the respect of those two toplofty gentlemen.
She loved the attentive way Julian always listened to anything she had to say. Not always to agree with her, but he at least heard her opinion before concurring or explaining why he held a different view.
Previously, Georgiana’s only real example of conversation between a man and a woman had been what she had seen take place between her mother and father.
Occasions when her father would announce his opinions to her mother, and that dear lady would only listen and never dare voice an opinion of her own.
The earl’s three daughters, Georgiana amongst them, had not been allowed to join in the conversation at all unless expressly invited to do so by their father. Something the earl never did.
In stark contrast, Julian encouraged her input and opinions on every subject.
From the mutual acquaintances they had in London, to her curiosity about the people living within Moreland Park and his tenants living on the surrounding land and in the nearby small village. All part of the Moreland estate.