Chapter Thirty-One
Damien grew uncomfortable. First, he did not want to think about Georgie taking a lover other than him, but she was also correct in pointing out the absurdity of Society, or the world, since she must have had to suffer under the same rules in Italy.
“I understand why some women, after they have been ruined, may decide that they have no other choice but seek a protector, such as those women who were on that first coach. However, some may not even consider the loss of their so-called virtue as destructive to one’s future as they had once been told. ”
Damian found that difficult to believe but he was not going to argue with Georgie while she was busy railing at the unjust rules of Society that allowed him far more pleasures than she could ever comprehend.
“In fact, a woman who has been seduced by a silver tongue and then abandoned, may first be heartbroken and believe any future happiness destroyed, but who is to say that she would have met a man that she could truly love, who wasn’t a rake, and marry.”
Damian supposed that she was correct. How many spinsters had saved themselves only to still end up on the shelf, alone and dependent on family for support?
“There are no guarantees. And once a woman eventually realizes that their loss of virtue made absolutely no difference to her future, she can settle into happiness. She may even find that she has no intention of being married and enjoys being independent. In fact, she may wish that she would be granted the same freedom as a man to take a lover when she wished.”
All Damian could do was stare at her.
Georgie was far more liberal in her thoughts than he had originally believed.
Then again, she had stowed away on one of his ships, she had intended to walk to London or ride in the back of a wagon, and she had been willing to take the mail coach without him.
In fact, she had only accepted his presence because she did not know London or England and likely saw him as nothing more than a guide.
Then there was her sister.
Damian frowned. Were Georgie’s thoughts because Grace would be seen as ruined and she was preparing to defend her sister to the end?
“Women who willingly take lovers for a short duration are usually widows,” he finally said, though it was a weak argument for acceptance.
“I am aware. The proper widow who waited until she wed remained true to her husband and then when he was gone, and after she had waited an appropriate time, could now take lovers without her reputation being tarnished.”
“For the most part, that is true, but she would also need to be discreet.”
“And it is unfair! What of the women who have no desire to wed? Women who don’t want to be property of their husband.
Women who want to retain what little independence they are allowed?
Should they be denied the enjoyments that men eagerly seek without punishments simply because they are female and decided on a different path for themselves? ”
Damian had no answer, though it would make life more interesting if there were more women available to be lovers without the costly expense of setting up a mistress or risking disease from visiting a brothel. Someone who he liked and would enjoy being intimate with without obligation or promise.
Yes, that would be a perfect situation.
He studied Georgie. Was there a reason she was so adamant in her arguments?
She herself claimed that she was nearly on the shelf.
She was the most independent woman he had ever met, and she desperately wanted to save Grace and then protect her.
She clearly did not trust that Fisher would do what was right or he would have taken Grace back to Italy and gained permission instead of trying to get to America as soon as possible.
His gut tightened. Had Georgie experienced something similar to Grace? Had she been seduced and abandoned?
Was that why she was so set on rescuing and protecting her sister?
It would certainly explain her passion for how unfair it was for a woman to be seen as ruined.
“Who was it?”
“Who was who?” she asked.
“Who seduced you?”
Her eyes opened slightly and no doubt she was wondering how she had given herself away.
“It does not matter,” she answered.
She was not the innocent miss he thought her to be, not that it made a difference because he would still protect her.
“What happened, or how have you…was your life…?”
“Ruined?” she smirked.
His face heated because this was the very thing she had been protesting since they entered the cabin.
“As with all misses in similar situations, I was crushed, heartbroken, and nearly destroyed because I believed everything that I had been told—that I was destined to become a spinster, as if it were a fate worse than death. I was also young and foolish, and as I grew older, I realized that I had not met any other man that I wanted to kiss, let alone marry. My heart never increased tempo at a handsome face, my pulse did not race if someone attempted a flirtation. That was when I realized that even if I had not been seduced by a silver-tongued devil at the age of eight-and-ten, I still would be a spinster because I had not met anyone that I was willing to sacrifice what freedom I do have.”
Georgie looked up, her eyes intense.
“However, as you probably already realize, it angers me that a woman cannot enjoy the same freedoms of a man, which includes the freedom to take a lover.”
Damian’s mouth went dry as his manhood stirred to life.
“Is that what you want, Georgie? A lover.”
She drew a deep breath through her nose, straightened her shoulders and lifted her chin. “Yes.”
Damian’s pulse pounded, but just because she claimed to want a lover, it did not mean she wanted him.
“Could that be me?”
For the first time she glanced away. “Not if it is only because of my speech and you pity me.”
“Pity?” How could she…Except, she’d been seduced and abandoned, so her confidence in this one area may be lacking. “Georgie, I found myself attracted to you the first time I saw you in a dress.”
The corner of her mouth tipped. “Not before.”
“You were too much of a pain in the arse before” he grumbled. “But after we arrived in London, when we shared wine before dinner, that was when I started wanting you and I have since.”
“Are you telling me the truth?”
“I would never lie about an attraction, need, desire, or lust.”
“Then why did you not seduce me? You had plenty of opportunity.”
“I believed you to be an innocent miss.”
“But I am not.”
No, technically she was not. “You are still a respectable miss who trusted the wrong man, but your life should not be ruined because of it.”
“That is kind of you to say, but I am not ruined. Instead, I am quite independent.”
“Yes, I noticed.” He then studied her. “If you wanted a lover, if you are saying that I could be him, why did you not seduce me?”
Her face started to match the delicate shade of a spring rose. “I feared rejection, if you must know, and I hate to admit, and it would have made it awkward while we traveled.”
Damian wanted to laugh, but he would not because he was certain that she would interpret it as him making fun of her, which was absurd.
“If only I had known…”
“You do now.”
He stared into her brown eyes and noticed hesitation or perhaps fear. For all her bravado, Damian believed Georgie feared rejection.
“Are you certain?”
“Have I not already said so.”
“Yes, but I want you and I have wanted you, but if you have changed your mi—”
*
If he was going to keep talking, they would be in Greenock before she had a chance to enjoy intimacy with Damian so she did the first thing that she thought of and stepped forward, placed her palms on his cheeks, drew his head down, and kissed him.
Georgie had never been so bold and it was only after she had acted that she feared that he was only talking to get out of what she wanted to do without him having to reject her.
With that terrible thought, she broke the kiss and stepped away. “I apologi—”
This time she wasn’t given a chance to stop speaking because Damian had pulled her close and pressed his lips against hers.
Except, he was more demanding and when his tongue touched her lips, Georgie opened and he swept in.
In that instant, her knees nearly buckled so she grasped his shoulders so that she could remain standing.
His hands swept up her sides and she expected him to caress her breasts.
She wanted him to. They ached for attention.
Except, his thumbs just caressed the sides before his hands glided down her back, stopping at her hips when she thought that he would grab her bottom.
Those had been her past experiences, but she was beginning to think that Damian might be a slower and likely better lover.
His kisses were certainly better, and with those thoughts, gave herself over to all the delicious sensations that swept through her body with each kiss and touch and tried not to anticipate what he might do next.
Her breasts grew achy as her nipples tightened and she hoped that his hands caressed up her sides again and that he would finally touch her there. Instead, he broke the kiss and stepped back.
Was he done? Had he changed his mind? Had her kissing been so horrible?
Damian looked into her eyes, his normally light-blue ones, dark and intense. “How do you get out of this dress? There are no buttons or ties.”
She nearly wanted to laugh when she realized that he wasn’t caressing her but looking for a way to unfasten her dress. “It is designed for convenience for a miss who does not have a maid. I simply pull it over my head.”
He nearly growled as he pulled her close again and lowered his mouth to hers.
Their heated breaths were shared as their tongues mated.
Georgie was certain that her body’s temperature had risen to a fever state and when Damian finally cupped one of her breasts, she let her head fall back and just enjoyed it.
Her breaking of the kiss led him to place his lips against her cheek, jaw, neck, and then above the bodice as he grasped her skirt and began pulling it up.
When the back of his knuckles caressed the inside of her thigh, Georgie could not hold back her groan of pleasure.
Except, Damian pulled away again.
He was the most frustrating man to be born. What question did he have now?
Had she been wrong to assume he’d enjoyed lovers previously? What if they had both been mistaken about the other and he was the virgin?
Except, she couldn’t accept that possibility. His kisses were simply too…delicious.
“One moment.” He then sat on the bed, bent and removed his boots, which were followed by his cravat, suitcoat, then waistcoat and when he stood once again, Damian appeared very much like the man she had first met, except his shirt was not open as it had been that day.
Georgie reached forward and started to undo the small Dorset buttons, until they had all been freed and she could enjoy his chest once again.
He pulled the linen shirt from his trousers and then over his head, revealing his hard, muscular chest and abdomen.
Georgie’s mouth went dry. She’d never seen such a physique or imagined that a man could be trim and muscular at the same time.
She reached forward and slipped her hands through the soft, light auburn hairs on his chest, something else she’d not seen before.
Damian grasped her wrists, as if he did not want her to touch him then pulled her closer so that her breasts were pressed against his naked chest and then he was kissing her again.
Georgie wrapped her arms about him and returned the kiss with the same passion as he pulled her skirts up, higher and higher until she felt the cool air on the back of her thighs, then higher until her buttocks were exposed and his hands caressed over the globes, causing the core of her womanhood to ache with a need to be touched.
He then stood back and pulled the dress over her head and tossed it aside, leaving her only in her shift.
“This will need to go too,” he murmured.
“What of my boots?”
Damian grinned then grasped her hips and maneuvered her to the bed and had her sit before he was down on his knees before her.
He removed one boot and then the other, tossing them both aside before his palms caressed up her calves, then to her knees, parting them further, then up her thighs, and under her shift.
She grasped his shoulders and nearly held her breath waiting for him to touch her and then he did, a swipe of his finger against the most sensitive part of her body and once again, Georgie’s head fell back as she moaned.
That was exactly what she needed. If she were alone, she would bring herself to completion. Instead, she would enjoy the caresses of Damian, then the pleasure of him in her body and hope she gained her release before he reached his.
Damian straightened and pushed the shift higher, exposing herself to him and then he pulled it from beneath her and up her body, stopping once her breasts were exposed. That was when he leaned forward and took one into his mouth and caressed his tongue around the nipple.
Georgie was certain that she was going to expire right there.
With one hand, he pulled the shift from her body and she assisted.
While his mouth pleasured her breast, his fingers teased below.
Her fingernails dug into his shoulders because the waves of pleasure were nearly too much and then, before she could prepare, the release was upon her as Georgie arched her back and bit her bottom lip to keep from crying out as wave after wave of release washed over her more powerful than she had ever experienced or thought possible.
Just when she was finally drifting back, Damian grasped her hips and lifted. She glanced up and into his blue eyes.
His trousers were lowered and his member, hard, thick, and long would soon be in her. Georgie’s womanhood ached anew.
“Are you certain?” he asked.
“Yes.”
And with that one word, he pressed forward, filling her.
Standing before her while her back was on the bed, Damian filled her over and over.
Her body quickened again and just as the tightened coil released within and she bit back her cries of pleasure, Damian withdrew and spilled his seed onto her stomach before he fell onto the bed beside her.
It was only after her heart and pulse had calmed almost back to normal that she blew out a sigh. “Goodness!”
“Exactly!” he returned.