Chapter 11 #2
Maggie moved restlessly, loving the feel of him so close, and also the evidence of Algernon’s arousal. She wanted to be closer to him than anyone she’d ever known, and tilted her hips toward his.
Algernon jerked back instantly. “Forgive me.”
Maggie blinked. “Why?”
“You asked for a kiss and I got carried away.”
Maggie broke away from him and rolled onto her back, blushing and panting as if she’d been running a race. “I’ve always enjoyed you kissing me. Do you remember?”
“I do, but we were children then—mimicking the behavior of adults with no understanding of what real passion was.”
“We’ve always been good at pretend,” she whispered, closing her eyes. Adventures with Algernon had always been a good distraction.
“I like kissing you.” He admitted eventually. “But it should not happen again.”
“A pity. I would enjoy more of your kisses.”
“I will always want your kisses, too, but under the circumstances, I do not wish to lead you on,” he said, and rolled off the bed.
“I have responsibilities, and we are not children anymore. That kind of behavior, playing at being like our elders in the shadows of my mother’s summer ball, would ruin you. ”
Maggie should probably be ashamed of herself for encouraging Algernon to misbehave.
But it was clear to see, judging by their moment on the bed, that he was a skilled lover, and kissing had excited him, as well.
She found herself smiling at what she’d done with him anyway.
She’d rumpled him very well on this bed and taken her mind off her problems, at least for a little while.
Algernon looked even more appealing when his arousal tented his breeches like that, but when he noticed the direction of her gaze, he plucked up his coat and held it in front of his hips.
Unfortunately, desire had played little part in her life so far, and she did not know how to encourage him to feel better about what they had done. Clearly, he felt embarrassed when he desired a woman.
However, desire was a worthy field of study with the right man…if she ever found another one she liked as much as Algernon. Right now, that seemed unlikely, so she sat up and faced the window, giving him some privacy.
She sighed and stood, then kicked off her shoes.
“What do you think you’re doing?”
“Well, if you don’t want to kiss me, I’ll need another distraction. I’ll read a book,” she decided.
“An excellent idea, I’ll fetch the others for you. But you are wrong about what I want,” he argued.
She moved around the bed, brushing Algernon’s arm as she went.
He groaned.
She faced him, surprised by the raw sound, and saw hunger in his eyes. “Have I discovered a new way to torment you, Your Grace?”
“I would not do that again if I were you,” he warned.
“What will you do? Kiss me or kill me?”
“Probably kiss you witless,” he admitted, and then shook his head. “Forget I said that.”
Maggie pressed her lips together over a laugh. The poor man looked shocked to have admitted to desiring her out loud. But Maggie was not shocked at all. She admired his honesty. “Don’t worry, Algernon. I know a little about desire from books.”
Algernon took a step forward. “Please don’t tell me you’ve been reading about lovemaking all these years.”
She smiled sadly. “All right, I won’t tell you.”
She’d rather keep him wondering for a while yet about her experience of men, anyway. He’d probably feel even guiltier for what they’d done together.
His kisses had been lovely, but there was definitely more to lovemaking than that.
Her extensive reading had led her to believe it was an enjoyable way to pass the time.
Maggie had lots of it now to spare. Why not give her innocence to a man she liked before they had to part ways?
It was not as if he’d be betraying anyone yet. He was not betrothed at this moment.
Most likely, the chance to be with him would never pass her way again, either.
She put aside her disappointment and let the matter drop.
She collected a book to read and, on her way back to a chair, paused beside Algernon again. She looked up into his eyes, and she saw desire carefully banked there still. She was rather impressed that she affected him so much.
Since he wasn’t about to help continue her study of desire tonight, she moved away and sat back on the bed, tucking her feet under the comforter.
She understood his reason for hesitation.
After all, he was probably used to women of experience, and some far more beautiful and accomplished than she could ever be.
Maggie would not offer herself to him again, no matter how perfect the moment might seem.
“I need to check on a few things downstairs,” he said finally.
“Yes, I think that’s a good idea.” She did not look at him. She was starting to feel embarrassed, and it had created an awkwardness between them that had never existed before. “It was a difficult day. Please accept my thanks for your help.”
“Always,” Algernon promised, but shuffled his feet.
She glanced up briefly. “I promise not to leave the room.”
“We will dine together, yes?”
“Yes, Algernon. I should like to dine with you,” she promised. “I only hope the stew meets your high standards. I so hate to see you pout,” she added.
Algernon took the bait yet again. “I do not pout.”
Maggie laughed. “Got you again.”
“Devil take it! You’ll be the death of me, woman,” Algernon complained, but with his easy laughter, the teasing mood between them had been restored.
They were friends once more, and Maggie would not be asking for any further kisses from the duke.
He was too important to risk losing over an idle fancy of hers.
He slipped from the room, and Maggie immediately put her book down to look around her properly.
The room was larger than any bedchamber she’d ever been in. The curtains were velvet and a dark shade of blue. The bed she was sitting in was huge. She had not noticed the size when Algernon had shared it with her.
As she gazed about, she realized that this might be the master bedchamber, if there were any personal items scattered about. But it was an empty room, bare and with an unloved feel.
Unsettled by that, she prowled the chamber, looking for…she didn’t know what. Anything to tether her thoughts to the present. Opening each dresser drawer, she found them empty, until something fell inside one of the cabinets after she’d forcibly rattled a few drawers closed.
Opening it once more, she discovered an old property deed for a town house in London had appeared, as if from nowhere.
When she looked closer at the paper, it seemed the top was rust-marked and torn where something once secured it.
Strange that. She wondered why something so important had been left behind in this empty room.
Then she spied another doorway hidden behind a closed curtain. The door behind was unlocked, and it pushed open with a slight groan of the hinges.
Maggie inhaled Algernon’s distinctive scent and immediately felt better.
Scattered about this room were comfortable chairs, with cushions galore and an odd blanket, too. A clock that had stopped sat on the mantle beside a box of cigars and a handful of scattered coins.
Beside the window wall, there was another doorway. Maggie found a large dressing closet, half full of male attire that could only belong to a duke.
Maggie glanced back at the room she’d been given and felt a sting of bitterness fill her anew. The room she had was clearly intended for a bride Algernon admitted not to love.
She hurried back to her own room—and was taken aback to discover Algernon there again.
“I thought that was you moving about.”
“You heard me?”
He pointed to the floor. “My study is directly beneath our feet.”
“I’m sorry if you were disturbed.”
“In a good way, Maggie dear, and when have I ever denied you the opportunity to explore my home? I’m not about to start now.”
“I was just…”
“Looking around my bedchamber. Peeking into my dressing closet,” he teased, and then pointed around them. “My father did this, by the way. Removed any trace of Mama from this room as soon as she passed. Both here and in the country.”
“That was cruel to you,” she said, remembering Algernon’s fondness for his mother.
“Oh yes, that was his intention. Sentiment has no place in the life of a duke, he’d always told me.” But then Algernon smiled and nodded toward her hand. “What have you got there?”
She thrust out the deed. “Oh, I found this.”
“What is it?” he asked, and held the pages up to the light. “Well, I’ll be damned. Wherever did you find this?”
“Over there, I opened a drawer, heard it fall, and there it was.” Maggie smiled quickly. “I gather it was nailed inside somewhere.”
Algernon hurried over to the piece of furniture, pulled out all the drawers to look inside for himself, and then turned the bureau over, too, but there was nothing else to discover.
He sat back on his heels. “Sneaky, Mama. Very sneaky of you. I had forgotten my mother often hid things she didn’t want Papa to have. This property was part of her dowry. Without the deed to it, he couldn’t sell it to spend the profit.”
Maggie nodded.
“Luckily, I have you to solve my mysteries.” Algernon tucked the deed away in his pocket and held out his hand again.
“Come, since you have regained your will to live and your boundless curiosity has solved a mystery for me, let’s explore the town house together, so you won’t get lost when I’m away. ”
Maggie was keen for something to do, and hurried to him. They toured the upper floor, but not the attics. “We’ll save them for a rainy day,” he promised, and then they descended to the first floor. “My study to the left, drawing room to the right. Other reception rooms farther back and below.”
He let her take the lead, and laughed softly when she entered his library and gasped at all the books around her.
“I know where I’ll find you, should you disappear,” he teased.
“Or at any hour of any day,” she warned. “Such wealth. A book-lined room has been something I’ve always dreamed about having. A room where I would never be bored or lonely ever again.”
He drew close. “Is it odd that I knew that?”
“Not when you know me best of all,” she said without thinking, immediately regretting admitting so much. Her life had been quite lonely until she’d met Algernon again. And on her darkest day, when she’d thought he was better off alone, he’d come looking for her instead of going on with his plans.
She faced Algernon, but he was already looking at her.
His hand rose to cup her head, and he tilted her face up higher. “I am unworthy of the honor, Maggie.”
She smiled quickly. “Don’t say that.”
“It’s true. I kissed you, knowing all the reasons I shouldn’t. I brought you here because I could not leave you behind, and I risk your reputation every moment we are alone. And yet I don’t feel the slightest bit of doubt about my decisions.”
She smiled softly. “Then you are exactly the same as the boy I remember so fondly from my childhood.”
“I am not the same, Maggie. I know what comes after kissing in a way you do not,” he warned.
“Do you think to scare me?”
“I doubt you’ve ever been truly scared of anything I asked of you in your entire life, and that’s what scares me the most.” He sighed. “Maggie, I must go out for a while.”
“You don’t have to explain.”
He nodded. “Will you be all right without me?”
Would she? “I will read.”
“All right. Try to eat something while I’m gone, and don’t wait up for me.”
“Yes, Algernon,” she promised, knowing full well she would remain awake until he returned to the town house.