Chapter 5 #2
“Then I hope you get some rest today.” He winced when she gave him a look. “Yes, I know your budget doesn’t allow for such matters, but perhaps it should.”
“Are you satisfied with our accounting?” Miss Cartwright asked, her gaze drifting to the clock behind him.
“Yes, of course.” He nodded. “I can see that you are anxious to resume your duties, so I will leave you in peace.”
“Thank you.” She rose to her feet and headed for the door, her relief at his pronouncement evident. “I’ll expect you next month.”
Julian bowed as she swept past him. He took his time walking back through the kitchen and yard, making sure everything was as it should be.
He took his responsibilities as a trustee seriously and dropped in regularly.
He had to admit that Miss Cartwright was also part of the attraction.
Her refusal to see him as an eligible man was both refreshing and amusing.
And, as Carenza was learning, he’d always loved a challenge.
Thoughts of Carenza had him directing his horse toward her current home.
She’d left the Smythe-Harding town house after Hector’s death and returned to her father’s London home, which her father rarely used.
There had been some delay in locating the new heir to Hector’s title, but the new earl had recently moved into Carenza’s old home with his wife and mother.
Julian left his horse in the capable hands of Carenza’s groom and made his way to the front of the house, where he offered the butler his card. He was instantly shown up the stairs to the drawing room and went in to discover a room full of ladies.
Mrs. Sheraton hailed him from the couch. “Just the gentleman we need!” She gave him a wicked smile. “We’re trying to pick a new lover for Carenza.”
“I’m fairly certain she doesn’t need my help for that.” Julian went over to kiss Mrs. Sheraton’s hand and then turned to Carenza, who had risen to greet him. He smiled deep into her hazel eyes and was rewarded by a flash of annoyance. “She has impeccable taste.”
“Not in men,” Mrs. Sheraton pointed out.
“Hector wasn’t all bad,” Carenza said somewhat tartly.
“So you mentioned.” Olivia winked at her.
“I wonder if I might speak to you in private for a moment, Lady Carenza?” Julian asked.
“Why?”
Julian fought a smile. “It is a family matter.”
“You don’t like your family,” Mrs. Sheraton, who was not above eavesdropping, commented.
“Unfortunately, that doesn’t mean they don’t require my attention,” Julian countered. “And this is a very particular matter concerning my brother.”
Carenza ignored her friend and addressed her guests. “If you will please excuse me for a moment?”
She left the room, and Julian followed her through to a small, private sitting room beside her bedroom suite. He shut the door behind them and leaned against it. She turned to look at him, and he simply looked back.
“Is there something you want?” Carenza asked. “Or do you merely wish to stare at me with that rather annoying smile on your face?”
“I was thinking about you last night.” He loved the way the color instantly rose in her cheeks. “I was imagining undressing you.”
He advanced toward her, and she held her ground, looking up into his face as he cupped her chin.
“I took a very long time exposing every inch of your delicious skin with my mouth, my hands, and used all my senses to arouse you.” He slid his fingers down her neck and ran them along the lace bodice of her dress, enjoying the way her breath hitched.
“Julian, I have guests …”
“Mmm …”
“I have to get back.” She sighed as his fingertip grazed her nipple. “This is most unfair.”
“Did you think of me at all?” he inquired. “Did you imagine commanding me to undress for your pleasure?”
“I might have.”
Her admission made him want to throw caution to the winds, pin her to the wall, and have his way with her, but he reminded himself of their agreement.
“And what would you have done to me in your dreams?”
She met his gaze quite fearlessly. “Anything I wanted to.”
“Such as?”
She smiled at him. “Oh, I don’t have time to explain everything. We’d be here for hours, and Allegra would come and find me.”
“What about a more practical demonstration?” he suggested. “I am yours to command.”
She considered him carefully. “I’ve always wanted a man to …” She paused. “I feel foolish even suggesting such a thing.”
“Don’t be,” Julian said. “What is your desire?”
She took a deep breath. “When you asked to speak to me alone, I thought you might bring me in here, and …”
“Ravish you?” Julian offered.
“Not quite all the way. That would take too long. I was thinking it would be more of a signal of intent.” She looked up at him. “If that makes sense.”
“Ah. You’d like a man to make you look forward to what he’s going to do to you later.”
“Exactly.”
He took her hand and led her toward the writing desk. “May I?”
She glanced at the clock. “Whatever you do, it will have to be quick. We’ve been here for quite a while already.”
He put his hands around her waist and sat her on the side of the desk. “Pull up your skirts and petticoats.”
“What are you going to do?” she asked as she pulled up her skirt to expose her naked thighs and tied stockings.
“This.” He went down on his knees, spread her thighs wide, and used his mouth on her most sensitive parts. To his satisfaction, she was already wet, her clit begging for his attention as he tongued it, making her quiver and roll her hips toward him.
Aware of the need for haste, he thrust two fingers inside her and scissored them wide as he continued to flick his tongue hard over her now-throbbing clit. She was wet enough for him to add another finger, and he circled his thumb roughly over the aroused flesh he’d already kissed.
With a throaty moan, she climaxed, her fingers gripping his scalp as waves of clenching need ran through her.
Julian gently disengaged her hand from his hair and stood up.
He found his handkerchief and wiped his mouth, staring at Carenza.
She was breathing hard, her cheeks flushed, and her eyes wild.
He raised an eyebrow. “I’d offer you my handkerchief, but I want you to go back to your guests just as you are.
” He stepped closer and kissed her with all the wild savagery he’d repressed while he’d pleasured her.
“Will your friends notice that you’ve been pleasured, Carenza?
” he murmured into her mouth. “Will they see it in your eyes, on your flushed cheeks? I wish I had time to attend to you properly and send you back in there well satisfied.”
She placed both hands on his chest and gently pushed him away. “We have to stop.”
“As you wish.” He bowed. “Let me set you to rights.” He helped her down and rearranged her skirts and bodice to his satisfaction. “There. You look your usual calm self.”
“I heartily doubt it.” She looked up at him. “Thank you.”
He bowed. “You’re very welcome. Shall we return to the drawing room?”
“Was there anything you wished to talk to me about? I can hardly tell Olivia and Allegra that we spent ten minutes alone and spoke of nothing.”
“Then tell them that I came to warn you that my older brother is intent on courting you.”
“Don’t be ridiculous.”
“It’s the truth. He wants to take you riding in the park. He thinks you look splendid on a horse.”
“He did send me a note about that. I was going to ask you whether I should go.”
“I’d accept his kind invitation,” Julian advised. “He wants me to come with him, which gives us the opportunity to be together without comment.”
He opened the door for her, and they walked back toward the drawing room.
To his relief, most of the guests had departed and only Allegra and Mrs. Sheraton remained.
Yet again, he was slightly chagrined at how quickly Carenza had regained her composure.
He began making plans about how and when he would disrupt her again.
“I don’t want to give Aragon false hope,” Carenza said as he escorted her to her seat.
“Don’t worry, my mother will never let him get married until she picks him a bride.” Julian stepped back with a smile. “You’ll be quite safe, I assure you.”
Carenza resumed her seat, aware that her body was now fizzing with the sultry, slow pulse of release.
Olivia was looking very closely at her, which didn’t bode well for Carenza’s chances of getting away with allowing a gentleman to pleasure her during calling hours.
Allegra was chatting away to Julian without a care in the world and seemed oblivious to her sister’s appearance.
The butler came in. “Lord Tobias and Lady Harriet Smythe-Harding, my lady.”
Carenza stood up to greet the new heir to her late husband’s title. She was surprised, because after an initial formal visit, the earl and his wife had made little effort to socialize with her since coming to town. Tobias was Hector’s second cousin, the oldest son of Hector’s first cousin.
“How very kind of you to call,” Carenza said. “May I offer you some refreshments?”
“No, thank you.” Tobias seemed somewhat ill at ease. “There is a matter I wish to discuss with you.”
Carenza raised her eyebrows, inviting him to continue.
It was his wife who spoke up. “You need to give it back.”
“I beg your pardon?” Carenza asked.
“The tiara,” Lady Harriet said. “It’s mine now.”
Carenza suddenly realized why they’d come. “Oh, my goodness, of course. I quite forgot the tiara belonged to Hector’s side of the family.”
“You should not have been wearing it at a public ball. It made it look as if you still consider yourself to be the countess.” Lady Harriet’s face was flushed and angry.
“My sister is still the dowager countess,” Allegra pointed out. “That’s a fact.”
“It was a genuine mistake,” Carenza said evenly. “I have no desire to be the countess. I will have it fetched for you immediately.”
Tobias bowed. “That is most kind of you.”
His wife spoke over him. “And what about the other things?”
“What things?” Carenza stared at her.