Chapter 11 #2
“The question I expected was, ‘why have you had a lover at all?’” She sobered.
“If you don’t want to answer me, you don’t have to.
I appreciate you letting me hold onto the things I’m not yet ready to discuss.
” His trust in her made her feel more important and special than she had in a very long time.
Perhaps ever. The moment he’d learned her real identity, he’d continued to believe in her and to show her a profound understanding that shocked her—in the best way.
“I wasn’t driven to take a lover,” he replied. “I was focused on my marquessate and Lacey and Company.”
She knew how hard he worked at both, and his dedication to his father-in-law’s business was both surprising and inspiring. It was one of the many things she found so irresistible about him. “You are very involved with that, more than I would have thought from a man of your station.”
“I know it’s unusual and even derided by many.” He held her gaze. “Do you find it odd?”
“Perhaps, but I understand why you’ve undertaken that level of involvement.” Ellis positioned herself partly on top of him and rested her head on his chest. “I think I’m more surprised that Mr. Lacey has included you as a part-owner of the company.”
Roman stroked her spine with his fingertips.
“Truthfully, that shocked me too. I asked for that as part of the marriage settlement, thinking he would refuse or at least require me to wait some amount of time to see how—or if—I would actually participate. He gave me a very small holding when I married Clarissa, and it has increased annually.”
“You could own even more in the future?” Ellis asked.
He nodded. “The maximum I will own is forty-five percent.”
“I take it that was her dowry?”
“No, which is why it was so shocking. That was separate from her very generous dowry. Don’t judge Josiah harshly, but he very much wanted Clarissa to marry into the peerage. He was willing to pay a good sum, and I was in need.”
“Then she died,” Ellis said softly, wondering what had happened to her and how deeply her death had affected him. She wasn’t going to ask, though. Roman would tell her when he wanted to—or not. “Is that why Mr. and Mrs. Lacey hope you will marry Margot?”
“Yes.” He paused, and his hand stilled. “You seemed upset upon learning that Margot and I were to become betrothed. Dare I hope you were jealous?”
Ellis turned her head and buried her smile into his chest, then she kissed him just below his nipple, drawing him to press his palm against her spine. She heard his breath catch.
“Not jealous, for I’ve no desire to wed, but I was—I am—attracted to you, and I had the impression you might feel the same.” She feared she really had been jealous, for she had to admit that she was drawn to him in many ways that went beyond the physical.
Pushing that disquieting thought aside, she kissed him again, for longer, using her tongue to taste his flesh.
He shivered, and she continued talking. “But then I wondered if I’d imagined that.
I didn’t think you would engage in a liaison with me whilst becoming betrothed to someone else.
And if you did, well, my opinion of you would plummet. ”
He laughed, and the sound vibrated his chest beneath her.
“Your impression was correct. I’ve been attracted to from the moment I realized you were a woman, and perhaps even slightly before that, much to my shock.
” She licked his nipple, and he moaned. “Something about you is devastatingly alluring.” He traced his fingertip up her spine and grasped a lock of her hair, tugging on it gently.
“It pains me greatly to think the next time I see you, this gorgeous mass will be hiding under that terrible wig.”
She lifted her head. “My wig is terrible?”
“Only because it’s not you. I hate it almost as much as the beard.”
“You’re not the only one.” Ellis had so many questions for him—about his rakehell youth, about his wife, about when he would marry again. Surely he must, for he needed an heir.
She settled on one and met his gaze. His eyes looked like quicksilver in the light of the candles beside the bed.
“Your marriage was not a love match, then?” A shadow passed over his expression, dimming its intensity.
“My apologies. We were talking about the dowry, and I was only curious. Again, you need only tell me to mind my own business.”
“It was not a love match,” he said, surprising her. “What is your business exactly? Do you plan to be my secretary forever?” He ran his hand down her back, to the crease at the top of her backside. His palm skimmed to one cheek where he squeezed her gently.
Ellis brought her body up and straddled him, her sex covering his as she kept one hand on his chest. “Forever is a very long time. I’d like to remain your secretary for the foreseeable future, provided I can maintain my disguise.
I confess I’ve been worried, since you found me out almost immediately, then Margot happened upon us. ”
“Then we must be careful, for I would very much like you to be my secretary for as long as you like. I’d also like you to be whatever this is.” He gestured between them. “If you are amenable.”
“Hmm, I’ll have to consider that.” She rotated her hips against him and felt his cock lengthen against her sex. “Perhaps you could persuade me of the benefits of—” she caressed his chest, then bent over him to kiss his neck, “—this.” She dragged her tongue along his throat.
Roman pushed her hair back from her ear and grazed his teeth along the lobe. “Allow me to show you.”
That is what he spent the rest of the night doing, and by the time she left at dawn, after brief snippets of sleep, Ellis returned to her chamber thoroughly convinced.
The following day, Roman couldn’t stop smiling. Because he couldn’t stop thinking of Ellis and spending most of the night in her arms. He’d been searching for an opportunity to kiss her all day, but none had arisen. Desperate, he’d suggested at one point that they close the door to the study.
She’d reminded him that it hadn’t stopped Margot from walking right in and catching them together.
Then she’d escaped upstairs to her chamber to work so he couldn’t keep distracting her.
He didn’t know if he was flattered or offended.
Nevertheless, after she departed, he was also able to focus on work, albeit begrudgingly.
The Laceys were due soon for the weekly acquisitions meeting. They were having it today instead of Thursday since Pritchard would be arriving tomorrow and they would be busy with him.
Roman went upstairs to the library to wait. Once there, he picked up one of the manuscripts Margot had sent him to read and sat in one of the chairs situated near the bookcases. Before he could finish the first page, Ellis walked in.
“There you are,” she said, coming toward him. “I didn’t realize you’d already come upstairs to the library.”
He smiled at her, and Ellis noticed he did that more now. That made her want to smile. “You were looking for me?” He immediately stood and set the manuscript down on the now-vacant chair.
“Not particularly, but the Laceys will be here soon, so I was wondering where you’d gone.”
“Well, now I’m disappointed,” he said with a mock pout.
She schooled her features into a cool stare. “No flirting. It’s hard enough to work so closely together in the study, which is why I felt compelled to leave.”
He sighed. “I’m sure we were both able to accomplish more, lonely as it might have been. Since we have a few minutes before the Laceys will be here, let me show you something.” He led her to the corner near the windows where a large potted palm stood.
Once there, he turned and noticed she hadn’t followed him. “Aren’t you coming?”
She narrowed her eyes at him. “Are you trying to maneuver me behind that palm so you can steal a kiss?”
“No, I’m going to show you something you likely haven’t noticed. Humor me whilst we await the Laceys?”
“All right.” She sounded as though she were granting him a large favor as she joined him. “What have I failed to notice in this corner?”
“Have you perused every book on the shelves?”
“I believe so,” she replied.
“So you think.” He arched his brow with a smirk as he crouched down and gestured to the books on the lowest shelf. “You’ve even investigated these?”
“They are crop treatises, if I remember correctly. I confess I passed right over them.”
“Precisely what my father hoped.” Roman tried to pull one of them out and couldn’t. “They’re not really books at all, you see.” Then he pushed on the spine of the book at the end of the shelf. The fake books swung open, and Ellis gasped.
“A secret compartment?” she asked.
Roman nodded. “My father had it built into the bookcase so he could hide his naughty books.”
She stared at him. “Naughty books?”
He pulled one forth and handed it to her. She gave him a dubious glance before flipping it open. Then she gasped again.
“My goodness, these are—” She rotated the book sideways, and Roman stood so he could see what she was looking at. It was a drawing of two people copulating in an unusual position. “The drawings are beautiful. Why do you hide them?”
He shrugged. “I suppose because they’ve always been there.”
She cocked her head with an amused smile. “And when did you find this secret compartment of naughty books?”
“When I was twelve or thirteen, perhaps? I confess I perused them often when I was home from school.”
“You were very naughty,” she said with a bit of a scold in her tone that, surprisingly, contributed to his arousal.
“I wanted to be.”
She laughed. “What a terrible rogue you were.” She flipped the page, and the next drawing was of a woman performing oral sex on a man beneath a dining table. He was fully dressed, as was she, and he was drinking port with other gentlemen.
“Now that I’ve done,” she said. “Not like that, of course. I can’t imagine the other men at the table aren’t aware there’s a woman underneath pleasuring their host. Nor can I imagine the host could manage to keep himself collected, particularly when it came to climax.
To do so would be a form of torture, would it not? ”
When Roman had thought to show her the compartment and its contents, he hadn’t considered they would have an in-depth discussion about any of the drawings. Consequently, he hadn’t envisioned that he would sport a raging erection when his former in-laws arrived.
“Which part have you done exactly?” he cleared his throat because he suddenly sounded as though he’d swallowed sand.
“The same thing the woman is doing.” Her gaze flicked to his groin. “Perhaps I’ll demonstrate my skill later.”
He groaned softly as he took the book from her and tucked it back onto the shelf, then closed the compartment. When he stood, he pulled her more firmly behind the palm and pressed her against the bookcase.
She looked up at him, her eyes smoldering. “Roman, you said you weren’t maneuvering me behind the palm to steal a kiss.”
“I hadn’t entirely planned to, but you’re the one who has me thinking of your mouth on my sex.” Roman was going to be in bad shape by that evening. Hell, he was struggling to keep himself from carrying her to his bedchamber right now. “Just one kiss?” he begged.
Her lips were parted, and he could see she was breathing faster. She might not be as aroused as he was, but she was on her way.
“One,” she said, her eyes narrowing with desire.
He clasped her face between his hands and claimed her mouth. How he wished she wasn’t wearing the wig so he could run his fingers through her hair.
He held her tightly as he ravished her mouth. She clutched at his coat and pressed against him.
She pushed at his chest, breaking through his rapturous delirium. “I hear them coming,” she said urgently as she took a step back.
He tipped his head down and worked to calm his galloping pulse as he wiped his hand over his mouth. He heard Ellis walk away but didn’t look at her. He didn’t dare.
But he needed to move out from behind the palm. Taking a long, deep breath, he walked quickly to stand behind a chair that would hide his erection.
Graham entered and announced the Laceys. They exchanged greetings and took their seats. Roman hesitated until their collective attention was not directed at him, then practically threw himself in the chair.
They began to discuss the manuscripts they’d received over the past fortnight. There was one that Margot was keen to discuss, so she launched into her analysis.
Finally, Roman’s body had cooled, but he still didn’t trust himself to look at Ellis.
“Mama, did you read that book?” Margot asked.
Roman glanced toward Harriet and saw that she was staring at Ellis.
Margot spoke again. “What about you, Papa?”
Josiah was also looking toward Ellis.
Roman turned his gaze to her to see what was drawing their attention. Oh no.
The beard on one side of her face, from the top of the sideburn down to her jaw, had fallen away. Did she not notice? She was busy writing notes.
At last, she raised her head, and her eyes met Roman’s. He lifted his hand and touched the side of his face, his eyes rounding slightly before he allowed a faint grimace.
Her brow furrowed as she lifted her hand. Her eyes widened. She went pale.
Roman heard Margot gasp.
“I see your beard isn’t real,” Josiah said, studying her intently. “Why is that?”
Roman wiped his hand across his brow as his heart pounded.
Ellis clutched her pencil and notebook. Her face was a mask of fear and anxiety. Roman worried she might flee.
Josiah nodded as if he’d answered his own question. “I see it now.” Roman held his breath, waiting for the man’s outrage. “You seem very young. You must wear the beard so that you’ll be taken more seriously, so people won’t think you’re too inexperienced.”
Roman exhaled as relief poured through him. But it was exceedingly short-lived.
“No, no, that’s not it.” Harriet shook her head and then leaned forward, her gaze narrowed on Ellis. “Young, yes, but that’s not the reason for the beard.” She paused, and Roman once again couldn’t breathe. “He’s a…woman.”
There was no mistaking the horror that captured Ellis’s features. And there was no denying that Harriet was correct.