Chapter 12
CHAPTER 12
A natural pink flush of anxiety colored her cheeks. She bit her lips gently, nervously, which only enforced his instincts about her. He freely admitted to himself that his fantasies revolved around teaching her the intricacies of submission, disciplining her when she was naughty, and enjoying her passionate and submissive nature.
But he did not know how she would take it.
“When was the last time you were able to let go of that rigid cloak of control you hold so tightly around yourself,” Edward asked. “Is it not tiring to be the strong one all the time?”
She glanced down at the glass. “I think I need something stronger for this conversation.”
Swapping her water for an arrack punch, she sipped the drink, then murmured, “When my parents passed this life, I knew, without saying, that it was my obligation to make sure Penelope had an easier role in life. Mother and father had done their best, but now it was my turn.”
Edward couldn’t stop himself from grasping her chin with gloved fingers. “But what about you? What about your needs?”
She blinked, utterly innocently. “I suppose I desire a faithful man who loves me.”
Of course she would want such a thing.
“Aside from the fact that love does not exist, what do you imagine would free you from the burdens you carry?” he asked.
She stared at him with jaw slackened. “I beg your pardon, Your Grace? Love does exist,” she sputtered.
“In novels, yes,” he agreed easily, “And the minds of na?ve females who read them and think those righteous princes are real.”
This time, her eyes narrowed, and Edward hated how her vitriol stirred his loins. She sharpened her gaze up at him. “What about romance?”
“Romance or seduction?” Edward replied. “One is fanciful, and the other is matter of fact. I think you know which is which.”
Her chin notched up. “Why did I ever entertain the thought that a man like you knows anything about love?”
I am having more fun with this than I ought to.
“A man like me?” he asked. “There are no other men like me.”
“Well, you are a rake, are you not?” she accused.
“I am also a Duke,” he pointed out. “And I understand the human nature and how layered it is. There is not one pure emotion in the human heart—well, aside from hate . That is the only exception.”
“A theologian would argue if one exists, then the other must as well,” Alice countered. “If the Devil exists, so must God. If hate exists, so must love.”
Belatedly, Edward realized that they were alone in the refreshment nook, way beyond the point of propriety; the only safeguard was that they were close to the opening and still in full view.
“I don’t think this is the right place to have this conversation,” he murmured while his eyes latched onto the doorway.
“I don’t think we should be having this conversation at all,” Alice replied with a curtsey, before heading to the door—only to be forced to retract her steps.
The glass in Edward’s hand almost slipped when Hamlet Grimes stepped into the room, and Rutledge followed him. At the outset, no one would ever believe Grimes was not a part of the Upper Ten, the man looked the part with his blades of cheekbones and Roman nose. Above his noble forehead, his carefully combed golden-brown hair had a thick, enticing wave.
The only identifier that would give away the cruel king of the underworld was the silver scar on his temple and the hardness in his stony brown eyes. Rutledge was bloodless but still stood upright.
“What—” Alice’s gaze flickered from one to the other. “What is happening here?”
Tugging at his cufflink, Grimes spoke, every hint of his street-born accent non-existent. He spoke like any lord. “It has come to my attention that this bye-blow has rejected your more than generous proposal. Ordinarily, matters between you lot do not pique my interests, but I know there is an innocent lady in the middle, and that stirred me to act.”
With a hand pressed to her breast, Alice shot a look at him and back to the two. Edward knew he had to take control of this before it got out of hand. “This is not the place to talk business. Please, follow me to my study.”
Grimes’ gaze landed on Alice for a long assessing moment and his lips curved knowingly before he nodded, and they stepped away. Turning to her, Edward said, “Get your sister and ask Ramsay to take you to my study.”
She tightened her lips, “I’d rather her not see this.”
“Then come by yourself,” he spoke over his shoulder. “But do not dally too long.”
Closing the door behind him, Edward looked at Grimes. “I never imagined you would come to see me. I thought prolonged exposure to the Upper Ten made you break out in rashes.”
“At times, ‘spose,” Grimes grunted. His well-tailored ball suit was as well as any Edward would have had made for himself. “I may control cutthroats and blackguards by the dozens and a criminal underworld that stretches from here to the Indies, and while I have whorehouses, not once have I ever had innocent women be pressed into the service.
“I abhor men who take advantage of women who do not know any better, and when word got back to me that this bastard had done something I have gutted men for less, I knew I had to intervene,” Grimes muttered. “I may be the king of blackguards, but there are some crimes I will not abide by.”
A discreet knock on the door drew all their attention as Alice stepped into the room, her gaze firm and wary. “My lords.”
If he knew Ramsay, there would be a maid waiting for Alice when she did leave.
Grimes pivoted; his head inclined with respect. “Ah, and you must be the fearless Alice Winslow, Miss Penelope’s sister.”
“I am,” she replied. “And may I know who you are, Sir?”
“You may not,” he said easily. “All you need to know is that I am an acquaintance of these two and even more, I have managed to get Rutledge to do right by your sister. From this point, he will offer your sister marriage and they will stay married for over a year.”
“Or?”
“I’ll have his guts for garters.”
“ I see ,” she murmured, then rounded to face Rutledge, unfazed by Grimes’ jarring words. He sat still when she drew her hand back and cracked him right across the face. His head snapped to the left and Grimes laughed as the slap echoed in the room. “ That is for the heartache you have given my sister. She does not deserve you.”
Rounding his desk, Edward extended his hand to Grimes. “I underestimated you.”
“Most of your lot does,” Grimes huffed, his shake as firm as any businessman. “This particular situation upsets me for it is not too dissimilar from what my sister had to endure. I have no love for predators like these. Now, I must depart, but I hope you have things in hand.”
“I do,” Edward replied. “Thank you.”
“And Valhaven, do not go into Spitalfields with that fancy carriage of yours again,” Grimes remarked. “The mere gold leaf on your door is enough temptation for a pickpocket, much less an armed cutthroat.”
“Noted,” Edward nodded as the man walked out the door. He then turned to Rutledge, “And as for you, you will go downstairs, dance twice with Miss Penelope, share a drink, and then leave. If you do not show up at her door tomorrow afternoon for tea and your marriage proposal, I know who to send word to.”
With a muscle jumping in his jaw, Rutledge jerked his head and turned to the door.
The moment the door closed behind him, Alice’s shoulders fell. “That man is not… a good man, is he?”
“In many ways, no, but in the ways that count, I would say yes,” Edward replied as he leaned back on the edge of his desk. “But at least that is handled. I’d say our business is concluded.”
Her lips twisted and her brows lowered as if to say, I am not so sure, but instead, she said, “The business I paid you for by a single kiss.”
“The same,” he smirked wolfishly. “I would nary complain if you decided to thank me in the same manner.”
Laughing, Alice wrapped her arms around her middle. “When you asked me what it would take to let go of my control, I had never considered such a thing before. I suppose I don’t have an answer for it to be entirely truthful.”
“Come here.” Edward opened his stance. When she hesitated, he pinned her with a strict look. “I don’t bite, Alice.”
“No, you do worse,” she retorted, stubbornly staying in the same place. “You seduce .”
“Is that a bad thing when both parties want it?” he reasoned with her. “And I know you want my touch, Alice. You cannot hide the signs even as best you try.”
He was a stoic man and a patient one, and he would wait for her to come to him this time—for he knew she would. The air hummed with anticipation, damned near crackling with promise, before she took a step forward—and another, and a third that placed her right in the vee of his legs.
One hand snaked around her nape and the other held her hip immobile as she pressed firm against his chest, causing Edward to wish the layers of cloth between them were gone.
She whimpered softly as he claimed her lips, soft enough to tantalize but then with a faint growl, he deepened the kiss, his tongue sweeping amid her mouth.
Unsurprisingly, despite her previous protests, Alice did not try to struggle or escape him. She was too inherently submissive for that—which, of course, was what drew him so fiercely.
I know there is a passionate, spirited woman at her core, a woman who yearns to have a dominant male take control.
Grasping her derrière, it was an easy task to lift her, and in seconds, he had her back up against a wall. Instantly, he caged both of her wrists over her head with steel-like fingers and licked through her mouth.
“Let me show you what I mean about letting another take control,” Edward whispered as he wedged a knee between her legs.
Pinned as she was, Alice knew she should fight him off—but there was no desire to do so. If anything, with her crammed against wood and Edward’s harder body, she wanted to press herself closer .
The hot, wet kisses he planted on her neck made her knees feel strangely weak. Her breasts ached, her womanhood throbbed, and she could barely think, much less worry.
“Edward,” she gasped, her hands twisting in his hold. “What are you… doing…”
“Let go of your inhibitions, and just feel ,” he ordered her. “Stop overthinking, Alice.”
Each of Edward’s kisses was delicious, gripping, utterly addictive. The more he kissed and teased, sparks danced up and down her spine, igniting an unexpected flare between her legs.
“What—”
“Just feel, Alice,” he repeated. “If you keep overthinking, I will be displeased. Breathe deeply, in and out, three times. Do it now.”
Obeying, Alice did her best to blank her mind and stop the constant thoughts and worries swirling in her head; on her last breath, a calm descended over her she had never felt before.
“ Good girl ,” Edward’s voice was soothing, hypnotic.
His mouth laid over her, his kiss heady and possessive, laying claim with each bold thrust of his tongue. Her body was so firmly tucked against his, she could not fathom where she ended and he began. Even with unapologetic control, he had taken over her, and Alice felt protected, safe, and blistering under her skin.
“Edward, I—I need—” She felt the urge but did not have a word to name the desire spiraling inside her. “I—I…”
“I know what you need,” he whispered.
The hand on her hips moved to splay over her bottom, yanking her closer while he rucked up her dress and wedged his thigh between her legs, the intimate invasion lodging her breath.
He nudged deeper against her sex, hitting an exquisite peak, and her breath popped free, turning into a moan as it left her lips. Her cheeks flamed as she realized how damp she’d become.
Goodness, was that normal?
“Rock on me, Alice,” he commanded. “ Ride me .”
Delirious with need, she rocked against the hard trunk of Edward’s thigh, gasping at the heavenly friction that sizzled up her spine. The more she did, the more the delicious but fleeting pleasure rocked through her body.
“God, yes…” he rasped against her throbbing pulse. “Don’t stop.”
Alice knew she could not stop if she tried—now that the bite of pleasure had sunk under her skin, she wanted it to devour her.
As she rocked, harder and harder against him, she felt a hard and heavy length pressing into her upper thigh. His male member, she realized dizzily. Her motions were strumming pleasure from the both of them, as the more she chased her capitulation, she was stimulating him as well.
He grasped her hip and muttered a curse that was not fit for a woman’s ears—but it stoked the fire inside her even higher. His mouth slammed on hers again and she sucked on his tongue.
“Come for me Alice,” he rasped. “Come now!”
The cry that left her mouth as she hurtled over the edge was one Alice had never heard coming from herself before. Delectable spasms rippled through her, one after another, each one strong and unbearably sweet, and left her shivering with the new discovery.
When she regained her senses, she gazed up at Edward, and for once, his expression was unguarded. In his gleaming gaze, she saw something she had never thought to uncover—tender emotion.
But she could only feel crippling shame. This was not right. She should not be doing this with him.
“Let me go!” She strove to free her wrists from where they were shackled above her head as panic set in. Alice couldn’t believe she had let him draw her into this sinful act and was desperate to get out of it.
His gaze closed off as if a steel wall was slammed between his emotions and his pupils. Edward stepped back, “There is nothing holding you here.”
Frenetically, she put her clothes to right and dashed to the door, only for Edwards parting words to fall over her and haunt her for the rest of the night.
“When you decide to accept your emotions, you know where to find me.”