Chapter 7 #2
She’d have a home of her own to manage as she pleased and a man she seemed to like kissing. Yet, it was hard to tell what she thought of him still. Especially when she didn’t seem to try to flirt with him. Something had to be done about that. “Have you written to apply for the position yet?”
“No, I only saw the advertisement tonight, but I planned to write to her this evening and send off a letter in the morning.”
“When will you tell your brother about your plans to avoid Cornwall?”
“I won’t tell him. Not straight away. He’ll only think I’m writing to an acquaintance when he sees the letter to be franked in the morning, and forget about it.
And when I have the position, I will leave for Cornwall and divert the carriage to my new place of employment instead.
I could tell him that I was invited to visit her estate for a while.
He should have no reason to suspect I won’t be coming back until it’s too late. ”
“No, he won’t,” Frederick agreed, heart sinking as he pictured future events unfolding. Minerva would slip away quietly, and no one would see her again.
Humphrey was so caught up in his own pursuits that he might not discover the truth until his sister was long gone.
Frederick was about to lose Minerva.
But then again, he’d never really had her. He’d not tried to claim this woman for the sake of a friendship with her brother. Though he could have claimed Minnie's innocence the first night of the house party. She’d expected it, and he’d disappointed her then.
He raked a hand through his hair, aghast at the realization of what was about to slip through his fingers. He was almost as slow as Humphrey when it came to matters of the heart, it seemed. He’d not acted, and it was almost too late!
Almost, but he still had tonight. He glanced at her now, and nodded. “Are you tired?”
“Not really. I still have my letter to write.”
Frederick wanted to spend every possible moment alone with Minnie, and her secret room was the perfect place to begin his true seduction of her lovely self. He had a goal, unshackled by any wager.
For the first time in his life, he had honorable intentions for a lady he wished to seduce.
He offered her the tea and when she refused to take a sip, he gulped it down quickly. “Would you like some help with the wording of your letter?”
“I think I can manage on my own.”
“Are you sure?”
“Of course, I am sure.”
“I think I should help. I cannot permit your brother to consign you to the boredom of Cornwall when there is a far more exciting alternative in store for you. Come on,” he insisted, grabbing her by the hand and tugging her up to her feet.
“Let’s go to your secret room before your brother finds us alone together here. ”
“I do have paper there,” she agreed, keeping pace with him easily.
“I was certain you would have. You’re a very resourceful woman,” he noted, checking that they were unobserved before ushering her into the hidden stairwell and patting her on the bottom as she passed him by.
“What’s gotten into you?” she gasped, stopping on the bottom step of the stair. “Can’t wait to be rid of me, too?”
“You will find out shortly what I can’t wait for,” he teased, shutting the door and then pulling her against him. He couldn’t see her face, but he could feel her softness against his body.
Minerva was delightfully distracting when she was close. He had her alone again, and soon he would put his heart on the line, tell her he’d not been able to stop thinking about her since before their kiss.
If she didn’t want him or his attentions, he’d make a gracious exit and wish her well in her employment. But if she responded in the way he hoped, well, who knows what pleasures might come by evening’s end?
He controlled his hunger ruthlessly and urged her up the stairs to her secret chamber ahead of him. The fire was lit already, the kitten sleeping in front of it where Frederick had left it after dinner, and it took only a moment to decide this was where it should happen.
The seduction of his future wife.
His proposal to the woman he’d somehow fallen in love with.
When he turned around, Minerva was digging through a drawer with her back to him. Her delightfully round rear thrust in his direction and wiggling back and forth.
He groaned softly. Utterly besotted.
Yes, this was the woman he really wanted to make love to. Not to win a wager, or just for one night.
But forever.
He moved toward her, turned her around and cupped her face between his hands, as he had done the first night. Her skin was warm beneath his palms, and he smiled down at her pretty face. “Might I steal a kiss?”
“You never asked last time.”
“Well, I’m asking now,” he said, studying her lips. She was pouting again, and he leaned down a little more.
Her pink tongue darted out to wet them, and finally she nodded.
He swooped down to kiss her again, and then wrapped his fingers around her waist. But he couldn’t help it when they strayed. He did enjoy her soft curves; they fit so well against his harder body.
She was gentle in her responses at first, and untutored, but she seemed to grasp immediately that he was seeking the same passion as the last time.
She rose up on her toes and attempted to wrap her arms about his neck, but he was too tall for that to happen.
So, Frederick lifted her up and held her tight against him.
“Minnie, be mine,” he whispered against her throat when he drew back for air.
“I know it is too soon, and you might still doubt my honor, but I want you far more than anyone I’ve ever met. ”
“Yes,” she readily agreed. “Tonight might be my last chance to kiss you.”
“There’s always tomorrow,” he asked, drawing back. “And the next day, and then the next.”
She scowled. “You’re making fun of me.”
“No. I’ve never been more serious in my life. I want you more than I ever imagined.”
She appeared rather incredulous. “When did you ever imagine me?”
“The night we kissed Before we kissed, even. When I saw you the next day, and even when I didn’t see you.” He smiled. “I might have acted upon my instincts too soon that first night, but there was that sister thing getting in my way, preventing me from understanding what I really want.”
“There is still the sister thing,” she reminded him.
“Every rule needs to be tested and broken,” he assured her, setting her gently on her feet again.
“You don’t have to pretend, just to get beneath my skirts. I know what you want from women.”
“I’ve already been beneath your skirts, remember? I want the rest of you now,” he promised, meaning every word. “I did not pursue a friendship with you for the thrill of it. I mean, I did, but—”
She put her finger over his lips when he fumbled to explain. “I understand what you’re trying to say, but surely you can’t mean it. My brother says—”
“Your brother is an ass and utterly wrong about your appeal! Whatever he said to you to make you doubt yourself is so wrong, it’s not even funny. You are the woman I want to know best of all.”
“I feel the same about you, and I usually don’t want to know my brother’s friends as intimately as I do you,” she confessed.
“Intimately?” he asked, with one brow raised and a ridiculous grin spreading over his face.
“Where else could a friendship with such a man lead?” she asked. “I’m willing, and you’re all a lady could want in her first lover.”
“First and last, my dear. What do you know about pleasure, anyway?”
She winked at him. “Even spinsters hear things from time to time, and my imagination is excellent. Besides, you kiss too well for me not to have speculated on what comes after the kiss.”
“Minnie mine, you only have to put your hands on me to find out.” He kissed the tip of her nose, and then her cheek, and then nibbled on her neck as her fingers played lightly over his body. “Spend tonight in my arms, and we will confront your brother together tomorrow.”
“Confront him? Why?”
“I wish to make him understand that you are the most desirable woman I’ve ever met, and that I am utterly desperate to marry you.”
“Marry me?” She shoved him away, pushing herself out of arms. “Oh, now you go too far, sir. No one would ever believe that!”