But
Tag hasn’t a fashion-minded thought in her head. And as I adore clothing, how
could I possibly have a maid who does not know a crinoline from a petticoat?”
Who was this carefree lady chattering away beside him? There
was a bounce in her step, a warm flush on her cheeks that spoke of happiness
near to bursting at the seams.
“Since then Tag has tried her hand as a footman, a cook, a
groom, a gardener, back to a footman for round two, and now as a baker,” she
continued. “Perhaps this trade will stick. She does make lovely brown bread,
light and fluffy just as Lady’s Joy’s cook used to make. I found the recipe in
her things when I cleared out her chamber and passed it on to Alogne.”
“Alogne was your grandmother’s maid?” he guessed.
“She’s terribly French and frightfully uppity. I could not
keep her on as my maid, could I?”
“No, I don’t suppose you could,” he agreed with a laugh that
loosened the tightness in his chest that had plagued him since the morning he’d
awoken to find her gone from his bed. His cock twitched in anticipation of
having her there once more.
“I’ve yet to find a lady’s maid so Tag is forced to assist
me when needs be.”
“As you are wondrously flexible and possessed of nimble
fingers, I would imagine you have little need of her services,” Henry replied
with a grin.
“Just so,” she agreed with a soft laugh.
And just like that the air around them seemed to grow heavy
as awareness sparked between them. Henry’s breath stalled in his chest, heat
racing up his spine and along his limbs. His shaft hardened and lengthened,
rising up in welcome.
“Will you journey to Idyllwild with me?” There was no need
to pitch his voice low the way all ladies adored. The words came out gravelly
of their own volition.
Georgiana’s lips twitched as she studied him, much as she’d
done weeks ago in the green in the center of Somerville. “I do have something
of a confession to make. One that might best be shared in private.”
Henry only waited, not the least bit interested in whatever
sin she’d committed, so long as it did not preclude her from taking his cock
into her tight little cunny.
“We must wait for Eleanor and Margery to return with Silly
and Laurel,” she said. “And you must fawn over them until those snotty cats are
positively green with envy.”
Chapter Nine
In the end the Misses Brooks returned without the snotty
cats and Henry was able to take leave of the ladies with a promise to attend
the assembly to be held in a few days time.
As had happened in Somerville, Georgiana insisted upon
following him in her carriage, entirely ignoring his not so subtle hint that he
might tie his horse to the back of her ancient box on wheels and join her
within.
Taking up a post beside the creaking conveyance, Henry rode
along while Georgiana leaned out the window and entertained him with stories of
her time in Deerfield.
She’d yet to explain what had brought her north and why
she’d lingered so close to the small estate that had been home to his father’s
mistress and their daughter for nearly two decades.
Henry wasn’t fool enough to believe it was mere coincidence
but each time he inquired as to her reasons she turned the topic, taking off on
one convoluted tale after another until he’d developed a stitch in his side
from laughing at her antics and his cock throbbed from listening to her
sinfully low voice.
Georgiana might have been another woman entirely. Gone was
the slightly petulant lady with the razor-sharp tongue who’d dragged him around
Hastings Hall for hours before taking him to untold heights on her knees before
him. Gone too was the taunting tease who’d stripped bare in front of him while
forcing him to admit he was woefully unable to refuse the ladies who
propositioned him on a regular basis.
He hoped the wanton woman who'd dipped her finger into her
sweet quim had not disappeared as well.
As her carriage turned onto
James Kakalios
Tara Fox Hall
K. Sterling
Jonathan Maberry
Mary Balogh
Elizabeth Moynihan
Jane Hunt
Rebecca Hamilton, Conner Kressley
Jacquie Rogers
Shiloh Walker