Page 13 of Five Nights with a Rakish Duke
“God’s wounds,” Asher muttered in frustration and leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees.
“What has gotten into you, Asher? So, one lady has escaped you. It is hardly the worst thing in the world, is it?”
“It is not that which troubles me.”
“What is it then?”
Asher didn’t know how to reply. He busied himself with scratching his chin and pretending interest in the floor of the carriage.
Those few stolen minutes with the mysterious lady outside in the garden had changed things for him. That kiss too… it had held heat, certainly, but there was a thrill to it that wasn’t usually attached to his kisses. He longed for such a kiss again, so he could understand what had been so different about it. It had to be lust, that was all, just a stronger kind of lust than he had felt before.
“I thought you would go home with Lady Hamilton last night,” Dorian said as the carriage passed over the cobbles. They were jolted from side to side, letting the lantern lights from nearby buildings shine in through the carriage windows.
“She may have offered,” Asher replied with mischief, lifting his eyes back to his friend, who leaned forward in surprise.
“And you turned your widowed friend down?”
“I wasn’t in the mood.” Asher could offer no more explanation than that. Something had felt intensely wrong about the prospect of continuing any further with Lady Hamilton. “There was another lady I would have preferred a night with.” That lust thrummed through him, telling him all he needed to know. He could all too easily picture the mystery lady beneath him in a bed, moaning his name with her hands screwed up in the bed sheets as he pleasured her. Oh, how he longed for such a moment…
“You hadn’t broken your five-night rule with Lady Hamilton though, had you?”
“No, I did not. There was something else that was bothering me.”
“What was it then?”
“I don’t know,” Asher said, sitting back sharply in his seat and looking out of the carriage window as they bounced along Covent Garden. At first, he had thought it had something to do with the promise that he had made to his father. Yet, clearly that wasn’t the case, for he had kissed the mystery lady without a second thought.
He could all too easily relive that kiss, as well as the spark and the flirtation that led up to it. She was incredibly different from other ladies he had met in the ton. She was not bothered about excessive manners or being too proper, and, rather refreshingly, she was not afraid to be bold in conversation either. It made the conversation infinitely more entertaining. Especially when she had called him out on being a rake! He’d had no wish to deny it, for what good could come from lying to the woman? The desire for her made his heartbeat stronger. All he needed was a few nights with her. That would be it to live out his desire and be normal again.
“I need to find that lady, Dorian,” Asher said, shifting uncomfortably in his seat in thought.
“Why?”
“You can guess why; it’s just… I need to see her again.”
“Well, you can forget about her for the rest of the evening now.” Dorian clapped his hands together, rubbing his palms with delight. “Mrs. Marlow’s club should certainly have plenty of ladies to distract you from thoughts of this woman.”
“Ah…” Asher looked back to Dorian with a guilty expression.
“Ah, what?” Dorian asked, his glee faltering. Asher had no wish to go to the brothel, not even the slightest inclination. Another lady was hardly going to help when he had spent most of the night thinking of the mystery lady, the way her calf had fitted into his palm and how her breath had hitched, making her chest flutter up and down.
No, there is only one lady I wish to share a bed with right now.
“I told the carriage driver to take us to the gaming hall instead,” Asher confessed. Dorian almost laughed, shaking his head.
“Whatever did you do that for?”
“You will still enjoy yourself. Instead of losing all your money to a lady, you can lose it to me at the gaming hall.”
“True,” Dorian said with a sigh and folded his arms. “Something must be up with you though. I have never known you to turn down Mrs. Marlow’s club before.”
“I am just not in the mood,” Asher said nonchalantly, hoping it explained his thoughts without him having to go into any more detail.
When the carriage came to a stop outside of the gaming hall in Covent Garden, they both jumped down with eagerness and strode up the small white steps, past the black railings that took them into the narrow townhouse building. Inside, they were greeted with a cacophony of sounds, of men arguing over card tables and other men drinking heavily, demanding that the servers bring them more drinks.
Half the room seemed sober with gentlemen intent on enjoying themselves with the games only. The other half seemed to have come for the glasses of brandy that were passed their way.
“Oh yes, much better than Mrs. Marlow’s club,” Dorian said, earning a tap around his arm from Asher.
