Page 18 of His Scandalous Lessons
Caroline grinned. “Charity, let’s get started.”
The time it took to fit Anne into the dress went by in a blur. Another maid came in to adjust for her measurements as Charity coiled Anne’s hair into a becoming style topped with small white flowers. When they finished, the woman in the mirror made Anne draw in a breath. It was her, yes. No different. But the duchess was right when she said the emerald silk perfectly complemented her. It brought out the color of her hair, the slight blush to her cheeks. As for the shape, the dress showed off her collarbones, the slopes of her shoulders. The neckline wasn’t so extreme as the usual style, but it left just a tantalizing curve of her breasts visible.
Perfect, Anne thought.
Her father would hate her in this. He would say she intended to draw too much attention to herself, and wives were never meant to outshine their husbands. And Kendal? He would have disapproved. He had always taught her to disappear, to be unseen. But that was how she would escape: by being visible. By being herself.
Perfect, Anne thought again with a smile. That was why she loved it.
“There,” Caroline said approvingly, sliding her arm through Anne’s. “Now we’ll arrive to the ballroom together, so I may introduce you.”
“I’m so sorry, I’ve kept you away from your guests—”
“Shh.” Caroline leaned in, as if to impart a secret. “My dear, what’s the point in being a duchess if I can’t break the rules from time to time?”
Anne smiled at that. She had wanted to break the rules her entire life.
And now she was going to.
Chapter 10
Richard was bored. An hour into the ball, and there was still no sight of Anne. He had sent Caroline up to see what the problem was, and now the duchess had disappeared, too.
He was dancing with some viscount’s daughter — an heiress — which he knew only because the Earl of Montgomery had foisted her off on Richard in an attempt to be rid of her.That girl is the bane of my existence,Montgomery had said.What I need now is a drink and a quick shag, so if you know of an interested lady, send her my way, won’t you?
Montgomery might have been a friend of Richard’s, but he was a more of a scoundrel than Richard. He’d have to warn Anne to stay away from the bastard.
Anne.
He hadn’t been able to stop thinking of the way she tasted on his tongue. Her cries as she came. Last night he’d gone to bed so damn hard, it was painful. He’d palmed his cock, imagining what it would have been like to fuck Anne in that gazebo. To plunge inside her again and again and again. He’d barely lasted a minute.
“What do you think of Her Grace’s estate?”
The girl’s voice drew Richard out of his perverse fantasies. What had Montgomery said her name was? Miss Cecil? She was lovely; he ought to have been more interested. He wasn’t.
Still, he had a role to play. The role of the rogue was an exhausting one, but he had made his bed and—
No, that was a terrible saying. He’d just stopped thinking of beds.
“Quite lovely,” he said, lowering his eyes to hers. “Are you enjoying yourself?”
Miss Cecil’s eyes widened imperceptibly, and he cursed at himself. That charm was meant for seductresses, not virgins. Goddamn it all. “Quite so,” she murmured, clearing her throat. “I—”
A flash of green on the stairwell caught his attention.Bloody hell, what did Caro do to her?
Anne was a vision in that dress. It perfectly offset her red curls, which were deliberately and stylishly tousled. He knew its effect was intended to have men think immediately of a bedroom. Hands in her hair as he marked her with a kiss and drove into her with a rough sound. The way her breathing grew harsh when he spoke to her in new, honest words.Cunny, cunt, quim, pussy.
Richard bit back a groan.She is not for you.
If Richard’s quick assessment of the other gentlemen was accurate, they were all thinking the same thing he was. He did not like it.
When Anne's eyes flickered to his, she gave him a secret smile before Caroline began taking her around the ballroom.
“She seems quite lovely,” the girl in his arms said quietly.
Richard’s attention snapped back to Miss Cecil. She stared back at him knowingly. Too damn knowingly. Perhaps he had misjudged her after all. “I’m sure she is,” he said, testing her.
“I beg your pardon,” Miss Cecil murmured. “You looked as if you knew her well.”
