Page 51 of A Duchess Bound
Midnight had arrived. Gerard stood silently beside the coach, too aware of every sound. Lady Dorothy had not yet joined him, and he had no means to know if she would. She had agreed to submit to him and had enjoyed his attention on multiple occasions, but this request was unlike any he had made of her before. Perhaps, she would be too afraid to sneak away from the safety of her family’s townhouse.
Gerard drummed his fingers along the side of the coach. It might have been wiser for him to have met her at her residence, even if it meant he might be caught.
At long last, a figure appeared in the distance. Gerard’s heart was in his throat. It must be she, for there was no other reason for anyone to be about in Mayfair so late at night. He walked to meet her, admiring how luminous she appeared in the moonlight. His palm twitched in anticipation of what was to come. He had a length of rope in the pocket of his coat, and already, he was relishing the moment when he drew it out for Lady Dorothy’s inspection.
“Good morning, my lady,” he said.
“Your Grace.”
Gerard offered his hand. “Shall we?”
She placed her hand in his. Gerard escorted her to the coach and helped her inside. After a nod to the driver, he settled onto the cushion across from her.
The carriage began to move. “Where are you taking me?”
“To my favorite place,” he said. “Do not worry, my lady. It is not far outside of London, and I shall have you returned before anyone notices your absence.”
“Do you often bring your lovers to this place?”
He did. Gerard took her hand and pressed her knuckles to his lips, considering his answer. If a young lady had asked that, he would have lied. Young women wanted to feel as though they were the center of a man’s world, as if they were special and unlike any other woman who had ever lived. Lady Dorothy was not a young woman, though.
“I would like to tell you that I have brought no other woman to this place, but I cannot honestly say that,” he said. “It is a special place to me, though.”
“How many have there been?” Lady Dorothy asked, furrowing her brow.
“Women?”
“Yes.”
“I have never cared to count,” he admitted. “Not so many as you imagine, I should think.”
“Are there any that I know?”
Gerard chuckled and pressed his forehead against hers. “Do you truly wish to speak of my former lovers?” he asked. “It is you who has enraptured my attention.”
“For a time.”
He tilted his head back. Lady Dorothy watched him carefully. “I think we need to discuss the terms of our arrangement,” she said. “How long do we imagine that our dalliance will continue?”
His lips twitched in amusement, and he leaned back against the seat. “I imagined that we would let the affair unfold as it will,” Gerard said. “It is not as if we have some pressing date by which we must conclude it.”
“I suppose not,” Lady Dorothy said, biting her lip. “You must forgive me, Your Grace. I am terribly unfamiliar with how this…business is usually concluded.”
“I know, my sweet.”
Lady Dorothy clasped her hands in her lap. Even in the darkness, he could see the tension in her shoulders and spine. When he had leaned his forehead against her own, he had felt the warmth of her body. She seemed to be tightly wound with barely contained passion. That was his doing. Poor Lady Dorothy had no idea how long he intended to make her wait before satisfying her desires.
“Did you spend the evening anticipating our meeting?” Gerard asked, smiling.
“I did.”
“Did you think of touching yourself while thinking of our meeting?”
Lady Dorothy inhaled sharply. Her mouth dropped open, and she put a hand to her chest. Gerard grinned lazily. “I see that you did,” he said. “And did you commit to the deed?”
“No.”
“Good,” he said. “Although I enjoy that I make you touch yourself, I think I wish to be the only source of your pleasure.”
