Page 6 of Tempting the Bluestocking
Helene Dunnaby had told Edward that her niece was beautiful, but Edward hadn’t placed much stock in that claim. Of course the woman thought her niece was beautiful; she was practically obligated to believe that. However, as he lay in Clare’s bed taking her in from head to toe, he realized that Helene had grossly understated the allure of the creature standing before him.
While not pretty by the conventions of theton, she possessed the sort of features that demanded closer inspection. Individually, her features might not have seemed so remarkable, but together they made a riveting picture. Hair dark as midnight fell in soft waves to her chin, cut in a style he saw on few women but that suited her perfectly. Matching brows arched over bright, expressive blue eyes, which at the moment conveyed both her shock and curiosity. A heavy fringe of sooty lashes made them seem unusually bright and electric, almost as if a painter had applied the most vivid of his blue pigments over her irises. Sloping cheekbones gave her face a sharp sort of structure, while a wide lush mouth promised an exuberant smile. The slightest of dimples accentuated her chin, like a punctuation mark completing the whole of her visage.
Her gown draped what appeared to be a willowy frame, complete with long legs he suddenly wanted wrapped around his waist.
While Benedict had informed him that he had no control over the comeliness of his first keeper, Edward had been prepared to do his duty. After all, this particular arrangement paid especially well and his desperation for funds was as acute as ever. But, looking upon Clare, he decided that he’d have gladly bedded the chit for free.
One hand pressed against her chest, and the more she stared at him the wider her lovely eyes got. Helene had hired him as a surprise for her niece, paying an exorbitant amount for him to act as the girl’s lover for a month. It would seem the element of surprise had been achieved, but Edward could not yet tell if Clare were pleased by it.
“Hello, Clare,” he murmured.
His voice seemed to shock her out of her stupor.
“Who are you, and what are you doing in my bed?”
The sharp, commanding voice that fell from her mouth took him by complete surprise—though not in a particularly negative way. She sounded like a governess scolding a naughty pupil. He couldn’t puzzle out why that made his cock twitch beneath the coverlet.
“I’m Edward,” he told her. “And I am in your bed because your aunt invited me to await you here … Happy Birthday, by the way.”
She raised her eyebrows, staring at him in clear disbelief. She fell silent, and he could see her trying to work things out in her mind, to arrive at the inevitable conclusion. He hadn’t thought Helene would send Clare in blind, but apparently the young woman had been left to draw the right inference before taking advantage of his unclothed body.
At last, she seemed to snap out of it, though instead of rushing to the bed to join him she burst out laughing. He could hardly dwell on how pleasantly boisterous the sound was—loud, clear, and downright heartwarming—when he was overwhelmed by a swift surge of embarrassment. The last thing a man wanted to hear while naked in a woman’s bed was laughter.
“Oh … oh, that is sofunny,” she guffawed, doubling over as her shoulders trembled with mirth. “Aunt Helene is such a trickster. She would truly have me believe thatyouare supposed to be my birthday gift, and … and I’m supposed to … oh, it’s too hilarious!”
Edward scowled as she went on laughing, though he couldn’t help but notice that he’d been right to assume she’d have a stunning smile. That mouth might have seemed too wide on another woman, overtaking her entire aspect, but on this woman it was perfection. Still, he’d rather not be on the receiving end of her amusement.
Throwing back the coverlet, he rose from the bed and approached, his jaw clenched. She gasped, her laughter fading to silence as she raked her gaze over his body. She took stock of his chest and abdomen, pausing for a long moment at the jut of his cock—which had begun to rise to attention the moment he’d laid eyes on her—down his legs, then back to his face. Her cheeks took on a becoming pink blush, and she made a sound low in her throat that might be interpreted as one of approval.
“Well, there is nothing funny aboutthat,” she murmured. “I thank you for going along with my aunt’s prank, Mr.…”
“Edward,” he reminded her, crossing his arms over his chest.
“Right, Edward. It has been lovely meeting you, and truly…you are quite a…fascinating specimen of a man. But whatever my real gift is, perhaps you might tell me where to find it. Or has my aunt instructed me to guess? Oh, maybe it is in the dressing room.”
He swiftly moved to impede her path, her long legs carrying her right against him.
“Oh!” she exclaimed when she stumbled, hands pressed to his bare chest as she fought to stay on her feet.
He took hold of her arms to steady her, then drew her even closer, until every inch of her was pressed against him. She stared at him with parted lips, her breath hitching with a noisy inhale. Desire knifed through him, sharp and hot, filling him with the need to taste her, undress her, lay her down on the bed and turn her laughter into moans of pleasure.
“I can assure you, this is no prank,” he rasped, leaning in until all he could see were the brilliant orbs of her eyes, which were rimmed with a darker blue along the edges. “I am yours for however long you wish it.”
Her reply was muffled against his mouth as he closed the distance between them to steal a kiss. Whatever she’d been about to say melted into a surprised gasp, which then rose to a startled moan of delight. Bracing his hands at her upper back, he held her tight enough to show her he meant business, but loose enough that she could escape him if she wished. She seemed to have no such desire, her lips going pliant and then returning his ardent pressure with her own searching kiss.
His cock grew hard as a brick in an instant, pressing insistently against her. She arched into him, opening her mouth for the demanding sweep of his tongue against the seam of her lips. He groaned at the taste of her, sweet from some confection she’d recently eaten, as well as a bit earthy as if she’d just sipped tea. Her scent invaded his senses, a mixture of lavender and rosemary. Her body, which seemed comprised of all straight lines from a distance, proved soft and womanly with slight curves up close, the small, high mounds of her breasts pressed tight against his chest, the flare of her hips filling his hands as he trailed them down to explore her further.
The kiss ended as suddenly as it began when she wrenched her mouth free of his with a gasp. Retreating from him as if he’d burned her, she stared at him with wide eyes. Her fingers came up to her lips, which were reddened and slightly swollen from his kiss. She was even more alluring with desire glazing her eyes and her breasts heaving with strained breath, that decadent mouth begging for more kisses.
He didn’t think he’d ever wanted to fuck a woman more than he did right at that moment.
“Dear God,” Clare mumbled, shaking her head as if to clear it. “She really did … I cannot believe …Aunt Helene!”
Edward started when her voice raised in pitch and volume, echoing off the walls of the chamber. Within seconds, Helene appeared with an amused smirk curving her lips.
“Goodness, I had expected to hear Edward’s name screamed to the rooftops of this house, not mine,” she quipped. Then, she noticed him standing there in the buff, and gave him a once-over much the way her niece had. “Oh my … very nice, Mr. Norton.”
Deciding he was in no mood to stand about naked while aunt and niece had it out, he snatched the coverlet from the bed and wrapped it around his waist.
