Page 71 of Wicked Designs
She was in love with a man who would never love her back. He was not the sort to love. Men like him never did.
Her plan to seduce him was ever more crucial. She had to do the impossible and win his heart. It was the only way they could both be happy.
Emily snuggled deeper into the covers, Godric’s scent wafting about her and comforting her as she dreamt of that oneness.
CHAPTER 13
Godric returned to the drawing room, where he found all four of his friends overly interested in their billiards game. They glanced at him, then all looked quickly away, and for a long minute no one said a word.
Charles tossed his cue carelessly on the table, ruining the game as it knocked balls out of place. “Bloody hell, if no one is going to ask, then I will. How was it?”
“How was what?” Godric pretended innocence.
“We all know that you and Emily…” For a man who never failed for words, Charles certainly came up short now. “Well, you know… Oh, for God’s sake, we have ears, man!”
Cedric hissed, “Good God, do you want to get us shot?”
Godric wasn’t the least bit upset. In fact, he found it rather amusing, the image of his friends scrambling likeschool boys in the hallway just for a glimpse through a keyhole… How could he not laugh?
“There will be no shooting of anyone, unless any man here dares to try seducing her now. Remember Rule Four. She has chosen me. Is that understood?”
Curt nods followed all around.
“You didn’t hurt her?” Ashton asked after a moment, his face a little red.
Cedric mirrored Ashton’s concern as he leaned back against the billiard table.
“She is fine now. I was not as gentle as I should have been… But I know how to distract a woman from pain and replace it with pleasure. She was brave, my Emily.” He’d only slept with two virgins in his long life of conquests. They’d both cried the whole time and he’d sworn off innocents since then. No man liked to spend the entire night cajoling a woman back into some semblance of acceptance.
But Emily had met him with surprising passion, one that rivaled his own.
Ashton fixed him with a look. “She loves you, Godric. A woman in love can endure more pain and suffering than the strongest man. Their hearts are unique things, sturdy and loyal, but susceptible to one great weakness.”
The sudden warmth in Godric’s chest surprised him. Emily loved him. He liked knowing that she loved him. He struggled to retain his composure. “And what weakness is that?”
Ashton frowned. “It is easily broken if she is notloved in return. You must find it in your heart to love her, Godric, or you will have done her a great injustice.”
Godric sighed and ran a hand through his hair. “You may be right, Ash. I’ve ruined her, at any rate and she deserves to be cared for. We certainly can’t return her to her uncle.”
Lucien’s face darkened. “That would be as good as handing her to Blankenship.”
“It is settled, then. At the end of the week I will return to London to tell Parr that Emily is no longer his. Her remaining here with me will be the settlement of his debt to me, and all contact will be severed between us.”
“And what about Emily?” Cedric asked.
“I’ll keep her here.”
“Is that wise?” Lucien asked.
“She’ll be bound by her honor. Besides, I doubt she’ll try to leave, not after what happened tonight.” Godric tried to stop himself, but his lips curved up regardless.
“That good, eh?” Charles chuckled.
Godric shook his head. “As if I’d tell you.” What she lacked in experience she made up for with confidence and enthusiasm, and if Ashton was right, love.
He wondered if that emotion, one so elusive in his own heart, had filled the moments with fire and tenderness. He’d lived a life of pleasure, and in that life, love had no part. His lovers enjoyed him as he in turn enjoyed them, but there was nothing more to it than that.
Emily… That had been something else entirely.
