Page 10 of Papa's Desires
Perhaps his search was finally over. Her fingers felt warm in his, even through the gloves they both wore. A pink flush moved up her cheeks when he smiled at her. The dance began and his hopes soared with the notes of themusic.
They did not speak for the first few moments of the dance. No doubt she waited for Grayson to begin the conversation and he searched his mind for just the right conversational gambit to woo the lovely MissAdaline.
“Have you ever heard of a street gang called The Weasels?” heasked.
Miss Adaline gasped and withdrew her hand from his. He gaped at her, shocked by his own words. Had he lost his mind? What had ever provoked him to say such a thing? Not to mention his firm belief that Miss Heathrow had fabricated the entire tale of her life as a member of a streetgang.
“My lord,” Miss Adaline said when she managed to gather her wits about her, “I am sure I have never heard such a shocking and offensive question in my entire life. A street gang? What reason would you have to believe I am aware of criminalactivities?”
With each word her voice rose higher and the pitch of it became more shrill. She stopped dancing and another couple nearly collided with them. Her face flushed crimson and she bolted from the dance floor, causing no small amount of unwanted attention to be directed at them as he followedher.
Her mother—was there any young lady in attendance without a mother hovering nearby— stepped forward to meet her as Miss Adaline and Grayson approached. “Mama,” Miss Adaline said, “he asked me the most inappropriatequestion.”
Thereupon Mrs. Venture was joined by Mr. Venture, a formidable man who no doubt took a protective interest in his daughter’s welfare. “What is the meaning of this, Grayson? What have you done to upset mydaughter?”
Although the people standing near were too well-behaved to stare, Grayson was certain that if they could have swiveled their ears upon their heads in order to pick up more of the conversation, they surely wouldhave.
“Please, allow me to explain,” Grayson said, his mind reeling from his ownfoolishness.
“Be quick about it.” Mr. Venture, though not a young man, had the posture of one who would not hesitate to use his fists to defend his daughter’s honor. “Just because you were born with a title and my Adaline was not does not mean you may speak to her in an offensivemanner.”
“No sir, absolutely not.” Grayson’s throat had gone dry and when he opened his mouth to explain himself his mind went blank, except for the sweet smile and laughter of Miss Heathrow of TalcottHouse.
“I-I have no excuse for what I did and I offer my sincerest apologies to you and your wife and daughter,” Lord Grayson finally managed tosay.
Not waiting for a reply, he exited the building as quickly as possible. He had commitments to at least three more dance partners, but he simply could not stomach it, though the social slight was nearly inexcusable for a gentleman. Waving to his coachman, his conveyance was brought to the front of the building and Lord Grayson escaped into thenight.
Once inside the carriage, he retrieved his flask and downed the remainder of itscontents.
* * *
Cynny clutchedthe newly arrived letter from Cammie and gasped at its provocative contents, then covered her mouth and peered down in disbelief at her friend’s familiarhandwriting.
Surely Cammie must be playing a trick onher.
The description provided by her best friend that told of what happened between married people sounded too fantastical to believe. Even worse, Cynny didn’t understand much of it. What in the world was a cock, also, according to her dear friend, known as apenis?
And her kitty…it was also called a cunny or a quim? Honestly, Cynny was shocked to her very core. She thought about her time on the streets and wondered if Mary hadn’t shielded her from the crudeness of some of the gang members, would she know more about what happened between husbands andwives?
In the outbuilding behind the tavern, Mary and Cynny had been lucky enough to have their own little room in a corner. Most of the gang members were children, and the few older members would often spend time in the tavern or gallivanting about town during the nighttime hours, not returning to their beds until they were so inebriated they could hardlywalk.
She recalled overhearing some of the young men, in their drunken states, brag about kissing a certain woman and thentaking a turn in bushy park, whatever that meant, but as soon as such conversation began, Mary would cover Cynny’s ears. Though she could never quite confirm it, she had suspected the young men were speaking of something similar to what happened between husbands and wives, but it had always confused her. Whenever she’d asked Mary to explain, the older girl had shushedher.
She tucked Cammie’s letter into her pocket, next to the gold watch, and sank down on her bed. Miss Wickersham had confirmed that Lord Kensington was still coming to marry her. Her heart pounded. The wedding was imminent—tomorrow morning, in fact—and she still didn’t understand what happened between husbands and wives. To think that husbands had something big between their legs called a cock that got hard when they took their wives to bed…well, it simply sounded ridiculous. Especially the part about the hard cock going inside the wife’s kitty. Orcunny.
Oh dear. Perhaps Cynny should have been patient and waited for Lord Kensington to teach her all she needed to know. He would be her papa soon, after all, and it was a papa’s job to care for and guide his little girl in allthings.
Another thought struck her. What if Cammie’s new papa, Lord Cavendish, was some sort of scoundrel and was subjecting her to serious improprieties that weren’t the norm in polite society? Cynny sighed and put her face in her hands, trying to decide what she should do. She’d already asked Daisy and Rosie if they had any idea what happened between married people, and both of them had pleadedinnocence.
Cynny swallowed hard and looked over at her finished wedding gown spread out on a large trunk at the foot of her bed. It was a beautiful cream colored dress trimmed with lace, a bit girlish in style but still quite lovely. Her heart commenced pounding and the strange pulsing she’d been experiencing more and more lately between her thighs started up again. She pressed her legs together, reveling in the slight relief this gave her, and began squirming on thebed.
Mm. This feelsnice.
For a reason she couldn’t fathom, Lord Grayson’s face suddenly flashed in her mind, but she didn’t cease her gyrating motion upon the mattress. In fact, she moved faster and faster, as the delicious throbbing in her privatesdeepened.
She flushed and stared at the closed door, fearing someone—particularly Miss Wickersham—would walk in on her at any moment. She wanted to lift up her skirts and touch her kitty, but shehesitated.
No. Be a good girl. Be a good girl so you can still marry LordKensington.
