Not Quite a Lady Erica Anderson
Independent and unconventional, Indira disregards the rules of Regency society at every turn. She’s sensual, wanton and completely alone in the world. But when she seduces Sebastian Dare, she gets more than just a night of passion. Dare has never known anyone like Indira—a woman who understands his deepest desires. A woman who knows how to satisfy them. One night of sensual abandon arouses Dare’s predatory instincts, and he’s a man used to getting what he wants. But the brazen temptress of his dreams vanishes without a trace. When circumstances force Indira to seek help from Dare, sparks fly. For Indira Stuart is no lady, and beneath his polished facade, Sebastian Dare is no gentleman. In stately London ballrooms, Indira and Dare fight their growing passion, and when a man from Indira’s past reappears, a firestorm of power and possession ignites. Indira knows that Dare desires her, but is passion enough to make her surrender her heart?
An Ellora’s Cave Romantica Publication
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Not Quite a Lady ISBN 9781419928185 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED Not Quite a Lady Copyright © 2010 Erica Anderson Edited by Grace Bradley Cover art by Syneca Electronic book publication April 2010 The terms Romantica® and Quickies® are registered trademarks of Ellora’s Cave Publishing. With the exception of quotes used in reviews, this book may not be reproduced or used in whole or in part by any means existing without written permission from the publisher, Ellora’s Cave Publishing, Inc.® 1056 Home Avenue, Akron OH 44310-3502. Warning: The unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal. No part of this book may be scanned, uploaded or distributed via the Internet or any other means, electronic or print, without the publisher’s permission. Criminal copyright infringement, including infringement without monetary gain, is investigated by the FBI and is punishable by up to 5 years in federal prison and a fine of $250,000. (http://www.fbi.gov/ipr/). Please purchase only authorized electronic or print editions and do not participate in or encourage the electronic piracy of copyrighted material. Your support of the author’s rights is appreciated. This book is a work of fiction and any resemblance to persons, living or dead, or places, events or locales is purely coincidental. The characters are productions of the author’s imagination and used fictitiously.
NOT QUITE A LADY
Erica Anderson
Acknowledgments I'd like to thank my sister for offering to read the sex scenes “for accuracy˝. Thank you to Syneca for creating a lovely cover and to Grace for expert editing.
Erica Anderson
Chapter One Sebastian Dare tossed a few coins to the stable lad and shouldered through the door of the Leaping Hare as though he owned it. This evening the taproom was crowded and Dare swore under his breath. He had no desire for conversation. Only a good meal and a good bed. In that order. He slapped his crop against his boots in annoyance, his well-formed lips expressing the precise level of his dissatisfaction. “Your lordship, I do apologize!” said MacGillivray, the innkeeper, who approached with a distracted look on his face. He straightened when he met the man’s dark and steady gaze. “I’ve only the one private parlor available. There was a wedding in town and, as you can see, the celebratin’ is still going on.” Dare tightened his grip on the crop, just as a mug of ale went flying off a nearby table. He stepped aside in time to miss the worst of it. The diners seemed not to have noticed, for they were roaring at some joke, oblivious to the rivers of ale that dripped to the floor. Dare scowled at the mess. “Jenny,” MacGillivray shouted. “Come and clean up this mess!” A flustered-looking barmaid glared at MacGillivray as she hurried by, but the innkeeper had already turned away and missed the admiring glance she threw the tall gentlemen behind him. Dare ignored her flirtatious smile. All he wanted from her was his meal. He wasn’t in the mood to strain the limits of his manners should she invite herself into his bed. “This way, sir,” MacGillivray said, gesturing for Dare to precede him down the hall. Just then, there was a loud crash, followed by laughter and a shriek, presumably from Jenny. The innkeeper flashed a glance toward the taproom, clearly trying to decide
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between his aristocratic guest and the likelihood of property destruction. “Beg yer pardon, but …” Dare waved him away with one gloved hand. “I know my way,” he said. “Only send in my meal without delay.” “Yes, sir. Of course,” said the innkeeper, already halfway down the hall. Dare allowed himself a huff of irritation as he stepped into the parlor, bending to avoid smacking his head on the frame. His dark eyes scanned the candlelit room, and he realized, too late, that the room was already occupied. A young woman sat at the table, a book in one shapely hand. “I do beg your pardon,” he said in his deep voice. The woman glanced up. With a brazen gaze, she inspected the cut of his coat. “I don’t imagine you can procure a decent cup of tea, can you?” She spoke English with an odd accent. Dare stared at her, nonplussed. “Do I appear to be a kitchen maid?” he asked in glacial tones. “No, then,” she said, “I thought not. Do sit down.” “I beg your pardon,” he repeated, giving her a look that several generations of his forebears had worked to perfect. It reduced most men to stammering imbeciles. It would certainly serve to discourage such appalling familiarity. The woman sighed, completely oblivious to the setdown he’d given her and pushed a strand of hair from her face. Despite her atrocious manners, she had quite magnificent hair. It was a warm brown shot with auburn and she had tied it back with—good God—was that a piece of string? His surprise must have shown on his face, for she gave a soft laugh. She gestured to the chair across from her. “You’re still welcome to share the parlor. I believe all the other rooms are taken.”
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Dare narrowed his eyes. As she made her offer, she pushed out the chair with her foot, quite bare of any shoe. It was a rather nice foot, with a high arch and delicate ankle. With an effort, he drew his gaze back to her face. “I’m quite harmless, I assure you,” she said. “Your assurances are completely unnecessary, madam.” Dare made a slow perusal of the room before continuing. “I see no traveling companions. If, in fact, you have any.” His tone left no doubt of his opinion on that issue. “Under the circumstances it would be improper to share the parlor. Despite your kind offer.” The final phrase was loaded with condescension. Really, had the woman been raised by wolves? She appeared to be immune to his tone, only widening her eyes slightly as though she’d heard something that surprised her. Her eyes were brown, and he was reminded of the color of the moor when the autumn sun hung low in the sky. She was not pretty. Not exactly. Dare had experience with beauty in all its feminine forms, and this woman defied classification. Her nose was a bit too large, her chin too well defined. There was nothing soft and pliable here. Except… She was still staring at him, as though she were stripping away the layers of politesse he cultivated in order to reveal whatever lay beneath his scowling features. “As you wish,” she said simply and turned back to her book. Dare ground his teeth. He did not care to return to the taproom where drunken wedding guests rubbed arms with unwashed plowmen. Perhaps this woman, whoever she was, at least had enough sense not to chatter. “I must beg your pardon,” he said gruffly. She pressed a finger to the page to mark her position and looked up. “Oh?” “I have been unconscionably rude.” He gave her the merest hint of a bow. “I own that my own manners are quite shocking,” she said. “You are still welcome. If you wish.” Her voice curled around the words, lending them an undertone that he usually associated with sexual satisfaction.
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He raised his eyebrows and let his eyes wander, quite deliberately, over her body. “Surely you have a reputation to preserve. A maid or companion, perhaps.” Or not. She was wearing a red dress, for God’s sake. It complemented her coloring, but still—red? “Ah, yes. My maid.” She gave a little flick of her wrist. “She became ill and I was forced to leave her behind.” Though her eyes were guileless, Dare knew, without a doubt, that she was dissembling. Rather than put him off, the realization only whetted his curiosity. “I see,” he said. He turned and made a show of removing his gloves, pulling the skintight leather from each finger. He tried again to place her. Perhaps she was a member of the demimonde. It was a sorority with which Dare was familiar, but she had none of the blowsy excess he associated with such women. This train of thought reminded him of how long it had been since he had enjoyed a woman. It was regrettable that the dashing Mrs. Finley had become demanding of late. Dare tossed his hat and gloves onto the sideboard and returned his attention to the mannerless creature across the room. She spoke the English of the upper classes, but with an odd, lilting rhythm. Perhaps she was an expatriate from the continent. The accent, however, represented no language with which he was familiar. Vexed, he strode across the room to the hearth where he stoked the fire, though the room was pleasantly warm. Her shoes lay, discarded, beneath the table. He straightened and realized that her eyes had followed him. He merely lifted his brows, the expression acknowledging her overt scrutiny and communicating his distaste for it. “May I offer you a glass of wine?” she asked. “I have tried to drink the tea, but it is too awful.” Without waiting for his reply, she reached for a glass. Her hands were slender, but her skin had been darkened by the sun, as though she spent most of her time outdoors. Definitely not a whore, then. Not a lady, either.
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“I am Dare,” he said, settling his large frame into the chair across from her. She lifted the decanter and Dare admired the swell of her breasts. They seemed to move remarkably freely beneath her gown, as though she wore no chemise, no corset. She poured out a glass for him and pushed it across the table. Her lips curved in a smile and as she leaned toward him, Dare caught her scent, warm and spicy. “You are not English.” “No, not exactly,” she said, running the tip of her finger around the rim of her glass. “But you were, perhaps, born in England?” She sat back, then gave a little hop in her chair as though she’d caught something under one of the legs. “I was born in England,” she said. “But I have lived most of my life in India.” That explained the odd accent which he wanted, for some reason, to hear again. She turned toward the fire, a tendril of hair trailing over her shoulder. The strands shone in shades of gold and auburn and cinnamon, bright against the tanned skin of her throat. She remained silent. Dare had rarely encountered a woman so disinclined to conversation. “East India Company?” he asked at last. She shook her head. Perhaps the daughter of a military man? Or a wife accustomed to following the drum. The thought made Dare unaccountably surly. But no, he decided. She did not have that not-so-subtle martial bearing that military wives tended to adopt. “Not the British Army, I think.” “No,” she said. “How perceptive of you.” She raised her eyes to his face, her fingers toying with the stem of her glass. A log popped in the fire and she turned toward the sound. Definitely no corset. Christ. He closed his eyes. He usually had better taste. 10
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“Not associated with the British government at all, I would wager.” “Correct. Again. I daresay by the end of the evening I shall have kept nothing from you.” Good God. She couldn’t have made a more blatant offer had she begun undressing. His cock swelled at the prospect. An image of her spread out for him atop white cotton sheets made him catch his breath. She was watching him again, her look speculative. “Tell me then,” he said, his voice roughening. She said nothing for a moment. Then, “If you wish.” Dare’s balls tightened with her words, at the pure, unadulterated sexual promise in her voice. He allowed himself the luxury of a leisurely perusal of her body. She held his eyes, as though accustomed to the lustful gazes of men. “My father was a naturalist. He traveled, quite extensively, collecting specimens—birds, plants, insects. Whatever interested him. I accompanied him.” “Was?” “Yes. He’s gone now. Nearly a year. Cholera, they said.” “My condolences. The subject must be a painful one.” “People die,” she said with a shrug and shifted her chair back. Then she scowled and kicked at something beneath the table. Dare heard what sounded like fabric tearing. “One becomes used to it.” Dare digested this piece of information with another swallow of wine. Jenny arrived then with his meal. She set down a platter of food with a thunk that resounded in the quiet parlor. “Will there be anything else, sir?” “No,” he said. “That’s all.” “Very good, sir. Mr. MacGillivray said your usual room is ready for you. Whenever you like.” Giving a perfunctory curtsey, Jenny left, closing the door quietly behind her.
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Dare gestured at the food—thick slabs of roast beef, fresh bread with a crock of butter. Cheese. Dried fruit. “Please,” he said. “There’s quite enough.” She looked at him for a moment. “Surely there is some rule against eating meals with men one meets along the highway.” The words hinted at danger, one that was known and acknowledged. “You have a problem with rules?” he inquired, serving himself a slice of beef. She pursed her lips, which were moist with the wine. “Not in principle,” she said. “Only there are so many.” He laughed then, for the first time. “Surely India has rules.” She gave him a rueful look. “Apparently not the right ones. I believe I scandalized half the ship by the time we landed in England.” Dare had no trouble imagining that. “And entranced the other half?” She cocked an eyebrow at him. “Not unless you include the sailors.” He almost choked at that and had to raise his napkin to his mouth. He hoped she was exaggerating, but rather thought not. “At least they didn’t mind that I went about without any shoes on.” “No,” said Dare, dryly. “I imagine they didn’t.” He cut her a piece of cheese. “Here,” he said and piled it atop a slice of bread. She scooted forward on the chair, but something caught her under the table. She swore then, in a hiss of syllables that he couldn’t decipher. The general meaning was nevertheless clear. She began pulling at something, which Dare deduced to be the hem of her gown. She looked up and frowned, as though remembering his presence. “I know. I am barely civilized. You must be quite shocked. I simply don’t understand these things.” “These things?”
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“Yes,” she said. “Dresses. Women’s dresses. They are the most annoying, most absurd things!” Her head had disappeared beneath the table and her voice became muffled. Dare watched, caught between astonishment and amusement, his glass halfway to his lips. A harsh tearing sound met his ears. She sat up again, apparently quite pleased with herself, brandishing a length of dirty scarlet lace that Dare presumed she had just torn from the bottom of her gown. With a wicked smile at him, she leaned over and tossed the offending object into the fire, giving Dare a fine view of her breasts and, despite the warmth of the room, nipples that appeared as hard as cherry stones. “Much better,” she said. “I am quite shocked,” he said and arched a brow at her. She laughed. “Are you? I would imagine women frequently tear off their clothing in your presence.” Good God, she really was a little heathen. “That sort of talk isn’t generally considered proper at table,” he said. “Oh? Which part was objectionable? Surely not the mention of clothing?” “No,” said Dare, hiding his amusement behind his napkin. “The part about tearing it off.” “Ah,” she said, considering. “I have noticed a marked reluctance to discuss anything related to acts of pleasure.” Acts of pleasure? Dare made an effort to get a grip on himself. “I cannot imagine that good British society in India is so very different. At least, not with regard to appropriate topics for dinner conversation.” “I wouldn’t know,” she replied, breaking off a corner of a piece of bread. “I am not acquainted with good British society.” She stressed the word good in such a way that made it very clear she mocked him. “I spent most of my time out-of-doors. Do you know, India has hundreds of birds.”
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Dare ignored this. “You must have had a proper education,” he persisted, “despite your man—” He paused. Thirty-two years of training made him reconsider his words. She wasn’t quite a lady, but he still ought not insult her manners. She waited, not at all discomposed. “My…what?” “Despite your accent,” he said, “you have the diction and, ah, carriage of an educated lady.” She laughed, a warm, comfortable sound quite unlike the affected mirth he encountered at Almack’s. “My father sent me to a series of schools. But it was already too late by that time. I had already gone feral.” “Feral?” “When a dog or cat goes half wild. India has feral pigs.” Dare spared a moment of sympathy for her schoolmistresses. He could well believe she had been an untamed creature as a child. Here in the mundane setting of a public house, her vibrancy and exoticism were thrown into high relief. “I don’t expect to stay in England long,” she continued. “I don’t understand it here. And the clothing is terribly constricting.” Dare remained silent, imagining all the ways he might loosen her clothing. In any other woman, he would have understood the words to be an invitation. He needed to be sure. “You should be careful what you say,” he said, his voice flat and severe. She looked up in surprise, then her face relaxed. “Clothing again? I shall never learn.” He felt a surprising need to make her understand. To ensure that she knew the dangers of such banter. “Many men would understand you differently. They would think you were making them an offer.”
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Her breathing had quickened. She had laid her hand on the table and her thumb stroked back and forth across the tablecloth, unintentionally sensual. “I am not so obtuse as that.” He lifted his brows in mock surprise. “Oh? Then you were making an offer?” He intended to frighten her, to let her know that she had drifted into dangerous waters. She looked up and there was nothing innocent about the look she gave him. “Would you accept if I did?” He drew in a breath and studied her face for a moment, wondering at the direction the conversation was taking. “Have a care,” he said, quietly. “I do not wish to be trifled with.” She moistened her lips and took a sip of her wine. A drop of liquid balanced, like a plump red currant, on the rim of her glass. She caught it on the tip of her finger. Dare’s eyes followed as she lifted her hand to her mouth. She flicked out her tongue and licked the wine from her skin. Dare’s nostrils flared. The room had suddenly become too warm. “Madam,” he said tightly, “unless your evening plans include bending over the table while I fuck you, I advise you to desist.” The words should have given her pause. They would have caused most women of his acquaintance to become hysterical. She only looked at him and moistened her lips with her tongue. “As it happens, I have no plans for the evening,” she said. Dare’s mouth went dry. He was painfully aware of how hard his cock was. And what he wanted to do with it. Pushing her onto her knees and shoving it into her mouth appealed. He thought about how she would look with those lush lips sliding down his length. About what she might do with her tongue.
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She remained silent, sipping her wine, while he consumed the better part of the beef, the cheese and the loaf of bread. He pushed back from the table and took up his wine, watching her with hooded eyes. Her breasts beckoned to him, swelling above the bodice of her gown. He wanted to lick them. The candle on the table began to gutter. With a sigh, she put down her glass. “I am to bed,” she said, pushing back her chair and standing up. Her gown, now several inches shorter, gave him an excellent view of her feet as she pushed them into her slippers. She came around the table and picked up her book. She rested a sun-darkened hand on the back of the chair, drawing her fingers back and forth along the wood grain in an unconsciously erotic gesture. “My room is at the end of the hall,” she said simply. Then she turned toward the door, her hip brushing his shoulder. He caught her off guard, wrapped an arm around her waist, and pulled her into his lap. She gave a gasp of surprise and clutched his coat, her body covering his like a layer of warm honey. She shifted against him, until his cock was pressed against her bottom. “If you keep moving like that, there won’t be anything to look forward to,” he said, brushing his face against her hair. She gave a soft laugh and then opened her mouth for his kiss. She yielded sweetly to his tongue, tasting of wine. Her response told him that she wanted this, had wanted it since he had first appeared at the door. His breathing quickened as she untied his cravat and unbuttoned his shirt, pushing it aside to press a hand to his chest, curling her fingers in the dark hair she found there. Her hands were hot and his skin heated wherever they roamed. He felt her tongue, warm and wet, and tightened his hold on her. He ran one hand down her leg and caught the hem of her dress, pushing his hand under the fabric, running his thumb over her skin. She made an approving sound in her throat and he moved to the softer skin of her thigh.
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Her gown barely contained her ripe breasts and he wanted to taste them—the skin burnished by the firelight, the nipples aroused by his touch. He bent his head to draw his tongue across one lush curve. She shivered in response, and her magnificent breasts trembled beneath his lips. She rose up and took his face between her hands, while he stroked her beneath her gown. He heard the hitch in her breathing as he lowered his head to kiss her. There was nothing tentative or resistant in her kiss. And her body betrayed none of the maidenly affectations he associated with women of his own class. Even so, he half expected her to push him away, to realize that he could ravish her in this not-so-private private parlor. She tipped up her face and he brushed his lips over hers, before running his tongue along the seam of her mouth. She was completely oblivious to the fact that the door was unlocked and there was no way to disguise the fact that his hand was under her skirts should they be interrupted. It struck him, then, that perhaps she didn’t care. Her tongue darted out to wet her lips and he touched it with his own. Her grip tightened as he pursued his advantage, pushing between her lips until she moaned her surrender. He brushed his fingers against her inner thigh and smiled against her mouth. “No drawers. I should have guessed.” “Too constricting,” she whispered. She was filling his senses—the softness of her skin beneath his fingers, the sight of her breasts, rising and falling beneath the light fabric of her gown. The sound of her breath, coming now in little gasps. And her scent—she wore no scent but her own, which awoke something primal in him. She smelled of arousal. Of the hot silken flesh, wet and juicy, between her thighs. He had thought that he might frighten her with his hunger. That she would have second thoughts and retreat to her room to lock the door against him. He was a gentleman, but his needs were anything but refined. She pressed herself against his thigh and he groaned with the promise of it. She nipped at him and the blood rose in his veins. 17
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He pushed her hair over her shoulder and pressed his lips to her collarbone. “If you don’t want this, you need to go now.” “I know what I want,” she whispered, angling her head to give him access to her throat. Her words stirred him and he felt the need to show her, again, what she was agreeing to. There would be no mistake. He was primed and in no mood for maidenly protests should she change her mind. He slipped his hand between them, his fingers flexing as he reached her bodice. He took her breast in his hand and squeezed, rough enough to hurt. She made a sound in her throat that was all eagerness and desire. He slipped his fingers over her bodice and pulled it down, releasing her breasts. The red silk of her gown framed them like works of art, ripe fruit arrayed for a still life. Except no artist could capture the lush heat of her curves or the dizzying scent of her arousal. She wrapped her arms around his neck to hold herself upright and when he bent his head to her breasts, she arched toward him. Her nipples had flushed with color, darkening to the same rosy shade as her lips. He wondered, with a surge of lust, at the color of the slick flesh between her legs—shell pink and tender, or ruddy and swollen. He took her nipple between his teeth and bit her. She cried out and tightened her hold. He pushed a knee between her legs and she shifted to accommodate him. With one hand, he reached for the hem of her dress and hauled it to her waist. Unhampered by her clothing, she moved closer and Dare felt her hot center against his thigh. “I’m going to fuck you,” he whispered, as he slid an arm beneath her and lifted her against him. “Is that what you want?” With an effort, he tilted back his head. She was balanced against him, only one foot on the ground. She had lost her slipper again, for he could feel her foot rubbing against his calf. Her eyes were dark in the meager light of the candle, her lips parted. Dare wanted, with a need that stunned him, to feel those lips encircling his cock. “Is this what you want?” he repeated. “Say it.”
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She nodded, and he gave her a little shake. “Yes. Yes, it’s what I want. Are you satisfied?” “Not in the least,” he ground out. “Go to my room. I’ll follow in a moment.” He allowed her to slide down his leg, and she took a little hop to regain her balance. She steadied herself against his chest. He took her hand, small in his own, and bent to retrieve her slipper. “Here.” She looked at it for a moment, as though she didn’t recognize it. Then she gave a little laugh, put a hand on his shoulder, and lifted her foot. Her gown was scandalously short already and her maneuvering revealed a length of calf that made his mouth go dry. She straightened and pulled at her bodice. Aware of his regard, she filled her hand first with one breast, then the other, and slid them back inside the confines of her gown. He itched to press his lips to the smooth skin, to suck her nipple into his mouth, to close his teeth around the swollen tip. She turned and snatched her shawl from the floor where it had pooled, a shimmer of cashmere. “Last door on the left. I’ll follow in a moment.” When the door closed on her, Dare ran a hand through his hair. He refilled his glass and took a long drink. His heart rate slowed. Five minutes. He would give her five minutes, despite his eager cock.
***** Dare had not lived a celibate existence since Emily died. But he prided himself on control and kept his passions on a short leash. He had ample practice, living with Emily. He had had high hopes for his marriage. Emily, delicate as a porcelain doll, flirted shamelessly with him, and their stolen embraces seemed to promise so much. He had been careful with her, gentle and considerate the first time. But she had lain 19
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beneath him, stiff and afraid, giving him a tremulous smile and conveying to him, in every grimace and stifled sob, her loving fortitude. He was relieved when, seven months later, she told him, small hands clasped over her belly, that she was carrying his child. Their tacit agreement that he would refrain from visiting her bed was a relief to them both. The idyll ended abruptly, eight months later, when she was delivered of a stillborn son. And then she bled. And Dare thought he had never seen so much blood, never known that a human body could contain so much of what became a dark, creeping stain on the bedclothes. He had gone then and found a woman. And he had taken her roughly, thrusting his anger and frustration and grief into her body. The shame, afterward, was almost too much to bear—the shame of inflicting his dark passions on Emily, of his complicity in her death, of going from her deathbed to the bed of some nameless woman who, like his wife, remained silent while he rutted like an animal. And now, there was another nameless woman. An exotic woman. Feral. She had said it herself. He could see it in the curve of her jaw, in the smile that spoke of a sort of wildness that was kin to his own. She would welcome it, the marks he would give her on her sun-dark throat, the bruises his passion would leave on her upper arms. She would welcome his tongue and his cock and his brutish body. She promised to be a match for him. And her five minutes were up.
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Chapter Two She was unfastening her dress when he entered the room. She stood beside the bed, radiating arousal and desire, her fingers poised over a row of pearl buttons. Her shoes, now a familiar sight, lay discarded on the floor. Her hair, unbound, spread across her shoulders and drew his eyes down the curve of her breast. He closed the door and turned the key in the lock, then removed his cravat, his long fingers impatient with the knot. “Take off your dress,” he said. She shrugged a shoulder and the gaping bodice of the gown slid down her arm, her nipple a shadow against the darkness of her skin. She raised a hand to her other arm and pulled at the fabric, revealing the lush mounds of her breasts. He drew in his breath and tossed away his cravat. His waistcoat followed and he began to unbutton his shirt, never taking his eyes from the glorious body that she slowly revealed. She reached behind her back and loosened whatever it was that held her gown together. With a puff of fabric, it slid down her body to pool on the floor at her feet, a drop of blood-red silk. She stepped from the nest of clothing, leaning against the bedpost to kick her foot free. She was dressed only in her stockings, which clung to her calves, accentuating the lean muscle. He followed the contour of her leg to the crook of her knee. He thought of pressing his lips there, of extending his tongue to taste her skin while she knelt on all fours. His gaze rose to the silken ties that held her stockings in place. If a man put his hand there, he would be only a breath away from the butter-soft flesh between her thighs. Her brown eyes dilated as he flung off his shirt. He tolerated her shameless scrutiny, watching as her eyes slid over the muscles of his chest, across the flat plane of 21
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his belly and down, to where crisp dark hair hinted at pleasures to come. Her gaze came to rest upon the bulge in his trousers. His body responded with a surge of lust. She came toward him and knelt at his feet, her face inches from the waist of his breeches. The pose was submissive, giving him the opportunity to imagine how it would feel to dominate her, ordering her to open her mouth, making her suck him into the warm depths of her throat. She made quick work of the buttons and he had to swallow his gasp when she wrapped her fingers around his cock. She gripped him the way he liked best, firmly, without any maidenly apprehension. And then she leaned her dark head forward and extended her tongue to touch the tip, where the sign of his arousal glistened in the candlelight. She pushed back her hair, as though she knew he wanted to watch. Wanted to see every flick of her tongue, every pull of her wet mouth. She took a few inches of him inside and made a sound of satisfaction, as though she had been hungry for his cock and was now satisfied. She sucked, and the light friction of her lips made him draw in his breath. He extended a hand to her head and wrapped her hair around his fist. She sank back down, taking him deeper into her mouth and he closed his eyes at the sensation. He could hear the moist sounds of her lips and he thrust gently against her. She wrapped her hand around his buttocks to hold him to her, and he felt her fingers delve into the dark crease of his arse. He jerked and she murmured her encouragement, sliding her lips smoothly up and down, following her mouth with her fist, exerting the pressure he needed. She was sleek and golden in the light, more muscular than he had expected. He thrust against her again and she tightened her hold on his buttocks and spread her knees for better balance. He imagined what lay beneath the auburn hair at the juncture of her thighs, imagined her velvety center and the head of his cock sinking into her heat. He groaned and tightened his hold on her hair. She pulled back again and extended her tongue so she could lap at the head of his cock. His eyes drifted closed and he allowed his head to fall back. She knew exactly
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what he wanted, how he liked to be held, how much pressure to exert to achieve the most exquisite sensation. Almost as though she were a practiced whore. His mind rebelled at the thought. There was nothing of the sordid in this, nothing so crass as an exchange of coin. He drifted, his breathing deepening. She was taking her time with him, languid in the movements of her tongue. It heightened his pleasure to know that she wanted this. Wanted to pull his cock into her warm mouth, loved the slide of his skin between her lips. The noises that she made only served to arouse him, a low hum of satisfaction punctuated by the slick sound of suction. Emily had kissed his belly once, bending her head in a gesture of affection and his cock had leapt to attention. She had turned wide, embarrassed eyes to him and he had nudged her head toward his cock. “Oh, Christ, Emily. Suck me. Take me into your mouth.” She had hesitated, and he had taken advantage of it to flex his hips, his cock bobbing closer to her face. She took him between her shaking hands, her touch so light that he had groaned for more. He flexed his hips again, and she bent her blonde head forward to take the tip of him between her lips. “That’s it, darling.” He had tried to encourage her, extended a hand to rub her bottom, and she had allowed herself to sink a little deeper onto him. He made the mistake of thrusting, pushing his cock just a little deeper into her warm heat and she had recoiled, scrambling off the bed. He had thrown an arm over his face and cursed himself for frightening her. For inflicting his beastly needs on her. What had so entranced him before marriage—her virginal sweetness, her chaste kisses—had become a curse, lovemaking an exercise in restraint, his every movement bounded by her fear. But the woman kneeling before him—the woman who moaned and licked and sucked—would let him do what he wanted to her. She would not shy from his desire to
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bury his cock in her throat, to thrust his fingers deep into her cunt, or—God help him— to part her buttocks and shove himself into her arse. “Do you like this?” Her voice was a wicked whisper against the flesh of his thigh. He groaned his response, inhaling deeply through his nose and tugging at her hair. The slide of her tongue had become an agony, pulling him inexorably toward his climax. He wanted more, wanted the hot pull of her lips to go on and on. Yet if she continued for another moment, he knew he would shatter. He wanted to come in her mouth, burst into a thousand pieces against the wet heat of her tongue. “Stop,” he gasped, releasing her hair and attempting to withdraw. “If you don’t stop, I’m going to…” Her grip tightened on his buttocks. “I want you to.” He felt his erection swell at her words. He pushed forward again, seeking the hot haven of her mouth.
Indira focused her attention on the movement of her lips and her tongue. She drew on the heated flesh that slid back and forth in her mouth, pulling him ever closer to his climax. She loved the sense of power and control she felt as she clutched his hips and took him deeper, encompassing the hard evidence of his desire for her. His fingers dragged at her hair, the tension almost painful. He wanted—intended— to withdraw, to pull away from her and spill himself into the bedclothes. But she wanted to feel the hot wash of his seed in her throat, feel the convulsion of his climax against her tongue. And she wanted him to know, for no reason that she could imagine, that she was no lady. That the delicate sensibilities of gentlewomen of the ton were as foreign to her as a London ballroom. That she was the kind of woman who knelt on the floor of an inn and drew the hot length of a stranger between her lips. She heard him murmur a warning, felt him shift his stance, begin to withdraw.
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“I want you to,” she said, closing her hands around the tight muscles of his arse. Pour yourself into me. Take my mouth with your cock. Then he was coming, deep in her throat and she swallowed, and swallowed again, taking all of him, every drop of him, until he had nothing left to give. He stood, chest heaving, his hand still fisted in her hair. His cock slid from her mouth and she pressed her forehead against his thigh, her breath coming fast and ragged. Then he was pulling her to her feet. She closed her eyes and heard the sound of him wringing out a towel. Then he slid a hand around the nape of her neck and gently wiped off her face. The gesture touched her, letting light into a dark and shriveled corner of her heart. His eyes were dark in the firelight and she could not fathom what went on behind them.
Dare collapsed onto the bed, pulling her with him. She landed on her back and threw back her arms, insensible to the amount of space she occupied. He lay, eyes closed, as his breathing returned to normal. Her scent was on him, his cock still twitching with the aftermath of her exertions. She bent her knee and arched her foot. He rested a hand on her thigh, felt the muscle flexing beneath his fingers. He ran his palm up to the soft skin at the juncture between her hip and thigh, drawing lazy circles. She shifted, restless beneath his hands. He knew why. He rolled over, propping himself up on his elbow, feathering a caress up and over her hip. Her lashes lay dark against her skin and her expressive lips were slightly parted, as if she had just gasped in surprise or arousal. He welcomed the chance to study her, to watch the way the candlelight lit her features—the shadow of her nose, the high, smooth planes of her cheeks. Her hair curled around her ears and spread across the pillow, a river of burnished strands. She was beautiful, but not in any conventional way. She would look out of place in the gilt ballrooms of town. Her skin would overpower the insipid pastel silks and satins of well-bred ladies. There was nothing 25
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demure about her. Neither her speech nor her movements suggested refinement. Rather, she had the easy grace of someone more accustomed to action and speed, someone who exalted in open spaces. He wondered if she slept. Her breathing was slow and regular. Dare ran his hand down her thigh again, sliding his fingers inward. He felt her moist heat before he even reached her cunt. Her bent knee allowed him access to her swollen center, where he sifted his fingers though the curling hair framing her sex. He rested his palm atop her thigh and eased his thumb between her folds. She tensed, and he paused. He waited until he felt the air leave her lungs, then he began a slow circling motion on her slick flesh. She moaned, her fingers curling into the bedclothes. Dare pressed his lips to her hip, extending his tongue to draw a moist path across her skin. She arched her back and he felt her skin tighten beneath his lips. He moved down, to the base of her hip and caught the faintest scent of her arousal. He felt his cock swell at the thought of pushing between her wet folds, sheathing himself in the tight clasp of her cunt. She was making encouraging noises low in her throat and he smiled against her hip. “I want to taste you,” he said, pressing a kiss to her leg. He rolled over and spread her thighs, catching sight of her face. She was biting her lip, but her eyes were open, watching him from beneath shuttered lids. Very deliberately he bent his head, holding her gaze, and extended his tongue to touch the skin low on her belly. She convulsed beneath him and gave a soft cry. He slid his fingers through the wetness between her legs, slick and creamy. Spreading her thighs wider, he eased a finger into her tightness. She gave a low sigh of satisfaction. He spread her silken folds with one hand and eased another finger into her cunt. She angled her hips to give him better access, her warmth encompassing him. He held her open and bent his head, probing at the sensitive flesh of her clit. Her body twisted,
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her mouth forming soundless syllables as she reached for what he offered. He licked her until she began to gasp, her breathing uneven. “Do you want more?” he whispered against her thigh, easing his fingers back and forth. She was wet and swollen with need. He licked up the underside of her clitoris, and she jerked against him. He held her still, one muscular arm banded across her belly. She was gasping, a whisper of unfamiliar sounds. One of her hands was buried in his hair, the other clutched at the bedding. He felt her thighs tremble with the strain. He withdrew his fingers and spread the lips of her cunt, darting his tongue in and out to tease her, to bring her closer to the place she had taken him. When he took her clit between his lips and sucked, pulling her lightly against his teeth, she arched off the bed, driving her feet into the mattress. “Come inside me now,” she urged, but he shook his head, gently, from his position between her thighs. “Not yet.” He couldn’t get enough of her, of her slick arousal, of her heated response. “Yes,” she insisted. “I can’t…I can’t, ah…” He released her clitoris and replaced his mouth with his thumb, rubbing the tight knot of her arousal. He held his fingers at her entrance as he shifted, maintaining the pressure that she sought. She caught him around the waist and dragged him against her. Her lips curved in a wicked smile. “Now,” she gasped. “Inside me.” He stroked his thumb against the bundle of nerves nestled between her folds and her eyes widened as she convulsed against his fingers, her gasp a cry of release. He bent his head to press his lips against hers even as she trembled with the aftershocks. She met him with unabashed hunger, pushing her tongue into his mouth, showing him what she wanted. “It’s not enough,” she said, each word accompanied by a ragged pant. “I need your cock.”
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He wanted to posses her, to swallow her whole. He held himself up on one elbow and leaned back, gliding his hand over her face. She closed her eyes and he ran his thumb over her lips. She twisted her head and sucked him into her mouth. Opening her eyes, she drew on his thumb as she had drawn on his cock. She raised both hands to his wrist and positioned his fingers where she wanted them. She took each finger in turn, licking and sucking. The sight of his thumb disappearing between her lips caused his cock to harden between her thighs. He tugged at her nipple and she arched, offering her breast to his mouth. He took his time, running his fingers gently over her full curves. He liked large-breasted women, women with luscious tits he could fill his hands with. He slid his hand beneath her breast and lifted, thumbing her nipple, which tightened between his fingers. Keeping his eyes on her face, he bent his head and extended his tongue. Her lids fluttered closed. He could feel the rapid beat of her heart against his hand, feel the soft rose-colored flesh of her aureole on his tongue. He sucked her nipple into his mouth and tugged. She moaned, reaching between her legs, searching for his cock. “Not yet,” he said, shifting his hips. She gave a groan of displeasure that became a gasp when he took the tip of her breast, gently, between his teeth. He shifted his hips again so that his cock was pressed against her slick flesh. He pushed himself up and slid back and forth against her. She twisted her hips, trying to increase the contact. Leaning on one elbow, he took himself in hand and pressed firmly against her clitoris. “Is this what you want?” “Yes.” She sighed, pulling his face back down to hers. “Yes. Inside me. I can’t wait. Oh, God.” He pressed his palms into the bedclothes on either side of her head and lifted himself above her. His cock was hard for her again and he teased her with it, sliding against her slickness. 28
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“This?” he asked again, teeth gritted. “Please,” she gasped, biting her lip. “Inside. Now.” He positioned himself. “Now,” he said, and thrust himself deep into her cunt. “Now.” She gave a long sigh of satisfaction, eyes closed, lips parted. He held himself above her, his chest rising and falling with the effort of holding himself still. After a moment, she opened her eyes and caught his gaze. “I can feel every inch of you,” she whispered, curling her fingers over his shoulders. His ground himself against her in response. “You’ve got such a tight little pussy.” He withdrew and pushed back inside. She tilted her hips to meet him. “Hard,” she cried. “Harder.” He withdrew again, then swung his hips and ground his teeth, taking her hard, as she wanted. She gasped at the penetration. “Again,” she whispered. “Oh, yes. Again like that.” He fucked her, without an ounce of delicacy or finesse. “Is this what you want?” he bit out, through clenched teeth. “A hard fuck?” “Yes,” she answered, digging her nails into his shoulders. “Yes, like this.” He grunted his response, and a drop of sweat beaded on his temple and fell to her collarbone, where it slid down the curve of her breast. On an odd impulse, he bent his head and licked it from her skin. Her eyes had been closed, but now widened, and she shoved her hips against him. He gritted his teeth and pumped her harder, taking her without mercy, as he had never taken Emily. She reached down between them and spread the lips of her cunt, then shifted her hips. He obliged, changing the angle so that he could rub his cock against her. She threw back her head, exposing her throat to him. And he fucked her until they were both gasping with the effort, straining toward the promise of satisfaction. He
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heard the tone of her gasps change, to become one extended moan. She was close, and he wanted, more than anything, to give her what she needed. He ground his hips against her and she met each thrust with her own strength. She cried out, her eyes shut tight, face pressed hard against the mattress. He felt her begin to convulse, and with another thrust, he hurtled over the edge, taking her with him as he fell, the bright light rushing up to meet them.
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Chapter Three “The woman. The one in the parlor. Yesterday.” The innkeeper paused, uncertain of what the question was. “Where is she? Where did she go?” MacGillivray’s eyes lightened with understanding. “Yessir. She was up early this morning. She took the post. Toward London I expect.” “What was her name?” Dare resisted the urge to shake the man. “Surely you know her name.” “No, sir. Can’t say that I do. Never seen her before.” Dare turned away in frustration and cursed himself for an idiot. He had awoken to an empty bed and had lain staring at the canopy. It was only when he rolled over and pulled her pillow to his nose that he was certain it had happened. That she had happened. Her scent lingered. He assumed she was breakfasting, so he had dressed leisurely. Part of him, not the better half, hoped that she was gone. Conversation over the breakfast table on the morning after a night of passion was awkward, and he didn’t want to deal with not-sosubtle questions about whether he had a current mistress. To his surprise, she was already gone and he could continue his journey into Oxfordshire without delay. He was not inconvenienced after all. The encounter seemed unreal in the light of day. He had no name for her, a fact that both troubled and relieved him. When he returned to his bedchamber to pack his valise, he spotted a book on the floor next to the bed. Her book. From last night. He flicked it open to the title page. The Feathered Game of Hindostan. He flipped through it, slowing to examine the color plates
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of birds bright with plumage of emerald green and yellow ochre. He snapped the book shut and stuffed it into his valise. He took a final look around to make sure he hadn’t forgotten something. A piece of tatty string lay on the table next to the bed. He picked it up with a spark of anger that caught him off guard. It looked like the sort of thing used to weave nets by fishermen. Or sailors. Dare plucked it off the table and slid it into his pocket.
***** “So I spoke to Maria, and we agreed that the most likely connection was through your great-grandfather. Indira Stuart’s great-great-grandmother was your greatgrandfather’s brother’s wife.” Dare made the appropriate noises of interest and applied himself to his eggs. He would have a couple of hours to work on the speech he planned for Lords before he met with his secretary at ten. This evening—damn it—was Almack’s, and Sabina was already twitching with anticipation. “I have still not determined the origins of the Scottish connection,” his mother continued, “and she displayed not the least bit of interest in it herself. Her manners are somewhat original. But her skin! Dark as a crofter’s!” “What was that?” he asked, suddenly alert. His mother turned gentle eyes on him. “Dare, you don’t imagine that I think you’re actually listening, do you? There’s no need to pretend.” Sabina snickered and the dowager countess shot her a look. “Who are we talking about?” “Indira Stuart, you annoying creature. She’s just back from India.” “India?” Dare repeated. His mother raised her eyebrows. “I daresay you’ve heard of it. Sometimes it’s in the newspapers.” 32
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Dare made a sound of irritation. “Why is she in England?” “Oh. Well, her father died last spring and she has come to handle his estate. By an odd coincidence, the property is in Oxfordshire—” “What did her father do?” Lady Dare gave her son an appraising look. “I must say, I’m quite bewildered by your interest. Something to do with birds.” Dare sat back in his chair. “Tell me her name again.” “Stuart. Scottish, as I said. And the most remarkable Christian name. Indira. Indira Stuart.” The countess frowned. “Now that I think on it, I’m not sure that’s a Christian name at all.” Indira. Dare wasn’t surprised. It most certainly wasn’t a Christian name, but it matched. Exotic, like her. The name of a woman who thought that books with titles like The Feathered Game of Hindostan were enjoyable reading. The name of a woman who hated wearing shoes. Or corsets. These thoughts were still occupying his mind when his mother continued, gesturing to the letter beside her teacup. “I’ve just received a letter from her. Apparently there is some confusion regarding the estate. Miss Stuart writes to ask for the name of my solicitor.” Dare raised his eyebrows. His mother smiled at him innocently. “You’re returning to Abingdon this week, aren’t you my dear?” “I am. I believe that I might have time to call on Miss Stuart.” “How good of you, Dare! She lives just beyond Wantage, so I daresay you can be there and back in an afternoon.” Lady Dare patted his hand. “But what about Wednesday?” Sabina said. Dare and Lady Dare turned to her as one. “Wednesday?” echoed Lady Dare. “Almack’s,” said Dare grimly. 33
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“Oh, I’m sure he’ll be back in plenty of time to escort you, dearest. And if not, then surely Henrietta’s brother will dance with you.” Sabina frowned. “Kit doesn’t take me seriously.” Dare stood and made his bows before slipping out the door. “Ah, well,” he heard his mother saying, “he’s just back from the continent and doubtless thinks you ought to be in the schoolroom still.”
***** The maid who answered the door looked frightened and Dare moderated his tone. “I am Dare. I’m here to see Indira Stuart. My card.” The maid stared at the engraved card as though she had never seen one before. “I don’t think Miss Stuart is at home to visitors,” she said, not meeting his eyes. She made a curtsey and backed up, only to start at the sound of voices raised in anger coming from somewhere inside the house. Her eyes widened, and she tried to shut the door. Dare pushed one booted foot against the door jamb. “She’ll see me,” he said. Shouldering past the terrified maid, he strode down the hall.
“Let me go, you disgusting worm!” Indira Stuart yanked her arm out of the grip of a man who topped her by at least a foot. She stood, jaw clenched, in the middle of a shabby parlor. “Leave. Right now.” “I can leave,” said the man, who was not at all discomposed by her outburst. “But I’ll be back for what I’m owed.” “I don’t owe you a penny!” Mr. Bothwell gave her a nasty smile. “You and I both know that the law’ll see it different. I managed this property the entire time your father was off, Lord only knows where. And I spent my own blunt to replace the chimney and put in a bridge when the last one washed out. And now I want what’s owed me.” 34
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“But that cannot amount to the value of the house!” Indira said, her voice rising. “We’ve been over this a dozen times.” “Now that’s what you don’t seem to understand,” said Mr. Bothwell. “You pay me my sixty quid, and I’m happy to go.” “Sixty pounds is outrageous! It can’t possibly have cost that much. Besides, I haven’t got it.” Mr. Bothwell shrugged. “Not my problem. See here—I’m doing you a favor by taking this pile off your hands. It’ll clear the debt. You can have the furniture.” “That is out of the question.” “I’ve told ye before—I’m willing to take my pay in other ways.” He leaned forward and pinched her, hard, on the breast with his meaty fingers. She slapped him across the face. “Get out of my house, you stupid badir chand,” she spat, her chest heaving. He advanced and grabbed her by the back of the head. “There’s better uses for that mouth of yours than spouting heathen babble,” he said, jerking her toward him. She gave a howl of pain and fury as he dropped his mouth to her ear. The sensation of his moist breath made her skin crawl. “Now you listen to me,” he hissed. “You pay up, or I’ll take my money from you on yer back.” He shook her and she screamed in outrage, tearing at his hands. He pushed her onto her knees, holding her down by wrapping her hair around his fist. Though she scratched and clawed at his hand, the gloves he wore protected him from her nails. She could not break his hold on her, and in her attempts to scramble away, she was inevitably brought up short. She was shrieking in rage when he put his hand to his crotch and unbuttoned his breeches. “I been thinking about cramming my cock in your face since I laid eyes on you. Ye’ll remember this ‘til I come back tomorrow.”
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Indira redoubled her efforts, knocking over a table, reaching for anything she could use against him. He pulled out his cock and pumped himself. “Now open that pretty mouth of yours,” he snarled, pulling her head toward him. She bared her teeth at him, thrashing while he held her, trying desperately to use her own weight to topple him. “Stop struggling, you bitch!” He slapped her across the face and she rocked back on her knees, momentarily stunned. He returned his attention to his cock, but their struggles had brought Indira within reach of the bibelots that had crashed to the floor when the table went over. Her fingers, grasping, finally seized upon a sterling silver candlestick. She pushed herself up from the floor and swung, underhanded, toward his crotch. He realized, just in time, where she was headed and stumbled backward. But the force of her swing shot the candlestick past his privates, onward, toward his head. She caught his jaw from below, and heard a sickening crunch. He fell backward, her hair still clutched in his fist. She scrambled to get loose of him, her breath coming in gasps, when she felt someone behind her. Before she could turn, she was hoisted up and pulled away from the wreckage. This new attacker wrapped muscular arms around her chest from behind and held her tight against him. Her arms were pinned, so she began to thrash and kick. “Indira!” She connected, painfully, with another piece of furniture. “Damn it, Indira. Stop!” She bent her head to bite at the arm banded across her breasts, but her attacker pressed a gloved hand to her mouth and jerked her off the floor so that she had nothing to kick, her slippered feet meeting no resistance. “Stop! Indira, you hellion! It’s over. Stop it!” She continued to swing her feet, but her strength was draining away faster and faster. She was trembling from exertion and only her unreasoning fury kept her upright.
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“Indira.” For the first time, she recognized her own name. His voice pulled her out of the place she had gone. Dare? She blinked and he loosened his hold on her. He allowed her to slide through his arms to lean against the settee. She felt him move behind her to crouch a few feet away. His jaw might have been chiseled marble. The force of his gaze helped her to focus. “Indira?” “Dare?” “Yes. I’m here.” He didn’t touch her. Instead he remained perfectly still, watching her with the attention one gave a wounded animal. His voice reminded her of someone, and it grounded her. A muscle at the corner of his mouth tightened. His lips were pressed together in such a way that she could tell he was gritting his teeth. Her breathing was beginning to return to normal, but her hands still shook with her rage. “Indira?” “Yes.” Her voice was stronger. “I’m going to pick you up now.” She tensed, and he didn’t move. “No. I’m fine.” She pulled herself up, onto the settee. “Is he dead?” The words were like grit in her mouth. Dare stood slowly, his eyes riveted to her face, as though she might shy from him. He turned to look at the pile of detritus that lay behind him. “Regrettably, no.” She considered this. “I wish he was.” Dare gave a soft laugh. “You’re a bloodthirsty woman, Indira.” She frowned. 37
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“That was a compliment.” He went down on one knee in front of her and pushed her hair out of her face with a gentle hand. His fingers curved around her cheek and she flinched. His dark eyes narrowed. Alerted by his expression, she lifted a hand to her face. Her fingers came away smeared with blood. She ran her tongue across her lips, finding the places where the skin had split. He lifted a hand. “Hold still.” Instinctively, she pulled away. She heard him sigh. “Indira. I want to look at your lip. Hold still, please.” She made a conscious effort to remain still while he bent her head back to catch the afternoon light. “It won’t be pretty, but I don’t think there’s any serious damage done.” She leaned back, unnerved by his inspection. “I’m fine. Let me go.” He frowned, but released her. “Lift your foot.” “My foot?” “Yes,” he said patiently. He passed a hand beneath her arch and tilted his head. “I think you’ve broken at least one toe.” “Really?” She tried to frown, but the movement caused her jaw to throb. She hadn’t realized it was possible to break one’s toe. He looked up from his study of her foot. “I’ve seen men come out of boxing rings with less damage.” “Did they win?” He smiled then, and she was struck again, as she had been that night at the inn, by how very handsome he was. She thought to touch him—in thanks, perhaps—but thought better of it, curling her fingers into her palm.
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She awoke late in the day, when the sun hung low and the landscape was gilded. Dare sat in a chair next to the bed, watching her face. “What are you doing here?” “I was waiting for you to wake up.” “What?” He repeated himself. “Perhaps you did hit your head on something.” She made a shooing motion. “Don’t be obtuse. Why are you here? In Oxfordshire.” “I live here.” Her usually lively face was so blank that he took pity on her. “I came to see whether you needed my assistance.” She scowled, but that caused her lip to split. She touched the tip of her finger to her mouth. It came away with a smear of blood. “I don’t understand.” “It appears we are distantly related, through some complex series of connections that escapes me.” His eyes were fixed on her mouth, his expression grim. She considered this for a moment. “How did you find me?” He snorted. “I didn’t. You had completely disappeared by the time I realized you were gone.” “Then how?” “My mother is the Dowager Countess of Dare.” It took her a moment to place the name. “I visited your mother. A month ago, I think. In London.” “Yes, and then you wrote to her for advice about how to handle that piece of filth, Bothwell.” Dare swore under his breath with some fluency. Indira was impressed. “She asked me to call upon you on my way back to London,” he continued, standing to move toward the window. “Oh.”
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“Oh, indeed.” “You arrived at a good time,” she said ruefully. He turned, giving a harsh bark of laughter without an ounce of humor in it. “Even better had I arrived a quarter of an hour earlier. You left me nothing to do but mop up.” She would have laughed at that, except it would almost certainly make her face hurt. “Where is he?” Dare’s face hardened. “He is under lock and key and my solicitors are dealing with the property issue.” “Thank you.” “My pleasure.” She watched him, her gaze never wavering from his face. “Will you be returning to London soon?” “I expect so.” The idea gave her an odd pang in the center of her chest. “Give me enough time to write a letter to your mother.” Dare paused. “I don’t think that will be necessary.” She would have protested, but as she shifted on the bed, she finally realized what she was wearing. “Oh. This isn’t mine.” She plucked at the voluminous white cotton night rail trimmed with lace and tiny pink flowers that she wore. “I suspected it was not.” She looked down at herself in consternation. “I would never wear something like this.”
Dare remained silent. She shot him a questioning glance, and he relented.
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“Though it is surely inappropriate for me to either have knowledge of such things, I suspect your attire belongs to the doctor’s wife. She felt that there was nothing…suitable for a convalescent in your clothespress.” In fact the doctor’s wife had pressed a hand to her bosom when she opened the clothespress, and flushed an alarming shade of red. She had spoken to her husband in an undertone, then gone downstairs. When she returned, she had what Dare privately considered to be a sartorial abomination. He was, nevertheless, very curious as to the contents of the clothespress. “That was very kind of her,” said Indira, doubtfully. Dare snorted. Indira looked up. “As I said, I would be grateful if you would delay until I have written a letter to your mother. I assume it is to her that I owe your timely arrival?” Dare was caught by the hint of a smile at the corner of her mouth. “I don’t think that will be necessary,” he said again. “And why not?” “Because I plan to take you back to London with me.” Indira’s eyebrows rose. “Indeed. How kind of you to inform me.” Dare raised his own brows in a haughty expression that usually served to end debate. “Don’t be difficult.” “I beg your pardon,” she said, in an icy voice. Dare gritted his teeth. “You can’t stay here. Not while the status of the estate is uncertain.” “Then I shall take a house in town.” “You can’t stay there by yourself, either.” Indira blinked at him. “I shall do as I please. Though why I should have to explain myself to you, I’m sure I have no idea.” “You may explain all you like, but you’re still coming to London.” 41
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“I don’t recall inviting you into my house,” she said, barely keeping her temper in check. “It doesn’t appear to be your house,” Dare shot back. “And without my help, you’d be out on the street. Unless of course, you have the wherewithal to pay my solicitor?” It was a risk, he knew, but a calculated one. He had made discreet inquiries in London before he departed, and it appeared that the Stuarts, though of good stock, had little in the way of assets. According to Dare’s sources, the small Oxfordshire property was the extent of Indira’s inheritance. He watched as she swallowed, the blood pulsing in her temple. She was furious, and Dare knew that his gamble had paid off. “No one told me that I had become your chattel.” Dare exhaled and attempted to moderate his tone, gracious in victory. “You have little choice in the matter. Be reasonable.” “Reasonable? Bloody hell! Manhandled twice in one day.” She threw back the bedclothes and slid out of bed. “I have changed my mind. I shall not need your services as a postman after all. You need not postpone your return to London.” She padded to her clothespress and yanked out a shift, then proceeded to shrug out of the white cotton night rail. Dare would have protested, had he been able to speak. Indira appeared indifferent to his shock, for she lifted her arms and slid on the undergarment. Dare could only watch as her ample breasts disappeared from view. In the low sun of the afternoon, her skin shone with a warm glow. He sat, transfixed by the sight of her sleek, muscled body. Indira pulled a gown and stockings from the clothespress and returned to the bed. Dare made an effort to focus as she pulled up her shift, revealing one long leg. He swallowed as she bent and began working the stocking over her foot. “Be careful of your toe,” he said, then mentally cursed his own idiocy.
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She glared at him. “Neither my toe, nor any other part of my body is any of your concern.” Dare snorted, but she ignored it, returning her complete attention to her stocking. He was caught off guard by the wash of heat that spread through his chest. His cock swelled at the sight of her upper thighs, and he remembered what lay between them, how slick and wet she had been when he entered her. How the scent of her arousal had drawn him to her. “You cannot stay here,” he said resolutely, turning his attention to the matter at hand. She pretended not to hear him. She worked the stocking over her ankle and Dare was distracted by the arch of her foot as she flexed it. “I shall do as I please.” Dare gritted his teeth. He was unaccustomed to having to explain himself. “Perhaps you do not understand,” he said, speaking as one does to a small child. She turned the full force of her gaze upon him and narrowed her eyes. “You are mistaken. I understand completely. You appear to believe that you have some claim upon me. Let me take this opportunity to assure you that you do not.” She slid the stocking over her calf and Dare’s mouth went dry. He turned away, attempting to think about something other than the silken length of her legs, or the auburn curls that peeked from beneath her shift. “You have no choice in the matter,” he said. She laughed and extended her leg to pull the stocking over her knee and up her thigh. Dare watched, transfixed, as she pulled her shift higher, so that it bunched around her hips. Sweet heaven, had the woman no sense of decency? He remained silent as she made a bow with the silken ties. She appeared completely oblivious to either his fascination or her own state of undress. Without a word, she pulled on the other stocking. Dare swallowed the surge of desire that rose in his chest.
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He needed to change his tactics, or he would be forced to bind and gag her to get her back to London. The thought was grimly satisfying. When she stood, he rose with her. She turned to him, a defiant set to her jaw. He held her brown eyes with his own and then, slowly, so she knew what he was doing, he raised his hands to her shoulders. Was it his imagination, or did her breathing hitch? He wrapped his fingers around her upper arms and pulled her roughly toward him. She lifted her face to his own, silently daring him to sway her. He took his time, bending his head, watching for her to flinch. She stood, immobile in his grasp, like a deer caught in the sights of a hunter. His lips met the marble seam of her own. She stood stiff and unyielding in his arms, silently resisting. He took her bottom lip between his own and nipped lightly, then ran the tip of his tongue across it, licking the blood from her torn flesh. He felt her shift. He pressed his open mouth along her jaw and felt her inhale. He made his way around to her ear, lifting the weight of her hair to give himself access. When he licked the soft skin beneath her earlobe, he felt her sigh against him. And then he knew he had won the day, for she lifted her arms to encircle him and turned her face to his own. He caught her to him, taking her lips with punishing ardor. She responded with the same, opening to his tongue. The heat of her mouth encompassed him and he shifted to bring his cock into contact with her body. She arched, rubbing her nipples shamelessly against the wool of his jacket. He pushed beneath her shift to fill his hands with her breasts, thumbing her nipples until they tightened into hard buds. Her breathing kicked up a notch and she wrapped one stocking-clad leg around his calf. Her heat burned like a brand through his clothing. He caught her beneath one knee and hauled her up to spread her over his thigh. She gave a gasping moan and ground herself against him.
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He lifted her then and turned to press her back against the wall. She snarled at him and bit at his lip, digging her fingers into his hair to pull him to her. He held her immobile with his body as he unbuttoned his breeches. “Yes,” she breathed, leaning her head against the wall, arching as she rubbed her breasts against him. “I’m going to give you my cock,” he ground out, taking himself in hand. She tilted her hips, eager to take him inside. “You’re coming to London with me,” he said in a tense whisper. Impatient, she reached down and grasped his hand. “No. I’m not.” He brushed his fingers over her cunt, and she arched. “Yes. You are.” She twisted her hips, trying desperately to find the head of his cock. “No.” He eased two fingers inside her. “Yes.” Her eyes drifted closed as he began to work his hand against her. She shook her head even as she released a long sigh of satisfaction. “You’re soaking wet for me,” he said against her ear. “No,” she gasped. “Damn you. You’re no better than that chodu, Bothwell.” His nostrils flared and he pushed his fingers deeper into her cunt. “Did you want this from Bothwell?” He found her clitoris with his thumb and flicked the swollen flesh. She shuddered and moaned and pushed her hands under the fabric of his coat, digging her nails into his chest. “Were you hot, like this, for Bothwell?” he said, withdrawing his fingers and replacing them with his cock. He gripped her hips and lifted her. She wriggled against him, trying to take him inside. “Be quiet, Dare. Just…fuck me.” Her eyes were wide open and he caught her gaze with his own. “Yes,” he said and slammed into her, his eyes on hers so that he saw them widen as he fully sheathed himself. “Maybe you need a good fuck to make you behave.”
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“Badir chand,” she hissed and pressed her head against the wall, her eyes drifting closed. He wrapped his hands around her thighs and lifted her to withdraw, only to slam her down again on his cock. “I’m going to ignore that,” he said, gritting his teeth. “But don’t repeat it, unless you want to be spanked for your trouble.” She opened her mouth to protest, but only gasped, trembling with the force of his penetration. He withdrew as she wrapped her hands around his shoulders to hold on. He pumped her mercilessly, back and forth on his cock, the strength of his thrusts slamming her against the wall. She cried out with the force of it, and he grimaced as his climax neared. Her shift had slipped from one shoulder, revealing the soft, lustrous skin above her breast. “Damn it, Indira. Come for me.” He bent his head and latched his teeth onto the flesh curving from shoulder to neck. He felt her squeeze his cock, relentless, refusing to take what he wanted to give her. “Damn it!” he swore, grinding against her. She squeezed again and he surrendered, pouring his seed into her body, his throat working, teeth bared. She clutched his shoulders, her nails digging through the fabric of his shirt. “Chutia,” she whispered. He remained silent, angry at her for refusing to take her own release, furious at himself for taking his own. His chest heaving, he leaned his head against the wall. He let go of her thigh and she slid, still panting, down his leg. Her legs were too shaky to hold her, and he passed one arm around her waist to brace her. Dropping his face into the crook of her neck, he nuzzled her roughly, his own scent mingled with hers. She pushed him away and dressed quickly, brushing a hand across her mouth and smearing the blood from her lip. She murmured another fluent curse, then braced her arms on the vanity, its delicate gilding incongruous after their passionate encounter.
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She lifted her eyes to the mirror and simply stared at her reflection for a moment, before she whirled and left him.
Indira ran down the stairs and out the front door, stopping only to grab her shoes, which she shoved on as she went. She had to get out of the house, away from him. Her pussy throbbed and ached. She had won that encounter, but it had cost her. She needed to think. And to think, she needed to be outside. She headed down the lane, only then noticing that she had neglected a bonnet. No matter. The hats were as nonsensical as the torturous corsets. She clenched her internal muscles, frustrated and wanting. London was not part of the plan. Going anywhere with him was certainly not part of the plan. But she was afraid that he was right. She had no money. The estate was the entirety of her inheritance, but she hadn’t a cent to pay Dare’s solicitors. Damn him for being so dictatorial and managing. She leaned over, picked up a stone and hurled it toward a tree farther down the lane. It made a satisfying thump when it hit. She had no money and knew no one. Without Dare’s assistance, she would be homeless. And even if she had the funds to pay for a legal wrangle over the property, there was no guarantee she would win. She fumed, powerless and longing for home. She felt like some strange, exotic bird here in the country, where she became a spectacle merely by walking down the street. She had worn one of those ridiculous contraptions on her head when she last walked into town, but there must have been something wrong with it, because every person she saw stared. The eyes of women widened as she passed and she could feel their stares boring into her. The eyes of men did something different, looking boldly at her face before their gazes dropped to her breasts. Stupid of her to think that she could pass as an English lady, with her odd accent and dark skin. Even her walk, a ground-eating pace that allowed her to cover all sorts of terrain, signaled her strangeness. The sound of hooves made her turn. Of course it was him. 47
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He reined up beside her and dropped to the ground, passing his horse’s bridle over the beast’s head. She turned and continued walking, but he kept pace beside her. Damn the man. If she had known who he was, she would never have seduced him. Stupid to have let her desires dictate her actions. But she had wanted him. And he had wanted her. It had seemed so simple. She had found him intriguing the moment his broad shoulders had appeared in the inn doorway. He radiated masculinity and moved with controlled power, as though something wild and threatening rode just below the polished surface. And she had been drawn to him, like a hapless moth to the flame. That one night at the inn had been extraordinary. She could not stop herself from thinking about it, remembering how his hands had burned their way across her body, how he had licked and sucked and consumed her. It made her pant just to think of it, and she shot a sideways glance at him to see whether he had noticed. His jaw was set, but he did not touch her. His mount nudged his elbow and he murmured soft words to the horse which, unaccountably, infuriated her. To think that he could be gentle with a horse, but treat her like some wayward child. She stopped walking and stared pointedly across the fields. “Indira,” he said, his face bowed over the long muzzle of his horse. He stroked the velvety nose. “I spoke hastily.” She stared harder, pulling her anger around her like a cloak, but recognized his words for what they were—an apology of sorts. From a man who never apologized for anything. She turned. He looked up, straight into her eyes, and the line of his jaw stood out beneath his tanned skin. He straightened, and she was struck again by just how big he was. Broad shoulders, muscled legs and, oh, if only she could forget that delicious cock. She exhaled through her nose. “I have no money.” “I know,” he said, his gaze steady. 48
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She struggled to mask her surprise. He had known, the entire time, that he had the upper hand. “I looked into your affairs before I left London.” She bit down hard on her lip. “Damn you.” How she hated this. Him. This cold, colorless country. It was different in India—she knew how to manage there. But here— this was his world, and she didn’t know the rules. “You know I don’t have any choice.” He remained silent. She crossed her arms beneath her breasts and caught his gaze straying. She liked the way the smooth cotton of her chemise felt against her skin. It reminded her of how his hands had felt sliding down her arms, then the surprise of his rough, calloused fingers against her nipples. She sighed. “I am not like you,” she said at last. “I do not belong in ballrooms. Or in society. I am not a lady. There is nothing for me in London.” He snorted. “Do you think so little of my consequence? Think you I cannot gain you entreé to any ball or fête of my choosing?” “I do not want to go to such things,” she said. “And surely your consequence would make that requisite.” He gazed into the distance. “You may please yourself.” She watched him, suspicious. He turned back to her. “I give you my word.” Even now, Indira felt herself react to his deep voice, felt her eyes drawn to his capable hands as they stroked the horse’s nose. She had a vision of those hands against her thighs, her legs spread for his tongue. “How long do you think it will take to settle my father’s affairs?” His dark brows drew together. “At least a month.” Indira gave an irritated huff. “I…do not mean to be ungrateful, but I am not used to being told what to do.” She raised defiant eyes to his own. “So do not expect me to pretend to obedience.”
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A smile tugged at the corners of his mouth. “Of course not. You’re a complete barbarian.” She flung her head up at that and saw that Dare was twitting her. He really was insufferable. “Thank you,” she said, begrudging every word. He acknowledged this with an imperious tilt of his head. “There is no need, I assure you. I’m accustomed to dependent relatives.” He thought her a dependent relative, did he? She stilled and with icy deliberation, lifted her brows. He inhaled and his eyes clouded for a moment. She fancied that he regretted his words. But despite her patience, he made no retraction. Indira lifted a finger to her lip. It was bleeding again. Dare reached forward as though to wipe away the blood, but she drew back. “I will not inconvenience you for long,” she said. “I assure you, my dependence vexes me far more than it could you.”
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Chapter Four “My dear Miss Stuart,” said the dowager Lady Dare as she stepped into the parlor, a bright-haired girl behind her. “What a pleasure to see you again. I hope you are not exhausted from your journey.” “Not at all,” said Indira, rising. “I only regret that I must inconvenience you.” She shot Dare a look over Lady Dare’s shoulder. “How could you think such a thing? Dare has not been tactless, has he? He is rather used to having his own way.” This interesting turn to the conversation was interrupted by Sabina, who sidled around her mother and gave Indira an enthusiastic hug. “Dare hasn’t told us anything about you,” she cried. “And I missed your visit the last time. I was out in search of trim for a bonnet. It is so difficult to find the right ribbon sometimes, don’t you agree?” Sabina took Indira’s hands and sat down. “Do you know this is my first season in town? I have met so many people, I can hardly remember all their names. Except for some of the gentlemen. Especially the handsome ones. I find I haven’t any trouble remembering who they are.” Sabina jumped up and grabbed a vase from a side table. “Just look at these, Miss Stuart. Tiny pink roses. Don’t they smell divine? They came just this morning. From Mr. Stanley. I think him very nice, but Dare says he hasn’t a farthing. It is too bad, don’t you think?” Indira, bemused, nodded and leaned forward to smell the nosegay. She could feel Dare’s presence behind her, sense him looming, a dark shadow in the otherwise bright room. Sabina set the vase aside and took up Indira’s hands again. “You must come with us to the Jessup’s gala tonight! It’s so exciting to have a new relation, don’t you think? I have to use lemon water on my freckles. I don’t know if it will work for you, but…” 51
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“Sabina!” said Lady Dare, sharply. “Your manners have gone begging!” “But I only meant that…” “Hush, Sabina,” said Dare, and she subsided at once. “I’m sure we all know what you mean, my dear,” Lady Dare said. “And I’m sure Miss Stuart is entirely too exhausted to go anywhere but straight to bed after dinner.” Indira would have protested this, for the ride from Wantage had been quite enjoyable, once she had convinced Dare to hire her a mount. But she thought silence a better strategy, given that Miss Dare seemed quite competent at conversing with herself.
***** Indira was surprised that evening by a knock on the door followed, a second later, with the appearance of Sabina. Indira looked up from the book she was reading as Sabina sidled around the doorway as though on some secret mission. “Miss Stuart,” said Sabina, hurrying toward her. “You don’t mind me coming to visit you, I hope. Mama says I’m to let you rest, but I don’t think you look very tired.” “You’re quite right,” said Indira, laying aside her book. “I’m not tired at all.” “Oh, good! Because I have ever so many questions for you. Are you really a heathen? Dare says you are, but I’ve never met a real heathen.” Indira tried, somewhat unsuccessfully, to stifle an unladylike snort. “He said I was a heathen?” “Yes,” said Sabina, leaning forward eagerly. “And Mama said you’re not Christian either, because you have such an odd name. Is that true? “Well,” said Indira, “it’s true that my name isn’t English. Or Christian. It’s Hindu.” “Hindu?” whispered Sabina, though it was clear to Indira that she had no idea what that meant.
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Indira tried not to smile. “Yes. It’s the name of an Indian goddess. She is also called Lakshmi. She’s the goddess of good fortune.” Sabina’s eyes widened in pleasure. “How lovely for you, to be named for a goddess. My name comes from some old Roman tribe. It’s not nearly as interesting as yours. Who cares about people who have been dead for a hundred years? I’d love to be named for a goddess.” “Yes, well,” said Indira. “It’s not so unusual a name in India, but it can make things difficult here.” “Oh,” said Sabina. “Yes, I can see how that might be. Especially if you’re a heathen, too.” “Did Dare really say that?” Indira asked. “Well, yes. But you shouldn’t mind it. He’s unpleasant most of the time. I’ve never known a heathen person before.” Indira laughed. “I’m sorry to disappoint you, but I’m not actually Hindu.” “Oh,” said Sabina, frowning. “Does that mean you’re not heathen?” “Not exactly. I rather think Dare meant something else.” “Oh, well, I’m sure I don’t understand Dare at all, though he’s my brother. He can be frightfully proper. And he doesn’t like Mr. Stanley. Did I tell you that? It’s too bad, because Mr. Stanley is rather nice.” “Mr. Stanley? The one who sent you the roses?” “Yes!” said Sabina, clapping her hands. “I like him very well. And he is a good dancer. But…do you sometimes find, Indira—you don’t mind if I call you Indira, do you?—do you sometimes find that a gentleman can be too nice? I think it would be lovely if Mr. Stanley kissed me, but he hasn’t. And I’ve even asked him to. It would be quite lowering if he wasn’t so proper.”
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Sabina climbed onto Indira’s bed and pulled a pillow into her lap. “You must meet him and tell me what you think. He is a very good dancer, and he smells nice, which I think is important. Don’t you?” Indira agreed that it was, remembering the scent of Dare’s warm skin. How he had smelled of strength and masculinity. “And you must meet Kit. He’s just back from the continent, so I know that you’ll have lots in common. He dances very well, but he’s actually quite horrid.” Indira tilted her head in inquiry. “Yes, he is, though you wouldn’t think so to look at him. He treats me as if I’m still in the schoolroom. As though I’m going to throw up on his waistcoat. I did. Once. But it was years ago. And besides, I’d eaten some green apples, so of course I was sick.” “You threw up on him?” “Yes,” said Sabina, giving her a hurt look. “I didn’t mean to.” “No, of course not. It does seem unkind of him to remind you of it.” “It is unkind! I’m glad you think so. Dare just laughs when he says it, though I’ve asked him to tell Kit to stop. He’s hateful!” Indira wasn’t sure whether Sabina meant Dare or the dreadful Kit, but the girl’s eyes had become suspiciously watery. “Men can be quite hateful,” she said, rubbing Sabina’s shoulder. “But most of the time, I rather think they don’t realize it.” Sabina sniffed. “Really?” “Really. I’m sure he’s just teasing you. And Dare is your brother, so of course he finds it amusing.” Indira hoped this was true. She’d never had a brother, so she was only guessing. No one had ever asked her for advice, so it was something of a surprise to have a red-eyed Sabina looking at her so earnestly. Indira struggled to comfort her. She patted her back in what she hoped was a reassuring way.
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“You must pretend that you don’t care what he says, and perhaps he’ll stop doing it.” “But I do care!” wailed Sabina. “Yes, I know,” said Indira, “but he mustn’t know it.” Sabina gave another sniff. “I suppose I might try it.” “You must tell me if it works. Men are strange creatures, so sometimes it’s best to experiment to find out what works best.” “I’m sure you’re right,” said Sabina, brushing a hand across her eyes. “I wish I had as much experience with men as you do.” “I beg your pardon?” “Well, I can see that you’re not afraid of Dare at all. Even though he does scowl. Emily was afraid of him, but she died. She was nice, but Mama said she was too timid. You don’t seem timid at all.” “Emily?” “She was his wife. She died when she was having the baby. It was very sad, because Emily was beautiful and everyone said that they were a handsome couple. But she jumped every time Dare said a word to her.” Indira turned away to hide her surprise. Dare had been married. The thought unsettled her, though for no reason she could think of. “He doesn’t ignore you like that.” “I’m sorry, I wasn’t attending. Who doesn’t?” “Dare,” said Sabina, as though speaking to a small child. “He mostly ignored Emily. It was as though he didn’t even know she was there. Mama called her a mouse. But he looks at you all the time.” “Oh?” Indira tried to swallow. “Haven’t you noticed? Sometimes I think he wants to eat you up. Just like a lemon ice.” 55
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Indira opened her mouth, but no sound came out. The image of Dare’s dark head buried between her thighs rose to mind. Sabina seemed not to notice. She slid off the bed, then leaned forward and hugged Indira. After a moment of surprise, Indira hugged her back. “I’ve always wanted a sister,” said Sabina in a wistful tone. “Perhaps we shall become the best of friends and share all our secrets with each other. Oh, I can’t wait until you’re not tired anymore and can come with us to a ball.” “Thank you. I’d like that very much,” said Indira, surprised at how much she meant it.
***** Several days of constant activity followed, in which Lady Dare and Sabina insisted that Indira accompany them to dressmakers and milliners and glovers. By the end of the week, she had carriage dresses, morning dresses and evening gowns. She was caught between a desire to live as simply as possible and the need to appear presentable in public. “Presentable” to Lady Dare required vast amounts of clothing, most of it ghastly expensive. Yet Indira was somehow gratified by their interest and attention. It was a new experience for her, to be fussed over and made much of. Indira had protested at first, agreeing to one dress for daytime and another for evening, but Sabina was horrified. “You can’t wear the same dress in one week. Mama, tell her she can’t!” Apparently, it was simply not done. Though Indira cared little for the fripperies, she had been absolutely immovable on the issue of color, adamantly refusing the pastel pinks and robin’s egg blues favored by many of the season’s young ladies. She found unexpected support from the dressmaker, who agreed, somewhat to her surprise, that mademoiselle would be best served by richer colors. Thus, when she descended to dinner that evening in a hastily altered gown, she was pleased to see Dare’s eyes darken when he caught sight of her.
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She wore a dress of gold silk with crimson trim, the bodice cut low over her bosom. When she entered the drawing room, Dare rose, his gaze sweeping from her elegant topknot along the slender curve of her throat to dwell pointedly upon her breasts. She allowed him to look his fill, and she lifted her chin. When he at last met her eyes, she felt the throbbing start, low in her belly. Since both Lady Dare and Sabina were habitually late, Indira lifted her hand to her décolletage, running a finger along the edge of her bodice. “The silk is very fine,” she said. “I will bankrupt you with the cost.” Dare narrowed his eyes. “The cost be damned.” He came forward to take her hand, his fingers closing possessively over her own. “You will have half the bucks in town slavering over you, you know. I anticipate pistols at dawn.” Indira shook her head. “Not on my account,” she said. “I agreed to this only to please your mother. I had not thought she could be quite so…” “Persuasive?” finished Dare. “I am glad she was, if this is the result.” “Don’t,” said Indira. “Don’t mistake the gown as anything but window dressing. I’m not a woman of your sort.” “Of my sort?” he asked. “And what, precisely, is my sort?”
Indira turned to look at him. “You know what I mean. I don’t belong here.” She gestured with one hand and Dare noticed again how dark her skin was, how she fairly glowed in the candlelight. “I cannot say what I think, for fear of offending your mother. I cannot walk like a normal person, for this dress constrains me.” “And the corsets?” Dare prompted on some wicked impulse. “Do they bother you as well?” “You know they do,” she said, giving him a defiant look. He deliberately dropped his eyes to her breasts, his gaze taking in their curving fullness, pushed high and presented for his delectation like exotic sweets. As he
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watched, her nipples hardened, and he was caught off guard by his response. His cock stiffened and his mouth had gone suddenly dry. “You see,” she said, in an undertone, “it is the covering up that arouses you. Not what lies beneath.” “That’s where you’re mistaken,” he said, his voice rough. “I find it all arousing. A bit of silk and satin doesn’t change that. But you must understand that I cannot act on such impulses anymore.” “Oh?” she asked. “Because I am a—how did you put it—a dependent relative?” “And so you are.” She gave a sniff of derision that would have been perfectly at home in any ballroom in London. Dare wondered whether she realized how well her natural confidence prepared her for the petty rivalries of the ton. “Ah. And your sense of honor somehow forbids you from taking your pleasure from a dependent?” “You know damn well it does.” “I see. But unknown women at public houses are perfectly acceptable.” Dare turned and prowled to the end of the drawing room, desperate to put as much space between him and Indira Stuart as was physically possible. What had possessed him to stare at her like that? He had been resolute in his determination to treat her as a guest of the family. And his lordship did not tumble honored guests, no matter how desirable they were. He regretted taking her at the house in Wantage—he had known who she was by then, but had still surrendered to the urge to back her up against a wall and fuck her senseless. What was his mother thinking to dress her in a gown cut so low, in a bodice designed to show off the enchanting swell of her breasts? She wasn’t husband hunting, for God’s sake. Every man who saw her would be thinking exactly what was running
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through his mind now—how she would look naked, all that auburn hair spread out on a pillow, her thighs open, slit dripping with arousal. Dare cursed, though it did nothing to lessen the bulge in his trousers. A gentleman did not fuck houseguests. Only a beastly degenerate would do such a thing. But the past week he had felt like a starving man sitting at a table of delicacies, none of which were within reach. He had passed her bedroom door two nights in a row after sitting up late in the study, trying to drink himself into a stupor. He was too old for it, he thought. He hadn’t the appetite for drinking to excess anymore, nor for the blasted headache the morning after. Instead he had gone to bed, but not before pausing before the burnished oak that led to Indira’s rooms. For a moment he considered knocking, wondering whether she would welcome him under his own roof. What a blackguard he was. She had nowhere else to go, she would feel obligated to take him to her bed whether she wanted him or not. He needed to find another woman on whom to slake his lust.
***** Indira was enjoying the Wingate ball more than she had expected. London society had proven interesting. Rather like exploring a new landscape with a logic all its own. New smells, new sensations and new creatures. The ton ladies in their elaborate gowns reminded her of nothing so much as a flock of parrots, flying from perch to perch, gliding and preening. Their gowns were a feast for her eyes after the murky grays and dirty whitewash of London. Across the room, Dare was magnificent in his black and white evening wear. Earlier, in the drawing room, she had itched to unknot the cravat at his throat, to press her lips to the nape of his neck. Pull each long, elegant finger into her mouth. She knew that her presence in his house vexed him. She was a constant reminder of the one instance in his structured life in which he had allowed lust to overrule reason. He desired her, and she had been desired before. But she found the incongruities
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between what he did and what he thought he should do to be irresistible. So she didn’t bother to ignore her own desire to twit him when the opportunity arose. In truth, she was feeling more than a little bit tetchy. Dare had been rigidly polite to her the entire week, and she hadn’t found the opportunity to invite him to her bed. In an uncharacteristic bout of uncertainty, she had even wondered whether he still found her desirable. His response to her gown had answered that question. Indira glanced across the crowded ballroom. Apparently Dare’s consequence was sufficient to gain her the acceptance of even the most stuffy ton hostesses. Nevertheless, Indira was not immune to the speculative glances and raised eyebrows that her presence inspired. Lady Dare ignored them and Sabina was heedless of all save attractive young gentlemen and the condition of her person. Dare, however, was neither as sanguine as his mother nor as oblivious as Sabina, and Indira caught him scowling, more than once, at knots of ladies engaged in sotto voce gossip. “Come, Indira,” said Dare, taking the glass of ratafia from her hand and setting it aside. “You have played the wallflower long enough.” She was on the dance floor almost before she realized what he was about. “I don’t recall agreeing to dance, Dare.” “I purposely didn’t ask,” he replied smoothly. She huffed her displeasure. “Would you have said yes if I had?” “No,” she admitted. “And now I shall doubtless embarrass you. I don’t know this dance.” “Nonsense,” he replied, positioning her hands. “You need only follow my lead.” “Of course,” she said. “Why am I not surprised?” He smiled down at her as he wrapped his arm around her waist. She noticed, not for the first time, the tiny lines at the corners of his eyes that appeared when he laughed. A small sign of vulnerability that somehow made him more attractive.
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“Close your eyes,” he said. “You might even enjoy yourself.” “And give you an unnecessary advantage? I think not.” She felt his eyes on her breasts and shivered in response. “Tut, tut, Indira. Always on guard.” “It seems wise, under the circumstances.” “Oh?” he asked. “And why is that?” Indira didn’t answer at first. He had no idea how easy it would be for her to settle into a life here—to become accustomed to waking up in the same place, to be sure of shelter and clothing and food. Oh, life with her father had been exciting, each day unpredictable. But as Indira grew older, she had yearned for some measure of stability. That was what Dare offered and she found it dangerously tempting. So much so that she had begun to remind herself, each morning, that this life was not real. The gowns were on loan, the easy living a temporary luxury. Soon she would be back in India living as she always had. She had never considered any other alternative. Until now. And it left her unsettled in the most visceral way, for this life was an idyll that would come to an end as soon as the property matter was settled. In the meantime, it was important that she not become too accustomed to the comforts Dare could provide. And most certainly she must not become accustomed to Dare himself. Best to take her pleasure of him and leave it at that. “I don’t completely trust…this,” she said at last, in answer to his question. “This?” “London. You. It’s all too easy.” “I’m afraid I don’t see the problem,” he said, pressing her closer to avoid another couple. She savored his closeness for a moment, the taut flexion of his muscles against the softness of her breasts.
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“I don’t know quite how to explain it. But my life in India was nothing like this. It was quite…difficult sometimes.” She gazed at the buttons of his shirt, determined not to meet his gaze. “Difficult how?” he asked quietly. For some reason, the words caught in her throat. Perhaps it was his concern—it made her weak, made her want to confide in him. Life with her father had been difficult. There was never enough money, for one thing. Indira had earned their keep more than once by translating Hindi for the East India Company. “Well,” she said, making an effort to keep her tone light, “Father didn’t care to stay in one place very long, so we were always betwixt and between. And money was something that only occurred to him when there wasn’t any.” Dare remained silent, but she thought perhaps his grip on her fingers had tightened. “So you see, I’m not accustomed to having…” “…Someone take care of you?” Dare finished. She stiffened in his arms. “I suppose you could say that.”
He felt the change in her body, a new rigidity that signaled her discomfort with the topic. He whirled her around a servant bearing a full tray of glasses and decided to shift the conversation. “You know, you’re quite a graceful dancer. Are you sure my mother hasn’t been giving you lessons?” She relaxed fractionally. He could feel it through her gown where his palm lay against her hip. “I never said that I didn’t know how to dance—only that I didn’t know this dance.” “Ah,” he said, pulling her close again. “You waltz well enough.” “It’s not as though waltzing is particularly complicated,” she said. “It’s nothing like the Indian dances.” 62
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He arched a brow in question. “Waltzing doesn’t require much balance. You don’t move your head or arms. Odissi is much more complex and,” she said, a bit smugly, “no one leads.” “So you do know how to dance,” he insisted, a smile tugging at his lips. “Not by Indian standards.” He looked down at her, curious. “What do you mean?” “To dance odissi properly, you must know the meaning of each step. All the dances have stories, so if you don’t know the story, you only have half a dance.” She tossed her head to indicate the other dancers. “Not like waltzing.” “And you know some of these dances?” “Some,” she said, but he detected a certain evasiveness in her reply. “How did you learn? Surely English schoolmistresses don’t teach Indian dance.” She shot him a look. “No.” “How then?” She lifted her chin and he thought for a moment that she would refuse to answer him. “You would be scandalized if I told you.” “I doubt that,” he said, giving her a skeptical look. What the devil? She was reluctant to tell him. In truth, the more he learned of her, the more fascinated he became. But her unconventional life left her open to the censure of the ton. Good God, if they knew half the things he knew. He looked down at her. She was staring fixedly at his cravat, not even concentrating on where to put her feet or how to position her arms. She had a natural grace, a sort of ease with her body that he had sensed before. She even walked beautifully. How had she learned it? Or rather, he reflected, how had she not learned it? Not learned to pose and simper and display herself to advantage like a well-trimmed bonnet. Not learned to be modest. Not learned—he inhaled sharply—to take her 63
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pleasures in the darkness beneath the bedclothes like a frightened virgin. In another woman, he might have called it shameless. But in Indira it was something else entirely. She was without artifice, and that, alone, was enough to seduce him. Even her lovemaking was unconstrained—she embraced the physicality of it and something within him responded. Something raw and primal. “I learned to dance from my father’s…chinaal,” she said at last, the final word almost a whisper. He waited. And somehow he knew what was coming. It began to make sense. She began to make sense. “I don’t know the English word. She was the woman my father…fucked.” Dare swallowed. Whore, she meant. Her father’s whore. “Her name was Bharani. She was with us for several months.” “I don’t think it matters how you came by your dancing,” he said. “Though I don’t know that I’d tell Sabina that, lest she decide to take up opera dancing in order to get out of quadrille lessons.” He had meant it as a jest, to make her smile, but she only gave him a look that he couldn’t decipher. The music was ending as Dare led her through the final steps before he was forced, given their interested audience, to release her. Couples were still milling about the dance floor when Sabina appeared, a proprietary grip on a handsome blond man. “You look very well together, Indira. Dare is not too tall for you, which is a good thing, because sometimes he tends to overwhelm his dance partners. Especially with all that black. I think he looks quite fearsome.” “Sabina,” the blond man interjected. Miraculously, the flow of words stopped. “Perhaps you’d be so kind to make me known to your cousin.” “Oh!” she said. “Sorry. I forgot. This is Indira Stuart. She’s named for a heathen goddess. Aren’t you?” She gave Indira a smile. “This is Kit, who was just…”
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“Don’t behave like a ninny, Sabina,” said Dare. Sabina rolled her eyes. “This is Sir Kit.” The man bowed. “It’s actually Christopher Kendall. My pleasure to make your acquaintance. You’ve given the old biddies plenty of fodder for the evening.” Indira gave a rueful laugh, but Dare’s face hardened. “I’m sure that’s not true,” said Sabina, cutting in. “Or if it is, they’re only admiring your dress. Don’t you think she looks well, Kit? I picked out the crimson trim.” “Indeed,” said Sir Christopher, who cast an admiring eye at Indira. “Is your dance card full, Miss Stuart?” Before Indira could reply, Sabina straightened. “Oh,” she said, and a frown appeared. “Well, it is Indira. So I suppose that’s all right, then.” Sir Christopher turned bemused eyes upon her. “Is it? I’m grateful for your approval.” Sabina gave a little huff and subsided, just as Dare was about to remind her of her manners. Sir Christopher, he saw, seemed to have her well in hand. “Miss Stuart?” said Sir Christopher, offering his arm. Dare relinquished her somewhat reluctantly. Kit was safe enough, though Dare hadn’t missed the appreciation in the other man’s eyes. And he wasn’t looking at the trim on her gown, either.
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Chapter Five “For God’s sake, Sabina, stop using your fork as though it’s a dagger,” Dare snapped and gestured for a footman to remove his plate. “I’m not,” she protested, giving him a hurt look. “You know I don’t care for squab.” “Of course you don’t, my dear,” said Lady Dare. “Squab can be quite awful. Do you recall whether we’re engaged for tomorrow night?” Indira threw her a surprised look. Lady Dare had a prodigious memory for social events and rarely had to consult a calendar. “Really, Mama,” said Sabina, “you know we’re promised to Lady Jessup.” “Ah, so we are,” replied Lady Dare. “A pity Sebastian won’t be able to accompany us.” Indira was caught off guard by her disappointment at the prospect of an evening without Dare. She looked forward to dancing with him. Though she had become quite comfortable attending parties and galas, she liked that he was nearby. More often than not, she would catch him staring at her from across the room. He rarely smiled on those occasions when she met his glance. Only acknowledged her with the smallest tilt of his head before turning back to his conversation. Those looks made her stomach flip. And they made her conscious of her body in a way that she had never been before. It was almost as though knowing he was there made her nipples tighten. She concentrated on her squab and allowed her mind to drift, wondering whether he was as frustrated with his ridiculous refusal to bed her as she was. She had realized, earlier this week, that he was trying to avoid touching her. When they climbed into a carriage or passed each other on the stairs, he always angled his body away from hers. 66
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Typically perverse, Indira made every effort to brush against him. He tried to ignore her for the most part, but yesterday she had used the cover of her skirts to rub her foot against his calf. They were returning from a musicale, which Indira had found unaccountably boring, and she had made sure she sat next to him in the backward facing seat of the carriage. She had spread out her skirts so that they covered his lower leg, then slipped off her shoe and rubbed her stocking foot against the hard muscles of his calf. She heard his sharp intake of breath and then he turned resolutely to look out the window. He could have shifted away from her, but he didn’t, which Indira took as an encouraging sign. She had leaned over him, as though she had seen something interesting out the window and took the opportunity to stoke her hand over his lap. He was rock hard beneath his breeches and Indira gave a little shiver of arousal. He swore under his breath. Taking her arm as though to steady her, he shifted out of reach. Later, as she stepped out of the carriage, he gave her a glare, but Indira detected, beneath his irritation, something hot and desirous.
***** Two nights later, she was absorbed in her own thoughts when Dare emerged from the crowd with a glass of champagne for her. He seemed disinclined to talk, so she too remained silent. It was one thing that she liked about him—he provided a space for silence in a crowd. A respite from talk and chatter. Though she liked Sabina and Lady Dare very much, they seemed to have a horror vacui when it came to conversation, filling every empty space with words. Out of the corner of her eye, Indira could see Lady Dare approaching, trailed by a tall man in scarlet regimentals. Indira turned to smile, but her breath caught in her throat. She felt the blood drain from her face.
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“My dear,” said Lady Dare, “I’d like to present you to Major Marcus Fitzroy. Major Fitzroy, this is…oh, dear. Indira, are you quite all right?” She felt Dare’s large hand at her elbow, but she shook him off. “I’m fine,” she said, “just surprised to see the major again.” Lady Dare looked back and forth between Indira and the major. “Oh, so you know each other? How felicitous! I thought you might have something in common. The major is just back from India, and he’s Sally Jessup’s nephew so of course I wanted to introduce you.” “You’re too kind, Lady Dare,” said the major, though his eyes did not shift from Indira’s face. “As you have guessed, Miss Stuart and I are already acquainted.” “I did not realize you were in England,” Indira said, struggling to keep her voice even. “You could not be more surprised than I,” he replied. Though the words were said lightly, the severe set of his lips betrayed his anger. Behind her, Indira felt Dare tense. “I believed you were dead,” he said in an undertone. “It is both a relief and a pleasure to find you still among the living. And in London, no less.”
Dare’s jaw tightened. What the hell? If she was a cat, Indira would have arched her back and started to hiss, which unsettled Dare more than he liked to admit. He was tempted to put an immediate end to the conversation. But as there was no way to do that short of cutting the major directly, Dare contented himself by running an insolent gaze over the army man. He was tall, though Dare was pleased to see he topped the major by at least an inch. A scar, Dare guessed the result of a sabre cut, bisected one of Fitzroy’s cheeks. His blond hair was sun-bleached and carelessly arranged—just the sort of thing that appealed to young ladies. Worse, Dare knew, felt it in his gut, that Fitzroy wanted
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Indira. Wanted her in his bed. Wanted her for his own. Dare felt a rush of something in his blood, something that aroused primitive instincts to protect and possess.
At the suggestion of a tête-à-tête, Indira felt Dare’s animosity intensify. “On my honor, my lady,” said the major, turning to Lady Dare. “I promise to return her before the end of this dance. Had I known she was in town, I would have called weeks ago.” Behind Indira, Dare radiated displeasure. His tension unsettled her, doubled her own anxiety. Glancing at Dare’s face, Lady Dare smiled a little uncertainly. “I shall be just here, my dear, should you need me.” Indira gave her a stiff smile and allowed the major to draw her toward a settee in the corner. She could feel Dare’s glare though the fabric of her gown as she walked away and she had to resist the urge to turn to look at him. “I’m sorry, Marcus,” she said. “I didn’t think to write to you before I left India.” “You were in Nusserabad, weren’t you? Surely you could have told someone, passed on a message.” Fitzroy’s lips had settled into a grimace. He was angry, and barely concealing it. But she had promised him nothing, didn’t owe him an explanation. “I think you mistake the nature of our relationship,” she began. But he wasn’t listening. “Do you know how many people died at Nusserabad? When I didn’t hear from you, I thought you must be among them. Dead, like your father. No one knew anything. And you let me go on like that. Jesus, Indira. What were you thinking?” Indira looked away. “I had to come to England to take care of the estate.” “Why didn’t you come to me?” She raised her head. “What? And ask to sleep in the barracks?”
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“Damn it! I would have taken care of you. I’ve been thinking for the better part of a year that you were dead.” Major Fitzroy exhaled, his fingers closing around the fragile stem of his wineglass as though he might snap it. “I’m sorry, Marcus. I didn’t intend for you to think anything. I thought that you would forget about what happened.” “Forget it?” Fitzroy’s features hardened. “Is that what you think? That I’d dishonor you and then leave you to face the consequences?” “You didn’t dishonor me, Marcus,” Indira said. “What we did was my choice as well as yours.” She paused, wondering if she ought to say it. It would likely give him a disgust of her, but perhaps then he would give up the idea of marriage. She steeled herself. “It isn’t as though you were the first, Marcus.” Fitzroy closed his eyes as though trying to regain control. The scar on his cheek whitened with the effort. “That—what went before doesn’t matter. You were young. Your father didn’t exactly set a good example.” “Marcus, I won’t marry you.” “You don’t exactly have a choice, Indira. This is a matter of honor. My honor, as well as yours.” Indira rose, her hands trembling in her anger. “Your honor is your own concern, Marcus.” He stood then, too close for Indira’s comfort. She stepped back and raised a hand, ready to push him away. He took her wrist, his deft fingers closing around the delicate bones. “I don’t believe you’re a whore, Indira. So stop acting like one.” Her eyes widened and she yanked her hand away. “I’m not going to dignify that with a response,” she said under her breath. She clenched her hands into fists, tempted to strike him. Then she turned on her heel and strode away, moving swiftly through the crowd.
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Dare took another draught of his champagne and wished for something stronger. He had restrained himself so far this evening, but the sight of Marcus Fitzroy’s hands on Indira had nearly sent him hurtling across the room. Fitzroy had fucked her. Of that Dare was certain. He could see it in the proprietary way Fitzroy looked at her, as though he were appreciating a recent purchase. Dare wanted to break something, to let loose the tension that thrummed through his body. And he wanted to take Indira as far away from Fitzroy as possible so that he could mark her, indisputably, as his own. But she wasn’t. And even Dare didn’t delude himself that her status as a dependent allowed him such liberties. With an effort, Dare turned his dark eyes to the dancers whirling through a reel. Mrs. Finley was here tonight. She had sent him a come-hither look from across the ballroom, and he was minded to respond. His cock had become more demanding of late and Deirdre had always been an enthusiastic partner. When she next caught his eye, he gave her the barest of nods. She smiled her reply, and Dare drained his glass.
***** Mrs. Finley stripped off her gloves. “Can I get you some brandy, Dare?” she asked. “I haven’t seen you in some weeks.” “No,” he said, ignoring her not-so-subtle reprimand. “I don’t have much time this evening.” “Dispensing with the niceties, are we?” she observed. “I need your help with this gown.” Dare moved behind her, started to unbutton her. Then he wrapped his fingers around her shoulders and pulled her, hard, against his erection. She bent her head back, wiggling her rump against him. He pressed his lips to her throat for a moment, seeking the scent of her skin. But she smelled wrong somehow. Pleasant enough, but wrong. She turned, her eyes troubled. “Dare…”
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He turned her around and thrust his tongue into her mouth, nipping and biting at her lips. “You want it like that, do you?” she asked as he pressed his lips to her jaw. He gave a growl, deep in his throat and pulled her arms behind her back so that her breasts were thrust upward. He yanked down her bodice and sucked a nipple into his mouth. She cried out, writhing against him. “I like it when you’re rough with me, Dare,” she panted. He lifted his head and pushed her, not very gently, toward the bed. “Get on your knees,” he said. “I don’t want to talk.” She climbed onto the bed, pulling her skirts up to her waist. Dare moved behind her, ran his hands over the well-formed mounds of her arse and unbuttoned his breeches. “Dare, I’m not ready for…” He laid one large hand on the base of her spine and delved between her legs. But his touch was rough, preemptory. “Dare…” she said, then jerked as his fingers slid into her cunt. She pushed back against him, breathing a long sigh of satisfaction. “Oh, that’s…good.” Deirdre wriggled her hips, a movement Dare found unaccountably irritating. He withdrew his hand. He wasn’t in a playful mood tonight. Deirdre gave a yelp of protest when he moved to shove his cock into her. He tightened his hands on her hips. “Stop it, Dare!” She jerked away from him and yanked down her skirts. “What’s gotten into you?” He glared at her for a moment, then buttoned his breeches and stalked to the window. He braced his hands on the window frame and stared into the darkness. After a moment, she got up and followed him, reaching out a tentative hand to touch his shoulder. “What is it?” she asked softly. He reached back, took her hand and squeezed—a wordless apology. She stroked his fingers with her own, waiting.
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“I shouldn’t have come, Deirdre,” he said at last.
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Chapter Six Indira woke early and dressed as quietly as she could. She had left the window open, but sometime during the night, someone had closed it. Her room was hot and stuffy and she needed some air. Her encounter with Marcus had disturbed her, and she wanted to think. She remembered a bonnet this time, and tied a careless bow. A sleepy footman straightened as she arrived at the front door. “A park, ma’am? Are you meanin’ Hyde Park?” Indira got the directions from him, but refused when he suggested, his face reddening, that she might want an attendant. Then she was down the front steps and off, thankful that it was a sunny day. The sound of birds drew her into the trees as soon as she entered the park. And when she closed her eyes and sank to the ground, she could almost convince herself that she was somewhere else. Some place where the air smelled differently and the rain came hard and corsets were optional.
***** “No, my lord, she’s already gone.” Dare frowned over his coffee. “Gone where? She knows no one in town. Check again.” “I beg your pardon, my lord, but she was asking after the park.” Dare looked up and gave an exasperated sigh. “Did she take anyone with her?” he asked, already certain of the answer. “Er, no, my lord. Jameson would have…” Dare raised his hand to stop the butler in mid-sentence. “Never mind. No doubt Jameson did his best.” 74
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Ten minutes later, Dare trotted through the gate to Hyde Park. He should have known she’d take any opportunity to get out of the house. He scanned the park, trying to imagine where she would go, then dismounted and handed the reins to the groom. “Wait here.” She’d want cover, somewhere that she couldn’t be seen. Somewhere she could hide. When he found her, she was lying on her back in the grass, bonnet discarded, hair unbound and spread like a halo around her head. He moved into her field of vision. “I’m afraid to ask what you’re doing.” She shielded her eyes with one hand and squinted up at him. “I’m listening to birds.” Dare raised a skeptical eyebrow. “You left the house without an escort,” he said, making an effort to keep his voice even. Indira remained silent. She closed her eyes and Dare watched, mesmerized by the rise and fall of her breasts. He wanted to kneel at her side, right now, and yank down the bodice of her gown so he could fasten his lips around her nipple until she was panting with eagerness. Instead, he clenched and unclenched his hand around his riding crop. He took a steadying breath. “If you had met someone, alone as you were, there may have been a misunderstanding.” That caught her attention. “A misunderstanding?” “Yes,” he said tightly. “Combined with the fact that you aren’t wearing any undergarments.” “I’m not?” she asked, eyes widened innocently. “You know damn well that you’re not,” said Dare. Indira raised her brows. “What does it matter to you whether I am or not?” Dare stifled the first words that came to mind. “Such attire suggests…availability.” “Oh,” she said, letting her lids drift closed. “Is that all?”
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“‘Is that all’?” he said, nostrils flaring. He reached down to drag her to her feet, but she rolled, pulling him over so that he came down hard on his knees. “Damn it, Indira. This is not the time for games. I’ve an appointment at ten.” She pulled herself up to kneel in front of him. Framing his face with her hands, she angled her head and pressed her lips to his own. He responded in the way he’d dreamt about the night before, pulling her into his arms and taking her with his mouth. But she had no desire to be dominated. She pushed his jacket back over his shoulders, then leaned into him, catching him off balance and bearing him to the ground. She pulled up her dress and swung a leg over his body, then came up on her knees, pressing his wrists beneath her own. Slowly, she bent over his face and licked the seam of his lips. Dare groaned and pulled his hands free to slide them down to her calves as she knelt above him. He worked his hands under her skirts and she lifted to accommodate him. Then her mouth descended on his, insistent and demanding. He opened his mouth to her and she swept inside. “We can’t do this,” he said, when at last she pulled back. “Not here.” “Then where?” she murmured. He could feel the tip of her tongue circling the shell of his ear. She knew exactly what she was doing, he thought. Seducing him. With a vengeance. She didn’t care a whit about noblesse oblige. She made that clear with the press of her thigh, the promise in her voice. He caught the scent of her arousal and it stiffened his resolve, despite the distraction of his nether regions. “Not here. Not anywhere,” he growled, deep in his throat. But still he slid his hands past her knees and up her thighs, his thumbs caressing the petal-soft flesh on the inside curve of her leg. She sighed against him and buried her face against his shoulder. “Touch me,” she whispered. His cock twitched and swelled in his breeches and he shifted beneath her. It had become difficult to recall why, exactly, he wasn’t supposed to touch her. Just a little more, and he would pull away. She wanted this, needed this. He understood need. Understood the aching fullness of her desire, could smell it in her arousal. 76
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When his fingers reached her sex, he found her drenched and ready. She moaned, and he pushed between her folds with his thumb. Her breath came hot and ragged against his throat and she ground her hips against him. He would not take his own pleasure of her, he decided. Surely, there was no harm in bringing her relief, letting her drench his fingers with her slick cream. He spread her open with one hand and eased a long finger into her cunt. Just one. She gave a sigh of satisfaction as he penetrated her. Her cunt was hot and tight and Dare savored the sensation of her flesh enveloping him. She shuddered, her entire body quivering with the intensity of her desire. He slid another finger deep and her hips jerked, out of her conscious control. “Be still, Indira,” he whispered. “Be still, or I won’t touch you.” Shouldn’t touch her. Only with his hands and fingers, then. And his mouth. He would give her his mouth, lick her into submission. She moaned in reply, words that he didn’t understand, and crossed her arms over her breasts, as though trying to hold herself together. She bit her lip with her neat white teeth and Dare was reminded of how she had drawn those teeth down his length, only to tease him with the tip of her tongue when she reached the ruddy head of his cock. He circled her folds with his thumb until he found what he was looking for and she let out a tiny shriek. He stopped at once. Indira bit down on her lip harder, the effort of keeping silent somehow heightening the excitement and pleasure. He caressed her, sliding deft fingers back and forth in the slick fluids of her sex. God, but she was tight. He wouldn’t last above a minute inside her. “Dare, o meri jaan.” She gasped and pushed her hand inside the bodice of her gown. Dare almost came in his breeches at the sight of her dark fingers pulling the bodice down until her breasts tumbled out. She lifted them in her own hands, rolling the nipples between her fingers. “Damn it, Indira,” he ground out. “I told you not to move.” 77
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“Do you want me to stop?” she whispered and extended her tongue to lick her own breast, then gave a little jerk of her hips to remind him of where she wanted his attention. “I want to taste you,” he said, when he had regained his wits. He stroked her clitoris with his thumb and she cried out, grinding her heat against his hand. He gave her a bounce with his own hips and she eased herself forward on her knees until she was straddling his chest. “Get on your hands and knees,” he said, giving her a push. “Oh!” she gasped when she realized what he was about. She leaned over his head and wiggled forward on her knees. “That’s it,” he said, encouraging her. “Lift up your dress.” She yanked up her dress to give him access. With deft fingers, he spread her cunt wide open, and her legs almost gave way. Then he positioned her hips over his mouth and extended his tongue, swirling it between her folds until she was gasping with the effort of holding herself up. Dare relished the taste of her, fluttering his tongue over her clitoris. He could feel it when she tensed, could hear her soft, rhythmic cries. The words were foreign to him, but the sentiment was one of pleasure. He worked her mercilessly, holding her steady so that she couldn’t shift when he darted into her cunt with his tongue. She was hot against his mouth, slippery with need. He licked her again, extending his tongue to reach from the base of her slit to the tiny knot of sensation nestled between her swollen folds. He burrowed into her softness and she shook so hard that he had to wrap his hands around her thighs to hold her still. He savored the sight and scent of her tender cunt, spread wide so he could plunder her with his mouth. Her pink flesh was so slick and swollen that he paused for a moment, concerned that he was being too rough. But she moaned when he stopped, so he delved deeply, thrusting his tongue as far into her body as he could go. She cried out as he filled her, digging her fingers into the grass. 78
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In moments, he had her twitching, straining against his tongue as she reached for her release. He moved her ever closer to the edge until her desire became a wordless, rhythmic chant. When he felt her tense, one last time, he pushed his fingers deep into her cunt and sent her up and over, holding her while she rode his hand, bucking and sobbing and convulsing around his fingers. Her cry aroused something dark and primitive within him, her soaking cunt all the evidence he needed that she was his alone. He held her still in the aftermath of her climax, licking tenderly at the evidence of her recent passion until at last her arms gave way and she collapsed, shimmying down his body to bury her face against his shoulder, murmuring in a language he did not understand.
***** Indira stood with Jason Stanley and watched the dancers. She could feel Dare’s eyes on her and she tamped down her frustration. Their interlude in the park had been nearly a week ago, and Dare was behaving as though it never happened. Yet he scowled at every man who danced with her and seemed to be in a generally unpleasant mood. All the time. Still, it was impossible to deny her attraction to him or her desire to take him to her bed. He had snapped a reply to her earlier today, and it only served to increase her already heightened awareness of him. Even now, she felt the aching need for him in her pussy. Wanted to suck his big cock into her mouth until he groaned her name. She turned away and focused instead on Mr. Stanley. She had grown to like his quiet ways and sense of humor. She had thought him shy at first. But it turned out that he chose to speak rarely, and then only to say something clever. She rather suspected that he attended these parties just for the entertainment provided by watching the other guests. Mr. Stanley shook his head. “I wonder that Kit indulges her so.”
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Indira spotted Sabina flirting shamelessly with Sir Christopher as he led her through the figures of a country dance. “She can be very amusing. She’s like a younger sister to him,” said Indira, repeating what Lady Dare had said just this evening. Mr. Stanley shot her an inquiring glance. “Do you think so? I’m not so sure.” “Oh?” “Miss Dare is not quite the henwit that she lets people think.” Oh, this was becoming interesting. Mr. Stanley took a draught of his wine. “You should try luring her into saying something intelligent. It’s quite good sport.” This promising line of discussion was interrupted by the appearance of Major Fitzroy. “Miss Stuart.” He bowed. “You don’t mind, Stanley, if I take Miss Stuart for a promenade, do you?” Fitzroy took her hand and placed it on his arm. “Not at all,” said Mr. Stanley, though his eyes narrowed. Indira hadn’t the time to think why before Fitzroy whisked her away.
Christ. Would the season never end? Dare leaned against one of the decorative columns in the corner of the room. He meant to keep an eye on Sabina, but his eyes kept straying to where Indira stood with Mr. Stanley. She was impossible to miss. The color of her gown—a deep emerald green—was impressed in his memory. He could spot her from across the room. He could pick out the cadence of her speech among a hundred other voices. Stanley had made a habit of asking her to dance, but Dare didn’t feel his hackles rise the same way they did whenever the blasted major appeared. Fitzroy seemed to be on every guest list Dare was, and they had run into him with maddening frequency. The major had danced more than once with Sabina, and though Dare watched them with an eagle eye, he found nothing to complain of in the major’s behavior. Lady Dare found him quite charming and was mystified that Dare had taken an instant dislike to the man.
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He stifled a yawn. Last night he had tossed in his bed, unable to drive from his brain images of Indira with Fitzroy. He wondered how he had fucked her. Had Fitzroy licked her tender cunt until she cried for release? Had he taken her from behind, bending her lithe body over until he could slide deep inside? Christ, had he fucked her arse? Dare shifted, conscious of the thick ridge beneath his breeches. Being in a constant state of arousal was damned uncomfortable. He watched as the dance ended, incensed to see the major cut through the crowd and disentangle Indira from her conversation with Stanley. A woman with a ridiculous plumed turban stepped into his line of sight, and when she finally moved, both Indira and Fitzroy were gone.
***** “Miss Stuart.” Dare’s voice cut through the gloom like the snap of a whip. She jumped at the sound and turned toward the door. How had he known she was here? She tensed, knowing instinctively that he would be displeased to find her in a darkened room with Fitzroy. Why he was in such a temper, she dared not contemplate. “Sabina is feeling unwell and requests that you attend her,” Dare growled. The excuse was so patently false that Indira frowned. The silence that followed, and the stillness of Major Fitzroy, alerted her to the tension between the two men. She swallowed, her mouth suddenly dry. In a swish of skirts, she stood. “Major. If you will excuse me, I am being summoned.” She glared at Dare. The major had risen with her. Dare moved into the firelight, his face betraying some emotion that Indira had never seen before. Major Fitzroy stepped around her to face Dare, anger radiating from his body. “No need to play lord of the manor, Dare.” Dare arched a brow and looked down his nose at Fitzroy. “She, at least, has an excuse for her behavior,” said Dare. “What, sir, is yours?” 81
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“I was unaware that I owed you any explanation,” said Fitzroy, bristling. “Think again,” Dare shot back. The two men stood toe to toe. Despite the fact that they were nearly equal in height, there was no mistaking the two men. Fitzroy’s scarlet regimentals appeared dashing and showy next to the lustrous ebony of Dare’s tailcoat, and the sun-bleached blond of Fitzroy’s hair shone when compared to Dare’s dark crop. Fitzroy was breathing hard and Dare was clenching his fists, clearly spoiling for a fight. Indira could only watch, fascinated by the dangerous games of possession that men played. They appeared to have forgotten her presence, like two great birds of prey fighting over a mate. “What the hell are you doing?” asked Dare. “Do you intend to compromise her into marriage?” Fitzroy recoiled. “Damn you, Dare. I offered her marriage.” “What kind of gentleman,” sneered Dare, “offers marriage after he’s sampled the wares?” Indira stepped back, shocked. “I don’t think I’m the only one, Dare,” Fitzroy retorted. “Unless I miss my guess, you were under her skirts the minute she arrived in London.” Dare’s nostrils flared and Indira sensed that his anger had become fury. “Marcus!” cried Indira, indignant. “Don’t be an ass!” “Marcus?” Dare turned on her with a snarl. “For God’s sake,” said Indira, raising her voice. “Marcus asked me to marry him. I refused.” She stepped in front of Fitzroy to glare at Dare. “Damn it! Listen to me!” Very deliberately, Dare wrapped his hands around her upper arms and moved her to the side. The major bared his teeth and the tension in the room ratcheted up a notch. Fitzroy held out an imperious hand. “Indira, come here.” 82
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“You have no claim on her, Fitzroy. She comes with me. And if I find you—” “Stop! Both of you!” Dare shot her a savage glare. “I’ll deal with this.” “That’s right, Dare. Manhandle her. You’re a goddamned brute,” spat Fitzroy. “Marcus!” “She’s under my protection—” “And that gives you the right to offer her carte blanche?” Indira was shaking with anger and she tried to push past them to reach the door. Dare spun on his heel. “Indira!” She turned, her gaze skipping from one to the other and back again. “I wish to go home. You may either escort me, Dare, or I’ll take a hackney.” “You can’t take a hack,” said Fitzroy, and Indira noticed that Dare had opened his mouth, almost certainly to say the same thing. She closed her eyes for a moment and shook her head. Then she whirled and yanked open the door. It slammed behind her, leaving them both in the half light of the fire. When Dare caught up with her, Indira was already in the foyer, waiting for a footman to help her with her wrap. Dare snatched it out of the hapless servant’s hands and pulled it over her shoulders, his jaw set. He helped her into a cab, filling the door with his own big body. He was intimidating in such a small space, the way his hands wrapped around the polished wood frame, the way his broad shoulders blocked out the light of the torch held by the footman. Indira caught sight of his long fingers, now encased in fine black gloves and was reminded of how he had used those elegant fingers to spread her for his tongue. She looked away, determined to ignore him.
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Dare banged on the roof, then leaned back against the squabs, extending his arm to take up the entire bench. The planes of his face were like chiseled marble and the taut curve of his mouth told her how angry he was. “What is Fitzroy to you?” he asked when they were underway. Indira turned to stare at him. It was unnerving how his big body dominated the dim confines of the carriage. “Damn it, Indira. He behaves as though you’re his mistress.” She turned back to the window.
“Are you? Is that what you are to each other?” He leaned forward, as though he might take her by the shoulders, but then stopped. The jealousy that had been simmering in his blood for the last two weeks was threatening to overpower his good sense. The truth of it was hard to admit—that the thought of another man touching Indira’s body infuriated him. The image of someone else making her pant and sob and tremble made him want to howl. With an effort, he unclenched his fists. He had to get her away from Fitzroy. The man wasn’t going to stop. He realized that now. There was one way—the only way—to make sure she didn’t marry Fitzroy. So simple—how was it that he had not thought of it before? It wasn’t as though he needed a wealthy wife. And Indira had a respectable pedigree. Her time in India had ruined her reputation, but his consequence would make that of negligible import. “Indira,” he said, his gaze intent. “Marry me.” She would be his then, and Fitzroy could go hang. She would be his to pleasure. His to fuck. The look she turned upon him would have turned lesser men to stone. “What?” Her voice was incredulous. “Marry me,” he said again. “My fortune is yours. It’s the obvious solution.” Good God, the thought of her in his bed was intoxicating.
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“The solution to what?” “Come now, Indira. We can live wherever you like—I have a manor house in Sussex, as well as the property in Oxfordshire. If the house in London isn’t to your liking, I shall buy you another.” “Are you insane?” “We could go to Scotland. You would love the highlands. I have a property outside Inverness.” Indira shook her head. “I can’t marry you, Dare. You don’t want me any more than Marcus did.” The look he shot her was incredulous. “Of course I do. How can you doubt it?” He reached forward to take her hand, and she reluctantly allowed it. “I know I haven’t gone about this the right way. I should have a ring for you.” Indira yanked her hand out of his grasp. “No! That’s not it. I don’t care about a ring.” “Then what?” he asked. “Only tell me, and it’s yours.” Her eyes widened in incredulity. “You can’t be serious. Listen to yourself!” A muscle twitched at the corner of his mouth. He sat back against the bench. “Perhaps you might explain, Miss Stuart, why you find this proposal to be so ridiculous. Most young ladies of my acquaintance would be thrilled to receive such an offer.”
She only stared at him, speechless. Did he know nothing of her? Did he truly think that promises of property in Sussex and a townhouse in London would make a difference to her?” “I thought you understood,” she said softly, unable to keep the bitterness from her voice. “I don’t want your money or your land or your ring. That’s not what this is about.”
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“Then what is it about, Indira?” he shot back. “What more do you want?” She felt her lower lip begin to tremble, and she bit down hard to stop herself from coming apart. “Let me tell you what I don’t want, Dare. I don’t want to be your plaything, some sort of expensive toy to pleasure you.” Dare’s jaw tightened. “Perhaps I am mistaken, but I thought you shared my pleasure.” She gave a little cry of frustration. “That’s not what I mean at all, and you know it. What we do…what you do to me…it’s never been like that with another man. But it isn’t enough. Pleasure isn’t enough.” “I see,” he interrupted, his tone icy. She gave a little shake of her head. “You don’t see. Have you even thought about the kind of countess I would make? It would be disastrous.” He raised his eyebrows in an expression that suggested her fears were nonsensical. “You can be trained.” “Trained?” “Of course. Do you think I would begrudge you your lack of polish?” Her mouth opened, but no words came out. The realization that she had completely misjudged him horrified her. And it confirmed her worst fears—that she was completely alone. She had known, since her father died, that there was no one else in the world who cared for her. But she had been able to keep this knowledge buried during the voyage back to England. And then she had met Dare. And his mother. And Sabina, who had become almost like a sister. And it had appeared that perhaps she wasn’t alone exactly. But this evening, with Dare’s words, the knowledge blazed like a torch before her eyes. She was alone. She swallowed the lump that threatened to choke her. The overwhelming disappointment brought home to her exactly how much she had begun to rely upon him, how much she had begun to trust him.
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“This has all been a mistake,” she said. “I should never have come. Never have slept with you.” His nostrils flared. “I shan’t importune you…again.” “You…badir chand! Why do you willfully misunderstand me?” He turned his dark gaze upon her, the fury in his eyes enough to burn her to ash. She had to look away, escape from his intensity. “You want a glittering hero, is that it, Indira? Well, you can have Fitzroy. You should have just said as much.” Her eyes widened, incredulous. “I don’t want Fitzroy.” “Then what?” he said, leaning over, taking her by the arms and shaking her. “What the hell is it you want, Indira? A little cottage somewhere in the country where you can fuck whomever you want? Because I can do that. I can buy you your own fucking brothel if you want.” She slapped him then, a hard, resounding thwack that shocked them both. Then she was yelling at the coachman to stop, but it wasn’t fast enough. She flung open the carriage door and jumped out, stumbled, but caught herself. Without giving Dare a chance to catch her, she was gone, running down an alley, into the shadows.
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Chapter Seven Dare spent the night in the study. He had tried to drink himself senseless, but had realized—after the second glass—that it was pointless. He had spent the half hour after Indira jumped from the carriage in a near panic, pacing the hall after sending footmen out in all directions. When at last she opened the door, he had to stop himself from pulling her into his arms. She was breathing a little faster than usual, but other than that, she appeared completely unharmed. For some idiotic reason, this made him angrier. She had stared at him, jaw set defiantly, and then moved past him toward the stairs. He reached out—to stop her, to comfort her or, God help him, to apologize. But she had flinched. He needed to suffer, he thought. Needed to relive every second of the evening, to go back over each word to determine what had gone wrong. Where he had made his first mistake, only to compound it with a host of others, one by one, until he drove her away. Somehow this had become much more complicated than one night at a country inn. His behavior last night shamed him. He had acted like a bloody animal, maddened by the rut. When he heard the household begin to stir, he dragged himself to his feet and up the stairs to knock on the door to her room. She answered it herself, backing away from him, letting him step inside, but telling him, with every movement of her body, that she had gone far away, somewhere he could not follow. She turned back to the bed where her small valise lay. Her gowns— the beautiful silks and satins that she had worn the last few weeks—were neatly arranged in the clothespress. She took up a shift and folded it, placing it with great deliberation in her traveling case.
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He knew that she would go, knew that he had crossed some invisible line. But he had still hoped. The sight of her meager belongings going one by one into her valise left him with nothing. “Indira,” he said hoarsely. She stopped and straightened. When she turned to meet his gaze, he saw her eyes widen at his appearance. He knew he looked terrible. His cravat hung limp around his neck, his waistcoat bore a stain. She waited. “I have a place you can go.” Her lips hardened, and she turned back to her packing. “No,” he said. “That’s not what I meant. It’s just a place to stay until the property in Wantage is settled. It’s a small estate near the coast.” He paused and swallowed. “There are only a handful of servants there and a steward who visits infrequently. I will leave you be.” She continued to pack. He ran a hand distractedly though his hair. She was refusing to look at him. Her face was blank of all expression. He felt her slipping away. Felt the panic begin to rise in his chest. An idea struck him and he took a breath. “There are birds there. Seabirds.”
The words made something catch in her chest. His distress—so palpable—unsettled her. She wanted to relent, to go to him. Instead, she recalled the words he had used in the carriage. Remembered the way he had spoken to her. Her thoughts must have shown on her face, because his voice took on a desperate edge. “At least take my coach. Indira, please. You don’t have any money.” “I have ten pounds,” she said, though that was an exaggeration. “I’ll repay you for the clothing as soon as…if the property in Wantage can be sold.” The truth of it was that if she left now, she would be living on the streets.
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The only other option was to marry Fitzroy. If she could just swallow her cursed pride and accept him. But she knew that together they would be miserable. Because she did not understand honor. Did not know how a man could give up his life to such a thing. But Dare—Dare who was arrogant and imperious and powerful—Dare she understood. She knew whatever it was in him that was deep and raw and basic. She recognized it, and it called to her. To her shame, something in her thrilled at the thought of this man possessing her. Of giving herself up to him. Of letting him dominate her. But not like this. Not in anger and jealousy. She would rather take her chances on the streets. “Please, Indira. The manor house is yours, for however long you want it. Take it. I understand…why you can’t stay here. I’ve behaved like a bloody fool. At least go somewhere safe.” She turned, the words she wanted to say sticking in her throat. She tried again. “Thank you for the offer of the house. I am…grateful.” Dare exhaled heavily. He bowed. “I will see to the carriage.” “Wait.” She lifted a hand, as though to touch him, but then drew back. “Thank you,” was all she said.
***** Indira walked the cliffs, watching the seabirds wheel and glide below her. She found a good place and stretched out, resting on her forearms and leaning over to watch the birds land on what seemed a sheer cliff face. Despite their dull colors—so different from the brightly feathered creatures she knew in India—the birds fascinated her. Dare had been right about that. The thought brought a lump to her throat. She hadn’t imagined that she would find it so beautiful here. She had come to appreciate the landscape, even rocky and sparsely vegetated as it was. The harsh winds and the salt spray appealed to something raw and wild in her. Something that Dare had recognized.
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She closed her eyes and listened. If she tried hard enough, she could hear the cries of the newborn chicks. Sometimes she came out and took notes on the birds, as she had done with her father. It felt familiar, and it made her think of something other than Dare and what had happened in London. She turned over and threw an arm over her eyes. If she was being honest, she would admit that she missed him. Missed his touch, yes, and the pleasure they had shared. But more than that—she missed the gut-level recognition of a kindred spirit. Of someone who knew her for what she was. She watched as the wind drove the clouds across the sky. She had had no word from Dare, nothing in the past two weeks. It was both a relief and a disappointment. She had thought…no, she had hoped…ah, well. She wasn’t sure what she wanted from Dare. Only that it wasn’t what he had offered. She had written to Lady Dare the moment she arrived in Sussex and had enclosed a note for Sabina. She had thanked her and apologized. And Lady Dare had sent a reply so full of kindness and concern that Indira had had to put the letter aside for a moment. Sabina, too, had written. Her letter was full of hurt and confusion. Indira had not replied, and knew herself for a coward. An hour later, she let herself into the kitchen. The first time she had done it, the cook and the scullery maid had been scandalized. She had ignored their shocked faces and asked for tea and cakes, seating herself at the scarred, well-scrubbed table. Although Dare apparently believed the manor house to be of negligible size, Indira found it almost overwhelming. The first night she had taken a meal in the dining room had been a miserable affair, with a footman standing in the shadows while she selfconsciously tried to consume three separate courses. The next night, she had gone to the servant’s dining room and asked for a place there. The silence among the staff had been intimidating, but she had, by way of explanation, told them that she was unfamiliar with English ways, having grown up in
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India. The housekeeper had unbent enough to welcome her to the table, and they had all eaten in silence for several minutes. Then the scullery maid had ventured a question about elephants and Indira had obliged with a story. And that had done it. Even the butler, newly elevated to his post and so exceedingly proper, had warmed to her. It helped that Indira had no idea how proper servants were supposed to behave, and the staff had found it excellent entertainment to instruct her. She could almost imagine living this way, staying here, at the house on the cliffs, amusing herself by watching birds and wandering the rocky beaches. So when Evers presented her with a letter on a rainy afternoon, she was caught unawares. She slid it open and extracted a single sheet, written in Dare’s own hand.
Dear Miss Stuart, I have news regarding the disposition of the property in Wantage, which I should like to make known to you. As I shall be in the district attending to other business, perhaps you would be so kind as to receive me on Thursday next. I remain your devoted servant, Dare
Indira searched, in vain, for any sign of affection or longing. She read and reread the handful of lines, a lump in her throat, an aching heaviness in her chest. “Is the messenger awaiting a reply?” she asked. “He is, madam.” “Tell him that I shall be pleased to receive his lordship on Thursday next.” “Very good, madam.” When Evers had gone, Indira rose to look out the window. She should be happy to see her time here coming to an end. Elated that the estate question had been resolved
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and she would be free to board the next ship to India. Why, then, did she dread seeing Dare, while at the same time yearn desperately for any word of him?
***** Dare waited, impatiently, for the return of the messenger he had sent to Sussex. Indira’s reply mattered more to him than he wanted to admit. He had ruined half a dozen perfectly good pieces of foolscap before he had settled on the wording of the letter. It was made worse by the fact that Fitzroy had visited him two days ago, inquiring after Indira and leaving, furious, ten minutes later, when Dare told him that she was gone. He had accused Dare of pressing his affections upon her. The worst part, Dare admitted to himself, was that Fitzroy was right. He had taken advantage of a penniless woman, taken his pleasure of her. Asked her to marry him for his own nefarious purposes. Thoughts of Emily rose in his mind—of how he had married her, without love or passion—only a desire to get a child on her, to continue on as he always had. He didn’t give a damn if he had a child of Indira, though the thought of a son or daughter with her sleek grace appealed. He understood now what Indira had meant that night in the carriage. Pleasure wasn’t enough. If that had been so, his return to Mrs. Finley would have assuaged this aching need. Instead, he found himself unable to sleep at night and distracted during the day. Even worse, he feared that Fitzroy had gone down to Sussex to offer for Indira again. And that this time, she would accept. He opened a drawer and pulled out her book on Hindostan. He kept it near him like a talisman, as though with it he might be able to conjure her. By some magic, she would appear, his vitriol forgiven. He knew, with an almost painful dread, that she would return to India. She and Fitzroy. The estate matter had been even simpler than he had thought. The time it had taken was all in waiting, as it appeared that Bothwell hadn’t a shred of evidence for any
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of his claims. Dare’s solicitor had found it almost amusing, as though his considerable talents—and fees—had been wasted. Dare had delayed sending to Sussex with the message until all the paperwork had been completed, every signature witnessed. But now it was done. The property was hers to do with what she would. In truth, there was no need for him to speak to her personally. And he had no business in Sussex other than her. But he had used the excuse, if only to see her one last time.
***** Thursday dawned sunny and beautiful, in marked contrast to Indira’s mood. She dressed in her own clothing, though she now realized how unfashionable it was. She wore it almost in defiance, as though to prove to Dare, once and for all, that she was not for him. Could never be for him. It struck her, not for the first time, that he was not the one she most needed to convince. When he appeared, riding down the lane, Indira had to grasp the window pane to hold herself steady. He wore no hat, and his hair was burnished like the feather of a rook in the sun. He rode his horse with unconscious grace, elegant in buckskin breeches and polished Hessians. She turned away, determined to focus on something other than how Dare affected her. It seemed hours before Evers announced him to Indira, who had seated herself in the parlor. She stood when he appeared in the doorway. He came toward her and took her hands with unaccustomed gentleness, curling his fingers around her own. She stifled her response, trying not to let the warmth of his hands melt her resolve, refusing to let the concern in his eyes weaken her. Her pride had taken a battering in London, and she was loath to give Dare any more advantages. Loath to let him know how much she had missed him. “Thank you for seeing me,” he said, his voice even deeper and more resonant than she remembered.
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“It is I who should thank you,” she replied. “You have been…very kind.” Dare’s jaw muscles tightened. “I shall not bore you with the details. Suffice it to say that the property in Wantage is yours.” “As easy as that?” He gave a mirthless laugh. “It was a simple matter. I believe my solicitor felt the case almost beneath him.” It seemed strange, that something so important to her could be of so little consequence. A silence fell. “What do you intend to do now?” Dare asked at last. “I suppose I will sell the property.” “And return to India?” “Yes,” she said, finally meeting his eyes. The muscles at the corners of his mouth tightened visibly. “I will, of course, assist you in any way that I can. It would not be difficult to sell the property. My solicitor tells me he has had an inquiry from the landowner next door.” “Oh?” When the estate was sold, she would have no reason to remain in England. No reason to see him again. Her eyes stung and she sought for a distraction. She would not humiliate herself in front of him, would not allow the concern she saw in his eyes to weaken her. “Let me ring for tea,” she said, relieved to hear that her voice was steady. “Unless you’d prefer something stronger?” Dare must have detected the forced cheerfulness in her words, for he stood with her. “Indira.” “Tea, then,” she said, taking a step toward the door, desperate to get out of the room before her legs collapsed beneath her. 95
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“Indira.” She turned, only to meet his broad chest. She put up her hands, then curled her fingers into her palms to keep from touching him. He took her wrists gently in his grip. “Indira,” he said again, more softly. “Don’t go.” She wasn’t sure she knew what he meant. Did he mean not go to India? Or not go now, to ring for tea? To her horror, she felt herself begin to tremble. She pulled away and went to the door, leaning her forehead against the jamb for a moment.
To Dare, she appeared more fragile and vulnerable than he’d ever seen her and it tore at his heart. He knew that if she left, something of him would go with her. “Please, Indira, stay. Stay. In England. Here, in Sussex. I will deed you the house.” Don’t go. Don’t leave me. She turned. “I don’t understand.” “I want you to be safe,” he said, reaching for the words that would convince her. “If you won’t have me as a husband, at least let me provide for you as I would any other family member.” Indira eyed him suspiciously. “You mean as a dependent, don’t you?” He frowned and pinched the bridge of his nose. At last, he gave a weighty sigh. “Let me do this, Indira,” he said softly. “At least this, if nothing else.” She had reduced him to begging. For God’s sake, did she want him on his knees? “Why?” she asked, turning from the door. She leaned against it, her hands behind her, as though she had to prevent herself from reaching for him. Why? Because he was the head of the family. Because it was his responsibility. But it was simpler than that. Indira was no orphaned ward or spinster aunt. She was the woman he loved. And he could not live without her. Did not want to live without her.
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Love. It felt as though a kind of fog had lifted, for he now had a word for all the tangled passions that had plagued him—the lust that was more than lust, the desire that possessed his days and nights, the need that had taken root in his bones. She was the only one for him—her hair unbound, her faded dress, her feet, bare as a child’s. It did not matter that her manners were forward or her speech direct. Nor that she preferred being left to her own devices to the ballrooms of the ton. Dare looked at her, saw the strain in the set of her jaw, the tension in her brow. This mattered to her, he realized. It mattered to her why he wanted to give her a home. The knot in his stomach began to unravel and everything fell into place. At last a name for the strange sense of unreality, of disconnection that had been his day-to-day existence since she left London. Love. “Dare?” Her voice recalled him to the room. “Why?” he asked softly. “Because I cannot bear the thought of you returning to India. I cannot—I do not want—to live without you. I’ve fallen in love with you, Indira. I think since I saw you the first time, sitting there in MacGillivray’s parlor.” He stepped forward, more sure of himself now. He would convince her of his love; he would explain to her what she meant to him. He cupped her cheek in his hand, stroking with his thumb. “I don’t want you to leave, and I want you…I want you in whatever way you’ll have me. If you won’t marry me, then we’ll find another way. Only—Christ, say something, Indira.” He wanted to take her by the shoulders, make her answer him. Yet he dreaded her response, dreaded the death of this awful hope. She lifted a hand to cover his own large one where it curved around her face. She looked at him, her eyes wary. “You cannot mean this, Dare.” She swallowed, as though it was suddenly difficult to speak. “Is it Fitzroy?” he asked, keeping his voice even. “Have you already agreed to marry him? I’m too late, aren’t I?” 97
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Dare pulled away, hands clenched. “I never thought to be bettered by Fitzroy, God rot his soul. And honor is cold comfort, in the end.” He laid his palms flat against the frame of the window and hung his head. Idiot. He was a damned idiot, to let his pride and jealousy drive her away. He was—what had she called him?—badir chaud, son of a buffalo. He laughed, the sound rough and without humor.
Indira moved forward, hesitant. His face, so pale and stricken, frightened her. She never feared for herself, but she had learned, over the past weeks, what it meant to care for someone else. She had wondered—she could not help herself—whether Dare was well. Whether he went out to the opera with Sabina. Whom he danced with at the next ball. And more prosaically, whether he came home for an evening meal, whether he stayed up late at night, working in his study. How his life in London had gone on without her. She stretched out her hand and rested it on his shoulder. “Dare.” She ran her hand back and forth over the rough wool. “Sebastian.” It was the first time she had ever used his given name. He stiffened beneath her hand. “Sebastian,” she said again. “I am not engaged to Fitzroy. I thought you knew that. I would rather take my chances in India than shackle myself to a man to salve his honor.” Fitzroy had indeed come down to Sussex. And he had demanded, for over an hour, that Indira marry him. Jaw set, she had merely waited him out, silent in the face of his insistence. At last he had shaken his head and dropped onto the settee, completely bewildered. She had asked Evers for brandy then, and Fitzroy, who drank very rarely, had taken his glass and pounded it down like a desperate man. And then he had left her and she had known that this time, he would not be back.
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Now, a week later, Dare took her wrists in his hands. He searched her eyes, as though he was not quite certain whether to believe her. She turned her hands in his grip to take his fingers tightly in her own. “I do not love him. I never did.” She released his hands and lifted her own to his face. “I’m very afraid that I love you.” He closed his eyes. “Say it again, so I know it’s true. Say it again.” “Open your eyes, Sebastian. I love you.” And then he was crushing her in his arms, hauling her against his chest, unable to get close enough to her. “Oh, God, Indira. I thought…I thought. It doesn’t matter what I thought. Not now.” She burrowed her face under his jacket, pressing herself against him. “I want to touch you, Sebastian. I want your skin against mine.” She felt his breathing hitch, felt him swallow. “I want that, too. Indira. Jesus, I feel like a man just saved from drowning.” “Come then,” she said, pulling away and taking him by the hand. “Come and love me.”
They undressed in the warmth of the afternoon with purpose and care. He savored every inch of thigh revealed, the expanses of smooth skin unveiled. When at last they were both naked, he came and lifted her in his arms. He laid her out on the bed and looked down at her. “You’re so beautiful,” he whispered. “I don’t even have a word for what you are to me. I only know that I need you.” She held up her arms to him and pulled him down on top of her, savoring the heavy heat of his body. He wrapped his arms around her until her breasts were pressed flat against his chest, but it wasn’t enough. She pulled him closer, cradling his head against her throat.
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Erica Anderson
He did not kiss her, not yet. He ran his hands lightly across her body, across the golden skin of her arms, taking each finger to his mouth to kiss. Then down the soft curves of her hips, as far as he could reach. She moaned beneath his hands, her own fingers busy at the nape of his neck, sliding under his hair to pull him toward her. His scent enveloped her and she pressed her nose to his skin as though she might take his very essence inside. She opened her mouth against his shoulder, took the muscle between her teeth and bit just hard enough to mark him as her own. He moved down her body, taking her wrists in his hands and pressing them to the bedclothes. Then he rose above her, his eyes on her own, as he took her nipple in his mouth. She sighed, a long, contented sigh of surrender, as he sucked the turgid flesh. Her nipples were already tight with arousal, knots of sensation that responded to every whisper of his breath, every lave of his tongue. She delved between his legs to lift him, hard and heavy, in her hands. Bending forward, she pressed kisses to his chest, all the while her hands stroking, caressing him. His chest rose and fell beneath her fingers and she savored the heat of his skin. It warmed her, not just in the places where she wanted to welcome him into her body, but elsewhere, in those cold places where her heart lived. Where she was always a motherless little girl with too-dark skin and an odd accent. In those places where an unfashionably dressed woman without the proper manners lived. Alone. And Dare, with his big hands and languid kisses went to that place and found her and warmed her. She kissed her way down his body, nuzzling the crisp curls on his chest, inhaling the scent of him, until she reached her goal. He shifted, tensed and then groaned as she pressed the tip of her tongue to the glistening pearl at the end of his cock. She licked, delicate as a cat. And then he was bearing her backward on the bed, covering her with his body, pressing her wrists into the sheets as he kissed her. She writhed beneath him, desperate to touch him with her hands, her breasts, her thighs. She wrapped her calves around his legs to pull him closer. His tongue lapped and teased until she thrummed, tense and wanting beneath his hands.
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Not Quite a Lady
“Now,” she whispered, her hands in his hair while he worshipped her breast. “I want you inside me.” Her limbs felt weighted, drugged with sensation. Only one thing mattered, and that was the throbbing ache between her legs, where she was wet and wanting. “Inside me,” she said again. She felt him smile against her skin. And then the gentle touch of his fingers delving between her folds where she was slick with desire. “Not yet,” he said softly and she gasped when he found what he sought with his thumb. He began with the lightest of touches and she pushed her hips against his hand, wanting more, wanting to be filled with him. “Shhh,” he whispered, his lips against her ear. And she calmed for a moment, but the embers that had lain dormant had caught flame. The warm pad of his thumb was the tinder that set every nerve afire. She threw back her head and arched her back, heard her own gasps coming faster. He leaned over her and she opened her eyes to his smile. He watched her as he eased a finger deep into her cunt. She jerked against him. It was lovely, what he was doing to her, but she wanted more, wanted to be filled with his cock. “Sebastian, please,” she murmured, “more.” He withdrew his fingers, and with a gasp of relief, she felt the head of his cock at the entrance to her body. “Oh, yes. Now, please.” “I love you, Indira,” he said and slid deep inside. He held himself still above her, his elbows locked as he gazed down into her flushed face. She looked up at him, raised a hand to his cheek. Turning his head, he pressed a kiss to her palm and began to move. And at last, she was filled with him. Filled with the raw heat and power of him. Filled with his hard length, the evidence of his desire. And at last, filled with the heart-deep knowledge that she was home.
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About the Author Erica Anderson lives in Alaska, where she keeps warm by writing erotic romance. When she’s not writing, she teaches anthropology and archaeology at the university level. She loves travel, her cadre of rescue cats, and spending time outdoors gardening and bird-watching. She reads historical fiction, Regency historical romance, space opera and fantasy. She’d love to hear what you think of her stories. Really!
Erica welcomes comments from readers. You can find her website and email address on her author bio page at www.ellorascave.com.
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