His Reluctant Lady (23 page)

To her surprise, he held the pages of
her story. With a smile, he entered her bedchamber, and she
couldn’t help but notice he was fully dressed and ready for dinner.
For some reason, she had expected him to be only half-dressed. At
least, he was supposed to have half of his shirt open, exposing
that strong chest of his. She blinked, unaware her thoughts had
taken such a horrifying turn.

Her gaze returned to his eyes. Yes,
that was better. And safer. “You want to talk about my
story?”

“
I didn’t think you’d mind,”
he said as he sat on her bed. “Do you want to join me?” Though he
patted the spot next to him, his innocent expression confused her.
Did he want to make love to her or not?

“
I can’t sit there. I’m
wearing one of my best gowns.” She pulled the chair away from the
vanity and sat down. “So you read all of it?”

“
Well, all you’ve done so
far.”

She nodded and took a deep breath,
preparing herself for what he’d say. So far, the publisher hadn’t
cared for her work, so she was prepared in case he
didn’t.

“
I like it.”

She stared at him for a moment then
ventured, “You do?”

“
Yes. You did a remarkable
job of creating a spooky house. I even had to sleep with a candle
lit last night because I kept imagining things lurking about in the
shadows, but I’ll deny I ever said that if you tell
anyone.”

She chuckled. “Your secret is safe with
me.”

“
Thank you.” After a moment,
he continued, “I’d like more of the lady. The whole time you
explain what the hero wants. But what about what she wants? She
agrees to marry him and goes to his mansion, but does she want to
do it or does she feel she has no choice?”

“
I hadn’t thought of that,”
she admitted. “I’m more concerned about the secrets she’ll discover
in the house.”

“
I’m interested in those
too, but I’d like to see more passion between the hero and
heroine.” With a grin that made her heart leap, he continued, “A
touch, a kiss, a certain look…” He got off the bed and knelt in
front of her, his hands settling on her thighs. He leaned forward,
his lips brushing hers. “Let your characters feel the heat of
passion. Have your hero give her a kiss that leaves her wanting
more.”

He kissed her, gentle but firm. She
moaned and leaned toward him, her hands tracing his arms until they
settled on his shoulders. She knew he came here to make love to
her. She just knew it! He deepened the kiss, and she opened her
mouth to receive him, her tongue interlacing with his. The area
between her legs ached for him, her core clenching in anticipation
of feeling him inside her. She longed for his touch. She wanted him
to cup her breasts in his hands and wanted his hands on her bare
bottom, guiding her hips as he thrust into her. She gripped his
clothes.

She fully expected him to start
undressing her, but he ended the kiss and whispered, “Have the hero
kiss her like that. Show her desire for him.”

“
But that’s not the point of
the story. The point is for her to discover the hero’s
secrets.”

With a smile, he leaned forward again,
this time kissing her neck. “As intriguing as the story is, would
it be better if you showed the characters as they truly are? People
have the need to love. Characters are no different. Your hero wants
to love your heroine.” His hands traced the curve of her breasts.
“And a chaste kiss isn’t going to satisfy him.”

She became aware of the way her body
responded to him, her nipples hardening under his touch and her
core becoming slick, getting ready for his entry. She didn’t think
her heroine would be satisfied with a chaste kiss either, not if
the hero kissed and touched her this way.

“
Of course,” he added,
nipping her ear in a way that was seductive and playful, “you can’t
forget to include love. Despite what you believe, gentlemen desire
the love of the lady in his life.” He kissed her, his lips
lingering on hers for a while before he rose to his feet. “What I’m
trying to say is, don’t be afraid to reveal your characters. Get to
know them so the person reading your stories can, too. I thoroughly
enjoyed what I read. I’d purchase it if I saw it at the
bookseller.”

It took her a moment to realize he was
talking about her story instead of asking her to join him in bed.
Her gaze lowered to the buttons on his trousers which strained
against his erection. What was wrong with him? He was aroused. So
why didn’t he do something about it?

He went to her bed so he could collect
the papers and held them toward her. She stared dumbly at him as
she took them. Clearing her throat, she smiled. “Thank you. For the
suggestions,” she clarified in case he thought she was thanking him
for fondling and kissing her.

Looking pleased, he returned her smile.
“May I escort you to dinner?”

“
W-what was all the,” she
gestured to her breasts, neck and lips, “touching and kissing
about?”

“
Oh, I merely wanted to show
you what the hero should do in your book.”

“
Then why didn’t you just
tell me? Why act it out?”

He stared at her for a moment then his
eyes grew wide. “I didn’t think of it.”

“
You didn’t think of it?”
Could he be that daft? He had to have known what his touch and kiss
would do to her. Even now, her body craved more of it.

“
No.” Letting out a chuckle,
he shrugged. “I will next time.” He extended his hand to her.
“Ready for dinner?”

She stared at his hand. He was serious?
He did all of that with her to show her what her hero should do in
the book? That made no sense. Then a thought came to her mind. What
if he’d intentionally done all of that to arouse her, to try to get
her to go to his bed?

Rising to her feet, she brushed her
hand against her cheek and let it fall to the skin right about her
breasts, satisfied when she saw his gaze go to her cleavage. “I’m
sorry I misjudged you, Christopher. You are a gentleman after
all.”

She turned and smiled at him before she
strolled out of the room, making sure to add an extra swing to her
hips for his benefit. If he could play the game, so could she. She
had the feeling that since they were now going to be seducing each
other, it’d speed things up and he’d be coming to her bed within
the next evening, two at the most.

Chapter Twenty

“
Why do I have to come with
you to your sister’s so we can talk about the wedding?” Christopher
asked the next day after the footman closed the carriage
door.

“
I told you,” Agatha began
as she checked her reticule then snapped it shut. “I like being
with you.” She wiggled closer to him and traced his arm with her
finger in an almost hypnotizing manner. “Can you blame me for
wanting to spend some time with you before you go to
White’s?”

“
Wouldn’t you rather talk to
her without me there to get in the way?”

She pressed the side of her breast
against his arm, an action which caused his semi-hard erection to
thicken. “I like being with you. I thought you’d be happy to be
with me.”

He hid back a retort. He knew very well
what she was doing. She’d figured out his plan to get her to break
down and come to his bedroom and was turning it on him. Well, if
she thought he could be so easily manipulated, she had another
thing coming. Even if he was so hard that he was afraid his buttons
wouldn’t be able to restrain him anymore, he could wait.

He crossed his legs, doing what he
could to hide his erection. It wasn’t fair that gentlemen couldn’t
hide their excitement while one could never tell if a lady was
aroused or not. It wasn’t like ladies had an unsightly bulge to
content with.

Smiling at her, he placed his hand on
her thigh and gave it a light squeeze. “I am happy to be with you.
I just don’t like discussing a wedding. Those things are
boring.”

“
Boring? I seem to remember
you were eager for our wedding.”

“
That’s because you’re
exciting. You make weddings worthwhile.”

He leaned forward and kissed her,
allowing his tongue to brush her lower lip. She let out a soft moan
and brought her hand to the back of his neck where she brushed her
fingers against his skin, a sensation that probably shouldn’t have
been as arousing as it seemed. She was good. There was no denying
that. The lady knew exactly what to do to make him wish he hadn’t
made the ridiculous bet. He struggled to recall why he was so
determined to get her to admit she enjoyed making love to
him.

When he ended the kiss, she whispered,
“Since I make weddings worthwhile, then you’ll enjoy discussing my
sister’s.”

It took a moment for him to remember
what they were talking about. “Agatha, there’s something you should
know. My cousin’s wedding is not something I consider worth
discussing.”

“
Be nice.”

“
I am being nice. Gentlemen
are just not interested in things like weddings. We attend them
because we have to. I would have been just as satisfied running off
to Gretna Green and marrying you there, but I wanted you to have
your special day where I could show everyone what a lucky gentleman
I was to have you as my wife.”

She giggled and played with
his hair that rested along his neck. “Don’t you mean that it
was
your
special
day since you showed everyone you were lucky?”

“
All right. It was ‘your
special day since you got to show everyone you were lucky’. That
works for me.”

She paused, and he hid his grin at the
way he had turned her question back on her. Letting out a slight
chuckle, she pressed even closer to him and ran her free hand from
his knee to his thigh. “Of course. I should have realized you were
baiting me.”

He folded his hands over his erection
before she could reach it. If she touched that part of him, he
didn’t think he could manage to restrain himself. As it was, he was
having trouble not wanting to pull her dress up and slide into her.
It was unfortunate that he knew how wonderful being in her was now
that he was no longer a virgin. The temptation wouldn’t have been
as great had he never been intimate with her.

With more bravado than he felt, he
said, “You’ll have to do better than that if you expect me to admit
defeat. You won’t win so easily.”

She released him and sighed. “You knew
exactly what I was doing.”

“
Yes, and apparently you
figured out what I was doing when I was showing you what that hero
in your book should do with your heroine.”

She nodded and brushed back a lock of
hair from her shoulder, and though he knew this time it was an
innocent action, he found it as arousing as everything else she’d
done.

“
Even though I did all of
that with an ulterior motive,” he began, finally uncrossing his
legs to relieve the discomfort, “I did enjoy your story. I’d very
much like to see more romantic tension between them. Preferably
that which turns to a more intimate nature, but as long as there’s
more romantic tension, that should please the
publisher.”

“
Your suggestion is duly
noted.”

After a moment of silence, he studied
her while she examined her reticule, wondering what was so
fascinating about it. But then he noticed that her foot was tapping
impatiently on the carriage floor and a knowing smile tugged at his
lips. Perhaps she couldn’t have an erection, but the foot tapping
was just as telling. “It seems we are at an impasse,” he finally
said.

“
Pardon me?” she asked,
glancing at him.

“
You want to make love to me
as much as I want to make love to you, but you refuse to admit it,
thereby forcing me to withhold giving you pleasure.”

She stared at him for a moment and
laughed. “You speak as if I’m the only one who benefits from the
bed.”

“
You admit you benefit at
all and we’ll call a truce.”

“
If I admit anything, and
I’m not saying there’s anything to admit,” she clarified with a
pointed look, “you’ll take that as a victory, and I’ll
lose.”

Blast it! She caught that. He should
have known she would. Staying one step ahead of her was proving a
most daunting task. Trying for another angle, he lowered his voice
and traced her lower lip with his finger. “Is it a loss when you’re
moaning in pleasure?”

She brushed his hand away. “You’re not
going to win that easily.”

“
Ah, you admit I’ll
win.”

Her eyes grew wide for a second then a
confident smile graced her lips. “I admit nothing. I merely meant
that you are sure about something that isn’t going to happen. I
hate to break this to you, Christopher, but I’d be very happy if
you only came to my bed to talk.”

“
I don’t believe
you.”

“
It’s true. You should try
it sometime.”

“
That sounds a lot like an
invitation.”

“
Only to talk. Nothing
more.”

“
All right. Consider
yourself very happy then. I’ll come by to talk,” he said in a tone
that indicated he didn’t believe her.