Improper Pleasures (The Pleasure Series #1) (27 page)

“What friends?” James jumped to his feet, tensing his
shoulders and balling his fist, ready to do battle with an imaginary rival.
“You never mentioned friends in Kent before. This friend wouldn’t happen to be a
tall, good-looking man by the name of Roger, would it?”

“Roger? Do you mean Lord Chadwick? No, I was speaking of a
cousin on my father’s side. I’m sure you were introduced. I had not seen her
since my father’s funeral. To her good fortune she has recently married well
and generously invited me to visit her estate for a long stay. She claims she’s
quite lonely so far from home. I think it would be best.”

James strode before Astra’s chair. “I’m still fighting the
duel.”

“I pray you do not, but either way, we have put ourselves
under the magnifying glass and I think the only solution is for us to part for
a while.”

He shook his head in denial, his deep frown tugging at her
heart.

“For Lark more than myself.” Though she should not touch
him again, she could not stand the desperate look in his gaze. She reached out
and took his hand. “Lark must not be tainted by scandal if we hope for her to
make a good marriage.”

“What shall I do without you? I’ll be eating my soup with
my sorbet spoon.” James brought their joined hands to his lips.

“You were smashing tonight. Your rugged charm has beguiled
them all and if you start eating soup with a sorbet spoon I’m sure it will be
the new fashion.”

James pulled her up to stand, guided her against his body
and looked into her face. “Are you ending it?”

She wrapped her arms around him and entwined her fingers
behind his back. “I should, but I cannot. But I think a separation will do us
both good. We have forgotten ourselves and our arrangement too many times.”

James stared down into her upturned hazel eyes and not for
the first time tonight hated the so-called Arrangement. They were much more
than an arrangement. Blackmore’s insults along with Bainbridge’s observation
had forced James to realize the position he had put Astra in. He didn’t want
her to go, though he knew hiding his feelings for Astra was getting nearly
impossible. If they stayed together, it would no doubt lead to more speculation
and rumor. But somehow letting her go away on her own seemed worse. She had
confessed her deepest secret to him, her daughter’s true parentage, and he
didn’t take that trust lightly.

Of course, there was one way to solve the problem, but he
wasn’t ready to make a lifelong vow in a befuddled state of mind. Not to
mention that he had to fight a bloody duel tomorrow. When he asked her to be
his wife, it would be under better circumstances. And suddenly something he
hadn’t known was in the back of his mind became a certainty. He’d never be able
to walk away from Astra.    

Instead of confessing things he’d yet to come to terms
with, he held her tighter. “Stay with me tonight.”

She opened her mouth to answer and he could see the denial
in her eyes. He covered her mouth with his, stopping her predicted reasonable
objections. A moan tore from her throat. She returned his kiss with the same
repressed need, turmoil and violent passion James had struggled with all night.
He opened her robe and cupped her breast, massaging her nipple through the thin
silk until she leaned into his palm. Too ready to guide her to the floor and
take her on the carpet, James swooped her into his arms and carried her to the
bed, kissing her senseless all the while.

He could do this every night. There was no reason they
couldn’t marry.

James laid her on the bed, shed his breeches and crawled
beside her. She, just as eager, yanked off her nightgown. James paused to stare
at her, her nipples straining, her skin flushed, her blonde hair trailed around
her pale shoulders. In that moment, she was all he ever wanted and all he thought
he might ever want.

He covered her soft inviting curves with the press of his
body and kissed her again, mating his tongue with hers in a desperate primal
urge to posses every inch of her. Knowing he was probably going too fast, he
grazed his fingers up her inner thigh until he found the welcoming softness of
hot, wet woman. Her arousal made it impossible for him to wait a moment longer.
He rose above her, needing to be inside her and mindlessly thrusting until he
was too spent to think about anything. Sensing his intention, Astra shifted,
and grabbed his cock, easily guiding him into her slick body.

Her tight warmth wrapped around him, snatching his breath
with a jolt of unbridled pleasure. He rocked against her in a melding of body
and soul. When he made love to Astra, when he took her like this, there was no
conflict, no social moray, just two souls coming together in perfect,
mind-numbing harmony.

His body took over and he forgot everything but the feel
of Astra wrapped around him, clutching him hard on each withdrawal. The first
serious clench of her body caught him off guard and he moaned at the intense
sensation of Astra’s release. He should pull out, but all he wanted to do was
plunge deeper. His balls tightened and he knew he had to fight the urge to ride
Astra’s orgasm. His mind rebelled against his traitorous body, but he couldn’t
let go of her. As his orgasm unleashed low in his belly, he surged into her
more deeply. She seemed to grip him even harder with her inner muscles. He
shuddered and spilled himself in her tight body with wracking shudders,
groaning like a beast.

A knock sounded on the door. Astra shoved him off her with
more force than he thought her capable of and sat bolt upright, still panting
for breath.

“James?” said a shaky feminine voice.

Shit, it was Lady Phillina.

“James,” she called again. “I am sorry to wake you but we
have a situation that requires your assistance.”

Damnation but Lady Phillina was in his sitting room
directly outside his bedroom door. James swung off the bed, he tossed Astra her
nightgown which she used to wipe evidence of their carnal exchange from her
thighs. Still, her cheeks were flushed, her hair tousled beyond hope. If Lady
Phillina saw her now, they were doomed. “The back stairs,” he said quickly,
sure she would understand that she should use the servants stairs as an escape
as soon as he could drag Lady Phillina into the hall. He found his breeches and
pulled them on.

A louder knock sounded. “Sorry to disturb you Lord Keane
but the ladies insisted we wake you.” The familiar sound of Mr. Rudd clearing
his throat sent a clear warning that James had better scramble.

“Answer the door before they wake the whole house,” hissed
Astra in a loud whisper, dropping her nightgown. She found her robe and quickly
slipped into it.

James didn’t spare her a second glance as he ran toward
the door. He opened it a crack. He was sure he looked a wreck and hoped they
all thought he had been sleeping restlessly instead of ruthlessly fucking
Astra.

Lady Phillina stood clutching her maid for support.
Astra’s mother, Lady Seabrook, held a tearful Lark, and Mr. Rudd looked
extremely uncomfortable in the background.

Lady Phillina blushed and glanced away. Apparently James
should have put on a shirt. Or at least button his breeches. He tried to
discreetly do so while her head was turned.

“Sorry to disturb you James but it seems that Astra is not
in her room and dear little Lark is quite distraught.” Lady Phillina addressed
her comments to a desk in the corner. He was almost positive the maid ogled
him. Unfortunately, Lady Seabrook did not which worried him more than the maid
getting an eyeful.

Lark tried to wiggle from Lady Seabrook’s arms. “I want
Mama,” she screamed in her grandmother’s ear.

Lady Seabrook rubbed her back, shifting the girl in her
arms. “We will find her, Lark.”

“We won’t. She was kidnapped by the Spriggans when they
couldn’t find any babies.” Lark’s earnestness, as ridiculous as it was, tugged
at James’s heart. The child laid her head on Lady Seabrook’s shoulder and
started to cry.

“I’m here, Lark. It’s all right.” Astra brushed past James
and took her daughter from her mother.

No one appeared particularly surprised by Astra’s
emergence from his bedroom, except for Lark. The little girl grasped her mother
as if she had been missing for a fortnight. James didn’t blame Astra for
exposing them. He just felt like a selfish bastard for making the child suffer
so he wouldn’t get caught with his pants down. Literally.

“Let’s go into James’s room and discuss this in private.
The walls have ears.” Lady Phillina who suddenly seemed to be walking just fine
passed James to enter his bedroom without further invitation. James followed
wondering if he could discreetly throw the dark blue bed cover over the rumpled
sheets. Mr. Rudd shrugged as he walked past James. “I could not stop them,
sir,” he said.

After everyone was assembled in James’s bedroom, the maid
shut the door. Lark clung to Astra who caressed her daughter’s hair. As
miserable as this situation was sure to be, James was moved by the scene and
had to stop himself from going to Astra to help her calm her daughter. He’d
done enough comforting for one night.

“I came to talk James out of the duel. I’m sorry I worried
you all,” Astra said, but it didn’t sound convincing.

“Astra, we have a house full of guests. And you come
unescorted to a man’s room? Oh, the talk!” Lady Seabrook dramatically laid her
hand on her forehead and so many things came into sharp clarity for James.

“Mary. Could you please take Lark to bed?” Astra’s voice
sounded brittle and distant and very far away.

Lark clung to her mother’s neck. “No, Mama.” Dramatic and
shrill as her cry was, at least it was authentic.

James was almost lightheaded, experiencing two realities
at the same time. In one, he was watching a staged play of himself caught in a
compromising position as old as time and in the other he was hearing the tale
from Astra mere moments ago. Did she think he was so dense not to see the
correlation? Apparently. He tripped into this trap so effortlessly, it would be
hard not to think him as manageable as a newborn lamb.

  With soft coaxing, Astra persuaded Lark to go along with
Mary. After the anteroom door was shut, Lady Phillina closed the bedroom door
as well.

“Though I do appreciate your intentions, perhaps you
should have brought along a chaperone.” Lady Phillina shook her head sadly.
“And I so wanted tonight to liberate the Keane name from the scandalmongers’
tongues, but I suppose it’s not to be.” Her loud sigh proved quite theatrical.

James narrowed his gaze on Lady Phillina. Was she a party
to his demise as well?

Astra clutched her thin robe which only emphasized the
fact that she had nothing on underneath. “My apologies, Lady Phillina. Under
the circumstances, I pray you can understand what compelled me to disregard
common decorum and seek out James. I had to persuade him not to accept Lord
Blackmore’s challenge at all costs.”

As if the item had been strategically placed as a stage
prop, Astra’s mother strolled to the crumpled nightgown Astra had tossed aside
and scooped it up. “And did part of your persuasion involve removing your
nightgown?” Always a flare for the dramatic, Lady Seabrook held the gown by the
corner so the wet streaks across the thin material were clearly visible in the
candlelight, then dropped it. He shouldn’t be shocked but the display almost
made him gasp in horror as it did Astra and Lady Phillina.

“Oh dear,” Lady Phillina said. “Oh, James.”

“I think there is only one conceivable solution for this
sort of transgression.” Lady Seabrook dropped the gown.

Her mother’s words transported Astra to a day she could
never forget no matter how hard she tried. Amazingly, this moment was worse,
something she could never believe life would be cruel enough to duplicate. Lady
Phillina hobbled to one of the chairs where she and James had shared brandy and
settled into it. Her gaze remained locked on Astra, sympathetic, sad and
knowing all at the same time. Astra dared a glance at James. His eyes were
hooded, his jaw tense, his muscular arms folded over his chest. James stared
into the growing fire someone had started, perhaps Mr. Rudd, as if he intended
to crawl into it just to spite them all.

“I intend to take Lark to Charlotte Spencer’s estate for
an extended visit.” Astra’s voice sounded higher than usual. At least she’d
managed to get something past her tight throat. “I could leave with Charlotte
and her new husband tomorrow.”

Her mother’s smug smile drooped. Astra’s heart fell when
James gave her declaration no reaction at all. Had she really expected him to
gallantly offer to marry her on the spot? Good God, she had. Tears burned her
eyes but she swallowed them down without choking.

“Leave?” Lady Phillina sank further into the cushions of
the high-backed chair, visibly shrinking under the strain. “I’ve hardly
recovered and I can’t bear to have Lark away in the event I turn for the worse.
If you take her away I might pass on without ever seeing her again. I need some
tea. Mary…I’m feeling lightheaded,” she called out, apparently forgetting Mary
had left the room.

Mr. Rudd emerged from the shadows. “I’ll fetch your tea,
my lady,” he said as he hurried from the room without a backwards glance.

After the door was solidly shut, Astra’s mother picked up
her nightgown once again and sauntered to Astra with the stained garment. “And
what if you begin to grow while visiting Cousin Charlotte, what then?” She
handed Astra her nightgown. “The servants will see this. They’ll know.”

“A baby? Astra, are you with child?” Lady Phillina
straightened at the idea. “If you are with child, you must stay here. I won’t
have a Keane born off the premises.”

“I’m not with child,” she struggled to say.

“How do you know? Are you sure?” her mother said. “What
have you to say for yourself, Lord Keane?”