The Duke of Nothing (The 1797 Club Book 5) Read online

  He smiled. “I’m not doing it here.”

  Her face fell. “No?”

  “I want this affair, I do. But I recognize fully what a gift you are giving me to offer it. After what you’ve experienced, I’m not going to treat you like some scandalous tup that means nothing. It means a great deal.”

  He had continued to swirl his thumb around her nipple as he spoke, and she was nodding, but he could see the pleasure was distracting. Good. He wanted her distracted by pleasure every time he touched her. He wanted her trembling with it. Weak with it. She deserved that.

  She deserved far more.

  “Right now I’m going to make you come,” he promised.

  She stared at him. “Come?”

  “Like last night,” he whispered. “When the pleasure got so big that it couldn’t be contained. When you coated my fingers with all that slick release.”

  Her cheeks darkened again with that wicked description. He was a little surprised at himself for giving it. He was a gentleman. It was left to silver-tongued rogues like Robert to burn a lady’s ears with naughty words.

  But Helena inspired him.

  “I was…overcome when you touched me,” she admitted softly. “I’ve never felt anything like it.”

  “Good,” he said. “You’re about to again.”

  He inched down her body, kissing her through her clothing as he did so. He pushed at her skirts, raising them until he could part the opening of her drawers. He caught his breath.

  Last night he had not looked at her. Even if he had, he would have been too drunk to appreciate her fully. Today he did. She was slick with desire already, and he couldn’t help himself. He lowered his head and placed a gentle kiss to her.

  “Baldwin!” she cried out, half sitting up on the blanket to stare at him.

  He looked up at her from between her legs. “I’m going to kiss you here. Lick you. And if you allow me to do that, I promise you that the pleasure of last night will seem muted in comparison.”

  Her lips parted and the sweetest expression of innocent shock rolled across her face. Like she couldn’t image that was true. Still, as much as he wanted to dive right into this act, he had to be mindful of what she had endured.

  He never wanted to hurt her. Ever.

  “Hear me, Helena,” he whispered. “You have all the control when it comes to this. When it comes to any way I touch you. The moment you say no, I will stop. I don’t care how far I’ve gone or what you’ve said yes to in the past. Your no ceases everything.” He chuckled. “Even if it kills me.”

  She continued to stare at him. “You would—you would do that?”

  “Of course,” he said. “You are not a toy to be used by me and thrown aside. We both know the circumstances, the blockades, the future that we cannot avoid. But I want this to give you pleasure. I want it to be something you look back on with joy. This affair is for you, Helena, as much as it is for me.”

  She swallowed hard and then she nodded. “Thank you.”

  “Now, may I?” he asked, tilting his head toward her sex.

  Her lips parted, her uncertainty still clear. But then she swallowed hard and said, “Yes. I trust you, Baldwin.”

  He recognized just how hard that trust was to give and vowed, if only to himself, to never make her regret giving it. Gently, he placed a hand on each of her thighs and pressed her open. He rested on his stomach between her legs, then stroked his fingers over her sex.

  She made a garbled sound of pleasure and her legs fell open wider. He smiled as he gently parted the folds of her sex, and leaned in to lick her once more.

  Helena jolted at the unexpected and powerful sensation of Baldwin’s tongue tracing her in the most intimate way possible. The idea that he would had been confusing, but now…now that he was actually doing it, she understood. This was magical.

  Better still, he seemed to enjoy it just as much, for he dove into the act with great determination and gusto. He was relentless, dragging his tongue across her opening and then swirling it around the same place where he’d touched her last night. And just as she had all those hours ago, she found herself grinding against him in time to his strokes, reaching for that pleasure she had found with him before.

  Talented and focused as he was, it didn’t take long to get there. They found a rhythm together, something hard and fast that made her legs shake as she pressed her heels into the blanket. He stroked and stroked with the flat of his tongue, and she couldn’t stop the little keening cries that escaped her lips and drifted away on the soft breezes coming from the lake.

  The pressure built, just as it had the night before. A gathering pleasure that was so much like a storm. She wanted it. She needed it more than breath or food or water. She was desperate for it, and just as she reached the peak of that need, he sucked her and she shattered.

  He continued to lick her as she thrashed against him, clenching the blanket, twisting to escape the pleasure, grinding to find more. It went on and on, far longer than the previous night. Those ripples multiplied until she was weak from it. Only then did he lift his mouth from her and grant her respite from the powerful, uncontrollable sensation.

  He crawled up the length of her body and kissed her. She drank deeply of him, tasting an earthy sweet flavor on his tongue that jolted even more desire through her. It was her flavor from that secret place she’d been taught was dirty and wrong.

  It didn’t taste wrong. What he’d done hadn’t felt wrong either. It had felt…wonderful. And he’d been so gentle, so giving and caring that her memories hadn’t plagued her when he touched her. In fact, nothing had troubled her at all in those sweet, sensual moments.

  He smoothed her skirts down and rolled to lie beside her, gently resting his hand on her stomach. “That was much better when I am fully sober,” he said with a smile that brightened his somber face considerably.

  She laughed. “Sober or drunk, you sweep me away in ways I didn’t know were possible.”

  He curled his hand against her. “You deserve that pleasure, Helena. And it is very much my pleasure to give it to you.”

  She frowned and looked down his body. Just as she’d seen last night, she was well aware of the swollen reminder that he had not found his pleasure with her either time he had touched her.

  “What about you?” she asked.

  He arched a brow. “Are you trying to tempt me, Miss Monroe?”

  “I hope I do tempt you,” she said.

  He caught her hand and gently dragged it down his body until she cupped the hardness of him. “You do,” he promised. “But when I resolve this, I want it to be buried in your body. And I only want to do that when I have the time to do it properly.”

  “In the midst of a country party, that could be challenging.”

  He shrugged as he released her hand. “I’m very good at challenges.” For a moment they lay like that and then he glanced up behind him, toward the house that was hidden over the hill. “Much as I would like to lie here with you all day, it’s getting later in the morning. Soon the others will rise.”

  She moaned as she buried her head in his shoulder. “I don’t want to go back to reality.”

  He laughed as he smoothed a hand over her hair. “Neither do I, I promise you. But we must.”

  She nodded slowly and then lifted her head with a smile for him. “Thank you for the fantasy, though.”

  “Thank you,” he replied before he kissed her once more.

  She wanted to sink into it. To surrender to it and to him. But he didn’t allow it. With a groan, he pulled back and then got to his feet. She watched him straighten himself before he offered her a hand to help her up. She took it and did her best to fix her dress. Beneath it her drawers were slightly cockeyed, but she wasn’t about to fix those.

  “Walk with me,” he said as they started up the hill to where his horse had gone to graze. He caught the reins as they passed the animal and together they climbed up the hill.

  She sighed as the house appeared in the
distance. Reality loomed, as it always would. Now she began to think of consequences and futures and loss and everything else.

  “You said you got bad news last night,” she said. “Is there anything I can do to help?”

  He sent her a side look. “You just did.”

  She shook her head. “You pretend with everyone else, Baldwin, please don’t pretend with me.”

  She saw the air go out of him, his shoulders slumped, and for a moment the weight he carried was so obvious. “It was just bad news about the debts I told you about.”

  She frowned. “The ones you had not been able to discover.”

  He nodded. “Yes. Someone has…bought them all.”

  They were almost to the house now, and she stopped on the path to face him. “One person bought them all? Who?”

  “That was the bad news—I do not know.” He sighed and looked toward the house. “It cannot be for any good reason, though.”

  She tended to agree, but saying so would not relieve him. Instead she reached out and touched his arm. “You do not know anything for certain yet. Have faith, Baldwin. You are too good not to have the best of things happen for you.”

  He stared down at her, and for a moment she thought he might kiss her. She wanted him to, even though she stole a glance up at the house where anyone could be watching. He did the same and sighed.

  “Thank you,” he said. “You were exactly what I needed to clear my mind.”

  “If I did so even a little, then I’m glad,” she said. With a sigh, she stepped away. “I must go inside. The morning is getting late, and any moment my cousin will wake and come barreling into the sitting room to demand I assist her.”

  His brow wrinkled. “The sitting room?”

  Helena shrugged. “She wanted the bed all to herself. I sleep on the settee.”

  His jaw set and she saw the flash of anger that crossed his face. Intense and entirely on her behalf. “That little—”

  Her eyes widened and she shook her head. “Don’t. It isn’t worth it.”

  “I knew I should have given you your own chamber,” he said. “I thought the beautiful view would please you and—”

  She tilted her head. “You chose the room with the view for—for me?”

  “Of course,” he said with no hesitation. “You did not think it was for Charity, did you?” He snorted his derision.

  Her skin grew hot with pleasure and she bent her head. “Oh, well, I…I should go in. Thank you. Good morning.”

  He watched her as she turned and scurried into the house away from him. Away from all they’d done together by the lake. She had no idea where this affair was going.

  All she knew was that she hoped it would continue.

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN

  When Helena entered the chamber a few moments after parting from Baldwin, she found Charity waiting. Her cousin glared at her and snapped, “And just where have you been?”

  Helena tried to slow her suddenly racing heart and put on the brightest smile she could manage. “I woke early and thought I’d take a walk around the grounds. Good morning, Perdy.”

  Charity’s maid lifted her gaze from her work fastening Charity’s gown and smiled slightly. Helena felt for her. Poor Perdy had to deal with Charity and her moods on a more regular basis than Helena did. Just the past few months had been more than enough for her.

  “Did you?” Charity said, arching a brow. “By yourself?”

  Helena shifted. Here was a tricky situation. She certainly wasn’t going to tell her cousin what had really happened this morning, but if she lied about seeing Baldwin and someone told Charity, it would only make things worse. Her cousin already seemed far too interested in the duke and how Helena interacted with him.

  “I did bump into the Duke of Sheffield. He was out on a morning ride,” she admitted. “We walked back together.”

  Charity tilted her head, and then she smiled. “And did you talk about me?”

  “Yes,” Helena said with a tight smile of her own. Not untrue, though she doubted Charity would like the tone or the topic of that conversation. She still blushed when she thought of Baldwin defending her, of him choosing this lovely room for her.

  “Good,” Charity said. “We could yet make use of your odd little friendship with him and his family.”

  Helena came farther into the room and sat down near Charity. Perdy was just finishing the dressing, and soon her cousin would take a place at the dressing table to have her hair done.

  “How so?” Helena asked.

  “He’s very handsome,” Charity said. She was holding Helena’s gaze far too evenly now. “Don’t you think?”

  Helena stopped breathing. She’d known Charity all her life—they’d grown up together—and was well aware of the little twists of Charity’s mouth and tones of her voice. Her cousin was digging for information. Trying to find out things that Helena didn’t want to share.

  Charity obviously had suspicions. Ones that could be very dangerous considering the agreement Helena had just entered into with Baldwin.

  She cleared her throat. “He is one of many handsome men at this gathering. The Duke of Tyndale is also quite well put together. And there are a few others with lesser titles who could not be called ugly.”

  “I wasn’t asking about them, I was asking about him.” Charity turned her dressing table chair so it was facing Helena and then deposited herself into it, forcing Perdy to wedge herself between table and chair to fix Charity’s hair.

  “He is handsome,” Helena said softly.

  “I like him, I think,” Charity continued. “At least as much as anyone else. He approached me after he saw me dancing with Grifford. Maybe he was jealous of our connection.”

  Helena tried to remain calm. “You have a connection with the Earl of Grifford? The man you once complained was so old?”

  Charity shrugged. “He has grown on me. But he’s no duke. What would you think of my pursuing Sheffield?”

  Everything in the room suddenly slowed to half time as Helena stared at her cousin. She knew Baldwin didn’t particularly like Charity. In any other circumstance that fact would have made her comfortable that this fancy of her cousin’s would lead to nothing.

  But she also knew Baldwin’s situation. And her uncle Peter had made certain that Charity was in the best financial position of almost any girl out Season, either here in England or in Boston.

  That dowry wasn’t something Baldwin could ignore. And so the idea sat in Helena’s stomach like a rock.

  “I think it would be…” She cleared her throat around the lump there. “I’m certain it would be a beneficial match for you both.”

  “I agree.” Charity sent a dark look at her maid. “Gracious, Perdy, you are tugging!”

  Helena squeezed her eyes shut as Charity snapped at the poor maid. Her heart had never hurt more in her entire life. Thinking about Charity pursuing Baldwin and him being forced to consider it...

  After what they’d just shared, she could barely stand the idea.

  “Get my necklace, won’t you, Helena?” Charity said, motioning to the jewelry box on the table across the room.

  Helena shook off her thoughts and went to do as she’d been told. Because that’s what she did. There was no other choice.

  Baldwin drew a long breath, closed his eyes and tilted his head up toward the sun. For just a moment, a sense of peace came over him. It was the first time he’d been alone since his mother’s suggestion that they arrange this country party, and now he relished the moment. Soon enough he would have to go back inside. Soon enough he’d have to return his mind to debts and prospects, and he’d have to be near Helena and want her so much that it actually hurt.

  But for now he was—

  “Your Grace?”

  He let out a small sigh before he opened his eyes and watched as one of his mother’s prospects came down the lane in the garden toward him. Lady Winifred, daughter of the Earl of Snodgrass. Fifteen thousand pounds and that damned racehorse. The facts
rolled through his head, and he flinched at how mercenary he’d become. He looked a little closer. She was not an unattractive young lady. Dark hair, brown eyes, pretty face. She just wasn’t the person he wanted.

  He rose from his seat on the bench and forced a smile. “Lady Winifred,” he said. “Come down for a walk, have you?”

  She nodded and said, “Your mother and I were talking about my love for roses, so she sent me down to look at yours.”

  “My mother,” he repeated slowly. He turned his gaze up toward the terrace above and saw the duchess standing there. He frowned at her heavy hand and at the way she waved at him before she had the decency to turn away and leave her machinations to play out.

  “Yes,” Lady Winifred said. “She was quite insistent and I think she planned to go with me, but then she was distracted by a household matter.

  “Of course she was. Well, I would be remiss if I did not offer to show you around the grounds myself, then.” He offered her an arm and she took it without hesitation. He tensed as she did so, hating how he felt…nothing for her. No spark, no interest. Just nothing.

  Because she wasn’t Helena. Once again that thought pressed into his mind. He had to force it out again as they began to walk through the garden, his companion talking on and on about roses. Types. Colors. Scents. Origins.

  Great God, this would be his life. Endless talk of roses as he desperately tried to make fifteen thousand pounds and a racehorse stretch to fill his empty coffers.

  “Your Grace?” she said.

  He blinked and glanced down at her. “My most sincere apologies, my lady. I was distracted and it was very rude of me. I think you were discussing the moss rose.”

  “I was,” she admitted. “But I was about to say that your roses have all bloomed quite early this year.”

  He looked around at the budding beauties his mother and grandmother had both loved so well. “I suppose it is a bit early, yes.”

  Lady Winifred tilted her head. “It’s bad luck, you know. For them to bloom early.”

  Baldwin stifled a laugh that held no humor. “Well, sometimes the only luck a man has is bad luck.”