Beauty and the Earl Read online

  Violet raised her eyebrows as she stared at the other woman. Recent developments was a vague, yet intriguing statement.

  “Do you really think I can influence him to do what you haven’t been able to do in a year?” she asked, passing on her desire to inquire about those developments.

  The other woman shook her head. “I don’t know. And Christian…” She corrected herself swiftly. “My husband doesn’t think you can, nor that it is wise for you to try. But if you could somehow convince Liam to accept us…accept me, I would make certain you received another thousand pounds as a…a bonus of sorts.”

  Violet nearly swayed on her feet. Three thousand pounds was a tidy little fortune and would put her far and above what she needed for her own future schemes.

  “Do you have any guidelines on how to handle your brother?” she asked.

  The duchess seemed surprised by the question, but her demeanor and expression softened considerably as she spoke. “He has become very hard since the accident, since the death of the woman he loved, but he was always a light soul. Quick to laugh, quick to defend those he loved. Somewhere in him, I can’t help but think that he is still that man I knew what seems like a hundred years ago.”

  “Does he have likes or interests?” Violet pressed. The duchess’s eyes went wide and Violet rushed to correct her obvious misconceptions. “I don’t mean when it comes to women. I meant pursuits.”

  The other woman relaxed again. “As a boy, he was always very good at physical things. If it required a ball or a bat or a mallet, he was ready. In fact, he even made up his own games if there was no one else with whom to engage.”

  Intrigued, Violet would have asked more, but Rothcastle returned at that moment a piece of paper in his hand.

  “This is the address to send your reports to. Address them to Mr. Smith and they will be forwarded to me unopened by anyone else,” Rothcastle said.

  “And who will read my reports?” Violet asked.

  He shook his head. “I don’t understand.”

  “Will it only be you, or will your wife also read them?” When he continued to stare, apparently not understanding what she meant, she shrugged. “There may be delicate matters and—”

  “Do not hold back,” Lady Rothcastle interrupted. “I know the situation may be very dire and I want the truth of it, unvarnished.”

  The duke didn’t seem as certain as his wife that she was ready for unvarnished truth, but he didn’t argue.

  “Your solicitor is Mr. Green, whose office is on Cross Circle, yes?”

  Now it was Violet’s eyes which went wide. “Y-Yes, Your Grace. But how—”

  “You are not the only one who knows and hears things,” the duke said softly, his bright blue gaze holding hers. “I will direct all monies to him, under your name.”

  Violet hesitated, for the expression on the duke’s face was unreadable, almost as if he knew something he held back. Something about her. But no one knew anything about her. Not anything she didn’t choose to share.

  “That is agreeable,” she managed to choke out. “And now I shall go. I’ll send word if I am able to—” She hesitated and shot another look to the duchess.

  The other woman arched a brow. “If you are able to raise the interest of Lord Windbury, do send us word. Good day, Miss Milford.”

  Violet knew when she was being dismissed, so she bobbed out a curtsey and exited the home. Outside, her carriage waited, along with Gregson, whose expression was actually relieved.

  “I didn’t relish the idea of busting into that fortress,” he grunted as he helped her up and closed the door behind her.

  Violet settled into the comfortable seat and closed her eyes. A fortress. She wouldn’t exactly call the beautiful home of her hosts that, but it did put certain images to mind of unwinnable battlegrounds.

  She only wondered if Lord Windbury would be one of them.

  “I think I might need help,” she murmured.

  Luckily, she knew just the person for the job.

  Olivia Cranfield poured a brandy from the sidebar of the small home Violet shared with her and sighed.

  “Damn, I was hoping the Rothcastles had invited you to their home to make you their secret lover!”

  Violet laughed as she rolled her eyes. “Good God, Olivia, you couldn’t have believed that.”

  Olivia smiled as she took a sip of her drink. “One could hope. Just imagine the scandal, and you in the middle of it.”

  Violet shook her head. Olivia did love a scandal.

  “Well, it wasn’t that, but I’d say hiring a courtesan in order to seduce and spy on Lord Windbury is certainly scandal enough, even though no one will know about it.”

  “It is shocking,” Olivia conceded as she sat down across from Violet. “But lucrative.” Her friend’s face grew more serious. “You won’t really run away to the country when it’s over, will you?”

  Violet smiled. Olivia teased, but no one knew better than her friend what was at stake for her. “I will. But you may visit me if you think you could bear the boredom.”

  Olivia sighed. “You deserve happiness and boredom, if that is what you choose. You and Peter.”

  Violet tried hard not to think of what images her friend’s words put into her head. She was not free yet.

  She waved her hand to dismiss the subject. “So, as I said, this is an important mission. But not an easy one. He’s a hard man to reach, as a great many courtesans have discovered over the last eighteen months.”

  “He might not keep a woman,” Olivia said with a smile. “But he does please them. I’ve heard very good things about his prowess, so at least you can have fun.”

  Violet considered that. Yes, she had heard the same whispers about Windbury…Liam. That he made absolutely no connection with any woman he took to his bed, but that he was highly passionate and talented.

  “They are letting a place for me in Bath and covering my expenses while I’m there.” Violet bit her lip. “Do you think you might come with me? I think you’ve heard more about the man than I have and I could use your help and advice.”

  Olivia’s face lit up. “A few weeks in Bath! Of course I’ll come. There is no downside to that offer.”

  Her friend continued to gush, but Violet couldn’t concentrate. The fact was, she feared there were many downsides to the project she had agreed to take on.

  In fact, she feared the entire thing could become a disaster of epic proportions.

  Chapter Two

  Liam sank up to his chin in the steaming waters, letting the supposedly healing waters of Bath seep into his injured shoulder. The warmth of the natural spring helped, but he wasn’t certain he retained any miracle cures beyond the few moments of pleasure in the water.

  And yet here he was, thanks in great part to the insistence of his…well, what would he call Malcolm Graham anyway? Assistant, sometime secretary, occasional estate manager…friend. Possibly the only one he had left, and that was likely due in large part to the fact that Mal was on his payroll.

  But whatever Mal’s motivation, he had dragged Liam here to “take the waters” and take the waters he would.

  He measured his breaths, trying desperately to empty his head of all thoughts. It was a nearly impossible task, it seemed, for his mind was always filled with memories he didn’t want to consider and guilt he refused to acknowledge.

  He squeezed his eyes shut, but his thoughts continued to race, bombarding him from all sides.

  “Fuck,” he muttered, and then sank beneath the water entirely. Beneath the depths, there was no noise, nothing to see, and his brain began to quiet finally. Cut off from everything, even breath, he could almost pretend that his life above the surface didn’t exist.

  Almost.

  Unfortunately, his body required air to live and so he rose reluctantly. He wiped his face off and slicked his now-wet hair back with his good hand. He opened his eyes and froze.

  There, standing on the edge of the steps that led down into the large, s
quare pool where he reclined alone, was a woman. Not just any woman, but probably one of the most beautiful women he had ever had the pleasure to look upon in his thirty years.

  She was intensely exotic, with a slightly olive-toned skin and thick, sleek black hair that was drawn back loosely, though strands of it continued to bounce around her oval face. Her dark brown eyes, which were currently focused intently on his face, sparkled in the lamplight and held on him with a confidence he normally didn’t see in women. Especially women wearing a white chemise that left no curve of her body to the imagination.

  He licked his lips as a hot slicing shock of desire ricocheted through his body and settled in his loins. Beneath the water, his cock began to throb.

  “This is a private room,” he managed to croak out.

  Her eyebrows lifted and a slight smiled turned up her lips. “Oh, I certainly hope that is true, considering what I have planned.”

  She took a step into the water and immediately that white chemise went sinfully sheer against her calves. Another step and her thighs were revealed as the water sloshed up and down against her movements.

  He swallowed, his head spinning now, but not with its normally unpleasant thoughts. No, it spun with desire, confusion and a desperate need to have her come deeper into the water.

  “Who are you?” he asked.

  She smiled. “Violet Milford, my lord,” she said, and he almost expected her to put out a hand as if they were meeting under more normal circumstances.

  He sucked in a breath, and her smile broadened.

  “You know my name, do you?” she asked.

  He nodded. “Yes. The courtesan.”

  She hesitated on the third step of the pool and nodded. “And I know you, as well, Lord Windbury.”

  Liam settled back, resting his good arm on the edge of the pool behind him as she continued into the water. Waves covered her body, but she was waist-deep now.

  “Did my man arrange for your appearance?” he asked. Sometimes Mal did that, but never without Liam’s request as the impetus.

  She shook her head. “That hulking beast outside? No, he has no idea I’m here.”

  “Then I almost hate to ask this question, but how did you get past him?”

  She smiled, and something in him shifted. When her full lips tilted upward, her already beautifully exotic face became even more intoxicating. He wanted to drag her against him and kiss her until she couldn’t form coherent words. He wanted to put her on his lap and grind his cock into her wet heat until she screamed. It had been a very long time since he felt such strong, animal reactions. Sex had become a necessary bodily function, not a pleasure as of late.

  “I brought along a distraction,” she replied, seemingly unaware of the place his wicked thoughts had taken him with just her smile. But then, her gaze dropped under the water swiftly.

  He doubted she could see he was naked beneath, or hard and ready with just her unexpected appearance here, but given her vocation and knowing eyes, he would wager she had guessed both.

  Perhaps she even counted on both.

  “I am not looking to become someone’s protector,” he warned her, though he found himself offering a silent prayer that this fact wouldn’t scare her away.

  She moved into the water, dropping under so that it soaked her shoulders before she stood up again and revealed her chemise, utterly sheer and plastered against full breasts with dark, hard nipples. He couldn’t contain a grunt of ever-increasing need.

  “I’m not seeking a protector, my lord,” she whispered as she reached him. She reached out and touched his face, the side without the scar, so he didn’t move away from her fingers. “I’m on holiday. I’m only looking to enjoy myself.”

  She was so close, he could smell the light musk of some kind of perfume, and he lost all semblance of reason. He reached for her without thinking and dragged her hard against him. Her arms wound around his neck and she lifted her mouth just as he smashed his down.

  The kiss was spectacular. Her lips, which looked so full, were exactly what he wanted. Soft and supple, they parted as his tongue demanded entry into her mouth. She denied him nothing, even as he fisted her wet chemise in his hand and dragged his nails against her back in the process. She merely arched against him, rotating her lips against him with suggestive and wanton response.

  “Fuck,” he muttered against her mouth as his blood began to boil with out of control desire.

  She drew back, smiling at him. There was laughter in her voice as she nodded. “Oh yes, most definitely, for I have heard such rumors of your prowess. But first…”

  She trailed off as she reached beneath the steaming water and captured his cock in her palm. When she found him rock hard, a tiny smile crossed her lips, almost triumphant. She stroked over him, and his head dropped back as a low moan escaped his throat. He hadn’t been with a woman in well over three months, and now that he was being touched, he was in serious danger of humiliating himself before she did anything more.

  “Why don’t you sit on the edge?” she urged.

  He reached back and leaned his full weight on his good arm, lifting himself up to sit on the edge of the pool. Her eyes went wide at the physical feat he had just achieved one-armed, but he didn’t allow her to say anything. He grabbed her and dragged her between his legs, letting his hard cock rub against her breasts as he leaned down to kiss her again.

  Her needy moan was lost in their joined mouths, swept away by tangling tongues. She pulled closer, lifting herself and sucking on his tongue at the same time. He had never been with a woman so forward, so driving in her demands, and this was just a kiss.

  As if to prove that point, she pulled back, flipping strands of dark hair, ends wet from the water, away from her neck. She had a tiny, knowing expression to her face, a bright light in her eyes. It was…intoxicating. Perhaps because it felt so real, that she wanted him.

  Of course, he wasn’t that foolish. She was a courtesan and paid well by men to pretend desire. She was here for a reason, even if she claimed to be on holiday and simply wanted his body. But damn if he wasn’t utterly willing to play along.

  Slowly, she stripped her wet chemise away and tossed it on the walkway behind him, leaving her naked. He couldn’t see her lower body, but her breasts were above the water, full and round, beckoning to be touched and sucked and toyed with for hours on end.

  But that didn’t seem to be part of whatever plan Violet had. Instead, she grabbed his cock again, but this time there was no water to separate them. She looked at it, hard and ready, thrusting against his stomach at it full length and girth, and she licked her lips.

  “I want a taste, my lord,” she murmured before she pressed her mouth to his chest.

  Again, she chose the right side of his body to caress, rather than the left where he was scarred and damaged. But he could barely consider that because she latched her mouth around the flat disk of his nipple and sucked hard. His hips bucked of their own accord, knocking his erection through her hand and against her stomach and eliciting another needy moan from her throat.

  She slid lower, tracing the muscles of his stomach with the tip of her tongue, easing herself into position, seducing and pleasing with her touch until she was finally resting directly in front of his cock at the edge of the pool, looking at him with interest and desire that, once again, seemed so genuine.

  She glanced up at him, wickedness in her dark eyes, then lowered her mouth around his cock. She was hot as fire as she took him into her throat. She glided back up his shaft, swirling her tongue around and around his width until stars began to explode before his vision.

  He’d had this pleasure before, of course, with other lovers, but never had a woman given it with what seemed like real pleasure and zeal. Violet made a moaning sound as she took him, her body lifting against the wall of the pool as if she were trying to find some of her own pleasure while she laved him with her hot, talented tongue.

  He felt a cresting desire to shatter so quickly that h
e bit his tongue hard enough to nearly draw blood in able to control that explosive reaction. This strange, unexpected encounter had not been of his making, but he wasn’t about to have it end so quickly and leave this woman to tell the world how he had been nothing more than pudding in her skillful hands.

  No, he had other desires.

  He caught her beneath her arms and drew her up. He would have lifted her from the water entirely, but his injury wouldn’t allow that, a frustration that seemed especially pointed at the moment.

  “Did I not please you?” she asked, not with the wide-eyed innocence of a virgin, but more with the surprise of a woman who knew exactly where her talents lay.

  “Oh no, very pleased,” he said, pushing from the ledge to stand back in the water with her. He wrapped his arms around her waist. “But I want more than you were giving.”

  In the water, she was so light that even his injured arm could do some of the work in lifting her. She wrapped her legs around his hips and slipped a hand between their bodies to position herself. He thrust, and suddenly his cock was surrounded by the white-hot embrace of her slit. He held tight as they began to move in tandem, her arching against him, him lifting his hips to fully seat himself as deeply as he could.

  Her face was even with his, and she kept her gaze on his, never moving, never darting away. It was incredibly intimate, something he would normally shy away from, but he was so taken in by this stranger’s utter acceptance, utter surrender, that he couldn’t manage to break away from the prison of her stare. He was rewarded when her cries increased, and she slammed against him as orgasm hit her.

  He cupped her backside and thrust harder, harder. His body was on fire, alive, and the pleasure built with such pressure that when the dam broke, he only had a moment to pull out before his seed was spilled in the warm, swirling waters.

  His breath was short, as was hers as they stood that way, her arms around him, the water bobbing around them. It was only then that he broke their gaze and extracted himself from her embrace.