To Tempt An Angel (Book 1 Douglas series) (19 page)

Robert grinned. “Why did you think that?”

Instead of answering him, Angelica picked up the new bandage she’d brought with her and began wrapping it around his arm. “Perhaps I should dice with Drinkwater and Mayhew.”

“You will do no such thing,” Robert told her, a sharp edge to his voice. “Ladies play whist; they do not dice for high stakes. Ruining those men would mean ruining yourself, not to mention good marriage prospects for your sisters.”

“
Sacred sevens
, that is absurd,” Angelica said, wiping the salve off her fingers with an extra piece of gauze.

“I will not debate the point with you,” Robert said. “I will ruin Drinkwater and Mayhew. Furthermore, I do not want you distracting them with views of your cleavage.”

“I was helping you,” Angelica said. “Besides, I am more proficient at cheating than you.”

“I appreciate your determination to see this to a successful conclusion,” Robert replied, leaning back. “However, your cheating would create a grand scandal if you were caught.” He winced as he lifted his left arm to rest on the settee behind her. “Don’t rush home, angel. I could use some company.”

Angelica inclined her head. She knew she was in danger by staying, yet she hadn’t the heart to leave.

“So, tell me why you thought I was Old Clootie,” Robert said.

Angelica stared at his bare chest, the blue topaz sparkling at her from the center of the amulet. Without thinking, she answered truthfully. “I thought no flesh-and-blood man could be that handsome, and Old Clootie had stepped out of the crowd to lead me astray.”

“I did,” Robert said, taking her hand in his and lifting it to his lips. “I love you in peach; you are tempting enough to eat.”

Angelica blushed and dropped her gaze. The hint of a smile touched her lips when she asked, “Do you always compliment the ladies by comparing them to fruit?”

She snapped her gaze to his when she heard him laugh. “What do you find so amusing?”

“Your innocence,” he answered, his dark gaze on her softening.

“I was more innocent before I met you,” Angelica reminded him, giving him a long look.

With a devastating smile on his handsome face, Robert inched closer, and his mouth descended to claim her lips. Angelica closed her eyes, surrendering to her desires, and their lips touched in a lingering kiss.

When Angelica relaxed in his arms, Robert’s kiss became ardent and demanding. Together, they fell back on the settee and kissed for an eternity.

Without taking his lips from hers, Robert slid the bodice of her gown down to free her breasts from their confinement. The gown lifted them high, as if they begged for his touch.

Robert kissed her eyelids, temples, nose, and throat. He claimed her lips again while his fingertips glided back and forth across her sensitive nipples, which hardened into arousal beneath his touch.

Angelica sucked in her breath at the sensation. His fingers on her nipples ignited a throbbing heat in the secret place between her thighs. Her young body yearned to feel his masculine hardness filling her, making her complete; instinctively, she moved her hips in a sensual invitation as old as time itself.

Slowly, enticingly, Robert slid his lips down the delicate column of her throat to her breasts. He flicked his tongue across her nipples, making her moan with pleasure.

“Yes, oh yes,” Angelica murmured, clasping his head to her breast.

Robert fixed his mouth on a breast and drew tantalizingly upon its nipple. Capturing it between his teeth, he nipped it gently, spurred on by her moans of pleasure. He licked her nipple again and teased it with his teeth. At the same time, he slipped his right hand down her body and lifted the skirt of her gown to caress the inside of her thigh.

“I love your breasts, with their sensitive nipples,” Robert whispered.

Angelica moaned low in her throat and thrust her breasts out. Embracing him, she pulled him tighter and panted, “Touch me, touch me all over.”

In answer, Robert drew hard on her engorged nipple and slid his hand to the juncture between her thighs. Angelica spread her legs for him, and when he caressed the jewel of her womanhood, she began to move her hips in rhythm with his fingers.

“You are swollen and wet for me, my love,” Robert whispered thickly.

“Only for you,” Angelica breathed, her young body inflamed by his touch and his words.

Sliding down her body, Robert used his fingers to tease her nipples while his mouth found the jewel of her desire. He licked and nipped her female button while holding the tips of her nipples between his thumbs and forefingers gently, his hands mimicking what his lips had done.

Angelica felt her tension building and cried out as wave after wave of exquisite pleasure crashed over her. She clung to him as if she would never let him go.

Robert rose up between her thighs and pushed himself inside her. He grinded himself deep within her trembling body and rode her hard until they cried out their pleasure and then lay still. The only sound in the chamber was their labored breathing as they floated back to earth.

Reality returned in the form of shame and guilt. Now sated, Angelica realized what she had done. Again. Her behavior was appalling. Ladies did not abandon themselves to their desires, especially unmarried ladies.

She was a countess but no lady. Did she suffer some defect of character? Would she behave this disgracefully with all men, or only Robert? Was she a born wanton? Were sexual desires to her what sweets were to a fat woman?

Her previously privileged life had prevented her from fully fitting into a life without wealth. Had her exposure to a rougher class of society tarnished her somehow?
Sacred sevens
, where in God’s great universe did she belong?

When Robert lifted himself off her, Angelica pushed the skirt of her gown down and then covered her breasts. Rising from the settee, she turned her back to him and wandered across the chamber to the window while she composed herself physically and emotionally.

Angelica tried in vain to rid herself of the tousled look by pushing her blond hair back away from her face. Her gaze drifted to the garden below. The gazebo was empty, the blonde having taken herself back to work.

When she turned away from the window, Angelica saw Robert watching her. She squared her shoulders and crossed the study to stand in front of him.

“
This
will never happen again,” Angelica said, gesturing to the settee.

Robert grinned. “You’re repeating yourself, my love.”

Without warning, Angelica slapped him. Playing the wanton was bad enough, but she refused to be mocked.

“Why did you do that?” Robert asked.

“I despise men who smirk,” she told him.

“I wasn’t smirking,” he said.

“
Bull’s pizzle
.”

Robert grabbed her upper arms and yanked her against his unyielding body. With his lips hovering above her, he said, “I’ve changed my mind, angel.” 

“What do you mean?” Angelica asked in confusion.

“Almost being killed has made me aware of my mortality,” Robert told her. “I want to marry you and make a dozen babies.”

What about love?
Angelica thought, stepping back two paces, her heart wrenching at his omission. By sheer force of will, she kept her tears from flowing.

“I’ve changed my mind, too,” Angelica said, her smile filled with sunshine. “I wouldn’t marry you to save my soul from eternal damnation.”

Chapter 11

“You’re rejecting me?”

Robert couldn’t credit what he’d heard. This must be some mistake or a joke. No woman had ever refused his advances, never mind that he was offering the chit a high-ranking title and vast wealth, in addition to his numerous physical and intellectual attributes.

“Don’t look so surprised,” Angelica said. “I’ve built up an immunity to your charms, my lord, as one does with the measles.”

Robert stared at her in disbelief. She seemed to be enjoying the moment. “Are you comparing me to a childhood disease?” he asked, unamused by her wit.

Angelica smiled at that.

“You were purring in my arms not ten minutes ago,” Robert said, wiping the smile off her face. He felt some satisfaction when her cheeks pinkened with her embarrassment. “
You
asked
me
to marry you only two weeks ago.”

Her blush deepened into a vibrant scarlet. She recovered herself, though, saying, “Now that I know you better, I’ve changed my mind.”

 “Any woman in England is mine for the asking,” Robert told her, insulted by her remark. He knew it was the wrong thing to say soon as the words slipped from his lips.

 Angelica drew herself up to her full height of five feet two inches. A mulish expression appeared on her face.

“Any woman
except me
,” Angelica told him, and turned to leave.

Robert moved when she did. He stood in front of the closed door and blocked her exit. Relaxing back against the door’s solid wood, he folded his arms across his chest.

“Let me pass,” she said.

“No, and if you strike me again,” he replied, “I’ll take you across my knee.”

Angelica arched a blond brow at him. “Are you keeping me prisoner?”

“What an excellent idea,” Robert said, his smile growing into a broad grin.

Angelica assumed a disgusted expression. She rolled her eyes heavenward, as if he was trying her patience.

“I ruined Alasdair Trimble,” Robert reminded her, “but you don’t seem grateful,”

“I am exceedingly grateful,” Angelica told him.

“However, I could have ruined him myself.” She appeared wholly disgusted when she added, “Any five-year-old could have ruined that breast-ogling idiot. What sane person chooses a main on the basis of someone else’s favorite number? I cannot imagine how my father lost part of his fortune to the man.”

“Have I told you how beautiful you are when you’re angry?” Robert asked. “Your blue eyes blaze with emotion. You’re doing it now. Almost the same thing happens when we make love. Your facial expressions and soft moans could incite a holy man to lust.”

“You watched me?” Angelica exclaimed, blushing fiercely.

“Watching is part of the fun,” he said. “Try it next time.”

“There won’t be a next time,” she informed him.

Robert ignored that remark and asked, “May I escort you to Emerson’s ball?”

“No.”

“Please?”

Angelica looked surprised by his use of the word
please
. After a moment, she said, “I’ll consider your request.”

Robert stepped aside to let her pass. “TeIl my father to call his watchdogs off,” he said as she passed him.

“Tell him yourself.” At that, she disappeared out the door.

Robert smiled to himself as he crossed the study to his desk. He sat down and poured himself a whiskey.

His angel’s fierce spirit was one of her most endearing qualities. But what the bloody hell did she want from him? A profession of undying love? What a ridiculous—

I love her,
Robert realized, surprising himself. He had never loved any woman before, merely accepted their love as his due and taken what he’d wanted. Well, he would never tell the little minx that he loved her. He’d seen too many henpecked gentlemen at White’s, trying to escape their wives for an evening to catch a few hours of peace. Their torment always began with the words
I love you.

Robert picked up a quill and returned his attention to the ledgers. He tried to focus on the column of numbers but saw only his angel, disheveled on the settee.

Five minutes later, Robert threw the quill down. He leaned back in his chair and propped up his legs on the desk.

How could his angel have rejected his offer of marriage? he wondered. Didn’t all women want an honorable marriage with a wealthy titled aristocrat?

Louisa hadn’t wanted to marry me,
Robert reminded himself, disturbing thoughts stepping out of the shadows of his mind. If she had wanted a marriage with him, she and their unborn child wouldn’t be buried in an early grave.

Six days later, as he dressed for the Emersons’ ball, Robert was still wondering what his angel really wanted. He’d left her alone since that day at his house in the hope that his absence would make her heart grow fonder.

One thing was certain. He was not going to court his angel or even escort her to the Emerson ball beneath the eyes of his father’s watchdogs.

Robert left his chamber and walked downstairs to the foyer. “Are those bodyguards outside?” he asked his majordomo.

“No, my lord, I told them you wouldn’t be leaving until later,” Webster answered. “I told them you insisted they come inside for supper and took the liberty of serving them in the formal dinning room.”

Robert grinned. “Webster, you are too amazing for words.”

“Thank you, my lord,” the majordomo replied. “A hefty raise would be welcome.”

“We’ll discuss that in the morning, “ Robert said.

“Take care of yourself tonight, my lord,” Webster said, opening the door.

Robert paused, saying, “Why, Webster, thank you for your concern.”

“You are welcome, my lord,” the man said. “I wouldn’t wish to be unemployed.”

Robert climbed into his carriage, calling, “Let’s go, Mack.”

Two minutes later, his driver parked the carriage in front of his father’s mansion. Before his driver could open the door, Robert leaped out and hurried up the stairs. He didn’t want to appear a coward; but, on the other hand, he had no wish to see his own blood splattered across his father’s front stairs.

“Good evening, my lord,” Tinker greeted him.

“Good evening.”

“His Grace and Lady Roxanne are waiting in the drawing room,” the majordomo informed him.

“Where are the young ladies?” Robert asked.

“Primping.”

Robert walked up the stairs to the second-floor drawing room. After an absence of six days, he could hardly wait to see his angel.

“Ah, there you are,” Duke Magnus said when he walked into the drawing room.

Robert lifted Lady Roxanne’s gloved hand to his lips. Gowned in midnight blue, she wore sparkling diamonds in her upswept hair. “You are a beautiful midsummer evening,” he complimented her. “Midnight blue with glittering stars in the night sky.”