Authors: Nichole Matthews
“
You don’t think he realized do you?” Piper asked with wide eyes.
“
No, of course not. He saw what he wanted to see. A man.” He made haste to assure her. “Just be careful you don’t mention this to anyone or you’ll be ruined. And I’ll be dead!” He grinned looking at Piper out of the corner of his eye. “That was deuced fun though wasn’t it?”
Both laughed. Quickly getting into Chester’s carriage to head home.
………………
.…………….
Graydon smiled as he allowed the curtain to fall back into place from the parlor window.
CHAPTER NINE
I can’t believe it! Rockwell was at the literary club! I would have never guessed. My heart nearly burst out of my chest when I first glimpsed him. He actually wears spectacles! Almost like mine! I wanted to giggle all night long. I must admit, it is quite tiring being a man. They don’t giggle or squirm or anything.
He was more attractive then I remember. I’m doomed. I’m still infatuated with him. Even more so than I was last year. How very vexing.
The literary club was dull!!! I thought they would be talking about risqué books. Maybe the Kama Sutra that I’ve heard whispered about! They were talking about new farming methods. Why would he need to know about new farming methods? He seemed so interested in the topic…he actually seemed to be concentrating!
I cannot stop thinking of him. I’m more determined than ever. He was everything I remember from last season. So incredibly handsome. So big and tall. My heart fluttered uncontrollably all evening long. He made it very difficult for me to act as a gentleman.
Piper’s journal
5 July
“
WELL, WELL, WELL, I forgot to congratulate you earlier for the advantageous match you were able to procure for your sister,” Graydon threw jovially across the room as he strode purposefully over to where Ashford sat. “Grandson to a duke and now brother-in-law to a duke, you are without a doubt working diligently to stack the deck, my friend. What’s you next move, becoming the king?”
“
Shh…that could be considered treasonous talk, my friend.” Parker chuckled. “Rockwell you are just green with envy, join me?” Parker Peregrine, the Marquis of Ashford said with a grin as he lowered his paper. “Because you know no matter what you do, I will always be of higher rank.” He motioned for the footman. “Another glass, please.”
The footman inclined his head. “Right away, my lord.”
“
So another duchess in the family?” Graydon chuckled, settling himself in one of the deep leather chairs. “I may need your charmed assistance once my sisters come of age.”
“
Only the best will do for my sisters.” Parker grinned back. “I’m glad it was to Hawksley. It eases my mind to know the Poppy settled so well. I don’t have to wonder about her welfare any longer. Too bad you weren’t able to join us this summer,” Parker said with a raised brow. “We had a very interesting time.”
“
It all sounds positively nauseating, if I can believe half of what Seymour says.” Graydon leaned back, crossing his long muscular legs at the ankles. “You know that I had every intention of spending the summer at Rosebriar. I was actually looking forward to a low-key summer.” Graydon rolled his eyes. “Unfortunately, life had other plans for me. I had to coddle my mother and shelter my sisters from the ugly rumor mill.”
“
Believe me, I understand. Poppy asked Hawk about those old rumors over the summer. She’d heard a vague mention of me. I’ve yet to tell her anything,” Parker said with a sympathetic look in his eye before waiving his hand dismissively. “How is your mother doing now by the way?”
“
She practically had a stroke.” He took a long swallow from his tumbler. “She took to her bed for over a month milking it for all it was worth. My sisters are still young enough that they haven’t heard the entirety of the rumors, but they knew something was wrong. Mother practically stayed in her suite of rooms the entire summer.”
“
Ever the doting son I see, but pardon me for saying so, your mother confining herself to her room? I would think that could be construed as a favorable outcome.” Parker looked at him from under raised brows with one corner of his mouth curved in a smirk.
“
For most I’m sure it is, but not when you’re the one being summoned regularly to attend to her delicate nerves throughout the day.” Graydon shrugged one shoulder. “She is doing well enough, I suppose, other than her overly dramatic swoons. She felt it fitting compensation to spend an obscene amount shopping the moment our wheels hit the cobbles of London.” Graydon smiled, lighting a cheroot and taking a long pull, then blowing the smoke high in the air. “She is afraid that she will never be a
grand-m
é
re
. She’s not very happy that I escaped parson’s noose, no matter how it would have been accomplished. She’s forever hounding me of my duty to the family and the title.” He chuckled bitterly. “I’m supposed to be searching for a bride this season. I’ll be turning thirty-one.” He rolled his eyes comically. “She believes I’m already in my dotage. What about you?”
“
I would be infinitely better if someone would stop dredging up those blasted rumors about me.” Parker frowned. “I’ve been trying to shelter Piper and Poppy.” He swallowed thickly. “Luckily Poppy married Hawk. He can watch over her now. But I pray that Piper avoids being hurt by the gossips. But knowing her, she would simply call someone out for defaming my good character.” He chuckled. “I can see her at dawn on the field of honor with a brace of pistols; I fear she would not stop at first blood.”
“
Remind me to watch myself when I’m around her. I saw your sisters briefly last season, I believe, but I’ve never been formally introduced. They are twins?” Graydon probed. “I can’t quite remember which is which. Is Poppy the blonde or the brunette?”
“
Yes, they’re twins. Poppy is the little blonde. Piper is the little brunette; she’s here this season.” Parker’s lip quirked. “Hopefully I can marry her off this year,” he said. “Then all I have to do is watch after Peyton. He’s going to be the death of me. Do you know he has set his mind on becoming the wildest rake in all of England’s history? Fancies himself a member of his own private
Hellfire Club.
The funny thing is,
this whole summer he was moping around Rosebriar like he lost his best friend. I cannot make heads or tails of it.”
“
I would have thought he would be at his country estate. I hear he has become quite the host. If the rumors I hear are true, he is well on his way of superseding even our dissolute reputations and truly earning that title.” Graydon’s gaze met Parker’s. “What is the name of his so called ‘
club
’?”
“
The Wicked Wastrels
or some equally inane name.” Parker chuckled.
Graydon threw back his head and laughed. “Say it isn’t so?”
“
I don’t remember us having a silly name. Am I mistaken?” His brow furrowed as he searched his memory. “I just remember being called a hellion by multitudes of Society matrons.”
“
Hmmm...what is he, only twenty-four or twenty-five?” Graydon asked. “He’s still testing his mettle. We all did, if you but take a moment to remember.” He glanced knowingly at Parker. “We definitely did. I thought our debaucheries would remain legendary for generations and generations.”
“
I guess you’re right. Peyton is just sewing his wild oats like we all have.” A look of mock despondency flittered across Parker’s face. “Unfortunately, it looks as though we have been retired.” He poured himself another tumbler of bourbon. “Yes, I fear that I have become a staid, respectable old man since my father died. The funny thing is, he’s acting more like a man in love instead of a man trying to sew his oats. But whenever I ask him, he won’t tell me anything.”
With his brows raised, “You don’t say? Maybe he is in love. It happens to the best of us.” Graydon shrugged his shoulder as he looked over the top of his glass. “So you said Piper’s the dark haired twin, right?” Graydon inquired casually taking a sip of his brandy.
“
Yes, she looks like me. She and Poppy look nothing alike except in size. They are both tiny little things though, amazing to me since Peyton and I are so big. I’m sure you must have met her, if only briefly.”
“
I’ve seen her.”
“
Piper is a little quieter, more bookish.” Parker grinned. “She believes herself a
bluestocking
. I have to admit she looks adorable when she walks around in her little gold-rimmed spectacles. Thinks it makes her look smarter.” He laughed. “But she’s definitely a handful as well. Very opinionated.” He chuckled. “She is actually trying to start up a ladies literary club herself.” He glanced at Graydon. “She could give you a run for your money with your literary pursuits. Probably knows as much or more than you.”
“
Hmmm…interesting,” Graydon grunted, his eyes narrowed. “I don’t recall her wearing spectacles when I met her?”
“
Of course she doesn’t actually wear them in public. I actually gave her an extra pair for her birthday gift last year. Silver frames instead of gold. You would have thought she died and went to heaven.” He chuckled. “You actually have quite a bit in common.” He smirked. “You both have on occasion immersed yourselves so deeply in a favorite book that you have forgotten the world still spins.”
“
How amusing you are finding yourself today.” Graydon sipped his drink. “I should cancel my appointment for the theatre tonight and allow you the opportunity to entertain me in its stead. I must admit that your amusing accounts seem to have improved over the summer.”
Parker snapped his fingers. “Hey, I have a brilliant idea. Perhaps you can turn from your dissolute ways and marry Piper, then I won’t have to worry about her any longer.” He laughed loudly.“
“
You’re a riot Ash!” Graydon placed his elbows on the table and leaned forward. “Surely you are not attempting to pawn your sister off on me? I have a horrendous reputation, just ask my mother. It’s the only way I know how to live. I have no desire to make any significant changes at this juncture in my life.” Graydon snorted, allowing himself a small smile. “There is still too much depravity for me to enjoy. I have no interest in marriage. Not for a long, long time,” he finished, swallowing the rest of his bourbon in one gulp. He had remained celibate for the last few weeks by choice, but obviously it was beginning to wear on him.
That’s probably what his problem was. He just needed a warm, willing woman, a good fuck. Why else would he be fixated on a girl dressed up as a boy? There’s got to be something wrong with him?
He quickly asked, “Do you know George Smith, Portland’s cousin?”
Parker’s brow furrowed for a moment in concentration. “No, I’m not acquainted with a George Smith, but of course I’m not acquainted with everyone on Portland’s side of the family.” Parker replied his lips compressed. “Why do you ask?”
“
I met the lad yesterday at my literary club.” Graydon hid a smile. Parker was one of the few people who knew of his literary proclivities. “He looked quite young, reminded me of you for some reason.”
“
I suppose there is a possibility of a slight resemblance, but I am generally thought to favor my father’s side not my mothers. They are mostly blond.” His dark brows furrowed, he glanced at Graydon askance, “Are you sure he said he was from Portland’s side of the family?”
“
Absolutely positive.” He still tread a tad cautiously, he wasn’t trying to get anyone into any real trouble. “Portland introduced him to me as
his
cousin from Devonshire.”
“
Hmmm…Oh well, If I think about it, I will ask Portland next time I see him. I know he’ll be at the Wrothingham ball.”
……………………………
.
In the darkened room, Graydon lay with his hands behind his head as the young and newly widowed Lady Caroline Carleton lightly ran her hand over the golden dusting of hair on his well-muscled chest.
With a throaty purr, “Whatever is the matter with you tonight, Rockwell?” Her fingers continued to slowly trace the trail of hair that led towards his presently flaccid manhood. Their enthusiastic romp between the sheets had currently sated his animalistic need for release, but that was all. He felt nothing else, except indifference for her. She served a purpose and that she did well.
He couldn’t seem to get out of his mind the girl from the literary club. He closed his eyes at the memories. How can a little bitty thing dressed as a boy occupy so much of his time. He would be a laughing stock if any of his cronies knew he was fantasizing about a girl in spectacles and trousers. He must be extremely bored or too cynical if the voluptuous form of Caroline could no longer hold his attention. He had always assumed that experience trumped innocence, but he was beginning to change his mind. Because no matter how hard he tried tonight, all he could think about were the bluest eyes, the color of the clearest summer skies looking up at him.
Shaking his head, the sardonic lines of his mouth deepened. “Nothing my dear.” He slid a sideways glance her way. “My mind is preoccupied with matters of business.” But lord, he had never seen such a fine arse in trousers before. Tiny was not normally his style, but the intrigue was almost too much. His hunger for her stirred his arousal which caused a familiar delicious heaviness to settle in his groin. He was a man after all, how wrong could it be for him to ease this terrific ache?