The Reluctant Duchess (18 page)

“Your eyelashes tickle.”

Annabelle raised her head and turned to look at him, smiling. Richard’s eyes were cracked but he clearly didn’t want to wake up just yet, although the edges of his lips were turned up in a slight smile.

“What time is it?” she asked.

“Early,” he mumbled, closing his eyes. “Go back to sleep.”

She looked to the fire which was low but
not out, meaning that they had probably only been asleep for an hour or two.

“But I’m cold,” she pouted.

His smile widened. “And what did you want me to do about that?”

She began to kiss his chest, trailing a path steadily north towards his lips, as her hand reached down and began to caress his thigh. Within moments, his length
was swelling once again and he knew that there was no way he would get back to sleep now.

As her lips reached his, her hand encased his length and gently began to caress him
, causing him to moan through their kiss.

“You wanton little minx,” he said as she pulled away.

Annabelle bit her lip coyly, although she looked thoroughly pleased with herself at the same time.

She began kissing his chest again, making her way to his
left nipple, first flicking it with her tongue, then gently sucking, which he seemed to enjoy most. This time he felt free to caress her whilst she explored him and his hands roamed her hips, then her flat stomach, before cupping her breasts, rubbing his thumbs over her nipples until they stood erect.

He had to remove her hand from his manhood again when she threatened to excite him too much, then he rolled them over until she was on her back and he between her legs. He began by kissing her neck, then slowly worked his way south, pausing to lavish attention on her breasts, before continuing. He felt her stiffen as he got to her navel but he had no intention of stopping and to his surprise, she did
n’t try to stop him. He dipped his head lower and captured her bud between his lips, rubbing his tongue over the sensitive tip.

He tried a few different techniques until he learned what she liked best
, but this time he didn’t bring her to orgasm. This time he wanted to share that with her. When he felt that he had tortured her for long enough, he made his way back up her body and was surprised when she reached down and placed him at her entrance. He didn’t need any more of an invitation and slipped into her slick channel.

This time he didn’t need to tell her to maintain eye contact. Her hands ran over his chest and back as they came together, her fingernails gently scratching his skin. As he felt his climax approaching again, he rested his weigh
t on one arm and slipped the other hand between them, to stimulate her bud. She gasped and increased the power of her thrusts, needing him deeper inside her, as deep as he could go. Richard responded in kind and he brought her to her peak just seconds before his.

The look in her eyes was a sight to behold. As well as pleasure, desire and need, he saw absolute trust there and it warmed his heart.

When they had both recovered a little, he kissed her tenderly.

“Thank you.”

“For what?” she asked.

“For being so absolutely perfect. For taking me to your bed. For trusting me.”

“Well believe it or not, it wasn’t actually that much of a burden for me.” She smiled, tenderly smoothing his fallen locks of his hair back into place.

He k
issed her again.

“I suppose no
w you’re going to start nagging me, like my mother, to get my hair cut.”

“Actually no, I quite like it.” She said, slipping both hands into his hair and grabbing t
wo handfuls. “Plus, it’s easier to control you like this.” She pulled his head down to hers for another kiss, but she was careful not to pull too hard.

He grinned as she released him and he pulled away.

“I suppose we should get under the covers this time,” he said.

A look of fear crossed Annabelle’s face. “What if we’re discovered?”

“We won’t be,” he assured her.

“You can’t guarantee that.”

“I know,” he admitted. “But I don’t want to leave you yet. I want to wake up with you, like we did at the estate.”

“I want that too,”
she confessed, “but there are already enough rumours about us. If my reputation falls much further, people will stop frequenting the coffee house.”

His first instinct was to say ‘
To hell with the coffee house’ but he knew that she wasn’t ready for that step yet. That step involved marriage, after which she wouldn’t need the coffee house but she was far too scarred from her life to even consider marriage yet.

Suddenly he realised that he ha
dn’t even considered protection. He didn’t much care if she fell pregnant as he already knew that she was his future but she would care very much; she would see it as him trying to trap her into marriage.

“Do you have a douche?” he asked suddenly, surprising her.

“Oh, um, I don’t know. I think we have one somewhere. Mother used to say that cleanliness was next to godliness. Why?”

“It helps to prevent pregnancy. I’m sorry, I should have thought about it before
but I was so caught up in the moment that-“

“Shh,” she said, placing a finger across his lips, although she looked concerned. “I’m pleased to know that but the fault here is as much mine as yours. I hadn’t stopped to consider that either.”

He still felt that the fault was his, because he was the more experienced, but he didn’t think that she would appreciate being told that. He couldn’t risk losing her, not when he had just got through to her.

“Go find it now,” he ordered. “And bring some vinegar to mix with the water.

She nodded her understanding and pulled a robe on, before sneaking out into the hall. He waited anxiously for her to return which she did, fifteen minutes later.

“Did anyone see you?” he asked.

“No. Thankfully it was in Mother’s dressing room, so I didn’t have to go into her room.”

“And the vinegar?”

“The servants sleep on the top floor, so there was no one in the kitchen to see me.”

He instructed her on its use and then, since the mood had long since been killed, decided that she was right and that he should leave. He didn’t want to and he lingered over the goodbye
, but eventually she unlocked the rear servants’ entrance for him and he stole off into the night. Thankfully he had walked here, so there was no driver to give him away. His servants would know that he had returned home in the early hours but if anything, they would assume that he had been with Ada. The detectives who were keeping watch over Annabelle would have seen him go in but even if they had their suspicions, they would have no proof of the time he left.

It was gone three a.m. when he got home and
the house was deathly silent, so he crept up to his room, hoping that no one noticed just how late he had returned.

When Annabelle awoke the next morning, she was sore but not unpleasantly so. She had enjoyed last night, although she did feel a little foolish for not having considered the possibility of conceiving a child.
She knew the dangers that an unwed mother faced, after all, Minnie was ample proof of that.

The vinegar in the douche had stun
g like nobody’s business, but the pain had quickly passed and it had needed to be done. She was just grateful that Richard had finally considered the possibility.

Even feeling foolish though, she couldn’t regret her actions.

Perhaps it was wrong and immoral, but it certainly hadn’t felt that way to her.

She hummed as she got ready for work, although she was careful not to seem too happy.
However, not even the news that someone else had been robbed and beaten near the shop could dent her happiness right now.

Lavinia stopped by mid-morning for a chat and placed an order for Thursday. She noticed Annabelle’s improved mood but she didn’t comment on it.

As he used to, Richard popped in between two and three to share lunch. She prepared them two bowls of wild boar casserole, which they took to her office to eat but as soon as she had placed the tray on the desk, Richard stepped up behind her, pressing his body against hers.

“I missed you,” he whispered in her ear
, before lavishing kisses on her neck.

“I missed you to
o,” she said, leaning back against him. Even through her petticoat, she could feel his length pressed into her rear. She allowed herself a few moments of indulgence, after all, she had needs too but when things became too amorous, she pulled away. Richard pouted like a schoolboy.

“
I don’t care how sad you look, it’s not happening; not here.” She tried to sound stern but she was more amused really. She began to eat her casserole and Richard sat down and followed suit.

“I know, my love.” He smiled easily, letting her know that he had just been teasing.

“Unfortunately, I don’t know when we will get another such opportunity.” She sighed. “I’m afraid our memories will just have to tide us over for a while.”

“It’
s strange you should mention that, because I happen to know that in a few days’ time, Mr Braithwaite is moving out.”

“And a new owner will be moving in,” she reminded him.

“Yes, us.”

Annabelle blinked a few times as she processed that.
“You mean, you bought the leasehold?”

“I did.” He answered carefully, unable to read her expression.

“Even after all those horrible things I said?”

“Yes.”

She felt tears sting her eyes. “You really are the sweetest man, you know.”

“I try.” He smiled, please that she wasn’t yelling at him.

“You do realise that probably won’t stop Frederick, don’t you?”

“I do, which is one of the reasons I didn’t want to tell you, in case you and your staff stopped travelling in pairs.”

“What are the other reasons?” she asked.

“Well… mainly, I didn’t want you to be angry with me again.”

“I am sorry. I feel like quite the nag now.”

“You are not a nag,” he assured her. “Now, can we please put that incident behind us? I don’t want my current joy to be tarnished with old memories.”

“Of course,” she nodded. “So when do you take ownership of the house?”

“Wednesday. And his wife wants to furnish the n
ew house, so I’m keeping most of the furnishings.”

Annabelle couldn’t help but share his glee at their new meeting place.

“I suppose I could work late some evenings. Bookkeeping is a time consuming and tedious process.”

Richard laughed.
“There is a devious side to you that I hadn’t noticed before but I must say, I find it most appealing.”

“You say that now,” she laughed.

“I shall say it forever.”

She looked a little unnerved by his words. “Can you really afford to leave the property empty?”

“I can. Besides it’s still a good investment.”

“Maybe that could be your new vocation, property agent.”

“Hmm,” he pretended to consider it. “It would certainly be interesting to see how many London properties we could make love in.”

Annabelle threw a piece of bread at his head for his impertinence.

“I hear there was another attack last night.” He said, turning serious.

Annabelle nodded.  “He wasn’t known to any of the shopkeepers, just a passer-by.”

“Do you still think it’s Frederick behind this?” he asked.

“I do.
I had assumed that he was trying to get Mr Braithwaite to lower the price of the lease but now that I know that you have already bought it, I’m not sure what his plan is any longer.”

“The police still can’t find a link to
Frederick,” he sighed. He too was sure that the continuing attacks were the work of Frederick, he just couldn’t prove it, nor had his detective had any luck. He had been able to confirm that Mrs Braithwaite’s ‘friend’ was Frederick, but that was hardly proof that he had orchestrated these incidents.

“If he didn’t succeed in buying the leasehold though, why is he still doing this? Why attack innocent people?”
she asked.

“Perhaps his only goal is to intimidate you.”

“Well, it does make me feel uneasy. Each morning, I wonder if today is the day I will discover that my shop has been robbed or vandalised overnight.” She had decided to get exterior wooden shutters for the coffee house and each evening they were padlocked closed. She had also improved security on all the doors but with the right tools, anyone who was determined could probably still find a way in.

“Do you really feel unsafe?” he asked.

Annabelle nodded, looking a little hesitant. “It’s just… well, I think that I’m being followed.”

“Followed?”

“Yes. I’m not certain but there are four different men who are always around. They take shifts to sit in the coffee house, but I have glimpsed them following me home some days, and I think I saw one of them outside my house one night.”