A Scandalous Charade (13 page)

It was a beautiful spring day with puffy white clouds scattered across the cerulean sky. It was the sort of day that felt magical—at least it did whenever Juliet thought about spending it with Luke. And honestly it was hard to think about anything else.

He had become such a part of her life. Always there. Always watching her with those devilish, green eyes. Always waiting to steal a kiss if Georgie happened to turn her back. And as the days progressed, she’d started to suspect that she had fallen in love with the scoundrel. She wasn’t certain, as she’d never fallen in love before. How did one know for sure? She couldn’t ask her sister for advice. In the first place, she didn’t believe Georgie had ever been in love. And secondly, she knew that if she expressed such a question to her sister, Georgie would barricade Prestwick House against the scandalous rogue all together.

Slowly, the coach rolled to a stop. Then the door opened, but instead of a footman lowering the steps, Luke did the honors with a rakish grin that sent flutters straight to Juliet’s belly.

“Your Grace. Lady Teynham,” Luke greeted them and helped Edmund and Georgie from the coach. Then he offered his hand to Juliet. “Princess.” His simple touch made tingles race across her skin, like it always did.

“Luke!” Edmund gushed and gestured to the large, white ship that floated proudly before them. There were two rows of portholes and three large masts towering above. “This is brilliant.”

“I do hope you’ll enjoy yourself, Edmund. Escort your sister, will you? And watch your step.”

Edmund grabbed Georgie’s hand in his and anxiously towed her up the gangplank. Her brother’s excitement was contagious, and even Georgie laughed as she stumbled onto the deck.

Juliet smiled as she watched her siblings. It had been too long since they’d all had fun together. She found that Luke’s love for life was simply addictive.

“What are you thinking, Juliet?” Luke whispered.

His breath warmed her neck and she shuddered. The sweet smell of his citric shaving lotion invaded her senses and made her sigh. “I was just thinking how glad I am to know you.”

“Indeed?” He grinned and tucked her hand in the crook of his arm. “I can hardly wait for you to get to know me even better. As they started up the narrow gangplank, Luke slid his hand along her back and quietly admitted, “Actually, princess, I’ve invited others to join us today. Normally, I wouldn’t ask for my sister’s company, but I think she’ll do marvelously in keeping Georgie occupied for a while.”

Juliet was thrilled to see that not only Caroline was on board Luke’s yacht, but her son and daughters as well. Edmund and the three Staveley children were already laughing gaily and racing each other across the deck. “I think that’s a lovely idea.”

She then spotted Susan Clarke and her parents off to one side, talking with Lord Haywood. She must have groaned aloud, because Luke followed her eyes and replied, “Come now, Juliet, we had a bargain…and you’re supposed to be helping Will woo the shy Miss Clarke.”

Juliet grimaced at the thought and whined, “What do I get again?”

“Me,” Luke answered with a low growl that she felt all the way down to her toes. Then he had the audacity to actually squeeze her bottom.

Juliet stifled a gasp and hoped that no one had noticed the inappropriate touch that caused an instant blush to stain her cheeks. But luckily no one had paid them any attention. Georgie and Caroline occupied each other, talking quite animatedly as they kept their eyes on the four children. Meanwhile Haywood and the Clarkes were intently focused on each other. She and Luke could have vanished and no one would have been the wiser.

Though just as that thought entered Juliet’s mind, Caroline turned her bright smile on her brother. “Darling, when did you acquire this vessel? Staveley would be quite impressed with it.”

Luke looked up at one of the masts with some degree of pride. “I won it from Haversham last month in a wager.”

Georgie’s face went white at mention of one of London’s most dissolute noblemen. This did not go unnoticed by Caroline, who narrowed her hazel eyes as she scolded him. “Honestly, darling, the company you keep.”

Luke merely chuckled at this and led Juliet closer to the group. “He’s not nearly as bad as everyone seems to think.”

“Hmm,” Caroline responded tartly. “That’s what I always seem to be saying about you, Lucas.”

As the yacht floated down the Thames, everyone went to one side or the other to watch London lazily pass before their eyes. To Juliet, the city somehow seemed to look different as one drifted down the river. Much more peaceful.

She was so caught up in watching the Tower come into view that she almost jumped out of her skin when Luke startled her by laying his hand on her back. But then she felt his warm breath on her neck and was quickly put at ease.

“Follow me.”

She didn’t have to be asked twice. Giddy anticipation washed over Juliet as she slid her hand in Luke’s, followed him to the back of the yacht, and then down a narrow staircase.

“The children are playing some hiding game,” he told her quietly. “Will is trying to impress the Clarkes, and Caroline and Georgie appear to be enthralled in some deep conversation about Lord Carraway.”

In virtually no time at all, Luke led her down a darkened hallway and opened a narrow door at the very end. Juliet caught her breath as she entered and looked around at the spacious room with expensive furniture and glossy mahogany walls.

There were orchids everywhere. Exotic arrangements of flowers were in vases on tables and single orchids were littered about the cabin floor and even scattered across a large four-poster bed in the corner.

Juliet heard a key turn in a lock behind her. Then before she could even turn around, Luke’s soft lips were pressed to her neck. Instinctively, she tilted her head to one side, giving him better access. One could get accustomed to being lavished with his attention.

She did audibly gasp, however, when the bodice of her dress sagged and spring air washed over her now loosened back. “Luke!” She spun around to face him, clutching her dress to her breastbone.

Luke’s crooked grin and mischievous, emerald eyes made Juliet’s toes curl in her slippers, though she’d never let him know that. He was dangerous enough as it was. Instead, she tightened her grasp on her dress, trying to look her most stern.

He simply chuckled. “There’s nothing to be afraid of, princess.”

She didn’t necessarily agree with his estimation. Where Luke was concerned, there was plenty to be afraid of. He made her pulse race and her breathing catch. Whenever he was near, she had an overwhelming urge to throw caution to the wind and do whatever he wanted of her. That wouldn’t do at all, or at least she didn’t think it would.

She let him back her up against the wall and slide his warm hands over her shoulders, knowing full well she shouldn’t allow such a thing. Then he intimately pressed himself against her as his soft lips once again claimed her neck. Juliet thought she might swoon, though she wasn’t at all the swooning sort.

“Mmm,” he groaned softly. Then he whispered in her ear, “You taste like the sweetest honey.”

“L—Luke,” she choked out, “I don’t think this is at all wise.”

She could feel him smile against her neck, as one of his hands covered hers where she held her dress in place. “Passion rarely is.” He continued to nibble at her neck, and urged her hand away from her bodice.

“B-b-but…” she stammered as he tugged the dress down to her hips. Unfortunately, her silk chemise couldn’t hide her peaked nipples, which were aching for his touch.

“Juliet.” Her name was a caress on his lips and the green flames of his eyes calmed her rapid breathing. “I would never let anything happen to you. No one will ever know what transpires between us. I would never see you hurt in that way. You have my word.”

 As she stared into his eyes, her heart pounded wildly in her chest. She so wanted what he was offering. Just being held by him was dangerous and exciting, but good girls didn’t do such things. She had always been a good girl. So she thought to reason with him. “We should get back. Georgie will know that I’m missing.”

He growled and it reverberated completely through her. “She hasn’t even given me five minutes alone with you.”

Juliet suppressed a giggle as she looked at his body pressed against her almost naked one. It was no wonder Georgie was so careful.

She swallowed nervously. She really shouldn’t allow this. She should straighten her back and demand that he release her, but she found she just didn’t have the will for that. Women dreamed of this man. She had dreamed of this man, and the reality of him was much more intoxicating than her fantasies had ever been.

When Luke released the ribbon ties, the soft silk of her chemise slid down to Juliet’s waist. His smile deepened as he looked at her. “Dear God, you’re beautiful.”

She’d never thought of herself that way—especially like this. She wouldn’t even look at herself in the mirror without clothes on, for Heaven’s sake! Yet, the reverent look in Luke’s eyes made her feel beautiful and she sighed.

Her nipples tightened even more, though she wasn’t certain if it was the cool, spring air or Luke’s heated gaze that did the trick. He seemed mesmerized as he pulled back just a bit to see her. Then he licked his forefinger and touched it gently to the tip of one of her breasts. And though the contact was as light as a feather, she was certain her legs were going to buckle beneath her. She swayed.

Luke steadied her with one hand at her waist. Then he captured one entire breast with his free hand and bent his head to taste the other one, which sent searing heat straight to her core. Juliet couldn’t help but whimper.

She was certain that no woman had ever felt so wicked or wonderful, and then…

Then the world stopped completely when giggle of a child came from inside the room.

***

Sweet Lucifer!

Luke spun around in the blink of an eye, shielding Juliet’s nearly naked body with his fully clothed one. His eleven-year-old niece, Rachel, was peering out from under the four-poster bed—giggling. He was going to murder her. “Rachel Benton!” he barked. “What the devil do you think you’re doing?”

Rachel scrambled to her feet, twirling a discarded orchid in her hands. “Hiding. We’re playing a game. Uncle Luke, are you going to marry Lady Juliet?”

Luke simply growled at the child. He could feel Juliet struggling to pull her chemise and dress back up, which he knew was made more difficult with his current position, but there was no way he was moving from this spot and leaving her unguarded.

“Because Mama says,” Rachel continued, “that only married people are allowed to kiss without clothes on.”

Juliet whimpered behind him.

“And she is right!” Luke nodded stiffly—not wanting to know how Caroline and Rachel had ever stumbled upon this uncomfortable topic. “But Lady Juliet and I weren’t kissing. She spilled something on her very pretty dress and I was helping her take it off—so that we could clean it.”

Rachel’s skeptical smirk grew wider as he spoke. Obviously she didn’t believe one word of his clearly contrived excuse. “Uncle Luke, surely you can do better than that,” she finally responded with a disappointed shake of her head.

Damn! Couldn’t one of the children have taken after Staveley? Did they all have to be miniature versions of Caroline in one form or another? Dramatic. Manipulative. Blackmailing, the lot of them. “All right, Rachel, what’s it going to cost me to keep this quiet?”

“Luke!” Juliet hissed in his ear, but he shushed her with a raised hand. He knew how to deal with his nieces and nephew. He’d been dealing with them for years, after all. Never a situation like this before, but certainly a bribe would work.

Rachel didn’t even have the good manners to look ashamed at his suggestion. Instead his enterprising niece tapped one finger against her chin in contemplation. “I think I’d like a pony.”

“Done,” he answered sharply. “Now, out with you.”

“From Uncle Robert’s stables. Papa says he has the best horses in the country.”

Damn! He didn’t want to have to deal with Robert. But at the moment he would have promised her the mythical, winged horse Pegasus, for her silence. “Is that it, Rachel?” he asked with a frown. She could get a lot more than a horse from him. But did she know it? And did she dare ask for it?

“You do know that Mama would like for you to marry Lady Juliet?” she asked, and her hazel eyes appeared to be assessing the situation.

“Rachel!” he growled.

Then she quirked a satisfied grin at him and nodded. “A horse will do.”

Luke narrowed his eyes on his niece. “Let me make one thing perfectly clear to you, my dear. If you tell one soul, not only will I not get you one of Uncle Robert’s horses, but I’ll instead get horses for both Adam and Emma as retribution. Understood?”

Again she nodded. Luke carefully moved Juliet away from the door, then opened it, and unceremoniously pushed his niece into the hallway. Then he let his head fall backward against the dark, mahogany wall and groaned miserably as Juliet tried to finish pulling herself together.

An enchanting blush covered every inch of skin he could see. She was magnificently lovely. He stepped toward her, but she backed away skittishly. “Just stay where you are.”

He couldn’t help but smile. Closing the gap between them, he pulled her back into his arms.

“You have a very difficult time following orders,” she remarked to his cravat.

Luke’s smile grew and he tipped her chin back so that she had to look at him. “Indeed. Especially when those orders don’t allow me to touch you.”

“Luke!” She furrowed her pretty brow. “How can you just stand there so calmly?”

He was the farthest thing from that emotion, and he hardened once again. Apparently, she noticed it too, because her blush deepened even more. “I’m not calm, princess. I’ve just run out of time.”