Punishing His Ward (14 page)

The rakish grin on his
face had set her heart pounding; it was a smile that many men had
given her, but none quite so effectively.  Perhaps because
this was the first time that the Earl had looked at her like
that
?  Or perhaps
because he was the only male to have ever seen her private areas?
 So far she'd always kept the men who kissed her from taking
matters beyond a certain point, and that point was any parts
underneath her clothing, but the Earl's spankings didn't afford her
any such protection.  Which might possibly be why they excited
her so.

Still, she didn't appreciate the
reminder that he didn't have any faith in her ability to behave.
 She could when she chose to.

Tilting her head haughtily up, she
snapped at his bicep with her fan, trying to ignore just how
impressive a bicep it was.  No padded shoulders needed for the
Earl.  The look of surprise at her retaliation almost made her
break character and giggle. 

"I'm sure I don't know
what you mean," she said coolly, in her best impression of the
Countess' quelling tones. The edges of her lips curved upwards, as
they always did when she was about to utter something purposefully
outrageous.  "I always bestow my attentions to the
gentlemen
equally
."

The Earl's hazel eyes narrowed, the
smile slipping from his face and it really was all Cynthia could do
not to laugh out loud at him.  Despite how much her bottom
hurt - and it truly did, although much less when she was standing
rather than sitting - she just could not keep from prodding at him.
 The implication that she allowed quite a few gentlemen
some... ah... liberties was not lost on him and he obviously didn't
like.

With something approaching
a growl, his hand tightened on hers as his eyes flashed rather
dangerously and Cynthia suddenly realized that she was baiting a
tiger with a very short stick.  An
uncaged
tiger.

"Oh Wesley, couldn't you do something
about your hair?"  The Countess' dismayed tones preceded her
down the stairs and Cynthia breathed a sigh of relief as the Earl
straightened, his grip on her fingers loosening slightly.  She
yanked her hand back as the Earl looked past her up and his mother,
and used the opportunity to slide sideways and away from
him.

“My hair is fine, Mother,” he said,
obviously somewhat exasperated and yet his tone with her was as
respectful and gentle as always. He bowed as she reached them. “You
look lovely tonight.”

The older woman’s face lit
up at the compliment from her eldest son. Not that his words were
anything but the truth; she was garbed in a dark burgundy gown with
a black netted overgown, both trimmed with silver, and she looked
the epitome of a fashionable matron of the
ton.
The garnets shining around her
neck and at her ears emphasized her position and status, as if her
regal bearing wasn’t enough. It was at times like this that Cynthia
found the Countess most intimidating.

Fortunately the Countess
looked at her with every evidence of approval as she thanked her
son. “Cynthia, you look
parfait!
That dress is exquisite, Madame Bissette truly
outdid herself.”

Cynthia beamed at the Countess, bobbing
a small curtsy that caused her breasts to look particularly
precariously confined to the dress and Wesley caught his breath. In
London he’d seen plenty of fashions with lower necklines, but
somehow with Cynthia’s ample curves even a neckline this low seemed
too much. Not that his mother noticed, but the other gentlemen at
the Assembly tonight certainly would.

And probably not the ones he would
approve of as a husband for Cynthia.

Grimly foreseeing a rather frustrating
evening ahead, Wesley ushered his mother and Cynthia out to the
waiting carriage.

******

Edwin and Wesley stood at
the edges of the room, watching Miss Bryant and Eleanor as they
passed through the steps of a quadrille with their respective
partners. Surprisingly, for once, there seemed to be more gentlemen
willing to dance then there were women to dance with – Wesley
supposed it was the fact that most eligible young ladies were
currently in London for the end of the Season, hanging onto the
hope that they might make a match of it before the Season ended –
so he and Edwin didn’t have to stand up for every set. If there had
been young ladies sitting out, the Countess would have expected
both of them to step up and do their duty, as she saw
it.

Watching Eleanor laugh up
into her partner’s face, Edwin had to struggle only slightly with
the jealousy that clawed its way up his chest. Since their arrival
in Bath his and Eleanor’s relationship seemed to have taken another
turn. A much gentler one – other than the spanking she’d earned for
her attitude. He knew that, on some level, her body enjoyed
receiving discipline as much as he enjoyed meting it out, but she
wasn’t willing to admit that and she always was on her best
behavior after a punishment.

A slow smile spread across his face as
he remembered this morning, when he gave her the opportunity to
explore his body again and she’d taken full advantage of it. This
time she hadn’t relented with her mouth until he’d spurted his
seed, and she’d swallowed every drop of it. The many blessings of a
passionate and curious wife. Afterwards, he’d tied her wrists to
the bed and made his own leisurely exploration of her body, ending
with his mouth on her clit and his fingers stroking the insides of
her heated quim. By the time she climaxed for him, he was already
hard and aching again and he’d taken the opportunity to bury
himself inside of her while she was still limp and quivering from
her climax.

They hadn’t left their bed till well
past noon.

Now, as he watched her
dancing with other men, he could still feel the jealousy rising up
inside him every time she smiled or laughed, but it was accompanied
by a kind of warm security. He’d been wooing her, not just while
they were in bed, but with long talks and gifts and a showering of
affection. His wife was a wonderfully tactile creature, and he’d
found that she rather enjoyed snuggling up under his arm while they
were reading together in the afternoons. The sensation of having
her there was a bit distracting, but he enjoyed it nevertheless.
And it seemed as though the more innocent caresses and embraces
they shared, the warmer and more open she became towards
him.

Not once, since they’d come to Bath,
had she reverted to the cold ice queen that she had occasionally
inflicted on him while they were in London. He still didn’t know
exactly what had made her run hot and cold towards him, but he
hoped that her current behavior was an indication that his tactics
and affections would mean that her attitude towards him would
continue to be more stable.

Next to him, Wesley growled under his
breath, and Edwin turned his attention towards his friend. Wesley’s
attitude towards his ward was providing both Eleanor and Edwin with
a great amount of entertainment, especially this evening when he
was watching over her like a hawk.

“Is something wrong?”
Edwin queried, his tone entirely innocent as he covered up his
amusement. Wesley just continued scowling in the direction of the
dance floor and Edwin had to cough to cover a laugh. “You could
always dance with her again, if it bothers you so much.”

“What?” Wesley whipped his head around,
looking at Edwin suspiciously. But Edwin had seen the way that
Wesley watched his ward.

“It’d be totally acceptable, as her
guardian, to secure a second dance with her,” Edwin said blandly.
Unusual, but acceptable. They’d already done the pretty once, while
Edwin danced with Eleanor, but as Wesley had danced with the
Countess and Eleanor, Edwin had seen where his friend’s eyes had
been watching. And since they’d retired from the dance floor,
Wesley hadn’t looked anywhere else.

Even his mother was eying him
speculatively, not that he seemed to notice. And Wesley always
noticed.

Now he seemed to be thinking over
Edwin’s words and giving them serious merit. Then he shook his head
and Edwin had to hide another grin. “No. I can watch her just as
easily from here.”

While Edwin had happily
stepped into marriage in order to secure Eleanor, and Hugh hadn’t
fought the steps leading to his marriage with Irene, it appeared
that Wesley wasn’t going to go quietly. In fact, his reaction was
that of a man who was going to fight his emotions to the bitter
end. But Edwin didn’t doubt that Wesley was attracted to Miss
Bryant, even if she was a bigger handful then Nell. Privately he
thought that might not be a bad thing; he wanted his friend to find
the same happiness in marriage that he had, and he didn’t think
that would be possible if Wesley married one of the proper
debutantes and kept a mistress on the side. A wilder and less
proper wife like Miss Bryant would keep Wesley quite
occupied.

The dance ended and
gentlemen very properly escorted Eleanor and Miss Bryant back to
him and Wesley. There were several obvious rakes in attendance, but
so far they’d held back from approaching either of the ladies as
they were well guarded by Wesley and Edwin.

Eleanor and Miss Bryant
immediately began chatting, both flush from their exertions.
Resting a gentle hand on his wife’s back, Edwin enjoyed the way she
immediately leaned towards him, as orientated towards him as he was
to her. To his amusement, both Wesley and Miss Bryant were doing
something similar, although of course Wesley didn’t touch her. But
there was something in both of their stances that made it clear, to
him, that they were both very aware of each other. The little
sidelong looks that Miss Bryant was giving her guardian, as well as
Wesley’s blatantly intentional way of
not
looking at her, now that she was
off the dance floor, said volumes.

“Is it like this in
London?” Miss Bryant asked Eleanor, giving Wesley another little
look from beneath her eyelashes. For all intents and purposes, his
focus seemed to be on the other side of the room, but Edwin could
see the way Wesley’s eyes drifted back towards Miss Bryant before
he jerked back to the direction he was facing. “The Countess says
this is tame compared to the entertainments there.”

“This is more enjoyable than London, in
many ways,” Eleanor said, laughing. She tipped her head back up to
share an intimate look with Edwin and he couldn’t help but grin
back at her; she was so alight with happiness. He, too, preferred
Bath at the moment. “I much prefer the room to dance – and plenty
of gentlemen to dance with – than to some of the crushes that we
attended during the Season.”

Undaunted by her reference to the many
gentlemen, Edwin just slid his hand to her hip and tightened his
fingers a bit. “I prefer the gentlemen here as well.”

Eleanor laughed, tapping
her fan against his chest in teasing reproof, as Wesley chuckled.
Miss Bryant looked confused, but of course she wouldn’t understand
that the London ballrooms were filled with the kind of gentlemen
that Edwin would prefer to keep away from his wife. He was sure
that he was fulfilling Eleanor’s needs, she would never become one
of the bored matrons of the
ton
if he had anything to say about it, but he still
preferred to keep her away from the rakes and
roués
that were always looking for a
bored matron and a complacent husband.

Most of the gentlemen here
were either younger men who had fled the capital and the
matchmaking mamas as soon as it was permissible or older men who
didn’t have wives to insist they finish out the very end of the
Season. The older gentlemen were the ones that would be looking at
Miss Bryant as a bride, the younger men were practicing their
flirts with her, but the truly dangerous gentlemen who were present
took one look at Wesley and moved on to easier game. Although,
Edwin had seen more than one of them acknowledge her; apparently
before Wesley’s arrival Miss Bryant had made the acquaintance of
every single rakehell currently in Bath.

One of the older gentlemen, Mr. Bright,
came up to claim Miss Bryant’s hand for the next dance. 
Perfectly eligible, cousin to a Marquess, and obviously on the
lookout for a wife, and yet Wesley gave the man a suspicious look
anyway.  This time even Eleanor caught his obvious reluctance
to let Miss Bryant off his arm.  Edwin saw the surprise on her
face before Mr. Marks came to claim her for the next dance. 
She shot a glance at Edwin, her sapphire eyes sparkling with
amusement at Wesley’s behavior.

Just then, the Countess appeared at
Wesley’s side, a pretty but very young lady at her side. 
Actually beaming at her son, she pushed the young miss
forward.

“Wesley, this is Miss Whyte. 
She’ll be making her debut next Season in London but her mother
wanted her to experience some of the social life here in Bath
before that.  Miss Whyte, this is my son, the Earl of
Spencer.”

“Oh!”  Miss Whyte said, fluttering
her eyelashes up at him as if his title was news to her. 
Which was ridiculous considering that the Countess must have
already told her.  If she hadn’t even come out yet then she
must still be technically in the schoolroom.  Dressed in a
charming pastel pink dress that was the height of fashion, and
nevertheless made her look rather washed out with her pale hair and
eyes, she was the epitome of everything that Wesley avoided while
in London.  She dropped to a curtsy, fluttering her eyelashes.
“It’s an honor to meet you my Lord.”