A Taste of Temptation (23 page)

Olivia walked out her door with purpose. There was only one place left to look.

Upstairs.

She knew there were guest rooms directly above her.

They had no guests in the house, so all of those rooms should be empty. She supposed she could be hearing voices from the servants’ floor, but she had her doubts voices would carry that far. It didn’t matter; she wasn’t going to stop looking until she found them.

Olivia lifted the hem of her skirt and slowly climbed the steep stairs. It was darker than she expected at the top of the landing. There was only one small window and the gray late afternoon didn’t offer much light. She thought about going back down for a light but admonished herself for being so apprehensive instead and kept climbing.

She told herself that she was a sensible woman and she was not going to come face to face with Lord Pinkwater’s ghost. She must swallow her anxiety and open each door on the corridor and look inside.

The first door she opened very slowly so that it made no sound and peeked inside. It showed a small, plain room with only a bed, chest, and chair in it. The second and third rooms looked just like the first.

Her footfalls were silent in her slipper-shod feet as she made her way to the last door at the end of the corridor.

She slowly turned the knob just as she had the other three.

But it didn’t move. She tried harder.

It was locked. She thought she heard a shuffling movement inside the room and put her ear to the door. There was the sound of feet on the floor and a woman’s whisper.

Olivia knocked and said, “Hello. Is anyone in here?” There was more moving around for a moment or two and then the door suddenly swung open.

“Ellie!” Olivia exclaimed.

The maid’s face was as white as if she’d seen a ghost, except for her lips. They were a dark pink. Her eyes looked almost wild.

“What are you doing in here with the door locked?”

“I was cleaning,” she said nervously.

Olivia knew that wasn’t true. She had been told not to touch anything in the house. Her duties were limited to Olivia’s comfort.

Gently pushing past Ellie, Olivia walked into the small chilly room and looked around. The only thing that appeared different from the other three rooms was the abun-dance of wrinkles in the bedcovers. This bed had the look of being hastily made.

Ellie saw Olivia’s gaze and quickly said, “I was taking a nap, Lady Dugdale. I know I shouldn’t have. I know it was wrong, but I was so tired I thought my eyes might close while I was standing up. It was just for a short time, and I didn’t think you would need me as you were out for the afternoon.”

“You were sleeping?”

Ellie didn’t look sleepy. She looked frightened.

“I know I shouldn’t have. If you’ll give me another chance I promise I won’t do it again. I promise.” Olivia stared at Ellie. It was quite clear the bed had been disturbed, but Olivia wasn’t sure Ellie had been sleeping on it.

“I heard voices,” Olivia said.

Ellie’s eyes widened. Her hands held tight to the hem of her apron. “Not from here. Or maybe I might have been talking in my sleep. I do that sometimes.”

“I heard a man’s voice.”

“Oh, no, my lady, not from this room. If you heard a man it must have been Mr. Whibbs.”

“He’s gone. I spoke to him just before he went out.”

“It was only me here, Countess. Look around. There’s no place for anyone to hide.”

Olivia looked carefully around the room. There were no wardrobes and the bed was too low to the floor for anyone to fit underneath. There simply was no place for anyone, especially a man, to hide.

“Please don’t dismiss me.” Her bottom lip trembled. “I promise I won’t ever do this again.” Olivia knew she’d heard a man’s voice, but it was clear there was no one in this room other than Ellie. Was it possible the man had slipped down the servants’ stairs when she went back into her room after leaving Andrew’s door?

But how would a man have slipped into the house without anyone seeing him in the first place?

A strange feeling washed over her. She was seeing and hearing a man who couldn’t be explained.

Olivia knew she should dismiss Ellie on the spot, but something held her back, and it was more than just the distraught look on the girl’s face and the nervous fists of her hands.

What if Ellie was telling the truth? Olivia knew what it felt like to be accused of something that wasn’t true. Andrew thought she had trapped him into marriage. She could understand why he felt that way because her aunt had insisted on the marriage. But that didn’t make it true.

She reasoned she had to give Ellie the benefit of the doubt about no man being in the room with her, but what was she going to do about the maid slipping off during the day to sleep?

“What you’ve done is not acceptable.” Ellie’s eyes looked too large for her elfin face. She blinked back tears. “I know, Madame. Just give me one more chance. Please. I don’t have anywhere else to go.” Olivia was conflicted. Should she allow Ellie another chance? Would she be doing great harm to the maid’s mother and sister if she didn’t keep Ellie?

“All right, Ellie, one more chance. Is that understood?” She smiled gratefully and her tears spilled onto her white cheeks. “Bless you, Madame. Yes, I understand and I promise I won’t let this happen again.”

“All right. Now get the wrinkles out of those bedcovers before you leave this room. And, Ellie, think twice before you do something else that you are not supposed to do.

This is your last chance.”

Olivia turned and walked out of the room. She was mistress of this house and it was her place to make the right decisions. She just didn’t know if she had. She only knew that she wanted Andrew to give her a second chance to show him she was not the manipulator he thought her to be.

8

H
e was in
a hell of a mess.

He wasn’t interested in her.

Damnation! Had Olivia ruined him for all other women?

Andrew stepped out of the small house into the gray late-afternoon rain. He placed his hat on his head but didn’t bother with his gloves as he headed for his carriage on the other side of the street.

He had just spent the better part of an hour with a beautiful young woman who knew all the ways to make a man groan with pleasure, and he was walking away from her. If he had any sense he’d be in her bed right now straddling her, buried so deep in her he’d never want to leave.

But no.

He was leaving with that same frustrated feeling he’d had since he first found Olivia in his room. No other woman commanded his attention like Olivia.

Within minutes of seeing Arabelle Woodward again he knew he’d made a mistake in going to see her. He didn’t want to renew their relationship. Similarly, within moments of arriving at Alice Thunderberry’s house he knew he didn’t want to be there.

He wanted Olivia. Despite all her trickery, he wanted only Olivia.

Andrew lifted his collar against the rain and stepped off the curb to cross the street when suddenly he heard the pounding of horses’ hooves on hard-packed ground. He heard the jingle of a harness and the rattle of a carriage.

He heard a man yell as he looked up and saw two large brown horses and a phaeton bearing down on him.

In an instant, Andrew dove for the other side of the street and felt a horse’s hoof clip his ankle as he landed on the cobblestones with a grunt and a roll. The horses and carriage thundered on past him, splattering mud and water all over him.

The carriage didn’t slow down.

He lay in a muddy puddle for a moment, his heart pounding with the knowledge of how close he had come to dying. He would have sworn to anyone that he felt the horses’ hot breath on his neck and the chilling wind from the carriage wheels on his face. A sharp pain shot through his ankle when he stood up, but he could put weight on the foot so, thankfully, it wasn’t broken.

“Are you all right, my lord?” his coachman asked as he ran over to Andrew and tried to help him stand.

“Fine, fine,” Andrew said, brushing off the man’s assistance.

“That cowhanded fool didn’t even stop to see if you were hurt.”

“Did you get a look at him?” Andrew asked as he tested his ankle again for weight.

“No, sir. The rain’s too heavy. Everything’s a blur. My thoughts are he was one of them reckless youth, who hasn’t learned how to control his cattle. Should I try to find him?”

“No, no need. It was my fault. I wasn’t looking where I was going. Thankfully my ankle seems fine and there was no harm done. Let’s go.”

“Where to?” the coachman asked.

Andrew had planned to swing by White’s and have a drink or two before picking Olivia up for the evening’s parties.

“Home,” he answered.

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Fifteen

8

A
s soon as
Ellie had helped Olivia fasten her pale blue gown Olivia dismissed her. Olivia sat down at her dressing table and with jeweled combs arranged her hair on top of her head. Lastly, she pulled the choker of pearls with the large sapphire in the center out of her jewelry box and fastened it around her neck.

The more she thought about the maid the more she wondered if she should have given her a second chance. In truth, Ellie had been given a second chance when Olivia allowed her to stay on as her maid. As mistress of her husband’s house she wanted to be fair and compassionate with the staff, but she had to set limits.

One thing was certain, no matter Ellie’s pleading eyes or promises to do better, Olivia would not allow her to stay if she made another misstep. She would go immediately.

A knock sounded on Olivia’s door and without thinking about who it might be she said, “Come in.” The door opened and Andrew stepped inside. He was handsomely dressed in his evening attire of coat with tails, beige brocade waistcoat, and buckled shoes. The only thing about him that didn’t look absolutely splendid was the expression on his face.

She rose from her stool and asked, “Is something wrong?”

His gaze swept down her face and slowly took in the length of her before meeting her stare. He quietly said,

“Yes.”

Olivia walked to the foot of her bed. She felt heaviness in her chest. “What? You look distressed.”

“Is that how I look?” A half laugh rumbled past his lips.

“Yes, I’m sure I do. I am, and it’s all because of you, my dear wife.”

She should have known she was the cause of the wrinkle between his brows. She had done nothing but make mistakes since she first stepped foot in this house. She had hoped one day to be loved by her husband and not be left alone like her mother, but she was beginning to think that wasn’t going to happen.

Olivia took a deep breath before asking, “What have I done now that has displeased you so?” He reached behind him, closed the door, and then turned the key in the lock. “Did I say you displeased me?” Olivia’s chest tightened. Something in the way he looked made her want to back away from him but she forced herself to remain calm and still by the bed. She would not allow him to scare her away.

She cleared her throat. “No, but you said I had caused you distress. Are you going to tell me what the problem is?”

“I narrowly missed being trampled by two horses and a carriage this afternoon.”

All concern for herself fled and fear for Andrew’s safety struck her. She took a step toward him. “Are you all right?” she asked.

He nodded. “A bruised ankle is all, but that isn’t what’s bothering me.”

“Then what?” she asked, feeling very thankful he wasn’t injured or worse.

His expression relaxed a little, but the intensity stayed in his eyes. “I want you, Olivia.”

Her pulse quickened and her heartbeat raced. That was not what she had expected him to say. “You told me this on our wedding night, yet you left me,” she challenged him.

“What has changed?”

“The timing. I want you now.”

Olivia felt as if her stomach flipped. She had been waiting for him to come to her and make her his wife, but why now?

“Your timing is not good. We’re expected to attend three parties tonight.”

“To hell with the parties.”

“You think I deliberately tricked you into marriage. You believe I was trying to trap the Marquis for Lynette. How can you want me?”

“The answer is simple. You have tempted me beyond my endurance. After I was almost run down this afternoon the only thing I could think about was how much I wanted you and what a fool I was to deny myself.”

“No matter what kind of person you believe me to be?”

“No matter,” he answered. “I have tasted you. I can’t forget you and now I must have you.” Olivia felt as if her heart stopped beating. Wasn’t this what she wanted, to be a wife to her husband in every way possible?

His gaze never left her face as he walked close enough to her to reach out and run the backs of his fingers lightly across her cheek. The lace from his cuff tickled her bare shoulder, causing her nipples to harden. She remembered how wonderful she’d felt when he’d taken her breast into his mouth.

“We’re not going anywhere tonight, Olivia. We’re not even going to leave this room to eat. I’m going to make love to you lying down, standing up, and sitting on the bed. We’re going to make love on the floor and on our knees. I’m going to make love to you all night long. And when I’m through, you will have forgotten every man’s name but mine.” His eyes were like glowing amber orbs, mesmerizing her. His face seemed relaxed and intense at the same time.

With his penetrating gaze and seductive voice, he seduced her and she believed every word he spoke.

“I think of no man but you,” she answered honestly.

One corner of his mouth lifted in a delicious-looking half smile. “That’s the way I want it.” With the pads of his fingers he outlined her lips as his gaze swept down her face. She smelled that wonderful musky mint scent of his soap on his hand and her chest tightened.