Seduction (6 page)

"I think that when I am about to kiss you, I would like you to use my given

name. You may call me Julian." He was suddenly very conscious of her firm,

rounded little bottom pressing against him. The folds of her skirt clung to his

breeches.

She steadied herself with her hands on his shoulders. "Need I remind you so soon

that you gave me your word of honor you would not… would not force yourself on

me?"

She was trembling. He could feel the small shivers going through her and it

annoyed him. "Don't be an idiot, Sophy. I have no intention of forcing myself on

you, as you call it. I am merely going to kiss you. There was nothing in our

bargain about kissing."

"My lord, you promised—"

He wrapped one hand around her nape and held her carefully still while he

covered her mouth with his own. Her lips parted on more words of protest just as

he made contact. The result was that the kiss began on a far more intimate level

than Julian had planned. He could taste the damp warmth of her instantly and it

sent an unexpected flare of desire through him. The inside of her mouth was soft

and wet and faintly spicy.

Sophy flinched and then moaned softly as his hands tightened on her. She started

to pull away but when he refused to allow the small retreat she went quiet in

his arms.

Sensing her cautious acquiescence, Julian took his time and gently deepened the

kiss. Lord, she felt good. He had not realized she would be so sweet, so warm.

There was enough feminine strength in her to make him vividly aware of his own

superior strength and that realization had a startlingly arousing effect on him.

He felt himself growing hard almost at once.

"Now say my name," he ordered softly against her mouth.

"Julian." The single word was shaky but audible.

He stroked his palm down her arm and nuzzled her throat. "Again."

"J—Julian. Please stop. This has gone far enough. You gave me your word."

"Am I forcing myself on you?" he asked whimsically, dropping the lightest of

kisses just below her ear. His hand slid down her arm to rest intimately on the

curve of her knee. Julian suddenly wanted nothing more than to ease her thighs

apart and explore Sophy far more thoroughly. If the heat and honey between her

legs were anything like that promised by her mouth, he would be well satisfied

with his choice of wife. "Tell me, Sophy, do you call this force?"

"I don't know."

Julian laughed softly. She sounded so wretchedly unsure. "Allow me to tell you

that this is not what is meant by the expression forcing myself on you."

"What is it, then?"

"I am making love to you. It's perfectly permissible between husband and wife,

you know."

"You are not making love to me," she countered very seriously.

Startled, Julian raised his head to meet her eyes. "I'm not?"

"Of course not. How could you be making love to me? You do not love me."

"Call it seduction, then," he retorted. "A man has a right to seduce his own

wife, surely. I gave you my word not to force myself on you but I never promised

not to attempt to seduce you." There would be no need to honor the stupid

agreement, he thought with satisfaction. She showed every sign of responding to

him already.

Sophy leaned away from him, a deep anger lighting her turquoise eyes. "As far as

I am concerned, seduction is but another form of forcing yourself on a woman. It

is a man's way of concealing the truth of his motives."

Julian was stunned at the vehemence in her voice. "You have had experience of

it, then?" he countered coldly.

"The results of a seduction are the same for a woman as the use of force, are

they not?"

She scrambled awkwardly off his thighs, the wool skirts of her traveling dress

twisting awkwardly around her in the process. The broken feather in her bonnet

drooped further until it hung over one wary eye. She reached up and snatched it

out of the way, leaving a broken feather shaft behind.

Julian shot out his hand and snagged her wrist. "Answer me, Sophy. Have you had

experience of seduction?"

"It is a little late to ask me now, is it not? You ought to have made your

inquiries into the matter before you offered for me."

And he knew quite suddenly that she had never lain in a man's arms. He could see

the answer he wanted in her eyes. But he felt compelled to make her admit the

truth. She had to learn that he would tolerate no evasions, half-truths, or any

of the myriad other shapes a woman's lies could take.

"You will answer me, Sophy."

"If I do, will you answer all my questions about your past amours?"

"Of course not."

"Oh, you are so grossly unfair, my lord."

"I am your husband."

"And that gives you a right to be unfair?"

"It gives me a right and a duty to do what is best for you. Discussing my past

liaisons with you would serve no good purpose and we both know it."

"I am not so certain. I think it would provide me with greater insight into your

character."

He gave a crack of laughter at that. "I think you have enough insight as it is.

Too much at times. Now tell me about your experience with the fine art of

seduction, Sophy. Did some country squire attempt to tumble you in the woods?"

"If he had, what would you do about it?"

"See that he paid for it," Julian said simply.

Her mouth fell open. "You would conduct a duel because of a past indiscretion?"

"We stray from the topic, Sophy." His fingers closed more firmly around her

wrist. He could feel the small, delicate bones there and took care not to

tighten his hold too far.

Her eyes fell away from his. "You need not worry about avenging my lost honor,

my lord. I assure you I have led an extremely quiet and unexciting existence. A

somewhat boring existence, to be precise."

"I rather thought so." He released her hand and relaxed back against the

cushion. "Now tell me why you equate seduction with force?"

"This is hardly a proper conversation for us to be conducting," she said in

muffled tones.

"I have the impression you and I will have many such improper conversations.

There are times, my dear, when you are a most improper young woman." He reached

up and plucked the broken feather shaft from her bonnet.

She glanced at the shaft with an expression of resignation. "You should have

considered my improper tendencies before you insisted on offering for me."

Julian turned the feather shaft between thumb and forefinger. "I did. I decided

they were all quite manageable. Stop trying to distract me, Sophy. Tell me why

you fear seduction as much as force."

"It is a private matter, my lord. I do not speak of it."

"You will speak of it to me. I am afraid I must insist, Sophy. I am your

husband."

"Do stop using that fact as an excuse for indulging your curiosity," she

snapped.

He slanted her a considering glance and considered the defiant tilt of her chin.

"You insult me, madam."

She shifted uneasily, attempting to straighten her skirts. "You are easily

insulted, my lord."

"Ah, yes, my excessive arrogance. I fear we must both learn to live with it,

Sophy. Just as we must learn to live with my excessive curiosity." Julian

studied the broken feather shaft and waited.

Silence descended on the swaying coach. The sound of creaking wheels and harness

leather and the steady beat of the horses' hooves suddenly became very loud.

"It was not a matter that affected me, personally," Sophy finally said in a very

small voice.

"Yes?" Again Julian waited.

"It was my sister who was the victim of the seduction." Sophy stared very hard

at the passing scenery. "But she had no one to avenge her."

"I understood that your sister died three years ago."

"She did."

Something about Sophy's clipped voice alerted Julian. "Are you implying that her

death was the result of a seduction?"

"She found herself with child, my lord. The man who was responsible cast her

aside. She could not bear the shame or the betrayal. She took a large dose of

laudanum." Her fingers clenched together in her lap.

Julian sighed. "I am sorry, Sophy."

"There was no need for her to take such a course of action," Sophy whispered

tightly. "Bess could have helped her."

"Old Bess? How?" Julian frowned.

"There are ways that such situations may be remedied," Sophy said. "Old Bess

knows them. If only my sister had confided in me, I could have taken her to

Bess. No one need ever have known."

Julian dropped the feather shaft and leaned over to capture his wife's wrist

once more. This time he deliberately exerted pressure on the small bones. "What

do you know of such matters?" he demanded very softly. Elizabeth had known such

things.

Sophy blinked quickly, apparently confused by his sudden, controlled rage. "Old

Bess knows much about medicinal herbs. She has taught me many things."

"She has taught you ways to rid yourself of an unwanted babe?" he demanded

softly.

Sophy seemed to realize at last that she had said far too much. "She… she has

mentioned certain herbs that a woman can use if she believes she has conceived,"

she admitted hesitantly. "But the herbs can be very dangerous to the mother and

must be used with great skill and caution." Sophy looked down at her hands for a

moment. "I am not skilled in that particular art."

"Bloody hell. You had best not be skilled in such things, Sophy. And I swear, if

that old witch, Bess, is dealing in abortion, I will have her removed from my

land immediately."

"Really, my lord? Are your friends in London so very pure? Have none of your

amours never been obliged to resort to certain remedies because of you?"

"No, they have not," Julian rasped, thoroughly goaded now. "For your

information, madam, there are techniques that may be used to prevent the problem

from occurring in the first place, just as there are ways to prevent contracting

certain diseases associated with… never mind."

"Techniques, my lord? What techniques?" Sophy's eyes lit up with obvious

fascination.

"Good God, I don't believe we are discussing such matters."

"You opened the discussion, my lord. I collect you do not intend to tell me

about these techniques for preventing the, er, problem."

"No, I most certainly do not."

"Ah, I see. This is yet another privileged bit of information available only to

men?"

"You have no need of such information, Sophy," he said grimly. "You are not in

the one business that would require that you learn such things."

"But there are women who do know such things?" she pressed.

"That is quite enough, Sophy."

"And you know such women? Would you introduce me to one of them? I should dearly

love to chat with her. Perhaps she would know other such amazing things. My

intellectual interests are quite far-ranging, you know. One can get only so much

out of books."

He thought for an instant she was teasing him again and Julian came close to

losing his temper completely. But at the last moment he realized Sophy's

fascination was oddly innocent and totally genuine. He groaned and leaned back

into the corner of the seat. "We will not discuss this further."

"You sound distressingly like my grandmother. Really, it is very disappointing,

Julian. I had hoped that when I married I would find myself living with someone

who would be a more amusing conversationalist."

"I shall endeavor to amuse you in other ways," he muttered, closing his eyes and

resting his head against the cushion.

"If you are talking about seduction again, Julian, I must tell you, I do not

find the topic amusing."

"Because of what happened to your sister? I can see where such a situation would

have left its mark on you, Sophy. But you must learn that there is a vast

difference between that which goes on between husband and wife and the sort of

unpleasant seduction your sister endured."

"Really, my lord? How does a man learn to make such fine distinctions? At

school? Did you learn them during your first marriage or from your experience of

keeping mistresses?"

At that juncture, Julian's temper frayed to a gossamer thread. He did not move

or open his eyes. He did not dare. "I have explained to you that my first

marriage is not a topic for discussion. Nor is the other subject you just

raised. If you are wise, you will keep that in mind, Sophy."

Something in his too-quiet words apparently made an impression on her. She said

nothing more.

Julian took up the reins of his temper once again and when he knew he had

himself in check he opened his eyes and regarded his new bride. "Sooner or later

you must accustom yourself to me, Sophy."

"You promised me three months, my lord."

"Damn it, woman, I will not force myself upon you for the next three months. But

do not expect me to make no attempt whatsoever to change your mind about

lovemaking in the meantime. That is asking entirely too much and is completely

outside the terms of our ridiculous agreement."

Her head snapped around. "Is this what you meant when you warned me that a man's

sense of honor is unreliable when it comes to his dealings with women? Am