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Authors: Helen Hardt

Tags: #Fiction, #Romance, #Historical, #General

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BOOK: Lady Alexandra's Lover
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Confessions of Lady Prudence
by Madame O


O
h
, my lady.” She sighed. “Your breath on my neck, it’s so…so…”

I pressed my nearly nude body against her still fully clothed back, my nipples poking into the soft cotton of her garment. I blew against her neck, the wisps of hairs drifting slowly.

“My dear Hattie,” I said, “I still wish to see you unclothed.”

Slowly and deliberately I untied the laces on the back of her gown. Most servants in our household don’t wear foundation garments, and I quivered with excitement. Only a gown and a chemise stood between me and Hattie’s ripe flesh.

She did not stop me as I eased her gown and then her chemise over her shoulders. They landed in a brown-and-ivory puddle at her feet. I turned her to face me, and we were so close our pert breasts touched, sending a tingle to my core.

“May I touch your lovely bubbies?” I asked.

She nodded shakily.

Her brown nipples beckoned. They were already tight under my appraisal. Oh, Amelia, they were nearly as lovely as yours! I cupped the ripe mounds and thumbed the buds lightly.

Hattie swayed backward against the bed. “Oh…my lady…”

“It feels nice, doesn’t it?” I said. “Let me pinch your lovely nipples, Hattie.” I took both between thumb and forefinger and squeezed hard.

“Oh my!” Hattie gasped.

I pinched her harder. “Do you feel something between your legs, dear heart?”

“My lady, oh my! Yes, it’s a tickle, it’s a…”

I plunged one hand into her drawers to find her pussy. Slick, dear Amelia. Slick as dew. I wanted to rip off those offending drawers and suck her cunny dry then and there! But I settled for finding her nub and touching it ever so lightly.

She gasped and trembled against me. “My lady, that feels…oh!”

I continued to slide my fingers over her clitoris whilst I twisted one nipple with my other hand. “Might I kiss this nipple, my dear?” I asked.

“Please,” she begged.

I lowered my lips to the lovely bud and flicked my tongue over it, still working her hard button with my other hand. I itched to slide a finger into her quim, but I held off. Slowly, Amelia, the way you taught me. I closed my lips around the nipple and sucked. Such softness beneath my tongue, Amelia. How I’ve missed frolicking with you! I kissed the flesh around the nipple, and then clamped back on, nibbling gently.

Her quim gushed over my hand. Oh, that I had a hard cock to shove into her at that moment! But alas, I’d have to settle for eating that delicious cunt. And that would wait until later.

And then…oh, Amelia, it was thrilling! She climaxed against my hand, my lips still around her nipple. She quivered against me, moaning, groaning, and I bit down hard on that tight little nipple. By now, I was so wet I was ready to climax again myself without much coaxing.

Chapter 9

J
enkins reddened
. “I have no idea what you’re talking about, my lord.”

“Someone found an underground newspaper circulating in Bath. Apparently it’s been traced back to this printing house.”

“Where did you get this information?”

“From a loyal source, I assure you. Now do you care to tell me what is going on?”

Jenkins cleared his throat. “You’d have to ask the night crew, my lord. I can assure you that nothing of that sort has come through on my watch.”

Evan looked into the back—the whirring of the presses, the typographers making prints… He loved the printing and publishing business. He loved printed matter, especially books, and now that the industrial revolution had dawned, the demand for mass produced printed media was high.

He had bought the business—which also included branches in London and in Edinburgh—a few years ago. His business was now thriving and was responsible for the majority of the printing in the area. He prided himself on having the newest presses and was delving into lithography as well. Evan had attended the great exhibition organized by the Queen’s husband, Prince Albert, in 1851. It had attracted 13,000 exhibitors from all industrial nations. Evan had taken advantage of the new technology he witnessed during the exhibition and had brought as much of it as he could to his business. While he printed newspapers and flyers and material for the theaters and other businesses in town, he prided himself on his printed novels, and most recently on his new color printing. There was no careless work at his company—no upside-down lowercase B was ever used for a lowercase G. Nor did his company use the excessive ornamentation that was so prevalent in current society. This was a high class operation.

Evan knew that his brother, Jacob, would never insist that he leave the Brighton estate once he inherited the earldom, but Evan did not want to be a burden on his family. He had decided long ago that he would make his own way in the world, and he had done quite well for himself. Perhaps he was not worth as much as Alexandra’s Mr. Landon, but he was well on his way.

Drat. Why had he thought of Alexandra and Mr. Landon? The man was nowhere near good enough for her. She was smart and beautiful and had been through so much in her short life. She deserved better than a common philanderer.

“Very well, then,” Evan said. “I shall return early in the morning before the night clerks leave. And we shall get to the bottom of this.”

Evan left the building and got into his carriage. Then he thought better and spoke to the coachman. “We won’t be going home after all. I’d like to take a room in town for the evening.”

“Of course, my lord. Which inn would you prefer?”

“Wherever I can get the best meal. I need a few hours of sleep before I sneak in on the night crew.”

A
fter gorging
herself on the meal Sophie had brought her, Ally changed into her night rail and readied for bed. Exhaustion weighed heavily upon her. She ached all over, though the headache powder had helped a bit. The biggest problem was that she couldn’t get her new stepbrother out of her mind. Though still sore between her legs, she longed for more of him.

She would definitely keep to herself her pact to sleep with Mr. Landon. That is, if he would look twice in her direction after seeing her at her worst. She would have to look spectacularly dazzling the next time they came in contact, and she had every intention of doing just that. Her cousin Lily owned an amazing red velvet dress that she had worn the night her betrothal to the duke was announced. It was audacious, yet Lily had stolen the entire evening by wearing such an outrageous costume. Ally was built quite a bit like Lily—tall, full bosom, narrow hips. She was quite sure the dress would show off her best assets as it had for Lily. Surely Lily would allow her to borrow the dress. The only problem was the fabric was a velvet and really too warm for the summer.

No, the red dress would not work after all. She would have to summon Lily’s modiste to come and make her a new dress, one that would make Mr. Landon’s eyes pop out of his head and make sure he totally forgot the image he had seen of her earlier today.

Of course, Evan would never allow her to leave the house wearing a dress anything like Lily’s red dress. She would have to find a way to get back to London without him. He had mentioned attending a few balls in London. The season would be over in a couple of weeks, when Parliament closed in early August.

Mr. Landon often commented about the events he attended during the season, so she was sure he would be at one or more of the balls signifying its end. In fact, she was counting on it.

If only his kisses stirred her the way Evan’s had. After the debacle with Wentworth in April, she had been certain she didn’t ever want to kiss another man. Mr. Landon had changed her mind. He was lovely to look at, his hair shorter than Evan’s and darker than her own. He had lovely amber eyes. Evan was, of course, taller. Evan was taller than most men. Broader too, and most definitely more defined. The man could have been sculpted by one of the Renaissance artists. He cut quite an athletic figure.

But he was the second son. He would never have an estate of his own, nor a title. Ally didn’t care about the title, but she did care about the estate. She wanted money. As mercenary as she knew it sounded, she had made up her mind long ago that she would never live in near poverty again. Sophie thought her shallow in some ways, mostly because of her determination to marry for money. In truth, Ally was not shallow at all. She loved her family and would move heaven and earth to help them if they needed her. With money, she could make sure she would have the means to help them if they needed it. Mama’s recent marriage had negated the need on her part, but she still had Sophie to consider.

If Mr. Landon would not have her, she would simply find someone else who would. She hoped against hope that he wasn’t shallow and that he didn’t care how horrid she’d looked earlier today.

Ally let out a heavy sigh. Marriage. It was a fate she’d resigned herself to long ago—a fate that didn’t necessarily include love. After all, the only example of marriage she’d had in her short life was her mother’s loveless one. Since her father’s death two years previously, she’d been privileged to see firsthand the marriage between her aunt and uncle. Theirs was a love match, and both her cousins, Lily and Rose, had found love matches for themselves. And now even Mama had found her love match. Ally had never considered the possibility of a love match, and she wasn’t about to start considering it now.

She patted her full tummy. She was fraught with exhaustion and could not wait to sleep in her own bed tonight. But she wanted to do some writing first. She sat at a small table, took a quill and parchment, and began.

A
fter a hearty dinner
and a couple of good brandies, Evan readied himself to return to the printing house. He would damn well find out who was behind the obscene literature.

Evan was very well acquainted with the night staff. They were responsible mainly for daily news journals that had to be delivered at first light. The day staff, under Jenkins, dealt more with books and other such literature, which were Evan’s main interests and why he got into the printing and publishing business in the first place. He had nothing against erotic literature, but he didn’t want his business associated with it because it was illegal under the Vagrancy Act of 1824, more specifically its amendment in 1838.

The carriage pulled to a stop in front of the business. The front door would be locked, of course, since normal business hours were during the day. Though Evan had a key, he chose to go around to the back entrance.

He strode in nonchalantly. “I need to speak with Mr. Charles Gunderson, please.” In actuality, he had never met Gunderson before. All the night staff had been hired by Jenkins and his superior.

“He’s in the back, sir,” a workman said. “May I ask who wishes to speak with him?”

“Lord Evan Xavier. I own this business.”

The young man, who couldn’t have been more than sixteen years old, arched his eyebrows, his lips trembling—only a touch, but Evan noticed.

“Yes, of course, my lord,” he said, his voice shaking. He went into the back room where the presses were rumbling.

A few moments later, the boy returned with an older man greying at the temples.

“Good evening, my lord. What brings you in at this hour?”

Evan cleared his throat. “I did not realize I needed to have a reason to check on one of my own enterprises.”

“Of course not, my lord.”

“I have had word from a reliable source that a piece of underground erotic literature is being printed here on my presses.”

“I don’t know what material you’re speaking of,” Gunderson said, “but I can assure you that any business we do here is completely legitimate. If any erotic literature is being printed here, you have my assurances that it has been properly paid for, and profit is being made.”

“Let me make something clear, Gunderson. I believe in freedom of expression and all that, but I run a clean operation here, not one that prints what some people consider to be obscene. There are laws against that, you know.”

“Let me check the records, my lord. If we have any clients who are printing material of that nature, what would you like me to do?”

“Cancel the contracts, of course.”

Evan said the words, but in no way did he believe that there was a contract with his business to print such literature. This was going on under the table, and he had a feeling Gunderson knew all about it. Jenkins seemed to be in the clear because he had clearly not warned the night staff that Evan had made inquiries. Whatever was going on, Evan would find out about it and put a stop to it.

“I think I’ll take a look around back and see what’s going to print tonight,” Evan said.

“Absolutely, my lord. The morning journal is about to go to print in a few hours. They haven’t sent over the final copy yet. Right now we’re finishing up a pamphlet printing for the ladies’ garment store on Orchard.”

“Excellent,” Evan said. “I’d like to take a look for quality control. If you could please show me around, I would appreciate it.”

During his tour through the presses, Evan found nothing to indicate that anything untoward was going on. However, something did not sit right with him. Either Gunderson or someone who worked under him was lying. He could feel it in his gut. He had become the businessman he was not only because of his business sense, but also because of his gut instinct. He had learned to trust it.

“Thank you, Gunderson. You seem to be running a tight ship here, and I appreciate it.”

“You’re very welcome, my lord. I take my work here quite seriously.”

“I’ll be in touch.” Evan nodded and left via the back entrance.

His mind was whirling. Though he knew he needed rest, he was agitated and needed to work off some energy. He dismissed his coach, deciding to walk back to his rooming house.

Alexandra invaded his thoughts. Though he’d always thought her beautiful, he’d never known what internal strength she possessed. Unconventional, yes, but who wouldn’t be after the life she had lived?

His cock pulsed. Damn it all. Just what he didn’t need tonight. What the hell? He knew damned well where he could sate his appetite. There was a high-class gaming hall and brothel nearby, and he hadn’t frequented the place in a while. He turned off the road to his hotel and ambled toward the seedier section of the city.

“Evening, sir,” a long-haired boy said. “Care for a bit of reading material?”

“Thank you, no,” Evan replied.

“Sure you do, old bloke. This is a free sample. If you like it, you can find it in several places in Bath and in London.” The boy pushed a paper into Evan’s hand and walked swiftly away.

Evan shoved it in his pocket and continued to the gaming hall. He entered, ordered a brandy, and looked around. No shortage of beautiful women here, but for some strange reason none of them appealed to him. He was looking for a tall woman with chestnut hair, sparkling brown eyes, and the most luscious breasts he’d ever been privileged to see. And she certainly wasn’t here.

He sighed and gulped down the rest of his brandy. As he got up to leave, the paper the young boy had handed him crunched in his pocket. He pulled it out and held it up to the lamp on his table. He squinted to read the calligraphic title.

The Ruby
.

BOOK: Lady Alexandra's Lover
2.19Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub
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