His brother let out a strangled sound. “But I am well-versed insex. It is not as though proclivities are reserved for tuppings between men and women. Honestly, there’s quite a bit of overlap, two cocks instead of one, though some women are looking for that”—he eyed Fitz questioningly, and Fitz shook his head quickly—“different hole and more preparation—or same hole if that’s what she’s going for?”
Fitz’s eyebrows shot up.
“Clearly not,” Felix said with an exasperated laugh. “Now, if you asked me to help you locate the clitoris, I wouldn’t be your chap, granted from what I’ve heard, most men can’t seem to find it, regardless.” He batted that away with a flick of his hand. “Anyhow, if there was something that pertained specifically to women, I could have pointed you in the right direction. Which would have been far,faraway from your ex-mistress, I might add.”
Fitz groaned and dropped his head in his hands. Only for his forehead to smack into his whisky glass.Fuck. He didn’t even care. He just accepted the pain. “You know of the Duke of Ironcrest’s proclivities?”
“Yes…”
“That is what she wants.”
Silence greeted him.
He glanced up to meet a thoroughly surprised Felix, eyebrows having disappeared beneath the amber wave of hair falling over his brow.
“Sweet, Georgiana? The one who pretended to gallop around our entry after winning the tree competition?”
Fitz dipped his chin.
“Well, I’d never,” Felix said, pursing his lips thoughtfully. “Some spanking is one thing, but that… Well, regardless, I wish you had come to me, Fitzy. That is definitely an area I could have helped you with. And I still can if you have any questions. I’m your big brother. You can always come to me.”
Fitz nodded again, his throat suddenly suspiciously thick.
“But first let us see if we can rectify this situation with your wife. Where is Georgiana now? Is she still at your townhouse?”
“In her chambers with a megrim. She has barely spoken to me all evening. And”—he sucked in a choked breath—“God, Felix. She was crying.”
“All right. Not great. But she hasn’t left, so that is a good sign.”
Fitz’s heart rate picked up, took flight, the entire organ completely abandoning him. Georgianaleavinghim? Everything tightened, everything constricted. No. He couldn’t bear it. Why were the walls so much closer now? They were closing in on him.
“Fitzy,” Felix said gently. “Look at me.”
Fitz slowly met his brother’s comforting amber gaze.
“You can fix this. You have some serious explaining to do. And given your word choice thus far, perhaps we should go over what you are going to say together. But your heart is in the right place.This can be fixed.”
“I should probably write it down,” Fitz said, his tone defeated. “I should probably just hand her a letter and avoid talking altogether.”
Fitz paused. Perhaps that was the way to go. Perhaps he could start with a written explanation—one his brother read over and approved first—and then he could surprise his wife. Surprise her with exactly what he had intended all along. Show her this was all a misunderstanding.
“Where’d you disappear to, Fitz?”
He looked at his brother. “I just had an idea.”
Felix eyed him warily. “Agoodidea?”
“I believe so. I actually have two ideas, though one will take a bit more time.” He frowned down at his trousers. He wasn’t entirely sure where to even start with the second thing.
He glanced back at his brother to be met with a look that clearly said,come on now, while the tea is still hot.
Fitz drew in a breath. “So, this is what I had in mind…”
42
Georgiana
“Goodness,Georgiana,youreyesare all swollen.” Georgiana’s mother grimaced, the creases exaggerated on her heavily powered face. “And they’rered. You look as though you haven’t slept in days.” Georgiana’s mother snapped her fingers at the maid who had just delivered their tea service, the inordinate number of gold embellishments on her plum gown jangling with the movement. “Get a cold compress for your mistress with haste.”
