Regret and worry slammed through her as she regained her senses. Hearing voices around her, she opened her eyes to scan the crowd milling in the hall.No one is staring, but what if someone recognizes me? This man makes me as wanton as Beth.
She shook her head. No. It was unfair to blame him. She hadn’t even known he was coming. ’Twas Beth who got her here, and Evan who dared her to go upstairs, but she was an adult. These were her decisions.
But she could not afford these risks, or both she and her cousin would lose the roof over their heads. ’Twas fine for this wealthy titled man to flaunt society’s rules, buthershop would suffer forhisreputation. This could not be.
She forced herself to turn to Evan and not to wonder what carnal affairs were there for the watching in the other rooms along the hall. “My lord. Thank you for a lovely evening, but I must leave.”
Althea almost ran for the stairs without waiting for him to accompany her or even respond.
****
Evan stifled his groan, swallowed his disappointment, and had another quick conversation with his cock.Denied again. I’ll get back to you later.
Beyond being almost painfully aroused, he felt shaken, off-kilter. He’d chased this woman down his driveway as she ran away from him and his party. Then he’d sought her out at her store. Then he’d seduced her in this hallway. All were actions he’d always dismissed, even disparaged. ’Twas simply not how he dealt with women. He didn’t do relationships. He barely handled women at all. He generally allowed them to handle him.
With much more success. Gritting his teeth, he meandered to the grand staircase. Below, Althea was already rushing Beth toward a servant holding their cloaks.
Not bothering to return to the ballroom, he followed them out and walked the line of waiting vehicles to his own. Sprawling across the seat, he lifted one leg up in an effort to make room for his swollen bollocks and cock. He raised his hand to sniff at it. Althea’s essence exacerbated his trouser predicament.
Finally, he reached his townhouse. Given his choice of parties, amusements, and servants, he’d never cared if his household saw him aroused, but it occurred to him that he had not actually had to worry about it. He’d never come home dissatisfied.
Nor am I now. Giving Althea pleasure, finding a bit of debauchery that she enjoys and taking her over the edge while fully clothed gives me all the satisfaction I want tonight. And confirmation the prim little widow likes to watch.
He snorted a laugh under his breath.Beth is her perfect house mate, at least for now.
He declined to examine exactly what his subconscious meant by “for now.” There were more pressing matters. Literally.
In his suite, he had his valet assist him with his tight-fitting dress boots and then dismissed the man for the night. Stripping off his clothes, he laid back on his bed done in creams and golds. His cock pointed at the ivory canopy over the four-poster, still drooling over the memory of being nestled between Althea’s bottom cheeks.
He swiped his hand around the liquid seeping from the tip and fisted himself. His other hand rolled his heavy bollocks as he remembered the feel of her pointed nipples, the rasp of her breath. He smelled her arousal mixed with his, as though she were in the room. His eyes drifted closed to picture her hips twitching against him, her arse nudging his cock. He pumped his hand faster, remembering the speed of her hip motions.
As his fingers twitched from thinking of her hot core pulsing against him, he exploded, thrusting through his hand over and over. Lava curled up from his spine, his testicles, and shot through his cock, spewing his seed across his stomach and chest and onto the sheet. His hand slowed, the other dropping to the bed by his hip.
Evan hoped he’d enticed her enough to come to him, even if only under the guise of business. But he was afraid he had not. She was proving to be far more of a challenge than any woman he’d met.
****
Four days later, Evan was still arguing with himself about patience and his rules not to chase women when there were so many available and willing, as he stood outside her shop again.
Penelope had to have a birthday soon. Or a bakery-opening gift. Mayhap something without vanilla notes, though. She had enough of those. He wondered if there were any feminine shampoo scents with cardamom in them. The little baker’s treats often had hints of cardamom and ginger in them from her East Indian great-grandmother’s recipes.
And now I’m hungry, too.
He stepped into the shop, all his senses reaching for Althea. He could not see or hear her, but he could feel her.
A clerk approached him. “My lord, how can we help you today?”
“I need a shampoo for a friend of mine, a baker.”
“May I ask, is the baker a gentleman?”
“No.”
“Right, then. Let me see.”
“Lord Cheltenham?” Althea’s voice sounded, and his pulse sped, his palms growing a tad damp.
He found her coming from the back room in a purple gown so dark it was almost black.
