Page 35 of Pride, Prejudice & Wicked Pleasure

“How fascinating and extremely vague.”

In some cases, he would attempt to put a woman at ease with conversation, but encouraging a tête-à-tête with this one might prove hazardous. He walked over to the sideboard to pour himself a glass of sherry.

Sensing his departure, she asked, “How long have you been an instructor for Mrs. Trenwith?”

“Is that relevant?”

“Of course. Your years speak to experience.”

“What information I provide will only prejudice you. Judge the results instead.”

“Do you employ the same methods with every woman?”

“You have a great many questions.”

“I am inquisitive, a quality that makes me an apt pupil.”

“An apt pupil also follows directions well.”

“Ah! Are we to commence the ‘lesson?’”

“If you are done stalling with your chatter.”

CHAPTER ELEVEN

Had she irked him? Lizzy wondered, half-amused with her own antics, for she was indeed using discourse as a stalling mechanism and a façade for her own nervousness. She had been on edge for some time and receiving the blindfold had helped matters none at all. While the darkness of the room helped to conceal her, it also obscured his features. She had suspected the mysterious man to be Nicholas at first. She had no aversion to the thought of Nicholas as ‘instructor,’ but the form of the other occupant was not as sinewy and, unless Nicholas was assuming a different personality, the speech, being more deliberate and less animated, did not match. She then speculated that perhaps it was one of the servants, for she had observed no other person at Trenwith House, but the manners of the stranger did not fit a hireling.

Well, she had asked of her own volition for this, and it would be silly of her not to see it through.

“Is the blindfold truly necessary?”

“Will you talk less without it?”

“Now who is the one doing the provoking?”

“Touché. Let us cease the verbal sparring and attend to the purpose of this night.”

Lizzy hesitated. Was she truly ready for this?

“We will proceed only as you wish,” he reassured.

Not wishing to be one of those flighty women who knew not their own mind, she replied, “I am ready.”

She heard his footsteps approach the bed and silently cursed the blindfold. It increased her perturbation. She sat at an angle to the edge of the bed, and she sensed him standing behind her.

“Permit me to loosen the robe about your shoulders.”

Realizing she had been clutching the garment tightly about her, she loosened her grip. He slid the rob a few inches off her shoulders. Her heart stilled.

“I will touch your right shoulder,” he said.

Dear God, Lizzy breathed to herself and shut her eyes despite all previous attempts to see through the fabric. Her heart resumed an erratic beat. While she had never bared herself before a man with whom she was not familiar, her nerves would indicate she had never been with a man at all before. Granted, the nature of what was to happen was entirely different than the congress she had engaged in previously, but when he placed a hand upon her right shoulder, his touch, warm and steady, felt devoid of anything wanton.

After allowing her time to become accustomed to the weight of his hand, he told her, “I will now move toward your neck.”

He slid his hand toward her neck. With his thumb, he smoothed the flesh near her shoulder blade. She shivered.

“Much tension is accumulated in this area. I shall attempt to ease it.” He kneaded the shoulder with his thumb and fingers. “The neck is an intimate area, but I will be gentle.”