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Chapter Six
Noel sighed again asshe wandered around the small bedchamber. While it was clean, it held a sense of proclivity to sin that made her uncomfortable. In her boredom, she peeked inside the wardrobe and found many indecent garments. The lace displayed throughout the bedchamber gave the impression that a proper lady resided within, but her clothing showed proof of the lady’s sinfulness.
Two men had entered the bedchamber and boarded the windows after Lady L left. She took their presence more of Lady Langdale reiterating her threat not to attempt an escape. Noel feared for her safety by the sheer size of the guards. It wouldn’t take much for them to break her in two. And the scowls they’d delivered her way confirmed their dislike of her presence. While Noel dealt with ladies similar to Lady L’s and Lady Ravencroft’s character since her debut a few years ago, she had been fortunate enough to never acquaint herself with men of this class. Were they men or forces of nature meant only to deliver harm?
Each time she attempted to open the door, she found it locked. While the guards scared her, she wondered if they only relied on their strength to enforce Lady L’s orders. Or could she outsmart them with her wit alone? However, she never got the chance because after they delivered her meals, they locked the door behind them.
Which left Noel to wonder over her fate. Not only her fate but her relationship with Ravencroft. It made her question the false security she held in their engagement. Maybe she was the dim-witted debutante everyone thought she was. How else could she have mistaken Ravencroft’s character? His disreputable behavior when he kissed her displayed a rake whose only intention was to bed her.
The memories washed over her with a determination to understand the shift in their relationship. Her body grew warm, as if Ravencroft were present, and a need consumed her that she didn’t understand. What would’ve happened if she hadn’t run away and instead indulged in every indecent suggestion Ravencroft made? Would she find pleasure in the sinful suggestions Ravencroft enticed her with?
Her body trembled as she envisioned them wrapped in each other’s embrace. Her hand slid along her chest, brushing across her nipples. They tightened under the shirt and ached from her slightest touch. She slid her fingers across them again to help ease the ache. However, it only caused her body to stir with desire. Her wicked thoughts led her on an unfamiliar path.
How would it feel for Ravencroft to nestle his head between her breasts and suckle on her nipples for hours on end? Would his passion be gentle? Or would he dominate her senses with his demanding mouth? Noel’s body tingled with each thought.
She jumped from the chair and slammed the door to the wardrobe. This bedchamber drew out her forbidden thoughts and taunted her with what she might never experience. That thought alone prompted her to open the wardrobe and stroke her hand along a silken negligee. The bold color of red tempted her with a night filled with scandalous interludes.
Images flooded her senses of lying spread out on Ravencroft’s desk as he whispered into her ear, seducing her into succumbing to his wildest fantasies. Did Ravencroft find Noel attractive in a sexual nature? Or did his taste run more to the Lady Langdales of the world? She drew the negligee out and held it to her body. She shifted to the mirror to look at herself. The red complimented her golden tresses, turning them into a warm shade of sunshine. Her fingers sank into the softness of the silk. Would it caress her skin the way Ravencroft had?
Noel glanced over her shoulder at the door and wondered if she should dare. The house had grown quiet after they served her dinner, and she didn’t think anyone would bother her this evening. Her teeth dug into her bottom lip and gnawed back and forth while she worked up her nerve to try the scandalous garment on. The longer she debated with herself, the more the thrill of draping herself in the wanton gown enticed her to step behind the dressing screen and tug off her clothes.
She shivered in the cool air as it washed over her nakedness. The act of standing without a stitch of clothing on in a strange home shocked Noel, and she refused to ponder the feelings it ignited. She donned the gown, and it slid over her body with a gentleness only a generous lover would offer. After she took a step forward, Noel gasped at her revealed leg. She moved her leg back to see it once again covered, only to move again with an urgency to see how the negligee flowed around her. It was like nothing she had ever worn before.
She scampered to the mirror in her eagerness and stood in shock at the beauty before her. Her hand stretched out to touch the glass, her fingers trailing a path at every indecent part of herself revealed. As her fingers explored her exposed skin, she felt a singe in the valley between her breasts. When she shifted her hand from the mirror to herself, she gasped at the intimacy of her own caress. Her nipples budded out against the material, revealing themselves with enough to tease a gentleman into having explicit thoughts.
Noel twirled slowly in a circle, loving how the bold gown clung to her curves. Her hands shimmied along the silk, heightening her fascination with how such a thin scrap of fabric gave one the confidence to pursue their desires. To make one bold enough to tempt the gentleman of her dreams to indulge in a night of sin. Would Ravencroft slack his desires if she were to wear this for him?
She floated around the bedchamber as if she and Ravencroft shared a dance of temptation. She watched how her leg teased itself from the slit in the gown with each twirl she took. After blowing out the candles, she settled on the lace-covered mattress. There was no light to offer her any comfort, just eerie blackness. Her body shuddered as she listened to the house creak with its every movement.
Noel closed her eyes, remembering the comfort of Ravencroft’s kisses. They held no gentleness a lady might feel from her first kiss. The kisses were as bold as the gown she wore with each mind-consuming pull of his lips against hers. They dominated her senses with the power he kept clenched, refusing to combust and drown her with his desire. Her thoughts kept leaping with curiosity about how Ravencroft would act if he unleashed the passion on her soul.
Noel lost herself in her fantasy as it changed to a dream and sleep drew her within its grasp. Her last thought was if Ravencroft would find her desirable in the sinfully red negligee.
However, it never mattered because, in her dream, he did.
~~~~~
RAVENCROFT SPENT MOSTof the evening pacing in his study, his mind consumed with how to find Noel. Each time he passed his desk, images of her spread out before him clouded his thoughts. He should keep his attention focused on how he would return Noel to her family, but he was powerless in his sinful fantasies. If he found her, would he return her to the bosom of her home? Or would he kidnap her for himself and ravish her senseless? Strip her bare and feast on her delights. He felt unbalanced, like a caged animal. He hadn’t experienced this desperation since his mother forced him into a life of crime. Once he escaped that life, he had refused to enter it again. Also, he refused to become a victim of his emotions.
After savoring Noel’s lips once, he had fallen victim to the instability of becoming vulnerable to another soul. While he cared for his brother, he had always kept their relationship separate from his heart. Now he risked exposing his heart to a lady who deserved more than he could offer her. However, he was a greedy bastard who would seduce her until she fell victim to the hell of his existence.
His hands shook, wanting to reach for the bottle of whiskey his maid had replaced in the study, but he refrained. Losing himself in spirits wouldn’t help Noel’s cause. No, he must keep his wits about him until they summoned him. Which should be anytime now. He knew how Lady L played tricks with one’s mind. She dangled the letter at him, full of clues about how she would reveal her hiding spot once she saw fit to.
It was why he had returned to his home instead of the Worthingtons. He needed to make himself available or lose the chance to rescue Noel. Also, it was best he stayed away from Worthington for the sake of their family. He no longer had to tolerate the earl’s authority. He would stand as his own man and to hell with whoever didn’t approve.
“My lady, you cannot go in there,” Ravencroft heard the maid ordering someone in the hallway.
The maid rushed in after the lady, pulling at her arm to stop her from entering. The scene would have been most comical if Noel’s safety wasn’t a worry for him. A simple maid attempted to prevent his mother from entering a place she used to call home. However, the maid held no clue who the lady was. He must interrupt them before his mother threatened the poor girl’s life. His financial standing kept him from employing quality servants. He hated to lose the ones he had acquired.
“That will be all, Meg. I can handle it from here,” Ravencroft assured the maid.
Meg curtsied, a blush spreading across her cheeks at being called her by her name. “Very well, my lord.”
His mother arched her eyebrow at the exchange. He rolled his eyes at her unspoken comment. He thought she would keep her opinion to herself on the matter, but then he should’ve known better.
“I see they still fall at your feet at every opportunity. She is a pretty chit. Does she warm your bedsheets at night as well as serve you throughout the day? If so, it must be a strenuous position she holds. I hope you pay her well.” Lady Ravencroft peeled off her gloves and swiped her finger along the bookcase. “At least she is skilled with a feather duster.”
