Mandy

Prologue

THE EIGHTH DUKE of Margate gazed at the lovely in his bed. The letter from Skip still nagged at him and diverted his attention.

He had been diligent when he saw to the twins’ hefty inheritance. All was in order. Skip, who counted himself their devoted friend, had felt that the time had come for him to pay what he called, ‘the wild pair’ a visit.

His dear friend was quite correct of course. It was his duty to look in on them, even though they were young adults. Yes, but for the moment, he had other matters to attend to.

The duke returned his thoughts to the soft woman in his bed. Perhaps this was the time to make a trip into the wilds of Yorkshire. She was already becoming too clingy. She was already making demands that he had no intention of fulfilling.

He touched the lovely’s luscious lips and gently said, “Sally, time to go.”

The time for her to leave had come and gone, in fact, an hour ago, but somehow this afternoon had been different, Sally had lingered.

It worried him. He hoped she wasn’t getting attached. He had been frank with her from the start. He was a confirmed bachelor who enjoyed his status and she was married. She had no business becoming attached to him. Look at what Lady Caro had just done in the Park Square—burning all of Lord Byron’s love letters and humiliating her husband publically. One never knew what a woman might take into her head to do.

She had agreed that their time together was just for a bit of ‘fun’, yet now, she seemed to want more.

“Oh, no…Brock, my darling,” Sally of Benthurst complained with a pout. “‘Tis so early in the afternoon still. We have so much of it left to us.”

“I have no wish to immerse either of us in scandal. It is getting late and that is precisely what will happen if you don’t hurry home.”

“Samuel doesn’t care what I do,” the dark haired woman murmured. “Let me stay just a bit longer.”

The duke knew the time to end this was at hand. She was most certainly going beyond what they had agreed upon. He had no wish to humiliate her husband, and although it was true, Sally and Samuel seemed to openly lead different lives. Still, it would not do to be indiscreet.

He moved away from her and ran a hand through his locks. Glancing at his nightstand table, he saw the letter from Skippendon about the twins. He smiled ruefully to himself. Skip wanted him to travel to the wilds of Yorkshire and look in on his wards, because they were in need of direction. What precisely did that mean?

Why should he? They were young adults; in fact, they were only a few years younger than himself. In another couple of months, his guardianship would come to an end. He had breezed through this entire predicament fairly smoothly. Why ruin it all now, with a visit?

The woman in his bed scrambled up and held him from behind, “I love your black hair…” she turned his face sideways to meet hers, “Your blue eyes…and black thick lashes that any woman would die to own.”

He removed her fingers from his locks and kissed their tips, “I am sorry, sweetings, but it is time. Up with you now.” So saying he swung his legs out of the bed, stood and stretched.

She lay on her back and made a point of staring at his privates, “Wouldn’t you like to rub that big hard thing on me…one more time before I leave?” she touched her breasts invitingly.

“Sally, stop. I want you safely out of here and on your way home. I may be a rake and a libertine, but I won’t go out of my way to make a fool out of man who hasn’t wronged me, by allowing anyone to find out about our trysts.”

“Stuffy, old fashioned boy,” she mumbled. “What do I care for what he or anyone else thinks? Lady Caro doesn’t care and she is not ostracized.”

He laughed, “Never mind others. I am what I am, and if that is stuffy, so be it. There is no point in being indiscreet. No point in embarrassing your husband.” He reached for her hand and firmly pulled her into a sitting position. “I shall have my man call for a hack, so put your clothes on, hang your veil over your face, and put your cloak well over your hair. I shall watch the street for the right moment to usher you out of the house and into the hack without anyone the wiser.” He had already turned away from her and pulled on his maroon brocade dressing gown.

He felt her eyes on his back as he heard the rustle of sheets and turned to find her wiggling her shoulders at him, attempting to entice him as she fondled first one breast and then another and whispered, “Touch me…love…touch me some more…”

She was absolutely luscious and provocative, but he suddenly knew he couldn’t bear to touch her one more time. He no longer had any desire for her company or her body, and wasn’t sure he even liked her.