The Cursed Countess (The Daring Drake Sisters 1)

“It is very intimate indeed, almost as if our lips touched.”

The tip of her pink tongue slowly drew across her lower lip. “Oh, my,” she uttered.

“We had best take our seats,” he said, holding out his arm for her.

She shook her head and blinked. “Of course.”

An hour later, the musicale had finally finished and not a moment too soon for Jack. Watching her reaction to him taking a sip of her wine had been on his mind all during the musicale. There was an attraction between them he intended to pursue, and now was the perfect time. “Shall we take our leave?”

She looked around the room. Not even their hostess had greeted her. She blinked furiously as if trying to hold back tears. It pained him to see her so disregarded by the other women and more so by the men. But her rejection might assist in his success. Without a word to anyone else in the room, they departed the house.

“Do you mind walking to my carriage? My driver said he would be around the corner.”

“No, I would love to stretch my limbs. And it is a beautiful night.” She looked up toward the barely visible stars. “I do miss some aspects of the country.”

“Star gazing?”

She smiled over at him. “As a matter of fact, yes. And walking through a field after a summer rain.”

His own lips turned up. Her statement reminded him of walking through the fields of Torridge Hall. When this was finished, he must make a visit to Neville and his wife down in Devon. Perhaps by then, his new niece or nephew might be here. It would be good to see the girls again. He hadn’t seen them all since Christmas and he missed the little rascals.

“You have gone quite quiet,” she said softly.

“Just thinking about my nieces down in Devon. I must see them soon.”

She stopped and looked up at him. “I hadn’t expected you to be a doting uncle.”

He raised a brow at her. “Perhaps we should get to know each other better then. You shall find I am quite the doting man.”

“Perhaps we should.” She tilted her head slightly while staring at his lips.

He wondered if her gaze was on purpose or could she really be that innocent. He suspected that she knew exactly what she was doing. The woman had bewitched three other men but she wouldn’t ensnare him.

“Oh, we shall get to know each other much better,” he said in a husky tone.

She looked up at him with a seductive smile and whispered, “Yes, we will.”

CHAPTER 6

Tessa watched the expressions cross his face...shock and then desire. But could she do this? Could she truly take a man to her bed? A man she barely knew? Based on what her mother had always told her, Tessa understood she would have to be the one in control. Mamma had said men have no control over their primal urges. Considering at least two of Tessa’s husbands had kept mistresses, she assumed her mother’s words to be true.

“Come along, I should get you home,” he said, smiling as he tugged her arm.

And then what? She desperately wanted to ask that question. In many ways, she felt she should already know the answer, but with her limited experience, she did not. “Very well.”

His outrider jumped off the back of the carriage as they approached. He opened the door for them to enter and quickly cloaked them in privacy. As the door shut, her hands started to quake, but she wasn’t certain if it was anticipation or alarm.

“So tell me, Lady Stanhope,” Raynerson started as the carriage rolled down the street. “Exactly how do you propose we get to know each other better?”

Tessa bit down on her lower lip as his question rolled in her mind. “I honestly have no idea,” she finally said. “I have never tried to befriend a man before.”

He looked over at her with a frown. “Were you not at least friends with your late husbands?”

She couldn’t help but laugh. “Oh, Mr. Raynerson, you must have no concept of how most women are bargained into marriage. All it takes is the right man with money and a title, and your mother will sell you off to the highest bidder. Even if you have only known the man for a week.”

She shouldn’t have said so much. It took her back to her first and worst marriage.

“I am sorry,” he whispered. “I had no idea how you came to marry.”