A Spinster's Last Stand (Lady Knights Book 3) by Cara Maxwell

Author:Cara Maxwell [Maxwell, Cara]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Dragonblade Publishing, Inc.
Published: 2023-09-13T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter 14

He could not write a treatise while foxed.

He could still hold his quill pen. So technically, he could write something. He could write his treatise. He could force the nib down to the parchment and something would come out on the page. But whatever it was, it would be utter shite.

Not because of the alcohol he’d imbibed—though he’d drunk plenty. Years spent in the military meant he could hold his liquor quite effectively. But the real reason his mind had been turned to mush was soft, round, and red-haired.

Supper had finished hours ago. As usual, Miss Trudeau accompanied the children upstairs to the nursery. If the evening followed the usual pattern, he would not see her again until the children trotted down for their midmorning music lesson. But he’d invited her to his study. Ostensibly to learn about bees, but both he and Red were smart enough to know the true intent behind his invitation.

Yet he still sat there alone.

Red had not come.

Which was why he turned to drink. In theory, if he drank enough of it, his cock would soften to uselessness. He was closer to forty than thirty years old. Past his sexual prime. Two drinks ought to have been enough.

Still, he pictured her round bottom as she sashayed among the apiaries, trying hard to mask her trepidation at the bees buzzing around her. The clever little insects loved the color red; they sought out those flowers above all others. Was it any surprise they were drawn to the woman who matched the color, not only in hair color and name, but in the shade of her very spirit?

That was the most disturbing part of this desire. It was not merely a lust to possess her body—her buxom, beautiful body. He wanted her mind as well. He wanted to tell her about his damn bees, have her read his treatise before he sent it off to the Royal Institution in London. He trusted her opinion above all others. She was wicked smart; if she approved, there was no way the intellectuals at the Royal Institution could spurn him.

He was luckier than he’d ever realized, securing her for the children’s governess. How many women could provide instruction in Greek as well as French? Red could. What governess could teach one child to fish while simultaneously ensuring the other could curtsey while pressing her nose into yet another novel? Red, of course.

But if he took her to bed… he risked all of that.

Horror grabbed his chest in a vise at the thought of having to secure another governess for Archie and Eveline. He’d gone through nearly a dozen before finding Red. The children were becoming attached to her, that much was plain. Archie looked to her as often as he did his father for appreciation and validation. Eveline even more so, though the stubborn girl would surely never admit it.

George had not asked what events had transpired while he’d been away to lead to the fragile accord between the two women, younger and elder.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.