The Earl is Mine by Kieran Kramer

Author:Kieran Kramer [Kramer, Kieran]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: St. Martin’s Press
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Fourteen

Gregory woke the next morning ornery but also with more energy than he’d had in ages, which surprised him as the pallet was comfortable enough but not nearly as pleasant as a plump mattress. But sharing a bed with Pippa hadn’t been an option. He’d wanted her to get some real rest, so he’d headed to the dressing room after their completely unexpected but highly memorable romp.

Guilt shot through him. Last night he saw so clearly how frustrated she was, how she’d wanted to rattle him. He’d let her go through with her ploy—then turned the tables on her.

Yes, she’d said some harsh things that still infuriated him to recall this morning, but had it been the work of a gentleman to seduce her into submission?

No. It hadn’t.

Now, with the early morning sun streaming through the tiny windows above the dressing table, he wondered how well she’d slept.

Raw carnal memories shot through his brain, and his body reacted as he knew it would. He craved her body, was enchanted by the way she’d responded so passionately to him. Even now, it made him happy to think of how spent she’d been when he’d left her on the bed, one arm folded under her head, her legs limp and tangled, her boyishly slim hip facing the ceiling, and her eyelids heavy with satisfaction.

Groaning, he rolled out of bed, ignoring the rod of steel between his legs that reminded him of how blasted attractive he found his country friend. It was inconvenient, this new fascination he had with her, but it existed. He’d have to deal with it by leaving her alone. He didn’t think she’d make any further overt sexual attempts to break his will and get him to do her bidding, but now that he’d had a few tastes of her earthy nature, he was hooked.

It would be a rough, rough road staying away, but he must.

Entirely naked, he cracked open the door to the bedchamber to see that she was gone and the bed neatly made. He couldn’t help feeling disappointed that he wouldn’t see her hair spread over the pillow the way it had been last night and maybe catch a glimpse of a strawberry-tipped breast.

But how had she got her clothes? Her wig? Her spectacles? They were all in the dressing room. He couldn’t have slept with her creeping about the pallet, could he have? Was he that pathetic—sleeping so deeply he hadn’t heard her?

He walked back into the dressing room and saw that, sure enough, her things were gone. “God,” he croaked aloud, rubbing his jaw in the looking glass, “how embarrassing.”

The childhood warrior in him—the one who’d have ridden that imaginary piebald stallion and saved the world from dreaded enemies—didn’t like knowing he could be taken by surprise.

“There’s no need to be embarrassed,” he heard from the door, and nearly jumped out of his skin. “You’re dealing with someone who excels at being invisible, as all good servants should.”

It was Pippa dressed as his valet—and it was entirely expected that such a servant might see his employer naked.

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