“Oh, I intend to, Miss Blair. Every single penny.”
Ada shivered as the words rasped across her skin, tightening her nipples and causing her pussy to throb. This was another first: being regarded with such appreciation, as though he were a parched man in the desert and she a glass of cool lemonade. Quite frankly, it was lovely. “You’re saying…you agree to be hired?”
The duke inclined his head. “On the proviso there is nothing further or permanent, of course. For I am certainly not a marrying man, nor will I be manipulated or tricked.”
“Understood,” she replied, almost breathless with excitement. Ada Blair, soon to be virgin no more! “Allow me to reassure you that I have no expectations beyond pleasure for the duration of your visit to Cheltenham. I am nearly thirty years old, not some foolish green miss.”
“Then we shall be well-matched companions, as I recently turned forty. I suggest we meet tomorrow to outline contract terms. Do you have a preference where?”
Ada pondered and discarded several options. It was difficult to be discreet in a small town. “What about the old gamekeeper’s cottage at the edge of your estate? The Tudor one? All those trees for privacy, and it’s an easy walk from the vicarage. Say two o’clock?”
“An excellent idea. Two o’clock,” he agreed. “Your friends will provide excuses should anyone seek you?”
“Oh, certainly, Your Grace,” called Ruth cheerfully. “We’ve already informed Ada we are happy to be her alibi, anytime of the day or night, and shall personally ensure you aren’t disturbed at the cottage. She needs this.”
“My word, yes,” added Martha. “Long past time our girl let her hair down.”
“Indeed,” said Ada wryly. She stood and held out her hand. “Until tomorrow, Your Grace.”
Gilroy rose to his feet and moved in front of the desk, and next to him she was almost delicate rather than ungainly. How glorious. Then he took her hand and brushed a brief kiss across her knuckles. “I look forward to earning my pay, Miss Blair.”
She trembled at the jolt of sensation. If his warm, firm lips felt that good on her hand, she could only imagine the impact on her lips or breasts. Between her legs…
“Ada,” she choked out, barely suppressing a moan. “My name is Ada.”
“Very well. Ada.”
Somehow, she curtsied before turning and walking toward Ruth and Martha, who both winked and grinned. In truth she wanted to dance their little parlor jig, for not only would she at last discard her virginity, it would be with a skilled and exceedingly handsome man.
Today had been a very, very good day.
Chapter Two
“Here you are, Your Grace. The food for the estate jaunt. They’re all things that won’t spoil, and the bread is freshly baked.”
Jasper smiled briefly at the maid as he took the bulging leather satchel. “Thank you.”
“Oh, there are napkins and cutlery as well, I tucked some into the side pocket. The wine and lemonade are wrapped so they keep cool.”
“You’ve thought of everything,” he said, handing her a sixpence for the trouble. “Much obliged.”
The maid beamed at him, then scampered away.
Jasper set down the satchel and glanced yet again at the clock resting on his bedchamber mantelpiece. Never had time moved so slowly; despite the passing of at least a thousand days, the hands insisted it was noon. Still two hours before his tryst with Miss Blair in the old gamekeeper’s cottage.
No, not Miss Blair. Ada.
He couldn’t remember the last time a woman had fascinated him so. Yes, he’d been initially startled at her offer, but the more he’d delved into Ada’s reasons for wanting a lover, the more they had made sense. A vicar’s daughter living in a small village would indeed require a discreet man, especially if her father was an obnoxious boor who made her work as an unpaid scullery maid. If nothing else, Ada deserved numerous orgasms simply as a reward and respite from that.
But the way she’d reacted to having her hand kissed…even now he could recall the satiny softness of her skin under his lips, the way she’d trembled and sucked in a little breath, the visible imprint of taut nipples against the bodice of her gown. She might be innocent, but this was a woman made for carnal delights, and he couldn’t wait to show her how good it felt to have tongue, fingers, or cock inside her.
Indeed, he would take the honor of introducing her to pleasure very seriously indeed.
Jasper continued to pace between the enormous four-poster bed and the window overlooking the flower gardens. What a damned difference a day made. Or should that be what a damned difference the promise of a tryst with a beautiful and interesting woman made. He wasn’t entirely sure why Ada had captured his interest so completely, when in recent months not even the most accomplished courtesans in London had tempted him. Hell, not a single lady at his birthday ball had tempted him either, and there had been literally hundreds of well-bred daughters, sisters, and widows assuring him in no uncertain terms that they were willing and available.
Perhaps it was the novelty of being the lover hired rather than the one hiring. For a shilling.
That still made him smile. Considering most London courtesans expected houses, carriages, servants, and their bills paid, he could well be England’s cheapest lover. But it wasn’t about the money. It was about helping Ada taking control of one thing in her life, a luxury he suspected she’d never enjoyed. And the benefit wasn’t one-sided; he would at last be fucking the woman of his most private fantasies: a tall, blushing blond with bountiful curves. As long as their affair remained a secret, there were no disadvantages here.
“Your Grace? You sent for me?”
Jasper glanced up to see his longtime housekeeper, Mrs. Eden, hovering in the doorway. She was the wife of his steward, an absolute treasure of efficiency who kept secrets like a vault. He’d not wanted to involve her as he filched a jar of her wonderful herbal potpourri, some dusting cloths, and a set of the finest linen sheets to take to the cottage. Alas, though, he desperately needed her assistance.
“Ah, yes. I’m hoping you can help me with something important.”
Mrs. Eden smiled quizzically. “Of course. What is it?”
Gah. He could actually feel his cheeks heating a little. But damn it, Ada would not perform household tasks for him. “I need to learn how to make a bed.”
Her eyes bulged. “Are you unhappy with a chambermaid in particular? Do they all need further training? Oh dear, I—”
“It’s not that. I will shortly be meeting a companion elsewhere, and, er, wish to be responsible for the task.”
“Ohhhhh,” Mrs. Eden replied, her expression easing to bemusement as she walked over to his bed and yanked the heavy embroidered quilt and sheets onto the floor. “That is a surprisingly sweet reason. Watch closely, now. We start with the first sheet draped onto the mattress evenly, tuck all the corners and around, smooth the fabric…”
Well. That looked easy enough.
A quarter hour later he’d muttered every curse word he knew, in three languages, and pledged to raise the wages of all chambermaids in the household. Mrs. Eden appeared to be torn between strangling him and howling with laughter as his eleventh effort sailed across the mattress to hang drunkenly over the side of the bed like a young buck after his first night out. “This is bloody ridiculous.”