Deceived

matter to him.'

'Why on earth would the Bowens object to me?' St. John asked. 'I am young, healthy, extremely handsome, and rich. What more could they possibly want in a son-in-law, Hawkesworth?'

'My dear St. John,' his cousin answered him, 'you are indeed all those things, but you are also an undeniable rascal. You have broken any number of hearts, and if rumor is to be believed, you have at least two bastards to your credit.'

'Three,' St. John murmured, unabashed. 'The daughter of the innkeeper at the Three Swans has recently presented me with a girl child. I do acknowledge the little ones, and pay their mothers a generous yearly stipend as well as seeing to their baptisms.'

Hawkesworth laughed all the harder. 'I am certain that Sir Ronald and Lady Elsie will be most impressed by your Christian charity. We get ahead of ourselves, however. First you must entice Miss Isabelle Bowen in your web of love. Once you have done that, the battle is half won.'

'And if not, I shall have to go to London to see if I can find some sweet little debutante whose down-on-her-heels but utterly old family will not blink at my reputation, so blinded are they by my fortune and lands.' Putting his tumbler down, he grinned at the duke. 'I wish you more happiness this time, Hawkesworth, than you had with your last marriage. For all our rivalry, we are family and best friends.'

The two men shook hands, embraced, and then the duke walked with his cousin out into the afternoon, where one of the grooms stood waiting with St. John's horse. Mounting the beast, St. John gave the duke a wave, and then rode off in the direction of Primrose Court. Hawkesworth watched him for a few minutes and then returned to the house. It was time that he and his wife began getting seriously acquainted.

Peters greeted him, saying, 'Her grace will not allow us to move her things into the duchess's rooms, my lord.'

'Nor should you, Peters. At least not until the rooms have been totally redecorated. You can understand that my wife would not want to sleep in the place where her sister has so recently died. Tell her servants to leave her grace's possessions where they are. I will discuss the refurbishing with my wife shortly.'

'Of course, my lord,' the butler said. 'It was thoughtless of us to have attempted to move her grace under the circumstances.'

The duke hurried up the stairs to Aurora's room, but she was not there. He went to his grandmother's room, where the dowager was sleeping. Where the hell could Aurora have gone to, he wondered as he entered his own bedchamber. Then he gaped in shock. She lay curled upon a hip in the center of his bed, resting her body upon an arm and an elbow, her heart-shaped face supported in the palm of her hand. She was stark naked but for the necklace of aquamarines about her neck. A fire crackled in the fireplace, the light of the flames mingling with the light from the setting sun.

'I have decided to forgive you, Valerian,' she said, breaking the silence between them. 'You were absolutely right about St. John. He is a scoundrel.' She shifted her legs just slightly, allowing him a fine view of the thick thatch of tight brown-gold curls between her thighs. Then she ran the tip of her tongue along the top of her lip.

'How in God's name did you manage to preserve your virginity so long?' he demanded of her. He shrugged off his coat, and, unbuttoning his waistcoat, lay the two garments upon a chair. Moving back to the bedroom door as he undid his cambric shirt, he turned the lock, and spinning about, yanked off the shirt, saying, 'I shall need your help with my boots, Aurora. Come here,' he commanded, and watched with pleasure as she slid off the bed and walked toward him.

'What shall I do, my lord?' she murmured.

Seating himself in a chair, he said, 'Straddle one of my legs, and then pull the boot off, my precious.' Then he grinned, delighted at the sight of her pretty bottom. It was as round as a peach, and when she grasped his right boot and began to pull, he was unable to resist placing his left foot upon her and pushing gently.

'Ooofff!' she grunted as the first boot slid off, and she set it aside, bestriding his other leg and drawing off the second boot.

He peeled his stockings off, and when he stood again, she began to undo his breeches. Shaking his head, he said, 'If I had not sprung you myself, I should be in serious doubt as to your chastity.'

'Don't you want to make love to me?' she said softly.

'Yes, I do,' he admitted as she pulled the breeches over his hips, leaving him to finish the job, and slipped his drawers down to complete her task. 'Tell me, did St. John light this fire in you?'

Aurora shook her head. 'Since my childhood 1 have known how to pleasure myself,' she told him. 'I am wise enough to have known that I must keep this part of my nature secret, and not be called wanton, or shame my family, but the hunger was always there. Last night you were able to satisfy that hunger. I want you to do it again!' She pressed her naked body against his, slipping her arms about his neck. 'Do I shock you? Calandra, I know, was my opposite. She told me she did not like the act. I do, Valerian. I like it very much. Can we do it twice again? I was so surprised that you could do it twice in one night!'

He wanted to laugh. She was wonderful! Ingenuous, innocent, and knowing all in the same moment. She was a gift after his marriage to her coldhearted sister. 'This passion of yours,' he said softly, his arms wrapping about her, 'must be reserved for me, my precious. You do understand that, do you not?'

She nodded, and then her hand slipped down to push between them and grasp his member. 'It is so hard,' she noted, and then loosed her grip upon him and began to caress it. 'Do you like that as much as I like it when you stroke my breasts? You do not mind if I ask you such questions, do you? I want to please you as you have pleased me.'

'Yes,' he said slowly, 'I like it when you touch me. There are other ways you can give my member pleasure besides petting it, but if you are fearful, or repulsed, I will understand.'

'How?' Her tone was filled with curiosity.

'Kneel before me,' he said softly.

'What?' Her voice was surprised.

'Kneel before me,' he said, and when she complied with his request he took his manhood in his hand and rubbed it gently across her lips. 'You can use your tongue on it, or suck on it,' he told her.

Aurora's heart was beating wildly. There was something so exciting about the forbidden, and this was certainly a forbidden thing. She touched him with just the tip of her tongue. He said nothing. Emboldened, she licked vigorously about the ruby tip of him, and when he removed his hand she bent her head slightly and licked the length of him several times. Then, unable to help herself, she opened her mouth and took him into it, her tongue working fiercely as her own excitement level rose with each passing second. He was warm and hard, and smooth. The taste of him was musky and salty. She sucked on him, and felt his fingers kneading her head, encouraging her, and then he grated at her to cease, and when she could not seem to stop, he pulled her away, yanking her up to face him once again.

'Would you swallow me whole, my precious?' he demanded.

'Yes!' she said, her eyes bright with her desire.

He laughed, amazed at her capacity for lust. 'Turnabout is but fair play, Aurora,' he told her. 'Let me show you.' Taking her by the hand, he drew her over to the bed, sitting her down so that her legs were hanging over. 'Lay back,' he said, and when she had, he knelt and slowly drew her legs down and over his shoulders.

'What are you doing?' she cried out nervously.