Page 18 of A Duchess Bound (Dukes of Dominance #2)

M idnight had arrived. Gerard stood silently beside the coach, too aware of every sound.

Lady Dorothy had not yet joined him, and he had no means to know if she would.

She had agreed to submit to him and had enjoyed his attention on multiple occasions, but this request was unlike any he had made of her before.

Perhaps, she would be too afraid to sneak away from the safety of her family’s townhouse.

Gerard drummed his fingers along the side of the coach. It might have been wiser for him to have met her at her residence, even if it meant he might be caught.

At long last, a figure appeared in the distance.

Gerard’s heart was in his throat. It must be she, for there was no other reason for anyone to be about in Mayfair so late at night.

He walked to meet her, admiring how luminous she appeared in the moonlight.

His palm twitched in anticipation of what was to come.

He had a length of rope in the pocket of his coat, and already, he was relishing the moment when he drew it out for Lady Dorothy’s inspection.

“Good morning, my lady,” he said.

“Your Grace.”

Gerard offered his hand. “Shall we?”

She placed her hand in his. Gerard escorted her to the coach and helped her inside. After a nod to the driver, he settled onto the cushion across from her.

The carriage began to move. “Where are you taking me?”

“To my favorite place,” he said. “Do not worry, my lady. It is not far outside of London, and I shall have you returned before anyone notices your absence.”

“Do you often bring your lovers to this place?”

He did. Gerard took her hand and pressed her knuckles to his lips, considering his answer.

If a young lady had asked that, he would have lied.

Young women wanted to feel as though they were the center of a man’s world, as if they were special and unlike any other woman who had ever lived.

Lady Dorothy was not a young woman, though.

“I would like to tell you that I have brought no other woman to this place, but I cannot honestly say that,” he said. “It is a special place to me, though.”

“How many have there been?” Lady Dorothy asked, furrowing her brow.

“Women?”

“Yes.”

“I have never cared to count,” he admitted. “Not so many as you imagine, I should think.”

“Are there any that I know?”

Gerard chuckled and pressed his forehead against hers. “Do you truly wish to speak of my former lovers?” he asked. “It is you who has enraptured my attention.”

“For a time.”

He tilted his head back. Lady Dorothy watched him carefully. “I think we need to discuss the terms of our arrangement,” she said. “How long do we imagine that our dalliance will continue?”

His lips twitched in amusement, and he leaned back against the seat. “I imagined that we would let the affair unfold as it will,” Gerard said. “It is not as if we have some pressing date by which we must conclude it.”

“I suppose not,” Lady Dorothy said, biting her lip. “You must forgive me, Your Grace. I am terribly unfamiliar with how this…business is usually concluded.”

“I know, my sweet.”

Lady Dorothy clasped her hands in her lap.

Even in the darkness, he could see the tension in her shoulders and spine.

When he had leaned his forehead against her own, he had felt the warmth of her body.

She seemed to be tightly wound with barely contained passion.

That was his doing. Poor Lady Dorothy had no idea how long he intended to make her wait before satisfying her desires.

“Did you spend the evening anticipating our meeting?” Gerard asked, smiling.

“I did.”

“Did you think of touching yourself while thinking of our meeting?”

Lady Dorothy inhaled sharply. Her mouth dropped open, and she put a hand to her chest. Gerard grinned lazily. “I see that you did,” he said. “And did you commit to the deed?”

“No.”

“Good,” he said. “Although I enjoy that I make you touch yourself, I think I wish to be the only source of your pleasure.”

“Suppose that you do not provide me with sufficient pleasure?”

Oh, she was feeling brazen. If only she knew the punishment that he had in mind for her…

It would be perfect .

“I can promise you that.” Gerard leaned forward and placed his hands on her thighs, stroking her legs through the fabric of her gown.

“If you will not agree to refrain from touching yourself, however, I fear that I will have no choice but to sneak into your bedchamber each night and bind you to the bed.”

She inhaled sharply. “You would do no such thing!”

“I would.”

He would not do it, but the thought was a provocative one. Gerard shivered, imagining finding Lady Dorothy abed, startled and eager for him.

Lady Dorothy laughed, the sound nearly breathless. “And how would you get into my bedchamber, Your Grace? You would certainly be caught.”

“You were not caught when you left,” Gerard pointed out. “But perhaps, I would climb the trellis by your window.”

“There is no trellis.”

He winked. “I would nail one up.”

Lady Dorothy laughed. “I am certain that no one would notice.”

“Excellent.”

The lady peered out the window of the carriage. They were leaving London, their only company the stars shining above the gentle ground.

“Is it safe?” she asked.

“Yes. I have never encountered any trouble on the road while going to my cottage.”

Lady Dorothy glanced at him, something thoughtful in her expression. “You have a cottage outside of London. Do you keep it just for your trysts?”

“How clever you are.”

She smiled, the expression a little anxious. “I worry that we might be caught.”

“I have never been caught.”

“That does not diminish my worries, Your Grace. On the contrary, I think it might heighten them. You cannot keep your activities hidden forever.”

Gerard hummed. He supposed that there was some logic in what she was saying. “You know…” he trailed off.

“What do I know?” she asked.

He cleared his throat. “If you do not wish to continue this arrangement, you need only tell me. I will return you to your townhouse.”

She bit her lip and turned towards the window. Gerard waited, scarcely daring to believe. Sometimes, this happened.

Ladies wanted the pleasure he could offer, but after the haze of pleasure left them, they began to remember all the consequences of engaging in an affair. They wanted out. They decided that potential disgrace was not a price that they were willing to pay.

He waited silently, not wishing to influence her decision one way or the other.

At last, Lady Dorothy sighed and shook her head.

“I do want it,” she confessed. “It is only that I am terribly anxious, Your Grace. However, I also feel as though there is something terribly thrilling about this affair. I want to continue with it and see it to the end, wheresoever that may be.”

“Nowhere unpleasant. Of that, I may safely assure you.”

“May you?” she asked. “I am certain that all of your affairs have not concluded amicably.”

“Indeed, some have not, but most of them have. I can discern no reason why ours should not.”

“You are so good with words,” Lady Dorothy said. “It is difficult to say when you are being sincere.”

“Is it?”

She leaned forward, something like fire in her expression. “You have done this same thing with so many women,” Lady Dorothy said. “God help me! I do want to continue this dalliance with you, to submit if that means you will show me pleasure. But I also wonder, do I hate you?”

He arched a brow. “ Hate seems like a rather strong sentiment.”

“How much of what you have shown me or said to me is merely…recitation from other affairs?” she asked. “You are an accomplished rake. I do not imagine that you craft a new performance for each lady you seduce. No, you must act the same role over and over.”

Gerard did not have a response to that. Something in Lady Dorothy’s words reminded him of the way that Lady Everleigh had sometimes gazed at him. Lady Dorothy was not an innocent, besotted woman. She was a lady who knew his game too well and was humoring him, entirely for her own benefit.

“You like that performance, or you would not be here.”

“I do.”

Gerard smiled and let his hands lower, bunching up the fabric of her skirts. Lady Dorothy’s breath hitched. “Would you like me to craft a performance for you?” he asked. “Shall I tell you precisely what I think of you?”

She laughed. “You will say whatever it is that you imagine I want to hear.”

“So I shall.”

Lady Dorothy curled her hands in his hair, and he pulled back. “Careful,” he said. “I did not grant you permission to touch me.”

“Do I need permission?”

“Yes.”

She brought her hand down instead, digging her fingers into her skirts. “And is that what you told the others?”

“It is.”

The carriage came to a halt. Rather than waiting for the footman, Gerard opened the door and helped Lady Dorothy descend.

He had prepared the picnic just outside the cottage, which was a small but comfortable dwelling.

In the daylight, one could see the thin, sweeping grasses and little wildflowers surrounding its exterior.

Gerard offered his arm, and she placed her hand at the crook of his elbow.

He guided her to the fine linen spread over the ground.

For their dalliance, he had brought cold meats, cheeses, and delicate pastries.

There was a bottle of wine for after the punishment.

Gerard had found that ladies sometimes enjoyed a gentle touch after particularly intense experiences, and he intended to give Lady Dorothy an exceptionally trying punishment.

“Shall we?” he asked, gesturing to the food. “Or if you prefer, we can partake after your punishment?”

“My punishment.”

“I promised you one. Did you think that I spoke in jest?”

“This hardly seems like a punishment,” Lady Dorothy replied.

“The food is not,” he said. “But I must know, my lady. What do you imagine I had in mind?”

“W—well…”

Laughing, he turned around and seized both her arms. Gerard held her fast, so they were facing one another. A shyer maiden would have averted her gaze, but she did not. They gazed into one another’s eyes; her eyes appeared silver in the moonlight.

“Well?” he asked. “I am waiting.”

A flush of embarrassment spread over her face, so sudden and glorious that his loins stirred. Women were so lovely when they were flustered and left without their balance.

“I asked you a question,” he purred. “Tell me.”

“I—I do not know,” she said. “Perhaps, I imagined…”

“Yes?”

“Perhaps that you would strike me,” Lady Dorothy said. “With a rod or some such thing.”

She moved slightly, pressing her thighs together. That was an interesting reaction and one that Gerard would certainly remember. “I think you would like that.”

Lady Dorothy shook her head. “No. No one would like such a thing.”

“You might be surprised, my lady. I have found that ladies enjoy all manner of unusual behaviors,” Gerard said. “It is charming how you know so little about desire.”

“I am glad you find my ignorance so attractive.”

“It is not your fault,” Gerard said. “I find that the world is too protective of ladies.”

“And too unkind to them,” Lady Dorothy said softly. “I feel sometimes as if desire is the most disgraceful emotion for a lady to have.”

“The world would have you think so,” Gerard said, a genuine swell of sympathy blooming within him. “But fear not. You will know more about pleasure at the end of our affair than most women in Britain.”

She smiled. “You are rather presumptuous, Your Grace. Boasting of your skills in such a manner is unseemly.”

“I have had enough of your mockery tonight.”

“What are you going to do?” she asked, tilting her head curiously. “Punish me?”

“Indeed.”

He withdrew the rope from his pocket, and Lady Dorothy visibly startled. She looked at him as though he might have taken leave of his senses. “Is that rope?”

“I am glad to see that you have not been rendered unexpectedly blind,” he said. “Yes, it is. Now, be a good girl and offer me your wrists.”

Lady Dorothy stared at him with wide eyes. “You cannot be serious.”

He laughed. “You came here thinking I meant to strike you with a rod,” Gerard said. “But now that I have shown you some rope, your courage has abandoned you?”

Lady Dorothy straightened her spine and lifted her chin. Imperious as a queen, she held out her wrists.

Gerard considered her for a moment. “Behind your back.”