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CHAPTER FIVE

Eliza had purposely chosen to read from the Divine Poems, ignoring his amusement. She was adjusting to his nearness and his charm that brought out the wanton in her. More than an hour had passed, and aside from the concupiscence, she thoroughly enjoyed reading to him.

“Little think’st thou, poor flower, Whom I’ve watch’d six or seven days .

..” Eliza had moved to The Blossom to recite, looking for a sonnet that may tamp down the rising heat.

Her counter plan to seduce him would not be easy with her limited experience, but his smouldering stare was more than she could bear.

“And seen thy birth, and see what every hour…”

He gestured to her to stop.

“You read so beautifully, but I have a request, and I am afraid I am too impatient to wait for you to finish ‘The Blossom.’ Read to me ‘The Ecstasy.’” His lazy smile told her he had caught her blush, and she pursed her lips.

“ He has me in his palm, I must make it otherwise. / “Where, like a pillow on a bed, / A pregnant bank swell’d up, / to rest–The violet’s reclining head, / Sat we two, one anothers best.”

She liked the huskiness that had crept into her voice, and his gaze slowly descended from her eyes to her lips and then to her breasts.

“Keep reading,” he murmured as he rose and moved to stand behind her.

“Our hands were firmly cemented / By a fast balm, which thence did spring. ” Her breath caught in a strangled gasp as his warm breath caressed her neck and a firm hand cupped her right breast. Trembling, she leaned back against him.

He began to nibble kisses along her neck and knead her breast. The combined sensations caused her knees to buckle, and the lout chuckled.

“My sweet Eliza, I will not take you just yet. I have waited for this moment a long, long time. I will melt you into a puddle before I have my way.”

Eliza was still trembling, but now a little fury mixed with her passion. She needed to keep her wits about her and not become another notch in his bed post.

Forcing a laugh, she stepped forward and spun around.

“Perhaps it is I who will make you melt into a puddle, Your Grace. I suggest you think of that while I rest. You do not mind, do you?”

His return smile showed his teeth, like the handsome rake he was.

“Not at all. Rest sounds like a very good idea for the sleepless night ahead.”

At a loss, she retreated to her room. Their room . And threw herself on the bed, letting her thoughts run rampant.

Was he enjoying my actual company, or just the notion of seducing me?

Is three days and two nights enough to convince him we could be more than a brief affair?

Groaning, she pummelled the bed.

What was she thinking, trying to redeem this rake?