Page 39 of Second Duke's the Charm

He sat back in one swift, fluid movement. “I agree.”

“To what?”

A muscle ticked in his jaw. “To increasing the pleasure by waiting. Doyouagree to my terms?”

Did she?Tess plunged headlong. “Yes. I accept your proposal.”

Thornton showed no visible sign of relief, nor satisfaction, and for a moment she wondered if she’d made a terrible mistake.

He gave a curt nod and stood. “Excellent. I’ll have the documents drawn up. Where shall we meet next?”

Feeling at a distinct disadvantage, Tess stood, too, but his presence still dominated the room.

“I’ll be attending Lady Greenwood’s party tonight.”

“In that case, I’ll be sure to be there.” A glimmer of amusement seeped into his expression. “Should we seal our bargain with a kiss? Or a handshake?”

Her brain was still swirling with the enormity of what she’d just agreed to. Kissing him again might stop her from thinking at all. She extended her hand across the desk.

His mouth broke into a grin that made her weak at the knees as he reached out and enfolded her fingers in his much-larger clasp.

Instead of raising her hand for a kiss, as he’d done before, he gave it a squeeze and a shake, as he might give a fellow business acquaintance. The gesture was one of appreciation for a worthy adversary, and Tess accepted it with a sense of gratitude.

“I am aflame with anticipation already,” he said softly. “I’ll see you tonight.”

Chapter Thirteen

“Ellie, Daisy, help!”

Tess slid behind her desk at King & Co. in a flurry of skirts. “Thornton thinks I know a hundred tricks for avoiding pregnancy. What are they?”

Daisy twisted her hair up onto the top of her head and stabbed it with a pencil to hold it in place. Ellie took off her reading spectacles.

“You discussed contraception? With Thornton?” Daisy’s eyes were glowing with interest. “How very progressive. Most men wouldn’t have given it a moment’s thought.”

“He seems to think of every detail. It’s no wonder he’s so successful at business. He said he dislikes using sheaths, so he’s leaving the task up to me.”

Daisy pursed her lips. “Hmm. Well, one way to avoid it is to time your ‘amorous episodes’ to just before or just after your monthly courses. Those are the times you’re least likely to fall pregnant. But it’s not terribly reliable. I knew a dairymaid at Hollyfield who—”

Tess shook her head. “That’s not going to be possible.He’s expecting us to have an ‘amorous episode’ at least three times every week.”

Her skin grew hot just saying it out loud, and Daisy laughed at her obvious mortification. “Atleast? Tess, you must be the luckiest woman in London.”

“Any other ideas?”

“Well, Tom and I prevented it by having him pull out before he completed the act. But again, not really ideal.”

Having grown up in the countryside, Tess had a basic knowledge of the physical mechanics of animal mating, and her understanding of what went on between men and women had been greatly increased by the satirical—and often borderline pornographic—engravings that hung in the printsellers’ windows around Covent Garden.

“I don’t think he’ll expect to do that, either. Ellie, any thoughts?”

Ellie breathed on the lenses of her glasses and gave them a thoughtful polish with her shawl.

“Well, I obviously don’t have anypracticalknowledge, like Daisy, and you’d be surprised at how little information is available to ladies of an inquiring nature when it comes to books you can borrow from the lending library. But Ididfind some fascinating details when I searched through the records of court cases involving ladies of ill repute.”

“You read about trials involving prostitutes?”

“Yes. I thought it might prove enlightening. And it was. Did you know, for example, that some women use half a lemon, inserted inside their—” Ellie waved vaguely at her lap as she struggled to find the appropriate language.