Page 17 of The Guardian Duke (Wayward Dukes’ Alliance #21)

He had been a rake. Well, not one that ruined innocents and such, but he had taken great pleasure in his mistresses, various widows, brandy and gambling. He had also buried those tendencies the moment five innocent cousins moved into his home.

Except, all the desires he previously enjoyed stirred at the very sight of Lady Penelope.

Now, the two of them were quite alone, in a dark carriage, and he wanted nothing more than to make her his. It had been a need since…Well, since she claimed that she did not like him very much.

No, it had been before that conversation, not that he had considered a courtship because…well, she claimed to not like him very much.

Now that he had asked her a direct question that revealed his character more than she realized, he waited for her response.

No doubt he alarmed her.

It should alarm her, but Lady Penelope simply looked humored.

When she opened those coral lips to speak, Henry didn’t wait to hear what she might have to say but slipped a hand behind her head, his fingers sinking into the silky curls and placed his mouth against hers. It wasn’t a chaste kiss but passionate, heated…claiming.

At first, there was no response but then she engaged him with just as much need. Her hand grasped his shoulder as he delved, his tongue mating with hers. He placed his other hand on her side and smoothed it up her ribcage, stopping just short of her glorious breasts. Penelope arched as if she wanted him to touch her but even in his haze of desire, Henry knew better than to do so.

His body was already filled with need and knowing that he would gain no release, touching her any further would only bring torture.

With those thoughts he broke the kiss and pulled away.

She simply blinked at him; her brown eyes dark, full coral lips swollen.

“That, Penelope, is why an innocent should never be alone with a rake.”

When her pearly white teeth bit her bottom lip he nearly growled and delved again, but they had already arrived at Felding’s home and had been sitting there since right after he had started to kiss her. As anyone walking the street might see them, he pulled away from her and opened the door and stepped out onto the street.

He then held out his hand to Penelope to assist her to the ground. Hers was shaky in his, which gave Henry the satisfaction that he had finally unbalanced her.

At least she wasn’t upset or angry because if she had been, he had no doubt that she would have slapped him. Or perhaps she had not yet recovered. Therefore, if she marched into his home tomorrow and did slap him, at least he would know why.

“Thank you for seeing me home, Your Grace,” she murmured as a slight blush stained her cheeks.

He kept himself from smiling with satisfaction at having her flummoxed, which might be for the first time in her life.

“It was my pleasure, Penelope.”

He then watched as she walked to the door, which was immediately opened by a butler, before climbing into the carriage once again so that he could be taken home.

Bloody hell! What had he just done?

* * *

Penelope had been kissed before, but never in such a manner. The kisses in her past had been sweet, lackluster and she had often wondered how lips placed together could lead to ill-advised and ruinous decisions.

Now she knew why.

None of the men who had kissed her before had been a rake.

Goodness!

“Did you enjoy Athena’s Salon?”

She paused as she passed the parlor and turned to look in. Her sister-in-law, Rosalind, was sitting at the pianoforte while her brother sat in a chair reading, glass of brandy at his elbow.

“Yes,” she answered.

Rosalind frowned. “You appear distracted. Is anything amiss?”

Her world had just been upset in the most remarkable and confusing manner, but she did not dare tell Rosalind or Noah what happened in the carriage.

“I am simply tired,” she finally answered, which was not a lie.

“I am not at all surprised. You have been incredibly busy with preparing the Simpson sisters to be reintroduced and helping His Grace plan a ball.”

She wasn’t helping His Grace do anything. “I am helping the sisters plan a ball. I am certain that His Grace will simply make an appearance as expected.” She did not dare tell Noah just how much time she spent with Eldridge because he could become overprotective. Those two had a shaky relationship as it was. Some slights from the past, such as when Eldridge’s sister had tried to blackmail Noah, or Rosalind as it were, were never truly forgotten, even if Eldridge had been forgiven of any slight because he had been ignorant of the situation.

Still, that did not mean she wanted Noah to pay a call on Eldridge and make ridiculous demands.

“Are you certain all is well?” Roseland asked. “You are frowning.”

Was she?

“I am tired,” she said again. “I think I will retire.” With those words, Penelope left them before they could ask any further questions and retired to her chamber. She waited patiently as the maid helped her from her gown and into a night rail before Penelope dismissed her. She then sat at the mirror of her dressing table and pulled the pins out of her air, allowing her curls to drop to her shoulders and down her back, all the while wondering if she looked different from the experience with Eldridge.

She did not notice anything on the outside but she was different inside.

Goodness, her body had been transformed by his lips, the caress at her side, where no man had ever touched her before. She had ached, her breasts mostly, and as his hand was just beneath them, she had arched, hoping that he would touch her, but he did not.

Since when did breasts ache and feel as if they were swelling and why would she want him to touch her there?

It was all rather discombobulating.

What would it have been like had he caressed her there?

Penelope brought a hand up and touched herself, felt the weight in her hand and wondered if Eldridge doing so would have brought her pleasure.

“Oh, this is ridiculous,” she uttered aloud as she picked up the brush to run it through her hair.

He was a rake and thus kissed in the manner of a rake, which was certainly not proper! Yet, she had once overheard Rosalind and her friends mention that the most improper things were also the most enjoyable.

Penelope had not given it much thought and assumed that they meant something like drinking brandy or partaking in too many sweets. She now wondered if they were talking of kisses and if so, were there intimacies that were considered improper but pleasurable?

Oh, she understood the mechanics of intimacy and what was required for an heir but gave it little thought as she assumed that she would not wed and thus, such information was not important to her. Except now, with one kiss from a rake, she was quite curious as to what other pleasures she might be missing.

Was there a way to discover those pleasures without being ruined?

If she asked Eldridge, would he show her?

Penelope’s face burned with the very thought.

The kiss in the carriage had been a risk, not that she had instigated it, but to ask to learn more…well, she would likely be ruined beyond repair if anyone learned. Therefore, she would need to push such curiosity from her mind and if possible, forget the kiss.

She rose from the dressing table and padded to her bed and crawled under the covers. After she turned on her side, Penelope bunched the pillow beneath her head.

She was never going to forget that kiss.