Gareth: Lord of Rakes by Grace Burrowes Read Free Book Online Page B

fuss me for some years, and find it… endearing.”
    He regarded her with the sort of consternation reserved for bad art purchased by a good friend for far too high a price, then seemed to come to an internal conclusion.
    “We will start there, then, with your hands and your hair. Each time we meet, we will spend time on one particular part of the body—yours or mine. We’ll get around to them all eventually, at least all the ones that count. In this way, I expect you will lose most of what’s left of those maidenly inhibitions, or send me packing.”
    He might have been planning the layout of his garden or compiling a guest list for a Venetian breakfast.
    “You don’t really care which, do you? It’s all the same to you whether you get me into bed or scare me into a life of service.”
    The idea that her intimate education held no more interest for him than a choice of desserts was not cheering—and a life in service was not an option for Astrid.
    Gareth’s scowl suggested he was not pleased with the question either. “I am long past the point of taking sexual encounters any more seriously than I would a hot bath or a good meal, Felicity. We’ve touched on this before. If I take you to bed, we will both enjoy it. For you, it will be a new experience, and one that makes certain options available.”
    “While it removes other options from my grasp.” Options no decent woman parted with happily. He couldn’t possibly think she’d lost sight of that reality.
    He gave her a peevish look. “Yes, you will lose certain options when you lose your virginity. That is a matter for you to consider. My point is that when I make love with you, I will enjoy the physical pleasure, but I will also be discharging an obligation placed on me by Callista’s bequest—no more, no less.”
    Felicity had heard enough philosophical lectures and sermons to know they were delivered in this same dry, dispassionate tone, and he wasn’t finished.
    “If you want protestations of profound emotion from me, you are doomed to disappointment. I’ll give you pleasure and teach you how to please a lover. When I have discharged that obligation, I will wish you luck and be on my way.”
    Felicity sipped her tart drink and did not ask the marquess the questions that had plagued her for weeks: How does it feel to take a stranger to your bed? How do you talk yourself into desiring me? How can you contemplate such intimacy with another and yet regard it as no more significant than sharing a table at Gunter’s when the crowds are thick?
    She offered him a placatory smile—she hadn’t heard him call it making love before. He’d used a hundred vulgar terms in both English and French instead.
    “I take your point. You are performing the service for me that Callista performed for you, and I will learn to perform for others. It’s business. I understand that.”
    She did not understand why she felt as if she’d just insulted him gravely—he was trying to help her, and at her request.
    He considered his lemonade, his expression unreadable. “Just so.”
    Felicity held her peace, lest the lump in her throat provoke her to more unhelpful speech.
    “For the next part of our dealings,” Gareth said, “I request that you bathe thoroughly before we meet, wear jumps or forego your stays altogether, and be prepared for me to seduce your hair.”
    He emphasized that pronouncement by running fingers along Felicity’s brow and smoothing her hair behind her ear—a gesture he’d performed a handful of times, but one Felicity had just admitted she enjoyed. Well, no matter. She’d been honest, and this caress meant nothing to him, regardless of the tenderness of it.
    Was she supposed to hope that someday such a precious, personal touch would mean nothing to her as well?
    ***
    “This feels so awkward!” Felicity protested for the third time.
    She sat facing a vanity that took up an alcove in Gareth’s dressing room, her reflected expression enough to