The Earl and the Governess: An Erotic Romance by Alison Shaw Read Free Book Online

and she had forgotten all her promises to herself.
She really should know better.
    Oh, but his
hands had felt so good on her, and his mouth had been so hot and
insistent against her neck, and he had been so big and hard in her
hand. No! She must not act so rashly again, and she must keep him
away from her if that’s what his touch did to her. Luckily, she had
an idea how to accomplish that. She knew men like the Earl of
Langham, and she knew what terrified them more than anything
else.
    Her plan
decided upon, she closed her eyes but sleep would not come. She
could not banish the vision of him, chest bare and breeches wet and
clinging, and how she could have run her hand over his tight
abdominal muscles and peeled those breeches down his long legs.
What must his backside look like? Tight and round no doubt.
    Her eyes flew
open. This would not do! She needed some fresh air.
    But in the
darkened hallway she ran straight into the very man who was so
interfering with her composure. The surprise made her drop her book
and he said smoothly, “We must stop meeting like this.”
    The candle he
held lit his face and Charlotte’s nipples instantly tightened as
she gazed at his beauty. His hair was dishevelled, his cheeks
flushed, his lips full and sensuous. He didn’t look like a man who
had spent an evening in polite company. He looked like a man who
had been … and then her gaze wandered downwards to the crotch of
his breeches. A couple of buttons were undone and white shirttails
poked through the gap.
    He saw the
direction of her gaze and carefully placing the candle on the
bureau next to him, advanced on her in two long strides. Charlotte
found herself pushed against the wall, the Earl’s hard body pressed
against her full length, his indigo eyes aimed at her mouth.
    That heated
gaze made Charlotte instantly wet and more than willing. Her legs
even opened slightly against the pressure of his erection but then
there was an insistent voice in her head, “No Charlotte. This will
not do.” She managed to command her hand to grip hold of his chin
and keep that beautiful mouth away from hers.
    “You have me in
a highly compromising position,” she said, remembering her earlier
resolution.
    “I can think of
more compromising positions than this,” he said in a voice so full
of erotic promise she almost swooned.
    “I do not give
myself so freely, Lord Fairburn,” she said, amazing herself with
her ability to lie so coolly.
    But he proved
to be insightful even through his lust. “I refuse to believe you
are a virgin.”
    She should have
been outraged, but he was correct after all, more correct than he
knew. “That is not the issue. I do not give myself to eligible
men,” she said, cementing the lie.
    His seductive
lips turned up in a lazy smile. “So non eligible men are free
game?”
    Oh no, he was
not going to argue her out of her resolve. She straightened her
back and stared into his eyes on a level. “You, Lord Fairburn, are
a highly eligible man, despite appearances.” And this time she was
not lying. He was so eligible that she was sorely tempted to
abandon this game and rip the remaining buttons from his
breeches.
    Once again he
revealed his sharp observation skills by murmuring in a voice laced
with need, “But you desire me. Don’t deny it.”
    She had to stop
this man from affecting her so. She must not give in to this raging
attraction. If she did, he would take what he wanted and then
reject her. It would be Randall all over again.
    “I am in
control of my desires,” she said. This was the mantra she had been
repeating to herself since Randall had so callously broken her
heart. If she repeated it often enough, who knows, it might come
true.
    His hips pushed
more firmly against hers and she could feel the evidence of his
arousal even through her heavy skirts. An involuntary moan almost
escaped her as his finger trailed across her lips, but she managed
to swallow it and instead said, “Leave me in peace.”