Page 50 of More or Less a Countess
The conversation had embarrassed Lord Dare—there was no question about that. She’d felt him stiffen beside her when she asked about the condom slipping off, and she’d heard his hesitation, the strain in his voice as he’d explained the part about the fluids. She’d noticed the subtle shake of his hand when he’d drawn the appendages.
He hadn’t wanted to tell her any of it.
“I told you because you asked, Miss Somerset. I didn’t think it proper to discuss it in the middle of the museum with all the dissected frogs listening on, however.”
Violet fell back against the seat, astounded at this response. He’d told her because she’daskedhim to? She sat speechless, trying to recall if anyone had ever before offered her knowledge for no other reason than she’dasked.
Years of questions—decades of them. Hundreds, perhaps thousands of questions, and she could only remember a handful of instances when she hadn’t had to argue and plead and fight to get the answers.
And nowhe—Lord Dare, of all people—had simplygivenher knowledge, offered it up to her as if she had every right to it. Not just any knowledge, either, but the kind of knowledge deemed inappropriate for delicate, feminine ears.
She stared at him, her heart in her throat. Was it possible she’d misunderstood him? “But…that’s it? You told me because I asked? For no other reason?”
He looked surprised. “Well, you’re a scholar, aren’t you? You have an educational interest in the subject, not a prurient one. If you’d asked for any other reason perhaps I wouldn’t have been so forthcoming, but under the circumstances, I thought you deserved to know.”
Violet went still as his explanation sank in.
It wasn’t proper, and it wasn’t gentlemanly—it wasn’t anything Violet could ever imagine any other gentleman ever doing for her, but Lord Dare had answered her questions because he’d decided, against every expectation she could ever have had of him, that she’d beenentitledto the knowledge she asked for.
It stunned her.Hestunned her.
“Lord Dare?” She touched his arm.
He looked down at her with a faint smile. “More questions, Miss Somerset? I do hope you’re not going to ask me to describe the various fluids to you.”
“No, I just…”
She didn’t give herself a chance to think about it or change her mind. She simply turned to him, clambered onto her knees on the seat bench, and did what she’d wanted to do all day. She leaned toward him, pressed her palms against his face, and kissed him on the cheek. “Thank you.”
He stiffened, but then he let out a ragged sigh, and his warm breath drifted over her lips. Violet slid her hands away from his face and drew away. Two bright spots of color stained the crests of his cheekbones, and he was watching her with dark, sleepy eyes.
For a moment she thought he’d reach for her, but he didn’t. He simply nodded, once, but his gray eyes were so warm, so intense, it was almost as if he’d stroked his fingertips over her heated skin.
Violet licked suddenly dry lips. That drawing he’d done, of the upright appendage…what, precisely, did it take to make it stand upright like that? He’d explained that it happened when a gentleman became aroused, but how did one arouse him to a degree that his appendage would rise in such a demanding manner? What did it take to make him reach the height of his pleasure, and once he did, well…what was it like?
Lord Dare cleared his throat. “You’re looking at me as if I were a preserved monkey’s head, Miss Somerset, and you’re about to take me from my jar and do an experiment on me.”
“No, I—no, of course not, my lord.” Except an experimentwasthe best way to gain knowledge, and he’d shown himself willing enough so far, and if shecouldget a bit more information, perhaps she could write that chapter, after all. “I only wondered…”
He raised an eyebrow at her. “Yes?”
“What does it take to make the, ah, the gentleman’s appendage so…eager? I mean, what can a lady do to him, to help him reach the height of his pleasure?”
Lord Dare’s lips parted. “She kisses and touches him, among other things, but it isn’t a good idea—”
Violet slid her fingers up his arms and rested her hands against his jaw. It was shadowed with the faintest hint of a beard, and the tiny bristles tickled her palms. “Like this?” She leaned forward, and pressed her mouth to his.
He went still as her lips moved over his, but then he let out a low groan, closed his hands around her waist, and pushed her gently away. “This isn’t like Execution Dock, or Cockpit Steps, Miss Somerset. I’m a man of flesh and blood, not one of your ghosts. It isn’t wise for a young lady to tempt a man in such a way.”
Tempt him?A forlorn little laugh escaped Violet’s lips.
Oh, she was likely safe enough. It wasn’t as if she’d ever inspired mindless passion in a gentleman before, and it was especially unlikely to happen with a gentleman like Lord Dare, who was accustomed to beautiful, tempting ladies like Lady Uplands. “All right, but first tell me, did it work? That is, are you aroused?”
He seemed to be having trouble catching his breath, and his fingers tightened on her waist. “This isn’t a game, Miss Somerset. A gentleman’s arousal isn’t something to play with. Go back to your seat at once.”
But Violet didn’t go back to her seat. She didn’t move. She couldn’t tell if he was becoming aroused, but warmth had pooled in her lower belly as soon as her mouth touched his, and her limbs felt pleasantly languid.
So she ignored his warning and kissed him again. His lips were much softer than she’d expected a gentleman’s lips to be, but they were firm, too, and so warm and lovely. She let her mouth linger on his this time, but just as she’d grown bold enough to start exploring the shape of his lips, he did the strangest thing.
