Kate Pearce - Educating Elizabeth

"If that is true, it is a shame I never married. My life would have been a lot easier as a widow."

The duke crossed one immaculate booted foot over the other and studied the toecap before he ventured a reply. "That is one way of looking at it, Elizabeth but perhaps a trifle self-centered. I suspect any man you chose to marry would rather have lived."

Elizabeth pressed a hand to her heated cheek. "Oh, Your Grace, forgive me. I was only thinking aloud. I never meant to imply I wished anyone dead."

She sought his eyes and saw the gentle mockery in them. "Oh, you are teasing me. It is quite disconcerting. I wish you wouldn't do it."

His slight smile faded and he was suddenly all business." We should discuss how we mean to go on."

"Indeed we should, Your Grace." Elizabeth slid her hand into her pocket and stroked the letter like a talisman.

"You are willing to live quietly here for a few months while we complete your education?"

"A few months?" Elizabeth couldn't help her startled interjection. "Surely you have taught me most of what I need to know?"

She blushed when the duke looked stunned.

He rose slowly from his perch and came toward her. Within a heartbeat he pulled her to her feet and put his arms around her.

"You think that you know enough because I've kissed you a few times and you have found it 'quite pleasant'?" He laughed into her neck and she shivered. "I've taught you nothing, nothing at all. By the time I've finished with you, you will want my hands on your body all the time and you will want to touch me, too." He bit down on the soft flesh at the base of her neck. "You will learn to bring me release in ways that you cannot imagine and I will bring you great pleasure."

She gasped as he drew her closer into his arms.

"Why don't I continue your education right here?" He glanced around. "In broad daylight, in my study where anyone could walk in on us. How about if I kiss you now?"

Before Elizabeth could muster a protest, his mouth closed over hers and she surrendered to the heated demands of his kiss. Her hands slid up his back to grip his broad shoulders. While she struggled to breathe, the duke caught her around the waist and sat her on the edge of his desk. He pushed one of his heavy thighs between her legs and pinned her there.

His kisses became deeper and slower and he rocked his thigh against her body in the same hypnotic rhythm as his tongue. She began to feel warm and no longer tried to escape his embrace. His hand pushed at the bodice of her gown, sliding it from her shoulder and baring the swell of her breast. His other hand pressed insistently on the small of her back until she arched her spine, offering her breasts to him.

Elizabeth choked back a shocked cry as the duke trailed kisses down her neck, nuzzled the swell of her breast, and sucked her nipple into his mouth. To her horror, the exquisite sensation tempted her to clutch at his hair and keep him there against her aching flesh. By the time the duke transferred his mouth to her other breast, she lay limply and compliantly in his grasp.

There was a sound from the library next door and the duke raised his head. She could not help but notice the gleam of appreciation in his silvered eyes as he surveyed his handiwork. Her nipples had drawn into hard peaks and her whole body throbbed in time to her raised heartbeat. She allowed the duke to adjust her corset and pull up her bodice. She shivered every time his fingers brushed against her and she suspected he knew it. It seemed to take him an age to make her respectable again.

Even when she was decently covered, he still held her captive on his desk, his thigh warm and solid against her skirts and between her legs, making her want to grind herself against him in a most unladylike way.

As her senses returned, she realized she was the one clinging to the duke.

He moved away and surveyed her, a small smile on his lips. "Now, my dear, I've work to do. I suggest you go shopping with Nick. I'm sure there are items of a more personal nature that you wish to purchase for yourself?"

He reached behind her and presented her with a small leather bag that clinked when he dropped it into her hand. "Before you start to argue, these are your wages for accompanying Eloise to Bath. Enjoy spending them. I will see you at dinner."

Elizabeth was unable to do more than nod at his brisk flow of instructions. Her body still seemed to be reaching for his and she was unwilling to move. It was an effort just to stand up.

He paused before sitting at his desk. "Elizabeth?"

"Yes, Your Grace?"

"Maybe while you are out you might consider a better choice of words for describing my kisses? If this is what 'quite pleasant' does to you, I dread to think what wonderful or exquisite will achieve."

Elizabeth managed an unsteady curtsey and headed for the door, the duke's soft laughter filling the space behind her.

Shopping with coin in her purse and without the worry of her stepfather's debtors was an invigorating experience. Elizabeth had lived in London for several years but her previous existence had been fraught with difficulties and she had been far too busy to shop for pleasure. She had taken charge of the housekeeping at an early age to prevent the Foresters from gambling away every last penny the rest of the family had.

Her days had been spent searching for cheap food and patching her clothing whilst her mother pretended that nothing had changed. Mrs. Forester believed that maintaining appearances mattered and had continued to receive visitors as though she were the queen in the shabby, rented houses they were forced to live in.

It was Elizabeth who had baked the confectioneries her mother loved to serve to guests and Elizabeth who saved and reused the expensive tea leaves to make them last longer. When slovenly maids were unwilling or unable to perform their more delicate tasks, Elizabeth developed a skilled hand with a flat iron to preserve her mother's finery.

She glanced down at the intricate black pleats on her bodice and sighed with pure pleasure. Since she entered the duke's grand establishment, nobody had asked her to iron or wash a thing, tasks she loathed.

Nicholas made her shopping experience even more rewarding by anticipating her every whim. Without complaint, he had accompanied her to Hookhams Library where she had taken out a subscription. Then he had recommended a haberdashers where she provided herself with necessities for sewing. Their morning ended with their enjoying a well earned rest and an ice at Gunter's.

Elizabeth calculated that the immense sum of money the duke had tossed at her so casually would prove more than sufficient to pay for Michael's care for several months. She counted the remaining coins in her purse and decided she could spare enough to treat herself to a few luxuries. She smiled as Nicholas bowed and opened the door to Crabtree's perfumery.

With a thrill of guilty pleasure she sought out her favorite lily of the valley soap fragrance and added it to the lavender water she intended to take to her mother as a gift.

Nicholas waited patiently by the door and Elizabeth smiled as she caught his eye. She turned back and murmured an apology as her gloved hand tangled with another woman's basket, spilling the contents.

"Elizabeth? Oh my goodness. Is it indeed you?"

She glanced up and found herself staring into her half-sister's delighted face. With a glad cry, she opened her arms and enveloped Mary in a warm embrace. Mary was becomingly attired in a blue velvet pelisse and matching bonnet, which only enhanced her blossoming beauty.

While Mary pulled away and picked up her scattered purchases, Elizabeth studied her blonde, petite seventeen- year-old half-sister. Even though it had been only a few short weeks since they had last seen each other, Mary's sophisticated wardrobe made her look older. Elizabeth's eyes narrowed as she estimated the cost of the elaborate outfit Mary wore and wondered who had paid for it.