Lord Fox's Pleasure
Appalled, Prudence gasped, taking a step back. ‘Oh! Oh—how dare you? How dare you say that? You have no right.’
‘Mebbe not—but what I saw yesterday only proves that you’re a better actress than I thought,’ he growled scathingly. ‘Not so angelic now, are you? What do you have to say?’
Something of the venom in his tone penetrated Prudence’s mind. His arrogance and the injustice of the accusations he was flinging at her stirred her ire and her eyes flared. ‘Nothing to you, Will Price. Nothing at all.’ With a toss of her head she made a move to walk away, but seeing her intention, he stepped in front of her, barring her path.
He looked huge and intimidating as he glared down at her, his small eyes glittering hard, the broad expanse of his chest exposed beneath his half-fastened soiled shirt beaded with sweat. Gripping her arm in his large fist, words began to spill from his lips as though a long pent-up dam had suddenly burst.
‘You can’t say I haven’t been patient—watching you come here time after time—wanting you. It isn’t everybody who would have waited to be noticed. And don’t look so surprised,’ he laughed, with more than a hint of bitterness when her eyes widened with astonishment. ‘Ever since I first clapped eyes on you I’ve wanted to tell you how I felt, to declare myself, but I thought you weren’t for me.
‘You’ve tormented me—do you know that? Coming to the yard all friendly like. I could’ve taken you time after time—but no, like a fool I thought, wait, treat her properly, and then maybe there’ll come a day when she’ll notice you. Now I know your pretty words are not to be trusted—your innocence is a sham. Aye,’ he said, looking her up and down insolently, mentally stripping her of her clothing, which turned Prudence’s blood to ice. ‘I should’ve known the bitch was biding her time until those foppish Cavaliers came back so she could flaunt herself.’
Prudence stared at him, trying to comprehend what he was saying. How could she tell him the very touch of his hand repelled her? ‘That’s not true.’
He favoured her with a sneering grin. ‘And would it have made any difference if you had? Aye—I know your brother was in exile, and that your family’s poor—but not too poor to stoop so low as to take Will Price, eh? Not too poor to take to living in a hovel with a man with dirt on his hands, who stumbles and lurches around in his ugly boots.’
Prudence set her jaw and glared her anger at him. His words were as defiling as if he had violated her body. ‘You’re right, Will Price. If you think I would give myself to the likes of you then you are more addled than I thought. Now—let go of my arm and get out of my way.’ She didn’t believe that he would harm her, but she was wrong.
Will’s eyes narrowed dangerously. His face was red and he was breathing like a winded bull. ‘Beneath all your fine ways you’re nothing but one of life’s whores.’ His lust overcoming his common sense, drawing himself up to his full height he hauled her furiously against his chest.
Pain as hot as pincers shot through Prudence’s arms as she struggled against him. Suddenly something welled up inside her, a powerful surge of emotion to which she gave full rein. It was something larger than her own small self.
Because she was small and female Will misjudged her strength. When he planted his mouth on hers there was a sudden pain as her sharp teeth clamped down on his lip. With a yelp he released her and drew back, tasting blood. He raised his hand to wipe it away, just as her fist flew out and delivered a resounding blow to his cheek.
‘You lout. You ill-mannered oaf,’ Prudence cried, hotly irate, her dark eyes narrowed and sparking fury as she met his effrontery with a rage she had not known she possessed. ‘Do you think I am that easy, Will Price? If I were a man I’d—I’d horsewhip you. I’d teach you not to go around ravishing respectable females with your revolting kisses.’
‘Would you kindly explain what’s going on?’ Lucas’s sharp bark came from the entrance to the yard.
Will dropped his arm in amazement, and in unison both he and Prudence looked towards the gates in mute surprise. The figure of Lord Fox, long of limb and lean of frame—six foot two of lean, hard muscle—strode towards them scowling darkly, his eyes flicking with distaste from one to the other. He halted a short pace away. The scene prompted Lucas to draw his own conclusions—Prudence’s cry of outrage, accompanied by a resounding slap to her assailant’s cheek, told him that this person’s advances were not welcome. The young man was quite tall and muscular, with features grimly set and blue eyes narrowed into bitter slits.
‘You are?’ Lucas asked pointedly.
‘Will Price,’ he growled. ‘I work for Mr Rowan.’
‘And where is Mr Rowan?’
‘He’s not here this morning.’
‘How convenient for you.’ A mildly tolerant smile touched Lucas’s handsome visage, but the glint in his eyes when they settled on Will was as hard as steel. ‘However, I am sure your employer can find more worthy tasks for your attention than abusing his customers. If you do not choose to meet your Maker, I suggest you do not touch the lady again,’ he warned in a tone of icy reproof. ‘Sir Thomas Fairworthy would take it amiss if you hurt his sister.’
Slightly shaken, Will managed to draw himself up with nervous hauteur. The fact that his masculinity was about to be shredded by the older, more powerful and supremely confident Lord Fox, and that he would be brought down by his inability to control his lust for Prudence Fairworthy, overcame all other emotions. ‘What’s it to you?’ he snarled.
‘I’m the man who happens to be a close and personal friend of Sir Thomas Fairworthy. I am also the man who will speak to your employer and have you dismissed.’ Lucas slid his gaze to Prudence, whose glower was hot enough to reduce him to a cinder. ‘Are you all right?’
‘He hasn’t hurt me, if that’s what you mean,’ she ground out ungraciously, mortified that Lord Fox of all people must have witnessed the whole shameful, sordid incident. But then, wasn’t he another who had dared treat her like a common trollop, kissing her in so casual, so cavalier a fashion?
‘It is clear to me that Mistress Fairworthy finds your amorous attentions unwelcome,’ Lucas said to Will. ‘I think you should apologise.’
Will laughed derisively. ‘I would sooner have my tongue cut out before apologise to that doxy.’
Prudence rounded on him, her face a mask of indignation. ‘What did you call me? Why, you—’ she cried hotly, but a sharp glance from Lucas silenced her.
‘Perhaps you didn’t hear what I said,’ Lucas persisted, addressing Will once more, his voice cold and ominous. ‘I think an apology to the young lady is in order.’
Stemming a string of foul curses that threatened to erupt from his mouth, Will glared at the Cavalier whose composure shamed him, the apology sticking in his throat. When Prudence saw he wasn’t going to comply, she stepped back.
‘Leave it,’ she said firmly, unconsciously placing her hand on Lucas’s arm when she thought he would raise it to strike Will. ‘It was his own foolishness that led him to this. Let the matter end there.’
Lucas fell back a step reluctantly, looking down at Prudence. Her face was clear-cut and delicate, her hair all a-tumble about her slender shoulders, and utter contempt for the man who had molested her was manifest in her narrowed, translucent eyes. ‘Am I to understand that you wish to ignore the fact that this man tried to ravish you?’
‘Why, what will you do, Lord Fox?’ she scoffed. ‘Avenge my honour? I think not. No good will come of it.’
She looked at Will. The wretchedness of his family’s existence was not unknown to her. They lived in a rented tenement up a filthy yard at Ludgate. Since the death of Will’s brutal father several months ago, his mother and five young siblings were totally dependent on him. If Mr Rowan heard how he had tried to molest her, he would not tolerate his working at the nursery any longer. Will would never find work that paid so well and his entire family would suffer and be turned out on to the streets to grovel for a living as a consequence. Prudence had no wish for that to happen, and neither did she want to be the cause of it.
‘I shall write to Molly and explain that I will not be coming to the nursery any more because I’m returning to Marlden Green with my brother and sister. To spare your family hurt, I shall remain quiet about what happened today. You were stupid and a fool to do what you did to me. I suppose passion can blind a man but, by my oath, Will Price, if you ever touch me again, I swear I will give you reason to regret it.’
‘You are too kind-hearted by far,’ Lucas drawled mockingly, but he shrugged. ‘As you will.’
He looked at Will and his fists tightened. There was a time, not too long ago, when he would not have let a man off so lightly if he’d caught him molesting a young innocent. He would have killed the ravisher, no matter what. But the intervening years had taught him a tolerance, if not a wisdom, that his nature would once have condemned.
‘Mistress Fairworthy is too forgiving. Consider yourself fortunate. Now,’ he said, sweeping a hand in front of him in an invitation for Prudence to proceed. ‘If you please.’
A trace of indignation still showed in Prudence’s tight lips as she turned from Will and went ahead of Lucas out of the yard.
Standing alone, as Will watched them go he yearned for vengeance. He wanted to go after them and tear into the arrogant Lord Fox, to beat him to a bloody pulp, as he would anyone else of lesser rank who crossed him, and snatch the young woman from his side. But the taste of blood and the tender swelling on his lip where her teeth had punctured the flesh made him pause. Thoughtfully he stared after them. He would let the matter rest, for now, but if a chance arose in the future to get even, he would take it.
The man who stood just out of sight of the gates to Mr Rowan’s nursery, his back pressed hard against the wall, had the air of a cautious animal as his eyes followed the two people who had just left the yard. A dim, wavering light penetrated the alleyway, and the dank smell of rotting vegetables and worse permeated the air. With his teeth drawn back across his lips and his eyes shining with an ugly inner glow, the man stepped furtively into the open, walking with the gait of a sailor as he followed the man and woman with stealth and at a discreet distance, stopping now and then, shadowy and motionless, out of sight of the couple who had no idea of his presence. Not until they stepped on to the Strand did he turn and retrace his steps back to Mr Rowan’s nursery and Will Price.
Chapter Four
P rudence lifted her head haughtily and her mouth hardened to an unsmiling resentment as she glanced at Lucas leading his horse a step behind her. ‘I can’t think how you came to be at Mr Rowan’s nursery, Lord Fox. It is off the track, after all. Don’t tell me you are out for a stroll for I will not believe you. You either followed me or you have an interest in gardening. Whatever the reason, do you have to creep about?’
Lucas was incredulous. Good Lord! If the wench wasn’t trying to take the offensive by accusing him of spying on her. ‘If I had come accompanied by the London mob I doubt you would have noticed, Mistress Fairworthy. And, since you ask, it was for neither of the reasons you mentioned. Your brother sent me.’
Her eyes opened wide with alarm. She gasped. ‘Thomas?’
Lucas grinned. Now he had her full attention. ‘You do have just the one brother, I believe,’ he replied with an underlying sarcasm. ‘When he discovered you had left the house he was quite beside himself with rage. Your sister directed me to the nursery to fetch you home.’
His eyes were not without humour, but there was censure in the firm set of his clean-shaven jaw. Prudence bristled at his tone and glared her irritation. ‘I can take care of myself.’
‘After that delightful scene I have just witnessed, I disagree.’
Prudence ignored him and neither of them spoke for a full minute as they made their way down the narrow, deserted alleyway, entering a slightly wider street and going in the direction of the Strand.
‘He’s handsome isn’t he, Will Price?’ Lucas said at length, casually, watching for Prudence’s reaction out of the corner of his eye.
‘I suppose some might find him so, but he doesn’t appeal to me.’
‘Does anyone?’
‘No, of course not,’ Prudence replied, thrusting thoughts of Adam from her mind.’
‘Your brother thinks you need taking in hand—and I tend to agree with him.’
‘It’s none of your business,’ she retorted with cold hauteur, infuriated by his imperious tone. ‘I do not have to explain what I do to you, Lord Fox.’
‘Do you make a habit of leaving the house without telling anyone—unaccompanied?’ Lucas persisted.
‘Sometimes.’ She tossed her head, the chestnut tresses dancing against her back. ‘I do what I like.’
‘Then don’t you think it’s high time you began to consider the consequences of such recklessness and tried harder at being a lady?’ Lucas admonished, fighting the urge to turn her over his knee.
Prudence glanced up at him when he drew level and halted her by taking her arm at the end of the street. He was standing close, and though the shadow of his wide-brimmed hat hid part of his face, she detected a strong note of disapproval in his stance.
‘Mistress Fairworthy,’ he said curtly. ‘When I came upon you just now you were about to be ravished. Your abuser accused you of being a doxy and I do not care to know why. I am here on behalf of your brother to escort you home—under force, if necessary. So let us, in common agreement, strive to be both gracious and mannerly until we reach Maitland House, where your brother will deliver the punishment you deserve, and soundly thrash that most tender part of your anatomy and render you incapable of sitting down for at least a week.’
Prudence’s face burned, shamed and guilt-stricken because she felt she’d earned his condemnation—although the idea of being spanked like a naughty child went some way to shredding her confidence. Nevertheless she opened her mouth to challenge his statement, then closed it hastily. The expression in his eyes had frightened her.
‘Do I make myself clear?’
Dejectedly, she said on a quiet note, ‘Perfectly. Still—I am no doxy—and you, Lord Fox, should treat me with more courtesy and respect.’
‘Courtesy and respect have to be earned,’ he told her, satisfied by the lowering of her eyes and the droop to her soft bottom lip that she was adequately chastened.
‘I confess that when I saw you in the Strand yesterday I mistook you for a female of a very different kind—which was why I did what I did,’ he continued. When she made a move to carry on walking he took her arm once more and forced her to stand in front of him. ‘Come here—and stop dancing about,’ he said when she yanked her arm free and glared at him, mutiny returning to her dark eyes. ‘Don’t worry, I’m not going to kiss you again,’ he told her drily, producing a handkerchief. ‘You have blood on your chin. You don’t want to face Thomas looking like you’ve been in battle, otherwise he will assume the worst.’
After placing the handkerchief to his lips and wetting it, he proceeded to rub Will Price’s dried blood off her chin none too gently, aware of the effort it was costing her to stand there and let him. When the task was completed his generous, laughing mouth broadened into a lazy smile. ‘I’m flattered you found the kiss I gave you more to your liking and did not feel the need to retaliate so cruelly.’
‘Why, you conceited, overbearing—’ She clamped her lips together in frustrated rage at the mockery playing in his gypsy eyes.
Lucas arched a sleek black brow. ‘I know. Infuriating, isn’t it? I have also been accused of being arrogant, ill bred and domineering. But I can be reasonable, polite and well mannered when the mood takes me,’ he said agreeably, gazing down at her lovely, rebellious face. ‘In fact, I can be rather nice on occasion.’
Prudence was thrown off guard by his unexpected gentleness. But then, with her meagre knowledge of men, she never did know what to expect from them. ‘Did you mean it when you said that when you first saw me yesterday, you mistook me for a woman of a different kind?’ she asked quietly.
Lucas studied her impassively for a long, silent moment, reading her perfectly correctly and sensing that this bothered her. ‘No. That was unfair of me,’ he said softly. ‘Would you really like to know what I saw when I looked at you yesterday?’
She nodded, gazing up at him silently.
‘I saw a lovely young woman with vibrant chestnut curls, wonderful eyes the colour of amethysts, and the smile of an angel. I will also tell you that you have an appeal—I can feel it. You have a fire burning inside you—and I find you the most enchanting creature I have seen in a long time. There is a freshness and warmth about you I find fascinating—in fact, you, my dear Mistress Fairworthy, are a veritable treasure trove of entrancing contrasts.’
‘But I didn’t know that was how people would see me,’ she said, her voice a husky whisper, feeling utterly confused and miserable, not wanting to be any of those things if it made men behave towards her as he had yesterday and Will Price had done today. She swallowed and looked away, her glorious dark eyes sparkling with suppressed tears, shining with the pain his words had caused her. ‘If I am like that I can’t help it. But I don’t want to be. There—there must be something wrong with me. It’s nothing to be proud of.’
Lucas took her chin gently between his finger and thumb, giving it a small shake to bring her gaze up to his once more, and he looked with deep regard into the unwavering depths of her eyes. ‘Let me assure you that there is definitely nothing wrong with you. I was paying you a compliment. You are a lovely, desirable young woman. It is hardly strange if the young blades find it hard to conceal their interest. You should be flattered by their attention rather than angry.’
Prudence stared at him in confusion, hardly able to believe the words he spoke or what she saw. Lord Fox’s eyes were full of warmth, and he was smiling at her with gentle understanding. ‘But how can I be flattered when it makes them behave like you did yesterday—and Will Price? It will bring me nothing but trouble.’
Realising just how hopelessly naïve and truly innocent she was, that she was unsullied and still a child in many aspects, Lucas sighed deeply. ‘No, it won’t. You might even begin to enjoy it. You can’t change what you are,’ he told her, envying the man who would one day unleash in her the sensual and passionate woman he knew she would be, ‘so you might as well make peace with it.’
‘Like you do, you mean,’ Prudence said, startled by the gentle caress in his voice and feeling the need to lash out defensively when she felt herself weakening, ‘by kissing every woman you meet?’
Lucas smiled ruefully, tracing his forefinger along the satin soft curve of her jaw. ‘I don’t. But if I did I wouldn’t hate myself for it.’
The tips of his fingers on her cheek, and the deep, compelling timbre of his voice, were beginning to have a strange, seductive impact on Prudence’s senses. Tingles of apprehensive excitement danced along her nerves.
Lucas studied her with heavy-lidded speculation, his gaze dropping to her soft lips and lingering on her mouth for a long moment before he slowly lifted his eyes to hers. ‘I was right, wasn’t I—last night—when I said you have never been kissed before.’
‘Yes,’ she confessed weakly.
‘I knew it.’
Prudence tilted her head on one side, frowning up at him. ‘How could you tell? Was I very bad?’ she asked candidly.
Lucas’s eyes were suddenly full of mirth, but he strove to keep a straight face to answer her question, which she had asked with the open curiosity of a child. ‘No. In fact with a little practice you could become perfect. I—could show you how it’s done. You will find me an excellent teacher,’ he said, wanting more than anything to show her there and then, to kiss her until he had her clinging to him and melting with desire.
Prudence snapped her head up. His words and their meaning brought her spirits plummeting back to earth. ‘Don’t you dare touch me. I do not require lessons from the likes of you.’
‘Are you not just a little bit curious to know how it feels to be kissed?’
‘I do.’
‘Properly, I mean.’
Prudence swallowed convulsively, heat coursing through her veins when she recalled how, yesterday, his mouth had taken full possession of her lips like a hot tidal wave that had almost swept her away. He had shown her how a kiss could be between a man and woman, and to pretend that she had not enjoyed the experience would be a lie. But under no circumstances would she allow him to kiss her again. It was unthinkable. Besides, that came under the category of abandonment and wantonness, which she must staunchly guard against where he was concerned. He was dangerous, and she knew there were not many women who could resist a virile man like him. Not when he was over six feet tall, lean and muscular, with hair as black as jet and as shiny as silk, and a face as handsome as a storybook hero.
‘No,’ she said in answer to his question. ‘Besides, I’ve had enough kissing during the last twenty-four hours to last me a lifetime—and if you must know, if that’s all there is to it then I can’t see what all the fuss is about.’
Lucas quelled his shout of laughter, but with mirth gleaming in his eyes he took her arm and walked on, shaking his head in disbelief at the absolute naïvety of this girl.
As they walked along Prudence glanced up at him tentatively. ‘Was Thomas very angry?’
‘I would be lying if I said he wasn’t.’
She sighed deeply, mortified that she had thoughtlessly left the house unaccompanied and without telling anyone where she was going, rousing Thomas to such a rage when he hadn’t been in the house twenty-four hours. She looked at Lord Fox with mute appeal, the prospect of facing her brother’s wrath nerve-shattering. She decided there might be much to be gained if she were to appeal to her companion’s better nature.
‘Do you have to take me to Thomas? Can you not say you couldn’t find me?’ she wheedled. ‘When I appear I could say I had been in the courtyard all the time.’
Lucas’s handsome mouth twitched in a smile. ‘And for this could I expect some kind of reward?’
‘If you like. I would accept your apology for making a spectacle of me yesterday,’ she offered magnanimously.
He frowned. ‘Is that all? Your generosity astounds me. I would call that a bribe. However, that is not enough to tempt me, Mistress Fairworthy. It will take more—much more than that,’ he murmured, his eyes resting on the soft swelling of her breasts where the low-cut gown revealed the mysterious little valley between them.
Angrily aware of what his words and his look implied, instinctively Prudence put up her hands, wishing she’d had the presence of mind to bring her shawl. ‘You will get nothing more from me, Lord Fox,’ she uttered scathingly. ‘You can go to the devil for all I care.’
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