All About Seduction(64)

His member jerked and began to throb. He groaned loudly and liquid spurted against her lips. She turned her face and her hair pulled. Another burst of the moisture went across her cheek. No, this wasn’t what was supposed to happen. He was spilling his seed, but not inside her where she needed it.

When it was done she dropped the rest of the way to the floor. “Why would you do that?”

Mr. Berkley’s harsh breathing filled the room. He sank down beside her and handed her a neatly folded handkerchief. Her hand shaking, she cleaned the mess from her face, but the moisture in her hair refused to wipe away.

“Couldn’t wait.” He took the handkerchief from her and wiped his fingers.

Caroline paused in buttoning her bodice. Had he just gotten carried away with lust?

“You’re a handsome woman,” he said.

“Thank you,” she muttered. She bit her lip. But her objection burst forth. “That wasn’t what I wanted to have happen.”

Mr. Berkley paused in fastening his pants. “I won’t risk getting you with child.”

A pang stabbed at Caroline’s breastbone. Had she done this awful thing for no reason? “Why not?”

“Your husband is a ruthless man, and I should not like to incur his wrath.”

“Oh, please.” His morality had more twists that a spool of thread. He’d commit adultery without a qualm—just wouldn’t risk leaving proof of it.

But as she stared at the rain streaming down the library windows a hysterical laugh bubbled in her chest. Everything she’d done with Mr. Berkley was for naught. It seemed God was not fond of rewarding sinners. She couldn’t do this degrading thing again. She just couldn’t.

Jack leaned on his crutches and closed the door to the water closet behind him. He was getting around better today, even if his trips were restricted to the water closet and around his room. While no one was about, he planned to make a circuit of the entry hall.

Across the way a key rattled.

Not liking to be caught in a nightshirt, he thumped back behind the stairs. The last thing he wanted was to embarrass Mrs. Broadhurst.

The door opened and she emerged. Her face was flushed and her hair was mussed. He stared at her, taking in her disarray. The walls around them might have come down, but all he could do was stare as his chest ripped open. She hardly looked like his pure angel of mercy.

She glanced at the stairs and then back at him. “What are you doing out of bed?”

“Washing up before my minder returns with my midday meal.” He was surprised he could find the words.

A man exited the door behind her, ducking his head, but not before Jack saw the smirk. “Thank you for your recommendation, Mrs. Broadhurst. A book is the best entertainment for a rainy day.”

Neither of them had books in their hands. The man moved toward the stairs. And just moments earlier Jack had thought he heard a man’s groan coming from the room. He’d put it down to mishearing a sound from the storm, but now he wasn’t sure.

“Yes. You’ll have to excuse me, Mr. Berkley. I must attend to our patient.”

Jack fisted his hands around the crutch supports. He glared after the man, wanting to bean him with one of the crutches.

Mrs. Broadhurst didn’t look as if she’d been forced into a locked room with him. She’d been intimate with that man. Icy water poured through Jack’s veins. He leaned into the wall afraid he was about to fall.

Mrs. Broadhurst’s expression faltered and then she hurried toward him. “You shouldn’t be up unless someone is close, in case you lose your balance.”

Jack pushed away and swung his crutches in front of him, blocking her from getting close.

She drew up short and stared, her eyes filled with hurt, as if he’d unexpectedly punched her, which he hadn’t.

He’d practically leaned into her every chance he had. She was probably startled at his effort to keep the space between them. As he stared back at her, his insides twisted. “I have to get around on my own. I won’t have an army of servants at home.”

She didn’t look like a woman who had been well loved. There was nothing of the sleepy satiety he aimed for when he seduced a woman, nothing in the way she stood looked relaxed. Her mouth and eyes were pinched. She raised a hand to her hair, and as if she just realized the messy state, her head jerked left and right.

Jack’s gaze turned to the man ascending the stairs who was straightening his stock. No doubt about what had happened, but while he knew, he didn’t want to believe more than a few stolen kisses had occurred. After waiting until the footfalls faded, he said, “You missed a button.”