Wicked Temptation (Regency Sinners 6)(17)

“Do not even think about lying to me, Pru,” Romney warned softly. “Not when I only have to do this.” One of his hands moved beneath the hem of her gown and unerringly up the length of her leg before deftly sliding his fingers inside the slit in her drawers to stroke her nether lips. “To feel how wet you are at the mere thought of feeling my hands on you again.”

“We cannot do that here,” she gasped in weak protest, her body already betraying her as her core heated and she felt the gush of fresh juices against Titus’s stroking fingers.

“According to your mother, we can,” he assured gruffly. “But I think perhaps we shall not.” He removed his hand from inside her drawers. “Perhaps the thought of what might occur during our carriage ride home later tonight will help you to remember your manners this evening.”

Pru glared her frustration at him. “That is blackmail.”

“Only if you wish for me to pleasure you again.” He quirked a dark brow. “Do you?”

Quite how Pru would have answered that question, with the truth or prevarication regarding her desire for Romney, she had no idea, as she was saved from replying when the carriage came to a halt outside Stonewell House.

Romney placed a hand on her arm before they alighted from the carriage. “You will remain by my side this evening.”

“And if I should need to go to the ladies’ retiring room?”

“Then I will accompany you there and wait outside so we can return together. You are not to be alone at any time during the evening,” he stated firmly.

“Is that for my sake or someone else’s?”

His mouth thinned. “Yours.”

Pru frowned. “Are you not taking my protection to a ridiculous level?” She had not seen any of the men Titus told her he had watching and following her, or the Duke of Stonewell’s, but she nevertheless knew they were there. “We will, after all, be in the home of one of your closest friends.”

“Where his wife, mother-in-law, and several of my friends and their wives will also be in attendance. The only one of The Sinners who will not be present this evening is Wessex and Lady Jocelyn. They retired to the country the day after the wedding.”

Pru was well aware of that. She missed Jocey’s company and her friend’s counsel very much, would have liked to talk to the other woman regarding her own recent behavior with Titus. Sensual behavior Titus seemed to feel his friends also indulged in. Pru now wondered if it had happened to Jocey too, and if so, how her friend felt about it.

Without her sister or her friend to confide in or give advice as to how she ought to proceed, Pru had taken to acting purely on instinct.

That instinct now told her the possibility of Titus pleasuring her again later tonight would aid in preventing her from causing a scene or any embarrassment during this evening spent at the Duke of Stonewell’s home.

As Romney, damn him, intended it should.

“How is your investigation progressing?” she murmured as they disposed of their outer garments into the butler’s care before being shown to the drawing room.

“Slowly.” Titus’s effort to retrace the steps of the initial investigation was proving more difficult than he would have wished. Partly because he was unsure as to whom he could trust, necessitating he deal with the matter himself, and also because he did not wish Stonewell or anyone else to know of his private investigations. “Nor will we discuss this again here,” he added as their hostess came forward to greet them the moment the butler announced them.

“How lovely to see you again, Romney.” Angelique Sinclair gave Titus a warm kiss on his unscarred cheek. “And the lovely Lady Prudence. We so appreciate you putting aside your mourning for one evening so that you might join us for dinner.”

Titus easily felt Pru’s gloved hand tense as it rested on his forearm.

“I shall never cease mourning my sister, ma’am,” she answered the other woman tautly.

The duchess blinked at her vehemence. “I meant no offense by the remark, my dear.” She gave Pru’s arm a squeeze before releasing her. “I only wished to convey my pleasure in seeing you here this evening with our darling Titus.”

Pru was unsure whether to be more offended by Angelique Sinclair’s remark concerning her sister’s death or the proprietary claim she had made on Titus’s friendship. Either way, Pru did not know how to answer the other woman without, as Titus had requested she did not, misbehaving.

“Romney and Lady Prudence!” The Duke of Stonewell strode across the room to join them, a polite smile curving his sculpted lips and giving a less severe appearance to his austere features. “You are the last of our guests to arrive,” he continued once the social pleasantries of bowing and curtseying had been satisfied. “I’ll introduce you to everyone else.”

Pru felt a little shy as the duke took her and Titus about the room and introduced her to four more of The Sinners and their wives. All of The Sinners were extremely handsome gentlemen, their wives women with whom Pru was acquainted but did not know intimately.

Four women who, like her, had been suspected of treason.

And a fifth, the duchess, who must surely be that traitor?

“And I believe you both know my mother-in-law, Lady Jacqueline Kingston, and Lord Cedric Holmes.” The duke introduced an older couple standing beside one of the bay windows.