Mia Marlowe by Plaid Tidings Page A

character. However, one should not underestimate its effectiveness if done correctly.”
     
    From The Knowledgeable Ladies’ Guide
to Eligible Gentlemen

    Chapter Six
    Once the carriage returned for them, Alexander and the driver loaded Aunt Hester’s trunks in the boot and bundled the old woman into the equipage. Both were neat tricks because the lady and her luggage claimed a goodly amount of the available space. Alex and Lucinda crowded together on the rear-facing squab.
    Ordinarily, he’d like nothing more than to be close to such a lovely young lady, but not this one who seemed more convinced than ever that he intended to marry her. He’d mentally kicked his arse up between his shoulder blades several times for kissing her in the kitchen like that when he ought to be looking for ways to end this sham betrothal.
    Encouraging her to fondle his cock probably hadn’t been the best way to begin to break things off with her either. Usually, he took his mistress to dinner or dropped by with flowers and broke the news to her gently. He was always kind about it how he phrased it. Something on the order of “while their association had been memorable and oh, so pleasurable, it was now time for them to go their separate ways.”
    He rarely faced tears and recriminations because most of his light-o-loves had husbands to turn to. Or else they were worldly widows who collected men like some women collected Delft pottery. He had no objection to joining such collections temporarily, but when he was ready to climb off the display shelf, nothing could stop him.
    Alex had never dealt with a virgin before and he wasn’t sure how to proceed. So, he folded his arms over his chest and closed his eyes. With any luck at all, the weeping woman who’d plagued his dreams wouldn’t find him in the rocking coach.
    The back and forth movement was sensual, like the give and take of a vigorous swive and so, contemplating silken limbs and deep thrusts, Alex drifted to sleep.
     
     
    The woman moved slowly across the room, shedding her night rail as she came. One button at a time. One more delicious inch of alabaster skin was bared with each unfastened seed pearl. The thin fabric slid off her shoulders and her breasts gleamed in the flickering light of the fire, but her face was still in shadow.
    Not knowing who she was made it better somehow.
    “I’ve come for ye, Alexander,” she whispered.
    “If you haven’t come for me yet, you will,” he promised, grinning at the double entendre. Then he plastered a stern look on his face. “But you must stop moving right now and do nothing unless I give you leave.”
    “Why?”
    “Because I mean to give you pleasure and I mean for you to accept it without argument.”
    The faint light teased up her neck and chin to her lovely bow of a mouth, but he still didn’t recognize her. She closed her lips firmly, accepting his mastery over her. A satisfied rush of power coursed over him.
    “Come and kiss me,” he ordered.
    Her night rail was hung up on her elbows. The hem trailed the ground as she approached, her neat little bare feet peeping from beneath the thin linen. Her breasts bounced a bit with each step, her berry-colored nipples drawn tight. When she bent to kiss him, her breasts fell forward, luscious fruit for him to pluck. He kneaded and squeezed and flicked her peaks with his thumbs till she moaned into his mouth.
    “Spread your legs.”
    She obeyed instantly. He undid a few more buttons and thrust a hand between her thighs. Her skin smelled of lilac, sweet enough to make his mouth water. He wondered if she must bathe in the stuff to so ingrain her flesh with the scent.
    She was wet and soft and she whimpered when he touched her, little bleating sounds of distress and longing. They went right to his cock and made the pressure in his shaft rise to the tipping point.
    He grasped her shoulders and held her at arm’s length though she continued to strain toward him. “Go lie down on the