Again, she moaned and perhaps she understood.

  She must. Frances was not a miss fresh from the school room but a mature woman who must have heard enough discussions on the matter of mating to understand why he had grown hard even if she had never experienced such.

  When she moaned, it only heated his blood more and he slid one hand up her side, around her ribcage and then cupped one of her perfect breasts. When he swept a thumb across the tip, her nipple hardened beneath the fabric of her gown.

  He was already achy with need and this was just torture because nothing would come of their desire tonight. Not with his sister and Lady Bethany down the hall in the parlor.

  Bloody hell! They were not alone and either woman could walk in on them any moment.

  Seth pulled away from the kiss and braced his forehead against Frances’ as his hands returned to her waist. Her breaths were as short as his, but it was best that they stop now because he wanted Frances to come to him when she was ready and not because they were caught in a compromising position and forced into a marriage.

  “We should probably return to your sister and Lady Bethany,” she whispered.

  Except Seth could not go anywhere right now.

  “Another glass of wine,” he suggested.

  “We did not finish the one you poured.”

  “Then we should see that it is not wasted.”

  Hopefully by the time they were finished he would be relaxed enough to be in the presence of the other ladies.

  He crossed to the table where the glasses had been set and handed one to Frances. She took a seat in the chair beside it and Seth sat in the other.

  “I do think I will enjoy the game,” she said.

  “As do I and I hope we have another opportunity to play.” Except he hoped that next time it would end far more pleasantly and not in the uncomfortable state he was currently experiencing.

  “Do you have a billiards table at The Emerald Garter?” she asked.

  “No,” he answered before he sipped his wine.

  “Why not?” she asked.

  “Gentlemen bet against each other when they engage in a game. It may draw players away from the tables at The Emerald Garter where I make my profits.”

  Her eyebrows raised in understanding as she nodded. “Then I will not suggest to Tessa or Bethany that they add one to the salon.”

  “A gambling establishment they call a salon,” he corrected because that is what it sounded like.

  “A salon for the pursuit of knowledge with gambling offered to support that pursuit.”

  Now he understood. There would be no gambling if funds were not needed. “They could always raise the subscription price,” he offered.

  “Then it would not be accessible to all.”

  “All, meaning anyone but me.”

  “Or the Duke of Claybrook,” Lady Bethany announced as she entered the library.

  Thank goodness he had stopped kissing Frances when he had and that they were seated apart from each other. There could be no objection to how they were found.

  Lady Bethany frowned as she looked from Frances to Seth and back again. “I thought you would be playing billiards.”

  They had been gone long enough that had she truly been interested, Lady Bethany would have found them much earlier. And, given her facial expression of finding them sitting and sipping wine, Seth was convinced she had hoped to discover them doing something quite different.

  “How was the game?” Blythe asked as she entered.

  Had his sister been waiting in the corridor for Lady Bethany’s outraged or surprised cry of finding Seth and Frances in a compromised position? “It went well,” Seth finally answered and tried not to grin at just how enjoyable it had been.

  Thank goodness Bethany had not walked in a few moments earlier or Frances would have been quite ruined.

  As it was, she still did not know what to make of her body’s reaction to not only when Seth innocently touched her during his instructions, but also when he kissed, held and caressed her.

  She had been kissed by him many times in the past, but he had never touched her breasts, or brought himself fully against her body where she could feel the hard length of him pressed against her.

  Heat had coursed through her veins when he touched her. When in his arms, her breasts began to ache and she wanted to cling tightly to him, growing so heated that the gown was becoming uncomfortable. When he pressed against her, heat pooled in the most private part of her body as an aching pulse developed there, which was something she had never experienced before.

  Goodness!

  She desired Seth, which wasn’t a surprise, as she had always enjoyed it when he kissed her, but this was beyond anything she had experienced at the cottage. Had he not broken the kiss when he had, she likely would have allowed him all liberties because she desperately needed …oh, blast! Frances had no idea what she had needed but no doubt his mouth, hands and manhood knew and would have taken care of those needs.

  “If you are done playing, we should probably return home,” Bethany said.

  “Yes, of course.” Frances then glanced at the clock. Goodness, they had been playing billiards for over an hour. “Thank you for the lesson, Lord Seth, and the wine.” She stood and placed the empty glass on the table.

  “There is still more to learn and I look forward to our next lesson.”

  What more could there be? “Yes, well, as do I.” Her blood heated at the anticipation of him teaching her even more, especially if it required that he must touch her to teach her how to properly thrust a stick.

  “Thank you for a lovely dinner, Lady Blythe,” she said as they walked toward the entrance.

  “We shall need to do this again,” she said.

  “We most certainly will,” Seth added then escorted them to the carriage and assisted both her and Bethany inside before he joined them.

  “How was the lesson?” Bethany asked.

  “It was enjoyable, but I am not yet certain that I understand the game completely.”

  “What did you do for over an hour?”

  She certainly would not confide all to her friend. “If you must know, I had difficulty hitting the balls with the stick, but I think I finally have that now.”

  “That is all?”

  “It is not as easy as it looks,” Seth offered.

  “We never got to the part of scoring or an actual game, but I hope to one day.”

  “Yes, I am certain you would,” Bethany mumbled.

  “What do you mean?”

  “Well, you did go there to learn, yet the lesson wasn’t complete. Of course you will want to return,” she answered innocently.

  “Yes,” Frances answered, though she was certain there was more meaning behind Bethany’s words, just as she suspected Seth had meant something different when he was instructing her.

  However, one thing became very clear tonight—she desired Seth. She had wanted to experience passion and intimacy physically. It had nothing to do with love but something else entirely.

  She still ached in places she never had before. When he had cupped her breasts, she was certain they swelled. They had already ached before he slid his hand up her waist. Then there was the aching heat in her nether regions that demanded relief and she was certain Seth knew exactly how to bring that about. After all, he was a rogue, which made him an expert at seduction.

  Her eyes widened and she straightened just as the carriage came to a halt before the home she shared with Bethany.

  Expert at seduction! That is what he had been about tonight with all his touching, even during his instruction, then the kissing, and everything else. He had been seducing her.

  The driver opened the door and then Seth assisted them to the walk before accompanying them to the door.

  “Thank you for a lovely evening,” Frances said before they entered the house.

  “I will call on you tomorrow,” Seth said then stepped away as they closed the door.

  Bethany grinned at Frances as they walked toward the stairs.

  “What?” Frances demanded.

  “Did he at least kiss you?”

  “It was a billiards lesson,” Frances reminded her instead of answering.

  “Well, that is a disappointment. Given Lord Seth’s reputation, I assumed you had at least been thoroughly kissed.”

  It was better to say nothing, though Frances’ face heated to which Bethany grinned wider.

  “He did, did he not?”

  Frances raised a hand to hide her yawn. “Good night, Bethany. Thank you for coming with me tonight.” She then turned down the corridor and entered her chamber and firmly shut the door before she leaned against it and sighed.

  Frances did not want anyone to know that Seth had kissed her, or anything else they had done in the billiards room. Instead, Frances wondered if Seth had been seducing her to get her into his bed.

  Though, if it had been his intention, why hadn’t he pushed for more?

  Because they weren’t truly alone!

  He may want to seduce her, and may even want to bed her, but didn’t want anyone to know because then he would be forced to wed her.

  Frances blew out a sigh as her anger began to rise.

  She would not fall so easily into his trap again.

  She strode across her chamber and pulled a nightshift from her dresser drawers and tossed it on the bed before she started to remove her gown.

  It was one matter that he had ended their friendship and broken her heart, but she would not let him take the one thing any innocent woman had of value before he left her again.

  That didn’t mean she still didn’t want him. In fact, Seth was the only person she had ever wanted to experience passion with before.

  Frances dropped her dress over the back of a chair and pulled her nightshift over her head.

  Though, why should she hold so tight to her virginity? It wasn’t as if she would ever marry so who would even know if her innocence had been lost?

  Was there a way that she could enjoy intimacy with Seth without losing her heart or becoming too attached? Not that she would let him seduce her into his bed, but it was a decision that she may make for herself. It may be the only opportunity to experience passion, desire and all that occurred between lovers.

  Frances pulled back the covers on her bed and climbed in.

  Allowing Seth to seduce her was something worth considering, but she would need to go about her intentions very carefully, especially since she still meant to get her revenge.

  A small smile pulled at her lips as she snuggled further into her bed. Frances had not considered seduction as part of her revenge, but why not? First, she’d win his heart, then enjoy intimacy, destroy him as he had her, and then she would walk away.

  Did she dare?

  Chapter Fourteen

  Seth wanted Frances!

  There was no question as to his desire.

  But, what about permanently?

  He never thought he would marry. In fact, it was a decision he’d made at the age of fifteen because he could not bear the idea of enduring the pain of losing a loved one again because he had barely recovered after Amelia’s death. She had been his twin, and closer to him than any other sibling. She knew his thoughts before they were spoken, and anticipated how he would behave in any situation. He knew her just as well. She kept his secrets and he kept hers.

  When Amelia had died, a part of him had too and at fifteen, he surmised that if it hurt so badly to lose a sibling, it must be doubly so if one lost a wife. Of course, he assumed that he would only marry if he was deeply in love. Thus, he knew that it would be impossible to go on if something were to happen and decided that he would never fall in love with anyone.

  Seth snorted and took a sip of his brandy. He had been so young and foolish when he had made that declaration and believed that he had such control.

  He had fallen in love with Frances and it had scared him. Seth had tried to lie to himself that it was simply love for his dearest friend and the fact that he also had desired her was because she was beautiful and he was male with a natural inclination to be intimate with desirable women. He had also believed the words he spoke when they parted—that he would always be able to think of her as happy, beautiful and alive.

  He ached recalling that last day together at the cottage, when he had rejected her because he had been afraid.

  In retrospect, he now realized that building the reputation that he had may have been intentional without him even realizing he was doing so. Not that he set out to become that, but he certainly hadn’t tried to change the minds of anyone when the gossip reached his ears even when he knew that if Frances ever learned that she would be disappointed in him and likely reject him.

  Had he been sabotaging what could be without realizing it because he was a bloody coward and too afraid to really love?

  When Frances had told him to leave that last day, Seth knew he had hurt her, but she didn’t understand what he feared…Except she had. She had called him a coward, which had been the truth.

  He also hadn’t gone straight home. Instead, he found a place where he could be alone and cried for the second time beyond infancy.

  There was no shame in tears, Frances had taught him that.

  Even now, sitting alone in his library, glass of brandy in his hand, his eyes misted when he recalled the first time he had cried after he lost Amelia.

  The day before he had discovered Frances and the cottage and had not been able to resist the urge to return. She was in the back adding more plants to the flowerbed when she asked him to get the rest from the crumbling terrace. The first one he picked up was a small rosebush with pink buds. Pink roses had been Amelia’s favorite flower and without warning, the tears had formed as Seth willed them away.

  “It is okay to cry, you know.”

  He never learned how Frances had known that he was having difficulties. His back had been to her. Seth quickly wiped the tears so she did not see the evidence that she had been right and cleared his throat. “Men do not cry.”

  “You are not yet a man. You are only five and ten.”

  Seth pulled back as if slapped and turned to gape at her.

  “What does make a man?” she asked. “Or when does a boy become a man?”

  Seth frowned at her because he did not have that answer. He’d argue that he was now a man given his voice had gotten deeper and other changes in his body made him such. But was it more?

  “And why are men not allowed to cry?”

  “It just is not proper,” Seth answered.

  “Is that a rule?”

  “Quit asking silly questions.” He had not wanted to have the discussion.

  “It is not a silly question. I truly wish to know. Why can men not cry?”

  “They just do not.”

  “So, by some arbitrary rule of which you do not know the reason you are going to prevent yourself from crying because you are not supposed to.”

  “Yes.”

  “That is stupid!” Frances declared. “I have cried many times since I lost my parents and brother.”

  “Because you are a girl.”

  “Does that mean I am allowed to feel that loss and express it whereas you are not? Does Society assume that I feel my losses deeper than you do the loss of your twin and stepmother?”

  Seth gasped at her audacity and turned away and stared down at the rosebush he still held. “It does not matter. I should go.”

  “You mean you need to run away from what you are experiencing.”

  He hated that she was correct and even though he wished to escape her, this conversation, and the pain inside, he could not make his feet move.

  Frances walked to him and placed a hand on his arm, which was nearly his undoing.

  “She was your twin. You have every right to mourn. The loss must burn deeply in your soul.”

  It filled his entire being and as much as he tried to fight the emotion his eyes once again began to fill with tears.

  “I think a man is someone who can acknowledge the emotions he possesses without embarrassment. To fully embrace love and loss without pushing it aside because it may not be deemed acceptable.”

  He pulled his arm away from her hand because her words and touch were destroying his resolve to remain strong as a man should be.

  “You have the right to mourn the loss of your sister even if you can only do so in privacy.”

  Except, this wasn’t private because Frances, a thirteen-year-old girl, would not leave him alone.

  And as much as he fought the emotions, the tears rushed to the surface and no matter how hard he tried to shove the pain back inside, it was impossible.

  The pressure had been building for so long that it could no longer be contained and erupted. Seth dropped to his knees on the crumbling terrace and sobbed like an inconsolable child and could not make himself stop. Worse, Frances was beside him, kneeling, her arm around his shoulders. Seth gave up the fight and leaned into her, and she held him as the tears that he’d likely been holding in since he first came under the belief that men do not cry. The entire time all she did was rub her hands up and down his back, soothing and comforting, much like a mother does with a distraught child.

  When his tears had finally stopped, Seth was also spent and unable to move. The pressure from within was gone, but the loss remained and the pain somewhat lessened. Further, he was exhausted.

  He sniffed and pulled away from Frances and searched for his handkerchief, but it was in his suitcoat, which had been discarded so that he could begin helping Frances.

  As if sensing what he needed she retrieved it for him. “I will return in a moment.”

  Seth had wiped his face, thankful that he’d cried, had been given permission, except, he was beginning to experience the first waves of embarrassment.

  “I have brought you some lemonade. Sit and rest.”

  “Thank you,” he mumbled and rose to go sit on a bench in the shade while Frances went back to planting flowers as if nothing out of the ordinary had occurred.