Page 5 of How To Seduce A Wife

Color heated her cheeks, and she snatched her hand back. “I scarcely think you would enjoy it, sir, or that I would really wish to be manhandled in such a rough and ungentlemanly way.”

“Would you not? Yet you seemed quite enthused by the novel.”

Louisa bit down on her lip. “I’m not sure what you mean, my lord.”

He leaned forward, his elbow propped on the table, his chin resting in his hand. “Did the story make you feel... restless and excited?”

“It certainly increased the rate of my heartbeat, sir, and I confess that I felt a little strange and overheated after reading it.”

“That’s good.”

“But what does that have to do with what passes between us in bed?”

His smile was slow and raised all her feminine suspicions. “Therein lies the problem.”

“I do not understand you, sir.”

He rose to his feet. “You will.”

“You intend to make me feel those heated emotions for, for you?”

He bowed. “Why not? I’m certain I can inspire the same feelings in you.”

Unaccustomed annoyance crowded her chest. “I do not wish to know about your previous conquests or experience, sir. And I doubt that you can inspire such insipid devotion in me.”

“There’s nothing insipid about it, my dear.” He smiled again. “You’ll just have to trust that I am man enough for the challenge, won’t you?”

Louisa got to her feet, too. “What challenge?”

“How to seduce a wife.” He bowed low. “I believe I’m quite looking forward to it.”

“And what are the stakes, sir? What do you win?”

He went still and stared down at her. “A wife who doesn’t have to read gothic novels to experience the pleasures of love? A willing bed partner? Surely, I cannot lose.”

Before she could answer he exited the breakfast room, leaving her standing there clutching a hand to her chest. A sudden qualm assailed her. What if she proved incapable of being seduced? She prided herself on her calm good sense, not her ability to drive a man to his knees with lust. What if she didn’t have the capability to enjoy passion?

She gazed after her husband and then sank back down into her seat. Her plans for a quiet morning at home were overset by the strength of the emotions Nicholas aroused in her. She had to talk to someone about this most delicate of matters, and who better than her husband’s oh-so-sophisticated sister, April?

Louisa finished off her tea and rose to her feet. She needed help, and she wasn’t afraid to ask for it. She paused at the bottom of the stairs as the clock struck the half hour. Aprilwaspart of the family; Nicholas could hardly object to Louisa consulting her, could he? She grimaced as she mounted the stairs. Well, perhaps he could, but there was no alternative. She scarcely knew another soul in Town and she was not going to ask her mother about anything ever again.

* * *

Nicholas handedhis hat and gloves to the doorman at his club and went inside. At such an early hour, there were very few gentlemen in the smoky oak-paneled rooms, so he took possession of the best seat by the roaring fire. Despite the cold, he’d enjoyed his ride. It had afforded him the opportunity to think about his wife and how best to initiate her into the joys of marital intercourse.

He found himself smiling as he pictured her face at the breakfast table that morning, her horror that her uninhibited discussion about his failings as a husband had inspired him to seduce her. He stared into the flames. But how to approach such a complex matter? How could he help her understand her sexuality without frightening her?

“Good morning, Lord Stortford.”

Nicholas smiled up at one of his oldest friends. “Good morning, Captain Gray. Will you join me for a glass of brandy or something warmer?”

“Mulled wine would be welcome on a day like this.” Captain Gray took the seat opposite Nicholas and rubbed his hands together. “I walked up from my lodgings, and it was far colder than I anticipated.”

Nicholas beckoned to a waiter and gave him the captain’s order. “And that from a man who has sailed the seven seas, and survived, means it must be cold.”

Captain Gray smiled. “Or I’ve become soft, chained to a desk since the war ended. That is another distinct possibility.” He smoothed a hand over his windblown blond hair that was tied back in an old-fashioned queue. “What are you doing out and about so early?”

Nicholas shrugged. “I took my new horse out for a gallop.”

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