Tutoring Lady Jane Read online

  "Why yes. I think lapis is a most startling gem. The blue is like nothing I've ever seen before."

  "Lapis is the gem of the Sultan, did you know that, Jane?"

  "I did not. Another lesson, perhaps? I vow, you are a most knowledgeable tutor."

  He reached for her hand, and his finger traced her skin below the cuff of her glove and slowly, with his back concealing his actions from Winterbourne and the shopkeeper, he slipped the bracelet around her wrist. "Lapis, Jane, was the most prized jewel in the harem. It represented passion and lust, and when the Sultan gave it to one of his odalisques, it was assumed that she had become his favored concubine."

  "How very interesting," she breathed, watching as his fingers closed the clasp of the bracelet.

  "The Sultan only gave lapis to the women who pleased him, who fulfilled every one of his whims. The symbol became one of ownership and desirability. Every time the woman wore it, everyone in the harem knew she had pleased as well as pleasured the Sultan."

  "This is really very interesting," she said, attempting to slide the bracelet from her wrist. "But I'm afraid that I shall have to defer this lesson until another time. I have promised to attend Lady Carstairs' salon with Lord Winterbourne and his sister, and I see that they are preparing to leave."

  He ignored her and slid the bracelet further down her wrist. "Lapis from the Sultan meant the slave belonged to him and only him. He did not share her with any man, Jane."

  "Really, sir, this is most inappropriate--"

  "The woman wore the lapis because she was proud to have caught the attentions of the Sultan, and she was not ashamed to have everyone know she had shared her body with him. The lapis was his mark and she wore it as a reminder to herself that she belonged to him. When he saw his stones draped on her, the Sultan knew that his slave belonged to him in all ways a woman can belong to a man."

  Jane watched as he motioned to the young clerk that was busy dusting the shelves. When the man stood before him, Gavin reached into his waistcoat pocket and passed him his calling card. "Make an account for me and put this on it." He pointed at the bracelet and the clerk nodded, taking his leave. Then he returned his gaze to her. "The Sultan was extremely discriminating in who received his special gift, Jane. Not every woman was deserving."

  "Really, it--"

  "I have never given a woman a gift of lapis, Jane. In fact, I've never purchased a gift for a female who was not my mother or sister."

  "Really, sir, I cannot accept such a gift."

  His expression turned harder and his eyes raked coldly over her. "A simple thank you is all I require, Jane."

  She looked down at the bracelet and then back up into his eyes. "Thank you does not seem like enough, my lord, for such an extravagant gift."

  "It is enough, shundori."

  She wanted to tell him how much she missed him, but she could not. To do so would be to make herself vulnerable, and Gavin was the last man she should let see her insecurities.

  "When can I see you again?" he asked, stepping closer to her so that she was forced to tilt her face up to look at him.

  "You are seeing me right now, my lord."

  He cleared his throat and pretended to be civil, but she could see a muscle tensing and tightening in his jaw. "I meant, when will you be ready to continue your lessons?"

  She looked nervously about the shop, trying to will herself not give in to temptation. "I'm not certain. I have quite a few obligations to see to."

  "I see," he said, straightening away from her.

  "Ah, there you are," Lord Winterbourne's voice called to her. "Still staring at those ugly stones, I see. You should be looking at diamonds and rubies, my dear. They would become you. Grayson," he started, stopping mid-sentence as if he couldn't quite believe the sight before him.

  "Winterbourne."

  "I didn't know you were acquainted with the viscount," he asked her, his blue eyes raking over her face, the wheels of his mind calculating and wondering just how intimately she knew Gavin.

  "His lordship was telling me the fascinating tale behind the lapis."

  "Was he?" Winterbourne said archly before reaching for her hand and placing it in the crook of his arm. "Well, I'm certain it was a rather fascinating tale. His people always put such a colorful bent to everything, but shall we, my dear? My sister is positively chomping at the bit--you know how impatient young girls can be."

  "Indeed," she said, sweeping her gaze once more along Gavin's hard, unyielding face. "A very interesting lesson, my lord," she said, motioning to the bracelet. "I'm certain I won't forget it."

  He looked at Winterbourne and then back to her, arching one black brow. "See that you don't."

  * * * *

  Raising his crystal goblet to his mouth, Gavin gulped at the port, watching with growing anger as the crowd of hot-blooded bucks surrounded Jane. Bloody hell, how had they discovered her so soon? A week ago she had blended into the background, barely garnering any notice--and now she had some of the most notorious men of the ton flocking about her. How had the caterpillar transformed so quickly into the sparkling butterfly?

  Dammit could they see it also? Did they see that Jane's beauty was ethereal and fresh? Did their jaded eyes covet her refreshing innocence like he coveted it? Damn her, she shouldn't look at men that way. He slammed his glass down on the tray of a passing footman. Ignoring the servant's scowl, he helped himself to another glass of champagne and drank it in one long swallow, watching as Jane smiled sweetly. She might not flirt like the experienced women of the ton, but she damn well knew what she was about. She had her admirers eating from the palm of her hand with only a shy smile and the blush of pale skin.

  How he wished he could stroll over to where she stood surrounded by these men and take her by the hand, showing everyone in the room that he was her lover and that she belonged to him. The pain of watching her amass admirers--that might one day become her lover--was akin to a drowning man watching the shore slip further and further away. He was drowning, he finally admitted. Drowning in the allure of Lady Jane Westbury.

  Out of champagne, he searched the room for another footman, when he felt the coolness of crystal and the smoothness of silk glide along his hand.

  "You look like you could use something."

  Catriona Hamilton. Gavin stifled a groan. The last thing he needed or wanted was her.

  "Such tedious company," she purred next to him. "I'm certain you can come up with ways to make the night more enjoyable."

  She smiled behind her flickering fan and batted her eyelashes outrageously. Her flirting had no effect on him, and he unconsciously sought out Jane, noticing how his body reacted when she smiled shyly at Lord Winterbourne. No, Jane was a miserable failure in the art of flirting, but a veritable expert at wielding her innocence. How could any man resist her charm and openness? Indeed, no man could, not even him, a rake who was corrupt and jaded and immune to the charms of women.

  Even now his cock was stirring to life in his breeches. She looked much too beautiful tonight in an ice blue gown that dipped far too low along her ample bosom. Every man was staring after her, intrigued by innocent smiles and blushes juxtaposed with a lush body that was made for sinning.

  "Why don't we go out into the gardens?" Catriona whispered behind her fan.

  "I don't think so," Gavin mumbled before downing the entire glass of champagne. He really must control himself or else he'd be nothing but a stumbling drunkard. He had no desire for Jane to see in him such a state. To be drunk was weak, and he damn well would not let Lady Jane Westbury know that she could reduce to him to such lowness. Besides, he didn't want his senses dulled by imbibing too much. No, he could not have that. Tonight when he was fully sheathed in Jane's tight, welcoming body, he wanted to be fully aware of every tremor, every quake that rippled through her.

  "Searching out other conquests?" Catriona's eyes narrowed and turned cold before she searched the room and found Jane. "Don't tell me you've fixed your roving eye on that one," she
laughed. "The unbearably proper Lady Jane? Really, Grayson, she would run in fear from you. Why would she want a man who would ruin her the same way her husband did? Can you really imagine Jane Westbury enjoying lying beneath you? Good God," she chuckled, "the chit would swoon the minute she saw the size of you. And more importantly, she would never sully her reputation by having her name linked with yours. Everyone in the ton knows what sort of woman Lady Jane is. She's the maddening sort that wishes to be a wife and mother--she's certainly not about to become your whore."

  Any thought Gavin had about giving Catriona the cut direct and heading for Jane vanished the second he heard her words. Any connection with him would surely ruin Jane's chances of making an advantageous match. No man would want her after discovering that she had been with him.

  Normally, he would have rejoiced in such an epiphany--but not in regards to Jane. With her he could not be the revenge-seeking viscount. She wasn't like the others--the ones who whispered behind his back and cut his mother and sister leaving them weeping and broken. Jane had never expressed anything more than curiosity and interest in his upbringing. She hadn't treated him like the India Rat; she hadn't looked at him like he was nothing better than a servant set to please her. Jane was good and kind, and he owed her some measure of decency. He owed it to her to stay away.

  "She seems to be finally coming into her own after Westbury left her," Catriona muttered as her eyes contemptuously raked Jane. "I'm certain that discovering her insufferable husband's untimely demise in his mistress' bed no doubt vanquished any lingering regrets she might have felt about the man." She took a deep breath, making certain her large bosom brushed the arm of his jacket. "She's not very pretty, but that doesn't seem to detract Winterbourne and his friends from admiring her. Perhaps they like plump women." She shrugged. "Winterbourne has been by her side all week. I wonder if the two have become lovers?"

  Gavin snapped his head from Catriona to Jane, who was being led out on to the floor by Winterbourne. His insides clenched when the music started and Jane curtseyed to Winterbourne, her cheeks pink. Her smile was almost intimate, and he swore that he'd kill him if he'd taken Jane as his lover. When he had seen them together that morning in the shop he had been irked, but thought it impossible that Jane would find the pompous Winterbourne worthy of her time or affections. That night in the maze, her retort about the pup had been said in the heat of anger, he was certain. Now, when he looked at them, as Winterbourne bowed slowly before her, he wondered if the bastard had already gotten between her thighs.

  Was it possible Jane had found herself a suitor? Was that the reason she had rebuffed him all week, ignoring his presence in the ballrooms and his missives requesting that they continue their 'lessons'? Had she already learned all she could from him? Was Winterbourne tutoring her?

  He saw Jane smile again as Winterbourne led her down the line, and Gavin realized he'd give his fortune to have her smile at him in such a way. Bloody hell, he'd give up what was left of his soul if only to have her in his life. But he was not like Winterbourne. He didn't come from impeccable bloodlines. He wasn't fair and blond and lithe. He was dark like the devil and tainted with the blood of a half-breed. He shouldn't covet Jane for himself, and he most certainly hadn't the right to be angry with her for attracting the attentions of such a man. After all, she had employed his skills for that purpose. He was to tutor her in the art of seduction, and it was obvious she was a master pupil.

  "You've become rather dour," Catriona said, reminding him of her presence beside him. "I thought you were always game for sport in the bedroom."

  "My tastes these days seem to settle on harder won quarry."

  "I see," she said, fanning herself and looking away from him. "I suppose you're pining for Plain Jane. Well, let me tell you something, Grayson. After you've attempted to lure her into your bed, do not make the mistake of coming crawling back to me when she refuses you. For refuse you she will. You're not what she wants. You're the sort of gigolo that is exciting for a night, perhaps two, but nothing more."

  "And you," he growled, "are not even the sort one remembers."

  She snapped her fan shut and walked with swan-like grace through the crowd. Angry, Gavin stalked from the room, prepared to find something--anything that might take his mind off the way Jane looked in Winterbourne's company.

  She looked right for the young lord and the thought that Winterbourne might have discovered the treasure he had already unearthed goaded him into a black fit of temper that he hadn't experienced since his youth.

  Aye, he needed something to take his mind off Lady Jane Westbury.

  Chapter Nine

  Jane smiled up at Lord Winterbourne and over his lordship's shoulder watched Gavin's retreating form. Perhaps she had made a giant miscalculation when she set out to teach him his own lesson. Mayhap he would never yearn and burn, or be lured by her evasiveness. Obviously she was not the sort of woman to inspire such feeling in him. He had hardly looked at her since entering the ballroom, and Jane felt her heart constrict tightly in her chest when she thought of how Catriona had come sidling up beside him, her fan artfully swaying before her lovely face.

  For some damnable reason their meeting that afternoon had filled her with hope that he might feel something for her. Obviously she had been a victim once more of her overly hopeful heart.

  She watched as the countess stood by his side for some time, then left with Gavin following in her path not long after her departure. Was he going to her? Was he meeting her like he had the Duchess of Manchester and Lady Lennox that night a few short weeks ago?

  Jealousy and fear consumed her and she lost concentration, stepping on Lord Winterbourne's foot. "I beg your pardon, my lord," she gasped, humiliated by her blunder.

  "Don't be a goose, Lady Westbury, it was an accident I'm sure."

  Jane tried to grin, but her lips froze in a grimace as she saw Lady Hamilton leave the room. Obviously she was meeting with the viscount.

  "What is it?" Lord Winterbourne asked, pulling her by the arm to the fringes of the floor. "You've gone frighteningly pale, my dear. Are you ill? Can I bring you a refreshment?"

  "Just some fresh air," she asked, as numerous eyes looked their way. "And perhaps some privacy."

  "Of course," he said, placing her gloved hand on his arm and navigating them to one of the doors. "Let us find a quiet room in which to sit and refresh yourself. In truth you've gone quite white. Are you certain you're not ill?"

  "Merely warm," she said as Lord Winterbourne guided her down the candlelit hall and opened a door. They were in a small salon, and Lord Winterbourne strolled over to a window and opened it, letting in a breeze that immediately cooled her heated skin.

  "Why do you not sit and make yourself comfortable?"

  Jane looked to the settee and then to Winterbourne. "I'm not certain that Lady Wessex would approve of us in her salon."

  Winterbourne waved her comment aside and reached for her hand, pulling her to the settee. "We shan't dawdle here. Surely you could sit for a minute or two to revive your constitution."

  Jane gulped uneasily as his lordship helped her to sit. He plopped himself beside her and grazed his finger along her cheek. "Might I kiss you, dearest Jane?" he began. "I've wondered all week what your rosebud lips would feel like against mine."

  Her heart lurched, and Jane was powerless to move. She didn't want to be kissed by Winterbourne. She wanted Lord Grayson--Gavin. Gavin would never have asked her if he could kiss her. No, he would have just done so, not allowing her an opportunity to refuse. Gavin never asked, he took and controlled, and Jane always felt herself breathless at his mastery. She didn't want a weak man. Archie had been weak. Winterbourne was only a boy given to romantic poetry. Gavin was a man. She would give anything to have Gavin desire her.

  "Lady Jane," Winterbourne murmured as he pressed closer, taking her hand in his. "I have thought of no one but you. You have enchanted me, my lady and I will stop at nothing to possess you."

  "Lor
d Winterbourne!" Jane gasped when she felt his weight atop her.

  Gavin heard the startled shriek as he was helping himself to Lord Wessex's brandy. Replacing the decanter, he strolled to the door that separated the study from another room. Cracking it open he saw Lord Winterbourne atop Jane.

  His first instinct was to hurtle himself into the room and tear Winterbourne to shreds, but something stopped him. The desire to find out just how Jane would respond to Winterbourne's cumbersome attempt at seduction froze him in his spot.

  "Jane," Winterbourne grunted as he reached for her mouth and missed, hitting her chin. "My lovely Jane. How I want you."

  "Lord Winterbourne," Jane panted, pinned beneath his weight. "I'm certain that this is not the place for such behavior. We shall be discovered."

  "Then tell me, dearest Jane, where is the place? Where can we indulge this desire that is growing steadily between us?"

  Gavin's hand squeezed the latch until his fingers went numb and white. Damn Winterbourne, he was saying all the right things. It would only be a matter of minutes before the bastard had his hand up her skirt. And that, Gavin could not watch.

  "I would do anything for you, Jane," Winterbourne pleaded, hugging Jane in his arms while he nuzzled his face between her décolletage. "I want to spend forever with you. If I've learned nothing else from our time spent together this past week, it's that I want to spend the rest of my life with you."

  Gavin felt like he'd been punched, unsuspecting, in the gut. He fought through the pain and realized that Jane and Winterbourne had been spending time together. While he had been brooding and lonely, she had been lifting her skirts for the young pup, implementing every lesson she'd learned at his hands.

  "I really must be going," she said, straightening her bodice before raising her hands to her hair. "Perhaps tomorrow we might continue this discussion."

  "I shall be there, dearest Jane," Winterbourne vowed. "I will be there tonight if only you would allow me."

  "Lord Winterbourne," Jane said, smiling that damnable smile that made him lose his train of thought. "I'm afraid I cannot. Not tonight."