Free The Dark Earl by Virginia Henley Page B

followed his lead to the letter. After a shake of pepper, a dash of vinegar, and a squeeze of lemon, she proceeded to lift the half shell and tip the raw oyster into her mouth. She held her breath and swallowed. Then she laughed, feeling excessively proud of her accomplishment. She repeated the process nine times, and then looked at him with round eyes, as if to say, Please help me.
    Thomas grinned. “You’ve never had raw oysters on the half shell before, have you?”
    Harry shook her head.
    He took the three that remained before her. “You are a brave woman.”
     
     
    When they left the café, Thomas hailed a hansom cab, but this time he sat next to Harry. He knew the ride from Piccadilly would not be a long one, so he decided to make the most of it. Slowly, he removed her evening glove and took her fingers to his lips. When she seemed to enjoy the intimacy, he slipped his arm about her and drew her close.
    He dipped his head and when his mouth covered hers, she opened her lips to welcome his kiss. His embrace tightened and he kissed her again. This time he brushed her lips with his tongue, and he felt her shudder. His kiss deepened. He drank from her mouth, which was hot and sweet with passion.
    Thomas felt his cock, which had already hardened and lengthened, begin to pulse.
    He was both surprised and pleased at how splendidly uninhibited her response to his kisses was. His imagination took flight, picturing her beneath him, naked, in his bed.
    He curbed his desire. He wanted far more than a quick fuck in a carriage.
     
     
    Harry’s senses were filled with the male scent of him and the taste of him. She felt the slow, hot glide of his lips along her neck and moaned softly. Her arms stole around his back and she felt the powerful muscles beneath his coat. She tried to imagine what it would feel like if her naked breasts were pressed against his wide chest, and desire flared in her like wildfire spreading through her veins.
    The carriage slowed, and it took her a moment before she became aware of anything but Thomas Anson. When he eased his arms from around her, she gazed up into his dark eyes and sighed. “Oh, I was right,” she said softly. “It is physical.”
     
     
    Thomas Anson lay awake for hours contemplating his evening with Lady Harriet. Only a month ago, he had had a vile argument with his ailing father about marriage.
    “You’ll soon be thirty. It’s more than high time you found a wife! You’ll need a rich heiress for the upkeep of Shugborough,” his father had said.
    Thomas sneered. Losing Shugborough’s treasures hadn’t stopped his father from gambling. Until he’d fallen ill a couple of years ago, he’d been out every night indulging his addiction at Brooks’s and other London clubs. “You want me to follow in your noble footsteps—marry an heiress and squander her fortune. Marriage doesn’t appeal to me, and after watching yours all my life, is it any wonder?”
    “You and your sainted mother want me dead!” he shouted. “You look down your nose at me, you arrogant young swine, but when I’m gone, you’ll be in for a rude awakening. All the expenses will fall on your shoulders—then we’ll see how you cope, Lord Bloody High-and-Mighty!”
    Thomas had left the chamber before he helped his father to meet his maker. He vowed that the last thing he would do was follow his father’s orders to marry. Shortly after that, he had attended the opening of the Crystal Palace and encountered Lady Harriet Hamilton.
    Thomas thumped his pillow and laughed at himself. How bloody ironic. He wanted nothing more than to fly in the face of his father’s demands, but his inner voice was now urging him to open his mind to the possibility of securing Harriet Hamilton in marriage.
    Both her parents came from noble families of the highest distinction. Abercorn held titles in England, Ireland, and Scotland, and her mother, Lady Louisa Russell, was the daughter of the venerable Duke of Bedford.