Taming a Rake into a Lord: Taming the Heart Series Page 2

  May turned into a parlor and reached for a cord near the door to ring for a servant. Chris stood for a moment deciding whether or not to set Lizzie down but then opted to sit on the settee with her still cradled in his arms. He reasoned, she was likely more comfortable with the heat of his body, noting just how much he also enjoyed the contact.

  He tried, and failed, to remember when he’d enjoyed the feel of a woman this much. There wasn’t even kissing but somehow this entire situation seemed more intimate than any other he’d been in with a woman. The need to protect her, cherish her rose in his chest. He never developed feelings for the ladies he spent time with and he certainly wasn’t going to now.

  Not that he was, developing feelings of any kind. Because he wasn’t. He’d just met her. It didn’t matter that Alex had managed to settle down. Chris was too scarred on the inside to ever give his heart to a woman. Especially a lady like the one he held in his arms. Besides, he didn’t need the bother. Look at his friends. Women demanding their time, soothing their scars, warming their beds….

  He forced these thoughts away as the door opened. “Oh dear,” an older woman in a perfectly pressed uniform exclaimed as she took in the scene.

  “Mrs. Fairchild, this is the new Lord Rothenberg. Lizzie fainted when she met him.”

  “Lady Elizabeth,” the housekeeper said, wagging her finger as she spoke, “must have had quite the shock. Lord Rothenberg, it is a pleasure to make your acquaintance. I wish you had informed us you were coming, we would have greeted you in a manner more befitting. Please allow me to assemble the staff and―“

  “Perhaps you could first get some smelling salts to see if we can revive Lady Elizabeth?” He gave the woman a winning smile, though his request seemed rather obvious. And he had meant to inform them. A wheel had come off the carriage during the trip, nearly killing him in the process. It had to be repaired and while he was fixing it, he noticed that it had been sawed off rather than broken. For three days he had searched the nearby towns for clues but he didn’t have much to go on.

  “Of course, my lord, how silly of me. Right away.” She bobbed a curtsey and made to leave.

  Lizzie’s voice called out, though muffled slightly in his shirt. “Your concern is touching, Miss Fairchild, but it isn’t necessary. I am revived. Assemble the staff.” Lizzie hadn’t moved a muscle in his arms and yet he was surprised he didn’t know she had awoken. Normally he might have detected her change in breathing.

  “So glad, Lady Elizabeth. I will, right away.” Then Miss Fairchild disappeared out the door.

  “I find it odd that she was more troubled with greeting me than attending you. Do you faint often? Is she normally not concerned with your wellbeing?” Chris asked.

  “Of course not. I never faint and she is reasonably worried. But she is more concerned about retaining her post with you.” Lizzie did not open her eyes or move as she spoke.

  Chris was also content to leave her right where she was. Though mildly amusing, it was a touch unsettling that the housekeeper was more attentive towards him than with Lizzie. He wasn’t used to being so favored, unless of course, it was from a different type of woman entirely. “May. Would you fetch some tea for Lizzie please?”

  Lizzie started to protest, but he shifted her so that her words fell deafly into the muscles of his chest. The girl nodded happily to race out and do as he bid. Once the door clicked closed, he settled her back into position.

  This time she tried to get away but he could tell by her movements that her muscles were heavy and he easily subdued them. “Hush now. Just rest.”

  “I’m not supposed to be alone with you like this, I’ll be ruined.” Her voice held a pert note that her body hadn’t been able to muster. He appreciated the effort.

  “Firstly, there is no one here to see that you are ruined. But beyond that, as the new Lord Rothenberg, you have been made my ward. So it is perfectly appropriate for us to be together.” He would save the rest for another time. He did not want her to faint again. As it was, he worried what type of shock this news might be.

  “Your ward?” She sat straight up in his lap. Her arms grabbing his shoulders to steady herself. Then she glanced at them, frowning slightly. “You’ve the largest shoulders I’ve ever seen.”

  “Thank you,” he grinned reaching for her waist to further steady her. His hands landed on the curve of her hips and though Chris tried to stop it, he felt himself harden. Perfectly formed, they swelled under his fingers in the most provocative way.

  “What will you do with us?” He heard fear in her voice and her hands trembled on his shoulders.

  His lips pressed into a straight line. Annoyingly, Rose had been right. Lizzie and May needed him because women left adrift in the world were in danger and they knew it.

  She must have misinterpreted his silence because her shaking increased. “Please don’t turn us out. It’s winter and we’ve nowhere to go―“

  “Lizzie, I can’t turn you out. I’m your legal guardian.” He didn’t mean to do it but one of his hands left her hip to stroke her hair. It was meant to comfort but as his fingers came into contact with her silky strands, his body grew even tighter.

  Relief washed over her face for a moment but then she frowned. Taking a breath, her warm brown eyes turned to his. “What about May? Are you her guardian too?”

  2

  Lips that had been in a straight line, turned down at the corners. Lizzie knew he wasn’t. The butterflies that been beating around her stomach beat so fast she worried she might actually faint again. She had never swooned in her life and found the women who did dramatic and irritating, but here she was about to do it again.

  “May was not in any of the provisions of the will.”

  “My father left no instructions for her?” The blood drained from her face. Think, Lizzie. Her father lost himself before the end of his life. He became increasingly forgetful and filled with rage before he was gone entirely. But to have forgotten May? He couldn’t have. Anger she rarely let herself feel, bubbled up in her chest. May was a child, she needed to be cared for. How could her father make such an oversight?

  At least her distant cousin, Bernard Sinclair hadn’t inherited. While he claimed to be a lawyer, he did no work that Lizzie ever saw and had inserted himself in the family when her father fell ill. He’d hounded her to marry him. As relieved as she was, this man was an unknown. Could he be worse? Did it matter now? They were at his mercy.

  “There were none.” His hand trailed down the curve of her back and that was when she felt it. A protrusion against her bottom that had just pulsed.

  Lizzie was no wilting flower, despite that episode of fainting. Her father had been too ill to send her into society so she had educated herself here at the manor. Mrs. Banks, their nearest neighbor and friend, had assured her that with a dowry, she would still find a suitable husband. With no mother, and few female friends about, Liz had used books to learn the logistics of relationships between men and women.

  But still, she had never felt a man’s arousal. It was somehow harder and more exciting than she had expected. She shook her head, she had to focus. This was vitally important and she wouldn’t fail May as her father had. “But you must provide for May. She is all the family I have.”

  “I am under no obligation to do so―“

  She squeezed his shoulders. It was meant as a gesture to make him understand how important this was but instead she found herself admiring the hard muscles under her hands. He returned the gesture by squeezing her hips. His man parts pulsed again. Excitement rippled down her spine. Shouldn’t she be afraid of him? Somehow, the fear was gone. This might be one of the strangest conversations of her life. How was she supposed to plead her case with him distracting her so?

  “But she is a helpless child. Please, we will be no trouble. I barely even have to eat, I’ll share my food with her. Don’t remove her from the house.”

  “Lizzie--” he grit out. He was getting angry. It wouldn’t do to anger him. T
his man had the vast wealth of the Rothenberg estates at his fingertips. What could she possibly give him to convince him to let May stay?

  Then she knew. She leaned forward and pressed her lips to his. She had never done that before, and she had no idea how to do it correctly but she knew what he wanted. It was her.

  He was still underneath her. He didn’t move a muscle and neither did she. Was this how it was supposed to be? It didn’t seem that interesting, unless you counted the softness of his flesh and the heat of his body.

  Long moments passed where absolutely nothing happened and then she finally leaned away.

  “Are you done?” He quirked an eyebrow at her.

  A blush rose up her cheeks and set her face to flame. She must have done it wrong because that was not the reaction he was supposed to have, except for that she felt his manhood twitch against her bottom again. “Yes?”

  “What are you trying to prove?”

  “May needs me. I need May. I’ll give you whatever you ask of me. Just let her stay.” In kissing him, she had leaned her whole body against his. His arms still held her tightly to him so that only her neck was pushed back, her back arching. The rest of their torsos pressed together in a most intimate way.

  “Have you ever even kissed a man before?” he asked, an exasperated sigh falling from his lips.

  “What does that have to do with anything?” Anger laced the words, each syllable louder than the last.

  “A woman as pure as you should never make an offer like that to a man like me. Now, allow me to finish. While I am not bound by any formal agreement, whatever my flaws are, they do not include turning defenseless children out. May will stay.”

  A sigh of relief fell from her lips as he gave her another squeeze. She somehow knew she needn’t be afraid and his words proved as much. Then his lips found hers again. His did not just sit on hers, instead they moved slowly, coaxingly, brushing against her skin till her face flamed a second time for an entirely different reason. Back and forth they whispered over her lips till she was breathless from the feel of it. Then he slowly pulled back his head. She couldn’t help it, Liz followed the movement so that the contact might last a few moments longer.

  Her eyes fluttered open to find his still achingly close to hers. “What did you mean when you said, a man like me?”

  Chris took a breath but before he could answer the doorknob rattled. May came in followed by a maid with a steaming cup of tea. The tea looked delicious but Liz found herself wishing they hadn’t been interrupted.

  She made to slide off Chris’ lap but he held her hips tight, keeping her on top of him. May bounced in, sitting down next to them and the kitchen maid had the decency not to stare at the unusual sight of her perched on a man’s thighs. She set the tea tray down, gave a courtesy and exited the room. Chris showed no sign of letting her go and so she leaned over and poured her tea into the waiting cup. Somehow she didn’t remember this being taught in finishing school, pouring tea from a gentleman’s lap. Though she doubted Chris was considered a gentleman. Well now he was a lord, so perhaps he was?

  Taking a sip, the steaming liquid fortified her. Turning to May she gave the girl a glowing smile. “May, this is wonderful. I feel so much better.”

  “Truly?” May bobbed up and down.

  “Yes, pet.” Liz reached out and stroked the girl’s hair. “A biscuit would make me feel entirely mended.”

  “Oh, I will get it for you.” And with that, she bopped out of the room again.

  “Where were we?” Chris’ deep voice rumbled through her, his hand sliding up her back to again burrow in the loose coif at her nape.

  “You were about to tell me what kind of man you were.” Liz closed her eyes for just a moment relishing the soft touch. She shouldn’t be allowing him to do this. Despite what she had just offered, now that she knew he would allow May to stay, the prudent thing would be to put some distance between them. He had been her guardian for mere minutes and she was fairly certain most guardians did not treat their wards as such. But something held her tongue. These past months she had been running the house, caring for the village, staying strong for May. Longer really. Her father had been slipping away for some time. Sitting in his lap relieved some of her burden.

  “The worst.” He murmured widening the strokes on her scalp.

  The lids of her eyes fluttered closed as she murmured the words. “It would seem so, rescuing women from falling ladders and protecting children from the cold.”

  His body rumbled with his laugh. “Don’t misjudge me, Lizzie.”

  “No one except May calls me Lizzie. And my father, of course, before.”

  “Take another sip of tea,” he said his voice quiet yet authoritative.

  She obeyed, letting the warm liquid slip past her lips while keeping her eyes closed. His fingers continued to work their magic.

  “It’s a family name only, is it? Well, we’re family of sorts.”

  “You’re supposed to wait for my permission to be so informal.” She wasn’t chastising. He could call her whatever he wanted provided he kept rubbing her hair in that fashion.

  “Somehow, I think we’re past that already.”

  “We’ve only known each other a quarter hour,” she barely whispered. She couldn’t muster any indignation, try as she might.

  “We’ve kissed twice. You’ve been in my lap most of that time. If you knew better, you’d run.”

  She couldn’t help it, she smiled. “So you’ve said. And I see why I should be worried. You may relax me into a useless puddle on the floor.” All of her fear was gone. It was as though providence had delivered her from Sinclair, into somewhere warm and safe.

  “And then what might I do with you?” His breathing was growing faster and his manhood was decidedly poking into her again.

  “You just told me you didn’t want what I offered.” She refused to open her eyes. She didn’t want this moment to end.

  “I said I didn’t want it in exchange for keeping May safe. I didn’t say I didn’t want it.”

  Liz opened her eyes then. He no longer needed to tell her what type of man he was. She knew.

  * * *

  ***

  * * *

  SLOWLY, she slid off his lap and Chris let her go. He missed her heat, the feel of her soft curves, the deliciousness of her smell, the silky caress of her hair. He wanted to feel his lips against hers again. But he was her guardian and she was an innocent woman that he was obligated to find a husband for. Therefore it was necessary to push her away, keep her at arm’s length.

  It flashed in his mind that he could marry her. But that was absurd. He wasn’t the marrying kind. Rather, he was the fight men in a dark alley kind. Nor was he truly an aristocrat. Both these facts made him ill-suited to be a husband.

  He had never taken a woman’s innocence, steered clear of ladies in general and virgins in particular. The women he spent time with understood what he offered. So why was he thinking this at all?

  May bounced back in with a tray of biscuits. “Clara said she would bring them but I told her that I could do it.”

  “Thank you,” Lizzie answered, tightness causing her voice to sound higher.

  Chris grimaced, wishing he had waited a little longer before he had delivered the verbal blow that had distanced them but then again, if he hadn’t done it, he may have found himself reaching a new personal low and committing one of the few sins he’d yet to indulge in, deflowering his own ward.

  “I’m so pleased to meet you, Lord Rothenberg. We thought Cousin Bernie might be the new lord and Lizzie doesn’t like him at all.”

  “Cousin Bernie?” His eyebrow quirked, but on the inside he felt a tug of unease. Lizzie didn’t like this cousin they had spent time with? Was glad he hadn’t become lord?

  Mrs. Fairchild entered the room. “The staff is ready to greet you, my lord.”

  Chris stood, casting aside the mystery of Cousin Bernie, a lump landing in his stomach. How did one run a household like this
? He hadn’t the faintest idea. Lizzie did though. Turning to her, he held out his hand. “Are you well enough to accompany me, Lady Elizabeth?”

  “Of course.” She set down her tea and stood. He offered her his elbow and, after a moment of hesitation, she took it.

  Looking over at May, he offered his other elbow to the girl. She bounced into place, taking his arm. The trio followed Mrs. Fairchild back to the main hall where the staff had assembled.

  An hour later, Chris thought his eyes might cross. His work had often involved sifting through mundane facts but the level of detail that Lizzie was able to give as to each servant’s function was astounding. Setting them each back to task, the staff dispersed again.

  “How will I possibly remember all of that?” he asked in awe.

  “You won’t.” Her eyes cast down to the floor. “It will be your wife’s responsibility.”

  “And if I don’t marry?” He crossed his arms over his chest.

  She opened her mouth as if to say something then closed it again. Clearing her throat she answered, “Mrs. Fairchild is very skilled.”

  He nodded, rubbing his forehead with the palm of his hand. “And what of the estate?”

  She cleared her throat again. “The groundskeeper, gamekeeper, and estate manager can fill you in on whatever Mr. Manly did not.”

  “Did they report to Manly? He didn’t indicate that they did.”

  “Not to my knowledge.” She was looking at her feet again.

  “Then who?”

  “To Lizzie of course,” May chirped. “She’s always busy.”

  Lizzie’s face pinched. “That’s enough, May.”

  “Have you been running the entire estate?” Chris let his gaze slide back to Lizzie. She was the most innocently beautiful woman he had ever met. She was lush and appealing but rather than wearing a knowing smirk, she wore a look of sweet innocence. To think that she had been shouldering this burden was astounding.

  “It didn’t happen at once. My father slipped away slowly. I found myself taking on more and more.”