When no alarm sounded, she rushed inside and softly clicked the door closed behind her. The space was even blacker than the first room. Perhaps she should have waited for a cloudless night with a full moon before venturing out.
“You can do this, Noelle,” she whispered. “Find the bed, make sure this is the right room, and get out.”
She stumbled around the room, arms swinging in wide sweeps. Eventually, she knocked into a small table and beside it found the bed. Sheer luck kept her from upending a lamp. She leaned to squint at the coverlet.
Was it blue? Frustration mounted. She'd have to drag it over to the window and pray for a slip of moonlight to know for certain. Remaking the bed afterward would also be difficult in the dark. The maids would be suspicious if they found the bed in disarray and would report the incident to the earl. If the Bow Street Runners got involved, she could be in serious trouble.
In a case like this, desperate measures were required. She'd worry about the bed once the necklace was returned.
Noelle rounded the bed to the area closest to the window. She had both fists gripped around the corner of the coverlet when an arm snaked out of the darkness and jerked her down on the bed.
“Oh!” she cried sharply, bouncing against a hard body before catching herself. “Release me!” she said in her deepest tone. A hand clamped over her bum, and she was dragged across a warm and naked chest; a naked and very male chest, by the feel of downy hair covering the firm, sinewy expanse.
The effort to sound mannish was rewarded with a low chuckle and a mumbled reply: “No man smells so sweet or has such delightful curves, love. Now give me a kiss.”
A kiss? She couldn't see anything, though her captor's breath brushed the side of her face. It had to be the earl. This was his house. But what was he doing here? He was supposed to be in Bath!
Think! Think!
In spite of her terror, she managed to say, “Your Lordship, this is highly improper.”
If she panicked, she could lose everything: her reputation, her freedom, and perhaps even her life.
“I shall show you improper,” the stranger whispered, humor edging his voice. He removed the hand from her bum and slid it up her body in a quick exploratory caress. Then he shoved his fingers into her tightly braided hair, pulled her face down to his, and slammed his mouth awkwardly over hers!
Noelle stilled, her arms pinned against her sides. His firm mouth moved about for the correct position in the dark until he found it, fully claiming her with a searing kiss.
He teased her with his exotic scent and warmth, and her limbs turned to hot pudding. Shocked to find a rising tide of tingles in her body, she opened her mouth to demand a stop to the kiss. Instead of release, the bold stranger pushed his tongue between her teeth, and she tasted a hint of some unnamed spirit. The earl felt strong and untamed beneath her, unlike any of the tepid noblemen of her acquaintance. Beneath her open palms, his bare skin was warm and supple, and his thigh rested, hard and wrapped with thick muscle, between her legs.
A flood of desire poured through her body, and she went slack. She'd never been kissed like this before! This was no casual peck on the mouth, but the kind of kiss one shared with a lover.
Her virginal mind went blank as he rolled her onto her back and partially covered her with his upper body and a leg over her knees.
Why wasn't she fighting him? She should definitely be fighting him. But her body seemed unwilling to push him off. Suddenly, a horrified Noelle realized her arms were around his neck and she was hungrily returning his kiss!
“So sweet,” he mumbled, breaking the kiss and trailing his mouth down to nuzzle the base of her throat. There was something about him, his voice, that didn't sound correct in her ears. Thankfully, it forced some reality into the situation. She felt a prickle of danger from this man and knew that if she didn't get out of the bed immediately, she'd lose much more than her freedom in the blackened room.
He slackened his hold briefly to shift their positions, and Noelle took the opportunity to give him a great shove. The earl fell back in the bed, far enough to allow her to roll out from under him and scramble to her feet. She bumped into a piece of furnitureâa dressing table, she suspectedâand had sense enough to pull the necklace out of her pocket. The color of the coverlet no longer mattered. This was clearly the earl's room.
She heard the earl climb from the bed, and she dropped the necklace on the table's smooth surface with a muted clink. She was disoriented by the kiss and the darkness. She wasn't sure which way the door was. All she knew was that she had to get out before he reclaimed her.
The sound of his bare feet moved away from her, and she heard him clatter around for a moment. Bright red coals sputtered to life as fire licked the sticks he'd dropped atop them. Quickly, the room became infused with muted light.
Noelle knew her chance for escape was upon her. She looked frantically for the door and launched herself toward the oak panel. A few steps and she'd be free!
“Halt,” he commanded behind her, and she jolted to a stop. Slowly she spun about, fists upraised, and braced herself to fight for both her freedom and her innocence.
“You are not a maid,” he said, narrowing his lids. There was no obvious explanation for her odd dress and boyish appearance. “I've stumbled upon a thief.”
Fear chilled her limbs. She was about to be arrested. She was a criminal, a thief. No magistrate would believe that she'd come not to steal but to return the earl's stolen property.
There had to be a way out of this predicament.
The fire rose higher, and she got her first good look at the half-naked earl. Her breath caught.
He was wearing unbuttoned black trousers that sagged low on his narrow hips to a shockingly indecent degree. It was painfully clear he had nothing on beneath. Any sort of shift and the trousers could fall to his knees, leaving him without coverage altogether.
She flushed and pulled her eyes away from the thin trail of hair pointing downward beneath his waistband, to the most incredible chest she'd ever had the fortune to gaze upon. Well, truthfully, she'd never had the opportunity to see a male chest close up. Her experience was limited to one brief glimpse of a tenant's son in a distant field. Still, she was certain the earl's was magnificent in comparison to other men's.
There was very little about Bliss's hasty description to recommend him as His Lordship. But Bliss had been nearly hysterical when she'd described what she'd done, so Noelle had taken everything she said with a bit of skepticism.
Indeed, this man was as tall as Bliss had described, but he didn't have the pale skin of the gentry. His sculpted torso was a golden bronze, as if he'd spent all his time, shirtless, in the sun. His hair was light brown and streaked through by the sunlight that had darkened his flesh.
A pair of shadowed eyes peered at her from beneath a few strands of loose hair as he moved toward her, slowly and with a savage grace that wobbled her knees. She knew the earl was a well-respected member of the Tonâa status that didn't fit the untamed beauty of the man before her.
Just then she understood what it meant when her sister Eva explained the sensual feelings her husband, His Grace, evoked in her when he held her in his arms. Noelle had felt something for this man while sprawled beneath him on the bed and hadn't quite understood the feeling. It was a sensual pull toward a faceless stranger.
Sensual pull?
In that moment, a plan took root in her mind. If she could find a way to distract the earl, she could escape. And there was only one way for a woman to distract a man fully and completely. That much she'd gleaned from her time around courtesans. So she waited until he was close enough to reach out and touch.
Noelle settled what she hoped was a seductive smile on her lips, then lifted her hand and placed it on his chest. He twitched beneath her fingers. She had to remind herself to keep breathing as she stared at his mouth.
“I am not a thief, My Lord Seabrook.” Noelle fluttered her lashes and widened her eyes. “You mistake my intentions.”
“Indeed?” He looked down at her clothing and tugged the black fabric at her waist. The effort brought her a half step closer. “You are certainly dressed as such, Milady.”
The dark clothes
were
difficult to explain. She had to redirect his attention. Quickly.
Slowly, Noelle drew her hand down his chest, and the supple skin trembled beneath her touch. Curiosity and anonymity and fear of hanging led her to boldness. He was magnificent. She wondered if his skin tasted as exotic as it smelled. Scandalized by her thoughts, a virginal flush burned her cheeks and drifted all the way down to her toes.
“I've heard you are casting about for a new courtesan, and I've taken these desperate measures to be the first to offer my services.” She touched the tip of her tongue to her bottom lip. “I find you very, very desirable.”
The last was not a lie and slid easily off her tongue.
A slow grin passed over his face, yet he didn't speak. Instead, he turned his attention to the golden strands that had escaped her braid during her climb. He examined his find with a grin.
“I shall enjoy seeing it unbound.”
The cool air of the room tingled across her skin. Noelle looked down to see he'd loosened her shirt. Her lacy chemise kept her covered and prevented his perusal of her breasts. Barely.
Noelle forced herself to remain calm as he shoved the shirt farther up to cup her full and thinly veiled breasts. Her nipples budded beneath his palms. A wicked smile tugged his lips, and she ached to kiss him again.
In this moment, with this man, she wasn't the proper and soon-to-be spinster Lady Seymour, but a reckless adventuress who climbed a trellis and entered a window in the middle of the night to return a necklace and kiss a handsome stranger with abandon.
“How desirable do you find me?” he asked softly, his fingertips tugging at a nipple through the thin cloth. She suppressed a moan. Her legs threatened to collapse as a warning bell sounded in her head.
There
was
something strange about this man that had nothing to do with his scandalous behavior. Yet, she couldn't put her finger on exactly what roused her suspicions, no matter how hard she tried to focus.
She leaned against him to stop the fondling and peered into his red-rimmed blue eyes. It was then she realized he'd had more than a few drinks this evening; enough to explain why he sounded and appeared slightly off-kilter to her. Not drunk enough to wobble or topple over, but enough for her to use to her advantage and extricate herself from the situation.
Noelle grinned. She'd found her opening. “The first time I saw your face in Hyde Park, I knew I had to have you, My Lord.” She pressed lightly on his chest with both hands, and he shuffled slowly backward toward the bed. He cupped her hips and they walked in a bumbling synchronization, locked together.
“When I discovered through gossip that your courtesan had flown your nest, I knew I had to get to you before the other women discovered her flight.” Noelle spoke in a hopeful, breathless tone. He stared down at her breasts and groaned. “Tonight, I plan to give you a taste of my many talents. Then tomorrow we shall come to an arrangement.”
Her seductive smile drew his eyes. He stared hungrily at her mouth and grinned. “I shall need to see everything.”
“Of course, My Lord,” she purred. This adventuress was relying solely on instinct and snippets of conversations she'd overheard from Bliss and the other courtesans on how to please men. Now was not the time to show her inexperience. Thankfully, the man was not a warty toad.
His knees hit the back of the bed and he stopped. He slid his hands from her hips to cup her buttocks. “Where would you like to start, Milady? We have all night.” He leaned to press his lips against her neck, and whiskers tickled her skin.
Noelle sighed seductively. “Here?” She lowered her hand to cup the large erection beneath his trousers. Her face flamed at her boldness. She suspected he would be considered well endowed and required no padding to make it so.
Her virgin sensibilities were replaced by pure curiosity as she caressed the bulge. What did an erect male member look like up close? Did it hurt the first time a man put it inside a woman? Would she eventually become used to having such a large thing inside her?
The earl's second groan was deeper than his first. “Thus far, you have moved to the top of my list of potential mistresses.”
The flush on her face was a clear indication of her innocence, but she hoped he was too deep in his cups to notice.
“I have learned my craft well, My Lord.” Her shocking curiosity led her onward. With anonymity a perfect mask to hide behind, Noelle felt positively wicked, truly scandalous.
She would do anything to save herself from Newgate, even fondle the earl if it kept him from summoning the Bow Street Runners. His lids drooped, and for the first time he wavered on his bare feet. He pressed a kiss to the corner of her mouth, and it was all she could do not to turn her face to accept his kiss. It was proving hard enough to keep him upright.
Noelle splayed both hands on his chest, pushing gently so he fell limply back on the bed. She'd waste no time waiting for his drunken snores before she made her escape. The necklace was on the dressing table, and the dim light, mixed with his inebriation, would keep him from putting the Lady Seymour and the thief-courtesan together as one person.
“Good night, My Lord,” she said softly with one last look at his handsome face as his lids began to droop over unfocused eyes. She shivered with regret.