Seducing Miss Lockwood

In no way did he resemble the refined gentleman who inhabited Lansdowne House. He was more like a gypsy, too swarthy for a nobleman, yet as much at ease in a fancy drawing room dressed like a duke as stripped half-naked in the harvest field, working and sweating like a beast of burden with everyday folk.

At mid-day it was a cheerful yet weary group of workers that drifted to the shade of the hedge. They gathered around the baskets, mothers picking up their babies and unashamedly bearing their breasts to feed them. They sat quaffing ale and cider, the women and children cold tea, before tucking into bread and cheese, fat bacon and Mrs Reed’s succulent pasties and pies.

The air was languid, the warm, sweet smell of the cornfield prevalent, and butterflies and insects fluttered about. For a while silence reigned, as everyone was content to munch away, unfazed by the presence of the Duke among them, content to work side by side with him, their only concern being to get the work done.

Juliet watched him throw himself down on the ground with his fellow workers, and when one of the men spoke to him a slow half-smile curved his sensuous lips, and she saw him give a careless shrug before lifting his a flagon of ale to his mouth. Tilting his head back, he drank deep, the curved arch of his throat strong and muscular. Passing the flagon on to the next man, he wiped his mouth on his arm and bit into a pasty.

It wasn’t until he’d finished that he raised his fine dark eyebrows at some remark and finally looked in Juliet’s direction. He sat watching her in silent fascination, then he smiled as their eyes met and he excused himself and hoisted himself to his feet.

Chapter Three

There was a mild stir of interest as the Duke made his way towards Miss Lockwood, but then everyone went back to filling their bellies. Dropping down beside her Dominic stretched out on his side, looking up at her.

‘So, Miss Lockwood, you have deserted your duties in the library to wait on the workers.’

‘I hope you don’t mind.’

‘Not at all. It’s your day off so you are at liberty to do what you like.’

Uneasy by his semi-nakedness, Juliet tried to keep her eyes averted, but it was virtually impossible when he was so close.

Sensing her unease and amusingly aware of the reason, Dominic got up again and went and dragged his white lawn shirt off the hedge where he’d discarded it earlier. Shrugging himself into it, he resumed his position on the ground beside her.

‘I would not wish my state of undress to offend your maidenly senses, Miss Lockwood,’ he said by way of an apology, ‘so I will spare your blushes.’

She merely smiled, relieved that she no longer had to gaze on that wide expanse of firm flesh. How handsome he is, she thought, with his black hair wildly tousled by his exertions. The dark liquid of her eyes deepened as she became caught up in the excitement of his presence.

She was sitting on the ground in a position that was neither dignified not ladylike. In her wildest imaginings she had never expected to find herself sitting in a wheat field with the Duke stretched out beside her. He took the piece of bread and the lump of cheese she offered. For a moment their hands touched. His hand was tanned, with strong, elegant fingers. She was instantly conscious of the warmth and potential power of that hand and felt an answering spark at his touch that no other man had aroused in her.

She hesitated, unable to look away from his face. His gaze was strangely compelling, though she still couldn’t decipher the expression in his guarded silver-grey eyes. She was torn between a desire to get up and run away, and a fugitive wish to prolong the moment.

‘I—intended finding a quiet place to read my book, until I saw Dolly struggling with the heavy basket.’

‘And so you volunteered to help her. How very considerate of you, Miss Lockwood.’

There was something about the amused tilt of his eyebrows, the sudden mischievousness in his eyes, that made her laugh. ‘I like to oblige when I can.’

He cocked a brow, his silvery eyes glinting with reflected sunlight. ‘You do?’

She flushed softly, hoping he didn’t mean what she thought he did. When his smile curled and his lips lifted slightly at one corner, his eyelids drooping seductively over his eyes, she knew that was exactly what he meant and didn’t deign to reply.

Seeming to be content in her company, he allowed his eyes to remain on her, gauging her, watching for her every shade of thought and emotion, his gaze missing nothing. She looked lovely and arresting and very interesting. Her body was rounded and disturbing in its femininity. The swell of her hips and the firm shapeliness of her breasts as she leaned over the basket were outlined softly beneath her gown.

Hauling himself to a sitting position, he idly took hold of the short handle of a sickle that had been left lying on the ground and set it down by his side before turning his attention back to his charming employee, his leg brushing the naked blade.

‘Have a care, Lord Lansdowne. If you do not treat the sickle with respect, it could do you untold damage should you happen to …’ They stared at each other in silence for several moments, then Juliet grinned impudently.

Dominic glanced sideways at her. There was a gleam in his eyes, and she saw a smile form on his lips. He was clearly amused by her gauche remark. ‘What? Sit on it? I sincerely hope not since I intend to father many children one day. But, my dear Miss Lockwood,’ he uttered with mock horror, ‘you should be flayed to within an inch of your life as a warning to others for your disrespectful boldness.’

She flushed hotly, wondering how she could have been so unsophisticated as to speak her thoughts aloud, but then, seeing the funny side when she realised what he thought she was referring to, laughter bubbled to her lips and it was a moment before she could speak.

‘Or hung from a gibbet at a crossroads somewhere,’ she suggested at last, tears of mirth gathered in her eyes that were gently teasing, ‘as a warning to others not to be rude to a duke—or transportation to the colonies, even. Goodness, the punishments could be endless.’

He grinned, the sunlight emphasising the distinctive contours of his face, his strong white teeth gleaming as he returned her gaze. ‘You’re far too attractive for gallows meat, Miss Lockwood, and were you to be transported to the colonies, then who would I get as efficient as you to finish cataloguing my library?’

‘Who indeed?’ She laughed. ‘But no one is indispensable, your Grace.’

‘I wouldn’t count on that if I were you, Miss Lockwood.’

Looking around and seeing that everyone had eaten their fill and were lolling around before they would start the afternoon work, Juliet began placing the uneaten food and drink carefully back into the basket, studying her employer surreptitiously. He was the most assured man she had ever met, yet she sensed that his self-confidence wasn’t founded on empty arrogance, but on hard-won experience.

He looked so relaxed, sitting there with his arms resting atop his drawn-up knees. And yet, she had the strangest feeling that beneath that relaxed exterior there was a forcefulness, carefully restrained for now, but waiting. If she were to make a wrong move, a mistake of any kind, she felt that he would unleash that force on her. Recollecting herself, she gave herself a hard shake. Now she really was being foolish and fanciful.

As she turned her head away, her attention was caught by a young couple several yards apart eyeing each other with a certain look. Without a word she saw them get up and saunter towards a break in the hedge, come together and disappear through the gap, and a moment later from behind the hedge came a fit of giggling. Juliet glanced at her employer, who had also seen the couple disappear. He was watching and waiting for her reaction with quiet amusement.

‘They are sweethearts, Miss Lockwood,’ he said quietly by way of explanation, smiling broadly at her sudden confusion and the hot flush that sprang to her cheeks.

‘Oh—I see.’

‘You do? Every dinner time, when food and drink have been taken, Mandy Cooper always gives Simon Archer a nod and a wink and he knows what it means. Mandy wants him to take her to the shade and privacy behind the hedge and—’

‘Please don’t go on,’ Juliet gasped quickly, before he could go into detail about what they got up to behind the hedge. He didn’t seem to mind that Simon Archer was only too happy to oblige Mandy Cooper in the harvest field. She lowered her head, grateful for the wide brim of her bonnet hiding her embarrassed confusion. It would never do to let him think he had her at a disadvantage.

Dominic chuckled softly. ‘They are to be married at Christmas,’ he told Juliet, as if this made everything all right.

‘Please don’t go on. It isn’t something I consider funny, even if you do,’ she informed him haughtily.

‘Of course I find it amusing. I’m always entertained by the amorous antics of others.’

‘I expect you would be,’ she retorted sharply before she could stop herself.

Comprehending her meaning, his eyes narrowed. ‘So, Miss Lockwood, my reputation has preceded me.’

‘Yes. Do you deny that you have a certain—reputation, your Grace?’

‘I would do so with alacrity, if I didn’t think the answer would disappoint you,’ he answered, a faint smile playing on his lips. Reaching out he brushed her hair with his fingers. She pulled back in surprise and he laughed, holding a piece of straw that had become entangled. She sighed and met his gaze. ‘At heart I am a true romantic.’

‘Are you suggesting I find anything—remotely interesting about the idea that you are a womaniser, Lord Lansdowne?’ Juliet exclaimed, colouring hotly at the implication that she might find something attractive about the fact that he enjoyed the reputation of a libertine.

He chuckled softly. ‘It’s a talking point, if nothing else. Although it might be difficult for a monumentally respectable young woman like yourself to understand.’

‘I don’t know of any other womanisers, your Grace, so, yes, I do find such behaviour difficult to understand. But I meant no disparagement of your character.’

‘And I would wager that you would not have said that if I were not your employer, Miss Lockwood. I’m sure you would give me a severe dressing down, which some would say I deserve.’

‘Perhaps you do. It’s not for me to say.’

‘How old are you, Miss Lockwood?’