Again he nodded. He was racked with desire and couldn't speak. His member was harder than it had ever been and he wanted to plunge it into her, without delay.
Emily took his hand and placed it to her breast. He felt her nipples stiffen under the thin nightgown. ''My Lord, please forgive me. I am inexperienced in the ways of the bedroom. I have never had a man before.'' The Duke's breath quickened at the thought of taking this virginal beauty. ''I ask you to have patience with me. I will give myself entirely to you, in time. For the moment, I am comfortable letting you kiss me and touch certain parts of my body.''
The Duke listened in dismay. All he was going to get was a kiss and a feel of her breasts. It wasn't enough, but other than raping her, he concluded he had little choice but to wait.
Emily pushed him down so that he was lying on the bed. She lay next to him and propped herself up on one elbow. She kissed him. ''My Lord. Please be assured of my firm interest in you, but one thing is troubling me. One thing that may come between us and ruin any chance we have of happiness together.''
The Duke looked up at her. He had accepted that his sexual desire wasn't going to be quenched this evening. ''What on earth could possibly come between us?''
''A process of bidding,'' Emily said boldly. She looked at the Duke. She knew that look. It was the same guilty look she'd used when her mother had caught her using her pearls.
''How do you.....?
''My cousin heard you and the other two gentlemen talking about holding an auction for my hand.''
''Emily please, that was just......''
''I am flattered. Don't think me angry in any way. It is just that I am worried in the extreme that you will be outbid and that any chance of happiness I may have with you will be destroyed. I have a proposal to make.''
''Please go on,'' the Duke said.
''I understand the agreement is for five rounds of bidding. You must tell me after the fourth round of bids what your final bid shall be. I will use my womanly charms to persuade the others that your bid is much lower than it is and you will win me, and we can follow our hearts at last.''
She kissed him again. This time longer and with her mouth slightly open. ''Any other outcome would break my heart,'' she said as her forefinger traced a path over his stomach and down to his belt.
''Oh, Miss Emily. You are so beautiful, and I desire you like I have no other woman on this earth. I will tell you, of course, I will.''
*****
''How many of the men have you met with?'' asked Beatrice, as she walked with her cousin over the freshly cut lawn at Priory Manor.
''So far, only the Duke,'' Emily replied.
''And what are you feelings for him?''
''He is the most objectionable man I have ever met. Do you know he evicted a tenant family when their daughter was ill with tuberculosis? He is conceited and arrogant. He has untold wealth, and I could become a Duchess, but he is quite intolerable.''
''Then there are just two,'' Beatrice added.
''I don't know. Mr. Carrington was adamant that his position made it impossible for us to meet. He has been disinherited and has no money. He rather charmingly told me that he wants the best for me, and as he can't offer it, he won't consider meeting with me. Of that, he left me in no doubt whatsoever.''
''Then you must make him fall in love with you. You must make him desire you, so much that he will do anything to have you. Only then will he give up his notion that he must have money to court you.''
''And how do I do that when he won't even see me.''
''I will attend to that. Don't worry.''
*****
''Come to my room when you are finished,'' Emily whispered. Masters looked at her and swallowed hard. Emily said goodnight to the guests, with whom she had shared a pleasant evening at the dinner table and left the room. Masters hadn't provided her with a maid. He wasn't as wealthy as the Duke, but he was wealthy enough to move in the circles Emily's mother found acceptable.
In her room, she took off her clothes and put on a nightdress. She arranged it in such a way that Masters would see her breasts. She'd enjoyed his company at the dinner table. He had proven amiable and witty. He had told the guests of his trips to the Far East. Emily had been mightily impressed by his recollections of the evening he'd fought off a tiger that had entered the camp he'd been staying in.
The bed was large and much more comfortable that the Queen Elizabeth bed she had slept in at the Duke's residence. Emily lay under the covers and waited for him. As she had anticipated, it wasn't long before he knocked on her door.