Read Online The Governess Was Wicked by Julia Kelly - Free Book Online Page B

he murmured between kisses. She was working at the lapels of his jacket now, running her hands underneath them to feel the cloth of his waistcoat and shirt. “Miss Porter,” he tried again.
    She pulled away, a little wild. Her hair was askew as it threatened to spill from its knot. Her lips were swollen. Her chest rose and fell as she tried to catch her breath. She was more beautiful than he’d ever seen her, and he wanted to tell her, but then she spoke.
    “If you call me Miss Porter one more time, I’ll scream.”
    A laugh bubbled to his lips. He buried his face in the crook of her neck, and all of a sudden she was laughing too. Her weight collapsed against him, but he was strong enough to hold them both.
    His fingers twined in her hair to rub along the back of her neck. The long strands felt just as silky as he’d imagined. “What would you rather I call you?” he murmured in her ear as her laughter fell away.
    She sighed with pleasure. “Elizabeth will do.”
    “I can do that.” He brushed a light kiss to the side of her mouth. “But only if you promise to call me Edward.”
    She wrapped her fingers around the lapels of his jacket. “Edward, a very wicked part of me had hoped that you didn’t regret my kissing you in the kitchen.”
    He traced a line along the scooped neck of her dress, relishing the feeling of soft, uncovered skin. “I regret that I didn’t do it first. You were the braver of the two of us.”
    She trembled as his finger dipped below her collar. “I’m not so very brave.”
    “You’re in an empty room with a man who just kissed you. Don’t you think that daring?”
    She fixed her eyes on his chest. “Now that you mention it, I do. I should tell you to leave.”
    His heart sank. He finally had her in his arms, but she was right. He shouldn’t be there. He shouldn’t be standing so close—tasting her, touching her. He needed to back away and walk straight out of that room and never come back. He was going to leave London soon, and she deserved better than a few memories and a farewell.
    She smoothed his neck cloth, her fingers toying with the fabric. “I should tell you to leave, but I don’t want to.”
    “Elizabeth.” His voice nearly cracked with the effort of restraining himself.
    One of her hands slipped down his chest, touching the buttons of his waistcoat. “I should tell you to let me go and leave my room.”
    He watched with parted lips as she flicked the bottom button open.
    “I should make you walk out that door with a promise that you’ll never tell my employer what we did here.”
    Another button popped open as the richness of her voice washed over him. He wanted this woman. He couldn’t remember wanting anything more.
    “I should make you promise to be a gentleman and never pay me any mind again.” She went up on her tiptoes and pressed a brazen kiss to his mouth. “Now, don’t you think you should close the door?”

    Elizabeth was worn-out, but the way Edward had looked at her with such concern as he walked her out of the girls’ room triggered something raw and primal in her. She spent all of her time minding and educating and disciplining. She was always proper, always without reproach. She was so tired of it. Just once she wanted to do something forbidden with a man who looked at her like she was more than a piece of furniture.
    She knew exactly the risks she took by having him in her room. If they were caught, he’d suffer no consequences. She would shoulder all the blame because she was a woman—even worse, a governess—and that supposedly made her weak. That was what was written in her silly little governess guide, just as it was explicit in the sharp, suspicious looks Mrs. Norton shot her. And yet she found that she really didn’t care. The Nortons had abandoned their daughters. With no master or mistress to serve, all the servants would have retired early, thankful for the blissfully early hour. Even Crane would be in his room with a tumbler