Read Online ThePleasureDevice by Regina Kammer - Free Book Online

gentle breeze—and filled his brown eyes with golden glittery specs.
Brown. They were brown. Rich brown. Like hot chocolate on a winter’s
morning, soothing, comforting, warming her very insides, the deliciousness
spreading all over, rousing the tender flesh bound tightly under her stiff
corset, settling and coiling voluptuously below her belly—
    She had to stop looking at him.
    “Yes, please.” Her breath hitched in her lungs, but found
relief when she turned her attention to the chair. “It’s for Lady Banbury, sir,”
she managed to say.
    “Lady Banbury?” He looked over at the older woman, shook his
head with a wry smirk, settled his hat atop his glorious hair and handily
picked up the wrought-iron chair.
    “My lady,” he said as he placed the requested seat before
the countess.
    “Oh! Thank you ever so much, Doctor…Doctor…”
    Doctor?
    “Ramsay.” He lifted his hat and bowed.
    “Yes, yes. Pardon me, please. I am feeling a bit overcome by
the closeness of the music room.” She sat down with a wheezing puff.
    “Is there anything I can do to make you more comfortable, Lady
Banbury?”
    Oh! How very gracious and kind! Helena’s heart
skipped a beat.
    Lady Banbury waved her hand and shook her head with just a
touch of dramatic flair. “Thank you, Doctor, no. I’ll be fine presently.”
    The breathtakingly handsome Dr. Ramsay nodded and forced a
smile with his lusciously full mouth, then stood beside Helena.
    Despite the warmth of his closeness, Helena froze. They hadn’t
been properly introduced. Should she say something? But he should be the first
to speak, right? She shifted on her feet, struggling to quell the turmoil
within, and even with a refreshing breeze, forgot to breathe. She swallowed the
dryness in her mouth, a sound that apparently was loud enough for Lady Banbury
to hear.
    “Oh my dear, I am much remiss in my duties as chaperon.” The
countess had whipped out her fan and was using it with vigor. “Dr. Ramsay, may
I introduce you to Miss Helena Phillips?” She waggled her fan in their
direction. “And likewise. Oh this heat.”
    Helena curtsied to the handsomest man in the world.
    “Dr. Nicholas Ramsay, at your service.” His baritone voice
was enchanting, melodic. She could listen to it all day as she drank in his
eyes and thought of those lips—
    “Dr. Ramsay,” began Lady Banbury, “whatever are you doing
here? I didn’t know men of science appreciated music.”
    “Oh but we do, Lady Banbury. So to be truthful, I hardly
know what I am doing here.”
    Helena let out a sharp laugh, then stifled herself
immediately. Dr. Ramsay flashed her a grin.
    Lady Banbury seemed unaware of any merriment around her. “Are
you here alone, Doctor?”
    “I arrived with Lady Foxley-Graham.”
    “Of course, of course. Lavinia is a great lover of music, is
she not?”
    “She is. So much so, she left not too long after the event
began.”
    The audacity of the man was unbelievable. And most appealing.
It was simply unreasonable that Helena should be denied a lifetime of melodious,
witty intelligence with enchanting chocolate eyes.
    But Lady Banbury seemed immune to his clever ripostes. And
his charm. “Helena, dear, sit out of the sun over there while I rest my bones.”
    “Yes, ma’am.”
    Dr. Ramsay politely offered his arm for the short walk to
the shade. Helena’s pulse raced at the mere idea of touching him and when she
slipped her arm through his, the rush of excitement stirred up such a dizzying
frenzy, she feared she would faint right onto the flagstones suddenly rippling
dangerously beneath her. She wobbled and clutched his arm, then, utterly
embarrassed, released and went limp. Gentleman that he clearly was, he made no
comment but held himself perfectly steady as they strolled to the edge of the
raised terrace. Inwardly, she sighed. Really all she wanted to do was lean her
head against his shoulder and feel the rhythm of his gait.
    “Lady Banbury appears to be resting her eyes