Pleasures of the Night by Heather Boyd

Chapter 17

Teddy strolled along Bond Street, inspecting the wares on display for purchase in shop windows with a spring in his step. It was a sunny day, and he appreciated the improved weather enormously. It matched the happy feeling around his heart. He was alone; he’d left his men behind at Grafton House, though they were none too pleased about it.

For the first time in quite a while, he felt on top of the world. Eugenia had been overwhelmed by the small gift of a chain and charm and that he’d placed about her waist so no one might notice. A mere first token of his affection, but there would be others. The woman deserved diamonds adorning her throat, to be sure, but that smacked too much of branding her his mistress and she’d claimed not to want that.

He felt a certain way about Eugenia. He wasn’t sure what that way was yet, but he felt sure they would be together for some time to come. They were only just beginning to explore the depths of their attraction and mutual lust.

And explore it they would. As far and as naughtily as needed until they were sated.

That was why he was shopping for her today. He knew what he wanted to buy to add to their bedchamber frolics. He surveyed those strolling Bond Street in search of familiar faces so he could avoid them. He wanted to be sure there were no witnesses to his visit to an establishment that sold rather risqué implements to enhance sexual pleasure.

As sure as he could be that no one who knew him was around, he reached for the door handle of the shop. The jangle of the little bell that announced his presence had him slamming the door shut very promptly.

He paused to look around. This particular apothecary shop was a tidy establishment catering to a vast assortment of ailments but was also crammed full of wicked and also practical implements. He’d found this shop once before on his own wanderings when he’d first come to London and had been astonished by the wide variety of devices available for pleasure inside.

Before coming to live with the Duke of Exeter, he’d never have imagined such things existed. However, the window display barely hinted at the items on offer here that a pleasure-seeking gentleman, or lady, might acquire if they’d the funds.

And he had plenty to spend now.

Today, he was after something particular. A dildo to please his new lover. Eugenia had promised to let him watch her use it on herself.

He couldn’t wait to see her again. She had not appeared at Lady Bisley’s last night. None of them had attended, actually, though they’d all been expected to put in an appearance. With the marchioness still in her sickbed, it wasn’t unheard of that they’d send no apologies to the hostess for changing their plans at the last minute.

Today he seemed to be the only customer in the shop, so he felt less uncomfortable than he might normally be if he was overheard asking questions.

He approached a glass-topped cabinet. There were all sorts of lengths and thicknesses of dildo inside. Some made from wood, others ivory, and behind the counter for the wealthier clientele, polished quartz, and even Jade, too. He studied them all, tapping his finger over each one as he considered and rejected each.

When he stopped tapping, the proprietor burst out of the rear room, face wreathed in smiles of welcome. “May I be of some assistance?”

“Yes, I came for a dildo, but…” he began as he glanced around. His eye caught on a mask in plum silk and embroidered in gold thread, and he thought it might suit Eugenia very well. There would eventually be a masquerade ball that they could both attend together. He would love to spend an evening with Eugenia on his arm in public, but with their identities hidden to protect her reputation. He could whisper his desires in her ear all night until she begged for a release he’d be only too happy to give in some shadowed corner. “I’m not sure if that is all I want for now, though.”

“Birches and floggers are over that side of the shop,” the proprietor said, pointing out his wares. “Restraints and masks to the right. Feathers and ticklers upfront. Unless you’re wanting a poultice made special. You’ll have to ask for that.”

“Not a poultice,” he murmured.

A set of ropes strung from the ceiling above the proprietor’s head caught his eye next, complete with metal cuffs at each end. There had been an engraving he’d seen of a similar device, stung up on a bed frame with a lover bound to it. But he’d been certain the cuffs had been leather, not metal in the engraving. The one on offer here seemed…almost painful.

He passed it by, deciding to stick with what he had come for in the first place. He perused the dildo collection again and chose one in smooth black marble, two inches wide at the base, nine from tip to base in length.

He returned to the masks and chose the one that had caught his eye, along with a short feather tickler that was small enough it could be tucked into his coat pocket.

He couldn’t wait to use them all with Eugenia, who seemed just as interested in exploring erotic bedroom experiences as he was.

She would never claim him boring in bed, like she had hinted a previous lover had been. Or was it lovers? He wasn’t sure how many men had come before him, but they didn’t matter. He had Eugenia now, and they didn’t. He didn’t plan to end things with her anytime soon.

They’d be together tomorrow or the next day, if he could arrange to casually run into her at Lord Wharton’s residence that afternoon when he called unannounced and suggest another rendezvous.

He paid for his purchases with coin rather than put them on credit and tucked the discreetly wrapped parcel—brown paper and twine—under his arms before strolling out to the street, hoping to see no one he recognized.

Of course, he ran headfirst into a friend.

“Berringer,” Lord Hurlston exclaimed as he glanced past Teddy’s shoulder to the shop he had just exited. A smile curved his lips. “Excellent dinner the other night. A pity you had to dash off early.”

“Hurlston!” Teddy gulped and shuffled away from the door a few steps, his parcel wedged firmly under his arm, while Hurlston moved more toward it. “It was a good dinner, wasn’t it?”

Hurlston nodded. “Did you receive an invitation to Sullivan’s for dinner next week?”

“Not as yet,” he added, still hoping for a quick escape. “I’m afraid—”

“Mine came this morning,” Hurlston said, seemingly determined to keep him talking. “I’m sure you’ll find one waiting for you when you return home today. Sullivan does set a good table, so you should certainly accept.”

“I’m on my way home now,” he promised, glancing down the street. A trio of ladies he knew was walking in their direction. Miss Waters, Miss Draven and Miss Long. The paper-wrapped parcel under his arm crackled, and he tensed.

Teddy nearly groaned when Hurlston’s eyes dipped to it.

“I’ll see you later,” he promised his friend.

“Yes, don’t let me keep you if you have somewhere pressing to be.” Hurlston seemed to be biting his lip, and then he laughed as Teddy brushed past him to go. “Do enjoy yourself with that, Berringer,” he called out loudly.

Bastard!

Face flaming with embarrassment, Teddy didn’t dare stop again until he found a place where he could hail a hack for the journey home.

Teddy hoped to hell that the next time he met his friend, Hurlston would not want to discuss his satisfaction with his purchases. The earl had the oddest sense of humor.

Once safely returned to Exeter’s townhouse, he was surprised to find the house a bustle of unexpected activity. He passed off his hat to the butler and asked, “What’s amiss?”

“The duke and duchess have returned.”

Teddy groaned at the bad timing. Sinclair and Kitty were not supposed to be back for days yet. “If either asks, I’ll be right back down.”

“Why wait?” the duke said right behind his back.

Teddy winced and turned around. “Cousin, when did you get home?”

“While you were gone, obviously.” Sinclair came close and embraced him. “How have you been?”

“Very well. I thought you’d be gone another week or more still.”

The duke grunted. “Kitty invited a guest to stay with us without telling me until after we were just about to leave the Baxter’s estate. She’s derailed all my plans to spoil her with an extended trip away from Town.”

“Oh, I am sorry.”

“None more so than me.” Sinclair urged Teddy into the library and shut the doors. “This is not what I’d intended, and I am sorry.”

“Why be sorry?”

Sinclair winced. “Kitty invited Miss Felicity Hunter to stay with us.”

But Teddy grinned. “When does she arrive?”

“She’s here now,” the duke grumbled. “And her father came, too.”

Now, Teddy did wince. The duchess’ brother, Mr. Hunter, tended to make a mess…along with having the dangerous habit of blowing things up, too.

“I hope you don’t mind,” the duke asked.

“Why would I mind?”

“Well, Felicity will need you to escort her occasionally. Can’t possibly take her father anywhere with breakables. He’s agreed to confine his experiments to this house, though, so it should be relatively safe.” Sinclair smiled. “Dance with her a bit and help us keep an eye out for scoundrels lurking about.”

“She did well more or less on her own last Christmas,” Teddy reminded his cousin.

“That was different,” Sinclair went on. “They were our friends’ sons whispering to her. Here in London, with her pretty looks, they’ll eat her up for breakfast.”

“I’ll have a word with my friends. We can all keep our eyes peeled for trouble concerning her and any scoundrels.”

“I’d appreciate that.” The duke sank into a chair with a groan. “So, what have you done with yourself while we were away?”

“This and that,” he said, evading any clear answer. “Have you seen today’s mail?”

“Not yet. Why?”

“I ran into Hurlston, and he mentioned I might have an invitation to dine with Lord Sullivan.”

The duke studied him. “Sullivan has a widowed cousin.”

“I am aware of that. Mrs. Smith.” He pulled a face. “She winked at me when I was following you about society two years ago while still a married woman.”

“Ah, so not at all interested.”

“She’s already tried to lure me into adultery once. I certainly won’t be the victim of it as a man married to her.” He smiled. “Since I wasn’t expecting you back for a week, I’m afraid I’ve not planned your welcome back dinner yet.”

“Kitty will arrange something for tomorrow night with Felicity’s help. Is there anyone special you wish to have attend?”

The duchess did occasionally invite Sylvia Hillcrest to dinner. Her cousins, Eugenia and Aurora, did not always attend with her, though. He wanted to see Eugenia very much and having her here could be fun. He knew all the best hiding spots in this house. Places perfect for lovers to exchange a kiss or more. “Wallingham and Pinner are still in Town and always enjoy emptying your decanters.”

“Yes, I have noticed that tendency. I’ll ask Kitty to include them, too, and find a few other women to join us to keep the numbers even.”

“She could always simply invite all the Hillcrests on the one invitation.”

“That’s not a bad idea,” the duke mused. “With the middle one’s future set, Kitty mentioned she’d like to see the others find suitable husbands, too.”

“Pinner might be good company for the younger Miss Hillcrest at the dinner,” he murmured. The pair had been exchanging speculative glances at the last ball they’d attended together. If Kitty placed them together, he might just be seated beside Eugenia. Of course, he could ask for that, but if he did, he’d be alerting the duchess—and his cousin—where his interests lie.

Teddy pushed himself up from his chair, but he put his hand down on the package at his side.

The crackling paper drew the duke’s attention immediately. “What is that?”

“Nothing,” Teddy gulped, fighting to keep a telling blush from his face. “I should put this away and change before I see Miss Felicity.”

The duke’s eyes narrowed on the package in his hand, and then his brows shot up high on his face. “Yes, that is probably a good idea if that is what I think it is.”

Teddy strode from the room as fast as he could.

He changed and strolled along to the chambers the duchess used most days. At his knock, she urged him to enter.

“There you are at last,” she cried.

“I missed you too, Kitty,” he promised, kissing the back of her outstretched hand. “Did Sinclair give you any trouble while you were away?”

“Only the usual kind. He never wants to get out of bed in the morning,” she complained, but laughed. Sinclair had become slightly more inclined to sleeping late since his marriage to Kitty. That was only fair and good. Teddy had felt the same way the last time he was leaving Eugenia’s bed actually.

“So, I hear we have a pair of guests?”

“Don’t worry, my brother has gone out. We’re all completely safe from his experiments for the afternoon.”

Teddy did feel a bit easier, but there would be dangers to avoid tomorrow, most likely. He’d have to keep his wits about him.

The door burst open, and a young woman rushed into the room. “Aunt, you’ll never guess what occurred to me…” She skidded to a stop and curtsied. “Mr. Berringer.”

Teddy stood and bowed to her. “Miss Felicity. How wonderful to see you again.”

The duchess’ niece was young and pretty, and she grinned impishly. “I bet you think it’s too soon since we last met.”

He winced and glanced about with exaggerated suspicion. “I trust one of your new friends isn’t hiding behind another curtain somewhere.”

Felicity scowled. “Oh, I definitely left the pea-goose behind—the nerve of trying to compromise herself with you. You’re so old,” she teased.

Teddy sighed dramatically. Several of Felicity’s new young friends had tried their hand at flirting with him. He’d learned to be polite but always ready to flee. “It is a curse indeed to be so ancient.”

The duchess laughed. “Don’t let his grace hear you despair your age. He’ll tell you to hurry up and find yourself a wife again.”

“More than he does now? Is that even possible?”

“He wants you to be happy.”

“I assure you, I am.”

He turned his attention back to the duchess’ niece. She’d grown up in London but had never moved in the same circles with the duke. He hoped she’d find her feet quicker than Teddy had. Rogues and scoundrels would find her fresh face and smile much too intriguing. “I won’t ask how your father is. I assume I’d have already heard if he’d blow off a limb or another finger.”

“My brother has gone off to visit old haunts, Teddy.”

“Aunt, may I be excused for a moment?”

“Of course. Hurry back, my dear.”

Felicity fled the room, and the duchess sighed. “If only her enthusiasm for being in London wasn’t so evident in her speed through the house.”

“She’s young.”

“As are you, sir. Do not listen to my niece declare you decrepit.”

He laughed. “I’m glad she thinks me too old for herself and her friends. It means I do not need to worry about entrapment when she’s around.”

“Has there been an incident while we were away?”

“No. But I am always taking precautions to avoid wives and spinsters.”

Well, he normally avoided spinsters. Of Eugenia, he couldn’t see her enough.

In fact, he was starting to think he might always like to see her…

“I’ve already had a note delivered from Lady Starling. She hinted that you’d turned your eye on her daughter.”

“Not true,” he vowed.

“Lady Norris also claimed an attachment was in the wind between you and Miss Waters.”

“I can promise you, I have no attachment to either lady, but I did enjoy speaking with Miss Waters at a ball.”

The duchess worried her lip a moment. “It is said, too, that you and Lady Fuller had parted on bad terms.”

“Parted?”

“Must I come out and say it?”

Teddy blinked. “We were never involved.”

“And you made a fuss over Miss Waters to make her jealous.”

“Good grief, the gossips have it all wrong. Lady Fuller was rude to Miss Waters, who I was promised to dance with.” He heaved a sigh. “Miss Waters is a friend of my friends, Wharton and the Hillcrest ladies. I was merely helping her be seen away from the company of wallflowers, as you might have wanted me to do of anyone.”

“So, you don’t mind that a man with red hair has been calling on her.”

“I am overjoyed to hear it,” he promised. “I introduced a young man with red hair to Miss Water’s at the very same ball. He’s an acquaintance.”

The duchess heaved a sigh of relief. “I like Miss Waters very much but not so much her absentminded parents.”

“You’ve nothing to fear. I’ll not make a match without consideration of your feelings, or my cousins, too.”

The duchess poured him a cup of tea, and Miss Felicity returned. She was wearing a different dress now, prettier and more suited to having company come to call. He glanced at the duchess, then saw that there were more cups than people. “Expecting friends?”

“Lady Darrow is coming.”

“Then I ought to slip away while I still can and allow you the privacy of a ladies’ gathering.”

“You are welcome to stay.”

“A discussion of hats and bows interests me very little, your grace.”

“That is not all we talk about.”

“Well, whatever the topic, it is likely not for my ears,” he muttered. Lady Willa was engaged in a years-long affair with the Duke of Baxter—a married man. Something he disapproved of, and they all knew it, except perhaps young Felicity.

He offered a bow and hurried out before Lady Willa could arrive.

He went into the library and shut the door behind him.

Teddy found Sinclair, standing at a lectern placed beside the window, squinting at a book wearing his new glasses.

Teddy cleared his throat. “Having trouble again?”

The duke made an uncharacteristically angry sound and slammed the book shut.

He stormed off toward his study. Teddy waited for a beat and then followed after him.

The duke’s eyes had started giving him trouble some months ago, not that he would admit to any impairment. He simply hated wearing spectacles.

Teddy poured himself a drink and then waved the decanter at Sinclair, since he had a glass on his study desk already. “A refill?”

The duke shook his head.

Teddy moved about the chamber, studying the spines of the duke’s many books, biding his time till his grace was not quite so uncomfortable. “I see what you mean about Felicity. She’s even prettier than at Christmas.”

For an answer, the duke only grunted.

“Come now, cousin, no thorn in your side is ever so bad you cannot talk to me about it in confidence.”

“I don’t like getting old,” the duke finally grumbled.

“No one does. Please don’t start laying boiled onion on your face twice a day to stave off the odd wrinkle.”

“Who did that?”

“My father.”

That, at least, made Sinclair laugh.

“He also took baths in mud and turmeric and was regularly bled,” Teddy confided. “My father’s last years were devoted to preserving himself for a long reign as the next Duke of Exeter.”

“That explains why he was always in such a bad mood,” the duke muttered.

“And stank of onions constantly.” Teddy smiled. “You look half the age he was when he died, and you were older by three years. He walked with a cane.”

“To make himself feel important,” the duke said ruefully. “Ah, Teddy. I don’t want to get old and die.”

“No one does,” Teddy promised. “But you won’t die anytime soon. You’re going to live till one hundred and three, so you’re old enough to see my children make a marriage.”

“A duke, forever, I think not,” he chided.

“I’m in no hurry to lose you, as I’ve said before.”

The duke stared at his desk. “Baxter was telling me only yesterday he doubts his son’s love for him.”

“That can be the case. There’s no love lost between Pinner and his uncle, either.”

“Why is it different for us?”

“Because we possess a compatible sense of humor.” Teddy smiled. “We could fight, too, if you’d like us to.”

The duke shook his head. “I think it impossible for me to fight with you. I love you too well.”

“Then stop your worrying.”

“I’d be happier if…”

Teddy rolled his eyes. “I will not marry just in case you’re about to die.”

Yet, when he imagined making a marriage today he suddenly thought of Eugenia with a yearning heart. He would likely need to tell the duke of the affair, because he’d always made a habit of confiding everything important to his cousin eventually. And Sinclair’s eyes were sharp, despite his recent trouble with small print in books. “I’ve begun thinking of furnishing the house you gifted me.”

The duke frowned. “You’re not leaving because of Felicity being here, are you?”

“Not at all. I started thinking about it, and it gives me something to do every now and then.”

“You’re always welcome to live here,” Sinclair promised.

“An empty house is a sad house,” he said. “If I furnish it, it could be leased, and I could put the extra funds aside or invest in something worthwhile.”

“Well, whatever you decide, I’ll accept. Just don’t ever think I don’t want you here.”

The duke’s London townhouse was large enough for the present family. But Teddy really had no space here of his own. No privacy. Nowhere to take his lover. He wouldn’t mind a study of his own and a place to put up his feet uninterrupted, as he might at Clifford Street, or even at Albemarle Street, where he’d grown very fond of visiting.

The door burst open, and Hurlston appeared, eyes wild without the usual footman accompanying him to see if the duke was free.

Hurlston apologized profusely to the duke for the interruption but charged over to Teddy. “I had to come and share the news I just heard.”

“What news?”

“It seems Eugenia Hillcrest is a married woman! She’s the Mrs. Bagshaw that fellow was asking about outside Wharton’s the other week!”

“No…” Teddy whispered.

Hurlston nodded profusely. “Do you remember how he bothered us all that night? Well, that’s her husband. Imagine! He’s come to reclaim her and take her home to Dover. I called at Wharton’s, and he let it slip. He’s not taking it well.”

Teddy was sure the ground under him shifted…and not in a good way.