Enticing An Earl

Part 3

Lord William Hamilton, the fifth Earl of Cambridge stared at the wide eyed load he currently held. If it wasn’t for her statement, he would have held her in his arms for the rest of the night and just stared at her.

“Are you in trouble? Is he following you? What exactly were you doing on that tree?” William unwillingly raised his eyes to look at his surroundings, trying to look for the man who would treat a Lady so shabbily.

And what a Lady this beautiful creature is!

Her swan like neck, her regal features and the way she held herself, even in his arms were proof enough of her being a Lady. The fact that a man tried to force her to do anything that she didn’t want had him seeing red. Her state of undress was an indication that the men had almost succeeded.

“I took care of it. If you don’t mind, I would like to stand on my own two feet.”

Lady George stood on shaking legs and tried to control her heartbeat. The near death experience had an electrifying effect on her body and every part of her seemed to be alive. After a through perusal of her rescuer, she realized that she was still half dressed. Deciding to ignore this particular fact for now she decided to question the man who rescued her.

"What are you doing here at night? I don't think that the plants need your attention at this time of the day." She asked with as much vitriol as she could muster. He had to be a gardener or a groundskeeper, he was dressed in rags and his clothes had mud on them. A lot of mud, that could only be explained if he was working in the garden.

"I have decided that I want to rescue half dressed damsels in distress, hence, the waiting. I wonder what particular situation could have led to this state of your's, would you like to enlighten me?" The stranger's smile made George breathless and her heart skip a beat or three. Despite his sinfully good looks, he looked unaware of his own appeal. It took her a minute to form her first thought.

“Do you want me to tell you all the juicy details so that you can tell it to all the friends you have? I know how the gossip spreads below stairs and I would like to remain anonymous.” George realized that escaping this man was in her favor. She looked around for the dress she had thrown down the building and found it was stuck in some bushes.

Georgiana started to untangle her dress from the bushes by bending over them. She didn't see the darkening of stranger's eyes as her rump became quite visible through her light under garments. As she moved to complete her task, her rump moved in the air behind her giving William ideas. Desire shot through him and he could feel himself enlarge in his breeches. The desire to rub himself on her while holding her backside in a tight grip was so strong that he had to fist his hands. He could almost feel her soft skin.

Cursing softly, William pushed Georgiana out of the way and started untangling her dress. As soon as the task was done, he gave the deepest bow before her and decided to introduce himself.

"Lord William Hamilton, Earl of Cambridge at your service. If I may be bold enough to suggest that we take my carriage and get you home. Your reputation would become beyond repair if you were spotted in your state of undress." William raised a questioning eyebrow as Georgiana kept on staring at him with an open mouth.

"But you never go to balls or socialize with anyone." George asked in a dazed voice as she paid more attention to his face. It was an aristocratic face with a straight nose and a wide forehead.

“As you can see, I didn't actually attend the event. I was busy helping Maximillian with some heavy lifting.” The corners of his mouth lifted and he smiled like a naughty kid who knew his mischief would make others mad. Before she could ask anymore questions, her mind finally decided to process his offer to take her home.

"I have a plan my Lord. I'll be home before you even know it and no one will be aware of anything that happened tonight. Now, if you will excuse me, I must be on my way.” George started bundling up her dress and tried to make it as small as possible. As she held the bundle against her stomach, it pushed her breast up so that more of her creamy skin was on display.

William almost groaned as she touched her breast in an attempt to push the frills into the folds of her gown. He could see the flush that was starting to spread on her skin as she struggled with her task. It made him wonder of all the places that would be turning red now, it made him wonder how her flushed skin would look against his and how her wild curls would look spread on his pillow. He could see the tent on his breeches and decided to intervene before he embarrassed himself by just watching the siren struggle with her gown.

“How do you plan to go home undetected?” William knew he sounded harsh but he was so hard by now that stopping the Lady was the only goal in his mind.

“I'll just hide in my family's carriage. My parents will find me once they get on it." George knew her plan was a good one and it would be enough to discourage the Earl from helping further. If he hated being here so much then she had no desire to impose on him further.

"My Lady, if I may say so, your plan will fail. Your footman will place warm stones in the carriage before your parents call for the it. I'm sorry to inform you but if he finds you in a half dressed state, this story will be known in every household of London by tomorrow. You were right, the servants do talk.”

George realized that the Earl was right indeed. She knew that he did not want to take her home, if his earlier harsh words were anything to go by, then he did not even want to be near her but he was gentleman enough to offer. Maybe the rumors were just that, rumors.

"If I may, I would like to offer my carriage. I don't have a footman with me as I drove it myself. I swear upon my honor as a gentleman, that you are in no danger from me." George stared at the man who made a name for himself as the most ruthless predator in all of England. She knew from Max that he did fight in gaming halls as it was rumored but he never said anything uncomplimentary about the man in front of her. Her instinct was to trust him but she hated the fact that she was a burden.

“I don't want to be a burden, I can take care of myself. I'll think of something else but thank you for your kind offer my Lord. You should be on your way. If we are spotted together, there would be long term consequences.” George placed extra emphasis on the word consequences as she tried to convince herself as well as the Earl that she was confident she could escape. Despite her best attempt, she did sound scared and breathy.

William stared at the girl as she tried to scare him with the prospect of being married to her and realized that he would not mind. The fact that he knew nothing about her did nothing put him off of her, he was impressed with the chit. Clearly she was running from someone who tried to ruin her and still had her wits about her. Half the woman of ton would have fainted or screamed but she seemed to be systematically considering all her options. It was rare and William was intrigued.

“I was about to leave as my work here is done. It would make me sleep better knowing that you are safe. Please, let me do this for my peace of mind.” William tried to smile to appear friendly but it turned into a grimace as he saw a couple in the distance.

“We have to get out of here before the couple comes here and finds us here. My carriage is just behind this ridiculous structure, we can make a clean getaway.” William gave up all pretense of being cordial and started dragging the damn woman behind him. It appeared as if she had no sense of preservation.

"Just answer one simple question. What are you doing here with a carriage that you drove yourself and why is it here and not with the other carriages. " George tried to think of all the sinister things that can be done between the exotic foliage. He might have buried a body, after all human waste is a great fertilizer, a complete human body would be an even better fertilizer. He could have buried his secrets or deflowered a gently bred Lady. The possibilities were endless.

"You'll either join me willingly or unwillingly but under no circumstances will I marry a woman I have not even been introduced to." George tried to see if Lord William was serious and was almost sure that the man would make good on his word if his order was not followed. She started opening the door of Earl's carriage when he stopped her.

"Remember the favor that required an empty carriage? Well, now it's full. You'll travel with me in the front. Here, wrap this cloak around you and no one will be able to tell if you are a man or a woman, let alone dressed or not."

The cloak smelled like him, as if he was a cologne. When she was in his arms, the smell for overwhelming, concentrated. It was different but still it made her senses tingle. He must have worn it on his way in and taken it off to work as it was clean. What really scared her was that she could now recognized the Earl by his scent.

His over sized coat did nothing to cool his ardor. William was positive that the vixen would look appealing even if she wore curtains. He helped her take her seat and joined her on the perch. Taking the reins he asked the question that he had been dying to ask.

“Where to? And an introduction if you won't mind?” he smiled benignly in an effort to promote compliance.

“I'm Lady Georgiana, the only daughter of Lord and Lady Malcolm.” George saw the Earls eyes enlarge then be filled with horror then anger in quick succession before he finally asked,

“You are little George?”