Falling Into Bed with a Duke (Hellions of Havisham) Read Online Free

quietly for a few moments. “What if you should get with child?” she finally asked, and Minerva nearly groaned at the tedious questioning, but she appreciated that her dear friend meant well.
    “I’ve researched. I’ll take precautions.”
    Grace slumped back, nibbling on her lower lip. “The act itself is incredibly intimate, Minerva. I can’t imagine engaging in such actions with someone I didn’t love.”
    “I’m well aware that it won’t be perfect, Grace, but at this point in my life, I want to feel desired. I’ve heard that most of the men who frequent the place are of the aristocracy. So it’s quite possible it will be someone I know, possibly someone I favor. I fancy many of the gents; they simply don’t fancy me.”
    “But after all that you’ll share, won’t it be awkward when you see him in the future?”
    “He’s not going to know it’s me. I’ll be masked.” The mask she’d purchased in anticipation of acquiring the location of the infamous club covered two-thirds of her face, leaving only her eyes, lips, and chin visible.
    “But you’ll know. Everything he did. Everywhere he touched. Everywhere you touched.”
    Warmth and a bit of discomfiture coursed through Minerva as she imagined being caressed with large, strong hands. She took the images to bed with her every night even though they did little except leave her aching for what she’d never experienced. Her greatest fear was that she might actually weep if a man ever fondled her with bare hands. She’d been touched by men before, but always with cloth—gloves at the very least—serving as a barrier. “I’ve thought about the ramifications long and hard, Grace. It’s not something I decided on a whim. Do you have any idea how lonely it is to have never felt so much as the stroke of a man’s finger along forbidden flesh? During dinners, no one sneaks in an errant touch beneath the tablecloth, out of sight of others, when my gloves are resting on my lap and my hands are uncovered. No one does anything untoward where I’m concerned.”
    “If I might be honest, this recourse seems rather tawdry. Perhaps you should seek out a lover.”
    “You don’t understand, Grace. Men don’t find me appealing in that way. They don’t have improper thoughts or consider me alluring. If a man even hinted that he fancied me, I’d marry him.”
    “You’ve had marriage proposals.”
    “From impoverished gents, and it became quite clear, quite quickly that they yearned to hold near my dowry, not me. Your advice helped me identify the fortune hunters, and thus far—to my everlasting disappointment—they’ve all been fortune hunters.”
    “Perhaps you took my words too much to heart.”
    “No one looks at me the way my brother looks at you. Even before he professed his love, it was obvious that he wanted you in the worst sort of way.”
    Unable to deny the words, Grace blushed. Minerva stood and began to pace. She was striving so hard not to show how nervous she was about this decision. It was the correct one for her. She wanted to know what it was to be with a man, and she’d grown weary of waiting. “The anonymity appeals to me. If I botch it all up, no one is going to know.”
    “You won’t botch it. But I do worry that you’ll be hurt.”
    Kneeling before her dear friend, Minerva took her hands, squeezed. “How can I be hurt when, for a little while, I shall feel as though I am desired? Grace, I have never once in my life felt as though a man desired me. And while I know that he won’t know it is me, that all he truly wants is my body, it will be my body that he touches, my body in which he takes pleasure, my body that receives pleasure in return. It’s not perfect, but it’s something.”
    “It’s rather rash when there are alternatives. You could proposition a man to be your lover.”
    “And how do I deal with the embarrassment when he says no?”
    “He might say yes.”
    “Six Seasons, Grace, and I’ve never been