How to Manage a Marquess Read Online Free

hold her still.
    â€œLord Haywood!”
    Mmm. She had a lovely rounded arse. He’d like to stroke—
    â€œLord Haywood, release me immediately!” She wriggled, trying to free herself, and his cock responded to the lovely friction with predictable enthusiasm.
    She froze. Oh ho, so she recognized that sign of male interest.
    â€œLord Haywood,” she hissed, “if you don’t release me at once, I shall scream.”
    At least he could finally breathe again. He opened his mouth to tell her he would gladly let her go—well, perhaps not gladly —if she would only be careful where she put her knee, but she was already opening her mouth, getting ready to—
    â€œDid you hear something, Cordelia?”
    The Boltwoods!
    â€œCome on. Let’s go look in the garden.”
    Zeus, it would be disastrous if those two old gossips found them in such a compromising position, and if Miss Davenport screamed, they would definitely be found.
    This called for quick and decisive action.
    He pulled Miss Davenport’s head down as he rolled them deeper into the vegetation.
    * * *
    One moment she’d been inhaling, preparing to scream, and the next, her mouth was covered by Lord Haywood’s and she was under, rather than on top of, him.
    Oh, God. Panic roared through her and she tried to buck him off, but he was far too heavy. It was like trying to move a slab of rock. Perhaps she could free her mouth—
    No. When she tried to twist away, he trapped her head with his large hands.
    She would get free. She squirmed again and—oh, dear Lord. Something long and hard and heavy was pressing insistently against her leg. She’d swear it was even bigger than it had been a few moments ago.
    She might be a virgin, but she was also twenty-six years old. She’d been out among the lecherous men of the ton and been forced to discourage more than one overenthusiastic, often inebriated suitor with a knee to his jewels.
    But none of those male organs had been as big as this, she was quite, quite sure.
    I’m going to be ravished with something resembling a marble pillar! I must—
    She must stop panicking and think . How could she free herself?
    Perhaps if she stopped fighting, he would think she’d given up and let down his guard. That would be her opportunity to escape.
    She willed her body to relax—and realized Lord Haywood wasn’t trying to force himself on her at all. Yes, he had her pinned to the ground, but he wasn’t moving. And while his mouth was covering hers, that was all it was doing. He wasn’t trying to kiss her. In fact, he was scowling!
    When he saw he had her attention, his face started to perform an interesting series of contortions. He stared at her, waggled his brows, and then shifted his eyes left and then back to her and then left again. He must be trying to communicate something. What—
    Oh. Now that her heart wasn’t pounding in her ears, she heard it, too—or, rather, heard them .
    â€œThis garden is a terrible tangle, Gertrude. Do watch your step. There is ivy everywhere.”
    â€œYes, indeed. Poor Miss Franklin—or Miss Frost, that is—certainly didn’t try to keep this up.”
    â€œShe’s the Duchess of Benton now.”
    Miss Gertrude Boltwood snorted. “Yes. Fortunately she’ll have an army of gardeners on Benton’s estates to attend to things for her.”
    Lord Haywood had freed her mouth. Now he lowered his head to whisper by her ear. Mmm. He smelled very nice. And his breath tickled.
    â€œJust be quiet and lie still. I think we’re hidden.”
    He thought they were hidden. He didn’t know.
    Of course he didn’t know. The Boltwood sisters were only ten feet, if that, from them. They could turn at any moment and see them. Her blue dress didn’t exactly blend into foliage.
    She moaned.
    â€œWhat was that, Cordelia?”
    Lud! Miss Gertrude had heard her. The Boltwood