Chessmen-Masters of Seduction 2 - The Notorious Lord Knightly

Dedication On behalf of Andrea Hamblin this book is dedicated as follows to: Jan Patteyn, who moved from the city of love—Paris, France—to follow his love Laura to Belgium. May you live happily ever after. With my love, Aunt Andrea Contents Cover Title Page Dedication Contents Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Chapter 7 Chapter 8 Chapter 9 Chapter 10 Chapter 11 Chapter 12 Chapter 13 Chapter 14 Chapter 15 Chapter 16 Chapter 17 Chapter 18 Chapter 19 Chapter 20 Chapter 21 Chapter 22 Chapter 23 Chapter 24 Epilogue Author’s Note About the Author Copyright About the Publisher v vii 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100 101 102 103 104 105 106 107 108 109 110 111 112 113 114 115 116 117 118 119 120 121 122 123 124 125 126 127 128 129 130 131 132 133 134 135 136 137 138 139 140 141 142 143 144 145 146 147 148 149 150 151 152 153 154 155 156 157 158 159 160 161 162 163 164 165 166 167 168 169 170 171 172 173 174 175 176 177 178 179 180 181 182 183 184 185 186 187 188 189 190 191 192 193 194 195 196 197 198 199 200 201 202 203 204 205 206 207 208 209 210 211 212 213 214 215 216 217 218 219 220 221 222 223 224 225 226 227 228 229 230 231 232 233 234 235 236 237 238 239 240 241 242 243 244 245 246 247 248 249 250 251 252 253 254 255 256 257 258 259 260 261 262 263 264 265 266 267 268 269 270 271 272 273 274 275 276 277 278 279 280 281 282 283 284 285 286 287 288 289 290 291 292 293 294 295 296 297 298 299 300 301 302 303 304 305 306 307 308 309 310 311 312 313 314 315 316 317 318 319 320 321 322 323 324 325 326 327 328 329 330 331 332 333 334 335 336 337 338 339 340 341 342 343 344 345 346 347 348 349 350 351 352 353 354 355 356 357 358 359 360 361 362 363 364 365 366 367 368 369 ii iii 371 372 373 374 vi Guide Cover Contents Chapter 1 Chapter 1 I should have been in the ballroom dancing. Instead, I was standing in the gardens, away from any light, listening to the approach of the soft footfalls. His familiar, enticing sandalwood fragrance mixed with his own unique scent reached me first and revealed his identity. Therefore, I held still and waited, my breath sawing in and out with anticipation. Slowly his arms came around me, folding over my chest in such a way that his large and powerful hands cradled my breasts and squeezed gently as he pulled me into the nook of his body, until my back rested against his broad chest. Then his mouth, heated as though by the very fires of Hades, pressed against the nape of my neck, sending delicious shivers coursing through me. At that moment, I knew I would do anything Lord K asked of me. —Anonymous, My Secret Desires, A Memoir London June 5, 1875 Arthur Pennington, the Earl of Knightly, rather wished he’d stayed in his residence that evening instead of venturing out to his favorite club. He was no stranger to intense gazes from young swells who sought to emulate him, flirtatious smiles from women—married and not, young and old—who wished to entice him into a secluded corner, and murderous glares from men he’d bested, in business and otherwise. He liked winning, loved it in fact. In his youth, the game might have been as simple as being the first to introduce a debutante to the pleasures of kissing. He’d not been quite so discerning then. A kiss was just a kiss. Over the years, however, the games had become increasingly complicated, his victories not quite so public. He’d discovered it could be quite delicious to be the only one to know he’d won. Anonymity had its rewards. But recently, the curious looks were far more frequent, lasted longer, and contained a great deal more speculation. They were also accompanied by whispers and nods, low murmurings, and the occasional giggle—the latter usually released by a young chit experiencing her first Season who had yet to be kissed and was bashful as well as easily mortified by any reference at all to what transpired between consenting adults. He’d hoped by now, nearly six weeks in, that all the conjecture would have dissipated, but the ton liked nothing better than a good bit of gossip. And of late, he’d very much become the gossipmongers’ favorite topic. “It seems, Knight, you’ve replaced me as the scoundrel to be avoided at all costs this Season.” Narrowing his eyes, Knight slowly shifted his attention over to David Blackwood, commonly known as Bishop, who sat beside him with a smirk on his ruggedly handsome face. Two months prior, his longtime friend had been dubbed Blackguard Blackwood because of his reputation for leading married ladies to ruin in such a flagrant public fashion that they were soon divorced. Now he was more popularly identified as Besotted Blackwood, thanks to his newly acquired wife, Marguerite. She occupied the chair on the other side of Bishop, their fingers interlocked in their