"I shall not seek this of her."<br/><br/>Lucy hadn't realized she'd been holding her breath until he said that.  She listened to his words, confusion warring with desire within her.  He would not do these things to Katie.  Her mistress would be safe from these base predilections.  And so, her job here was done.  She can confirmed what she'd come for, and she had no further business here.<br/><br/>Right?<br/><br/>The warmth in Lord Covington's eyes seemed to have waned, and she wondered if she'd offended him.  But his words continued to provide comfort as he reassured her that Katherine would be not be subjected to these less gentle stirrings.  She would report back to her friend and be done with this business.  She could attend her lady as she and the baron wed, and as nothing but a mere maid, she needn't even see Convington very often.  He was giving her leave to flee as she had the night before, to run from her own stirrings, and she ought to take it.  There was nothing tying her further to this study, not Katie and not even Hugh.<br/><br/>The only tie was Lucy, and her own desire.<br/><br/>She wanted to groan in frustration.  Wanted to rail against him for not giving her time to weigh her options.  And for giving her options at all.  For if she stayed, she'd stay for no other reason than to explore her own passions.  It would have nothing to do with Katie or for a more noble cause.  It would be because Lucy's core swelled with arousal when the lord struck her arse.  Because her desires were coarse and base.<br/><br/>His hand came up to her breast, and she was captivated, unable to do anything but watch as he rubbed his fingers against her nipple.  The friction was exactly as he'd described, delicious against her sensitive skin.  Her breathing became more rapid once again, and when he pinched the rigid nub between his fingers, she moaned, unable to stop the throaty sound from escaping her.<br/><br/>He continued the ministrations to such a private part of her body and then moved his hand, once again inviting her to disrobe.  His reminder that this was a decision free of duress was enough to drive her from the chamber... almost.  Lucy could not deny the truth, not to herself.  Covington's promises enticed her, tempted her as Eve must have been tempted in her garden so long before.  It was wicked to indulge in such a thing at all, and even more wicked to seek such pleasures with her mistress's fiance.<br/><br/>She should flee far from this place and never set foot here again.  But she couldn't.  She was a woman who craved adventure and the unknown, born into a time when females did not have such freedoms.  And Hugh Covington offered her a way to fulfill her dreams.  But what would be the cost?  Katherine's happiness would not be affected.  The baron would be an attentive husband, loving and gentle.  And he would practice his darker predilections with<em>someone.</em>Why shouldn't that someone be Lucy?<br/><br/>Her eyes were down, her lashes against her cheeks.  His voice was hypnotic, and she could feel how his attentions to her breasts made her core tighten.  Yes, she was going to do this.  Men were not expected to be faithful, ever doting on their brides, and Lucy wanted the freedom to be the same.  She'd make sure that what she did never hurt her Katie.<br/><br/>She took a breath and looked at the Baron once again.  "Port," she whispered, holding out her drained glass.  "Will that do for a safe word, my lord?"  And with that, she reached for her bodice, sliding the shift off of her body so that it pooled with her dress on the floor.  Her drawers followed, and then she stood, nude for the first time before any man.