“And your dislike of me,” she added, biting once more on her delectable bottom lip. “Kept you from observing me too closely.”
“The onion would keep anyone at bay. And those lumps of padding. I thought at first you were malformed. A troll of sorts with your oddly fleshy form. I expected hooves beneath your skirts or an overabundance of hair.”
Laughter burst from her lips, a mirthful sound that jumped about Jordan’s insides. Her eyes softened, the winter storm turning to a summer sky in an instant. “I wish I had thought to compare myself to a troll. Trolls as well as witches have warts. I should have adorned myself with a half-dozen, though given your experience, you would have known them to be false.”
“You would have burped them off in any case.” Jordan’s mouth twitched.
“Onions really do cause me distress.” She patted her stomach. “It is what made them so perfect. All the gases kept Malfrey from my side. When he arrived for tea, he sat as far from me as possible.”
“Malfrey?”
“A horrid suitor. Very self-important. Before Bentley.” Odessa gave a small roll of her shoulders. “There were several who suffered before you, my lord.”
“Because you wanted Captain Phillips.” Jordan watched her carefully. “Are you really so enamored of him that you would go to such great lengths?”
“What does it matter, my lord?”
“I want to know, Odessa, if your affections lie with Captain Phillips.” Once Jordan wed her,ifhe wed her, fulfilling his bloody debt to Whitehall and had Odessa’s dowry, and she wanted Phillips—
Jordan’s fingers curled into fists where they rested on his thighs. The thought of the cavalry officer touching Odessa, eliciting those soft sounds of arousal from her, had a growl forming in his throat. What on earth was wrong with him? Yes, he wanted to tup Odessa. Badly given the way his cock pulsed between his thighs, but that wasall. Phillips could have her.
Liar.
Odessa’s brow furrowed. “They do not. But Iwantedto be enamored of him. If given the chance, I might have been.” She plucked at her skirts.
“Because of me.”
She jerked her chin up, a startled look in her eyes. “Somewhat.”
“Phillips would never have compromised you at Lady Curchon’s. Too much of a gentleman,” Jordan ground out, wishing he’d never brought up the cavalry officer.
“I believe I might have convinced him,” she replied tartly.
That thread between them, the one formed without Jordan’s express permission or knowledge, tightened sharply once more, pinging along the lower half of his body. “A kiss, possibly. But I doubt he would have lifted your skirts in that bloody alcove.”
“Neither did you.” There was a challenge as she glared back at him. “You merely kissed me.”
Damn you, Odessa.Oddly magnificent, tempting little troll.
Jordan reached up and thumped on the roof. “Take us through the park. Slowly.” He pulled off his gloves, tossing them to the floor. Then he slid off the seat to his knees before her.
“What if I raise your skirts now?”
Chapter Twenty-Two
This was anentirely unforeseen circumstance.
Odessa was unprepared for—she stared down into his eyes, the depths full of unrestrained heat. She’d pushed him again, pressed against Jordan’s temper that always simmered beneath the surface, without knowing she’d done so.
His hands curled around her ankles, broad fingers teasing at the delicate bones. “Lift them.”
“What?” she finally stuttered. “I’ll do no such thing.” A soft hum slowly made its way from her clasped ankles, across her calves to a point between her thighs. The hum stayed there, drawing out a delicious ache.
“Your damned skirts, Odessa. Lift them.” His eyes blazed at her. “Now.”
There was a coarseness to his tone, one that sent another fluttering pulse through Odessa. She tentatively lifted her skirts up to the middle of her calves.
Contrary to what Jordan assumed, Odessa did not spend all her time reading lurid tales of ghosts, murders, and the like. There were other books of a more sensitive nature that interested her as well. And Aunt Lottie was entirely too forthcoming for an elderly chaperone. A few nips of brandy and Odessa was nearly as well-educated as a courtesan.
