The longer he remained in the Roberts’ company, the better Jasper felt he understood Maria. Her sisters, newly out, were young and vibrant but quarrelsome and contemptuous. Their mother, while loving in her own way, was vulgar and rather uncivilized, and Mr. Roberts was a greedy inebriate. Was it any wonder that Maria wished to seek employment as a runner?
Their meal concluded with a nauseatingly sweet fruitcake so dense that he struggled to remove it from the roof of his mouth. He swallowed it down with the remainder of his port, and smiled along with the Roberts’ inane chatter.
Finally able to make his excuses, they said their farewells before the family allowed Jasper precisely what he’d desired all evening: a few minutes alone with Maria.
The strident voices of Maria’s sisters and mother faded down the hall, followed closely by the lumbering footsteps of Mr. Roberts, and Jasper’s shoulders relaxed slightly.
Maria watched him warily, her grey eyes troubled. “Might I speak with you in the parlour, Your Grace?”
“Of course.”
He followed her across the hideously floral foyer and into an equivalently patterned parlour.
She spun to face him. “I must apologize for my family?—”
“It’s quite all right.”
“No,” she asserted, “it is not. I will understand if you should decide to jilt me once the assignment has concluded and Francis’ trial has once again come to an end. As a matter of fact, I would be rather astonished if you didn’t.”
Bloody hell, she was offering him a way out. Something twisted alarmingly in his chest and tingled in his fingertips. “I’ll not abandon our agreement.”
“I imagine that your opinion on the matter will change after prolonged exposure to my family.”
Her family, his mind whispered, once more piquing his curiosity about the moment of tension between Maria and her parents at the table. He wanted to ask her about her mysterious brother but, despite his tenacious interest, there was something more pressing on his mind.
He stepped close, the suddenly warm space between them growing thick with anticipation. His gaze dropped to her full lips and his stomach erupted with nervous buzzing. And hope. Despite imagining this moment more times than he could count, he’d not once believed it would come to fruition.
Now was his moment.
He breathed deeply of her scent of ink, parchment, and soap, letting it drift through his senses. Maria was not a woman for the superfluous, and somehow the absence of bottled perfume was bloody arousing.
Heat warmed him just beneath his skin as he ran his fingertips along her jaw. Grey-blue eyes flickering, Maria’s breath hitched.
“May I kiss you, Maria?”
* * *
Jasper’s low,hushed voice sent tremors of awareness through her and gooseflesh spreading across her skin. There was no denying it: she craved his kiss. She wanted to have him against her, to feel his skin on hers. Damn, but the man was maddening!
“Yes,” she breathed.
She had only the time to blink before his mouth pressed gently to hers.
It was the softest touch of skin, but it spread waves of heat swiftly through her body. She gasped, and Jasper groaned, deepening the kiss.Good heavens, but his tongue! With long, languid strokes, he teased her senses and urged her to reply in kind. So she did.
Clasping his lapels, she flicked his tongue with hers, tasting and exploring. Lord, but he tasted like sugar and fruit. She wanted more.
His arms slid around her, his warmth seeping through the material between them feeling hot against her skin. He pulled her close against him, the hardening ridge of his manhood pressing insistently against the soft belly above her mons. He moaned deep in his throat, and Maria felt a surge of tingling pride. The knowledge that she was the one to cause his state of discomfort was more empowering than she could have imagined.
Just as swiftly as the kiss began, it ended. Jasper released her, retreating a step, and her body felt abruptly chilled by his absence.
She blinked, confusion and arousal tumbling through her.
“I shall make the announcement with the papers, and I shall see you on the morrow,” he said, his voice thick.
She gave him a nod, and was only dimly aware of his departure. Lord, but the man could kiss!
“How could youdothat to us?” Her mother’s piercing voice came from the parlour’s entrance, and Maria winced.
