When he dared to speak again, his voice was hesitant. “I haven’t been able to stop thinking about the view from the priory.”
It was her turn to suck in a breath. Were they really doing this? Here?
But she was every bit as incorrigible. Her nipples tightened into peaks beneath his stare. She wanted him to keep looking at her like she was a particularly delectable tart he planned to devour. And to keep talking this way.
So she encouraged him, her heart hammering in her chest. “Haven’t you?”
He swallowed and sat a little straighter, as if his chair had suddenly grown uncomfortable. “No. In fact, it’s almost the only thing I can think of. It’s quite distracting. I don’t know that I’ll have peace unless I can set my eyes on it again.”
His voice was rough. The sound was doing as much for her as his hands twisting at the fabric of her gown had yesterday.
“That’s presumptuous,” she retorted, “as I’ve just told you we won’t be returning.” But it was hard to keep Eli in check when she couldn’t keep herself in check. A moment later, she added, “If wedidhave occasion to make the journey to Ankerwycke again…would you do anything differently?”
Jane couldn’t bear to look at him while such a question escaped her lips, so she kept her gaze riveted straight ahead. But she could feel his eyes on her body, lingering on all the places he’d like to touch. She heated in response.
Eli didn’t answer right away. For a long moment the air between them was filled only by the sound of his breathing, unnaturally quick. Finally, he spoke, measuring each word. “I think that if I were so fortunate as to have the opportunity for such an outing a secondtime, I should take particular care to ensure that my fellow visitors enjoyed their day thoroughly and saw every sight they wished to.”
Oh my. Jane grew worried that she might finally know what it was to faint.
Suddenly people were cheering. Why were they cheering? Who’d won? She squinted at the horses on the track below, but it was too late.
“I think we’ve missed it,” Jane remarked.
Eli cupped his hands over his mouth and shouted a very unconvincing, “Hurrah for Bloomsbury!” He was quite flushed, though she’d never seen him color before.
Beside him, Cecily rose to her feet. “We’re going to go downstairs to find something to drink before the next one starts. Back in a moment.”
She took Sir Thomas by the arm and disappeared. Jane realized she was thirsty as well. The lemonade the people in front of them were enjoying looked delicious.
“Shall we go down with the others?”
Eli shifted uncomfortably at this suggestion. “I can’t,” he said tightly.
“What do you mean?”
“I’m sure you can reason it out.”
Jane bristled at his clipped tone, until understanding finally reached her. Her gaze fell immediately to Eli’s lap, but he’d set his program in such a way as to shield himself from her view.
“Oh.” She didn’t quite know where to look. “How long does it take to…?” She couldn’t believe she’d asked him that. She was learning all sorts of new things. Thiswasan adventure. Della would be proud.
“Faster if we talk about something else. Or don’t talk at all.”
“Very well.” Jane opted for the latter choice, as she didn’t have the presence of mind to manage a normal conversation right now. Instead, she stared out over the heath and reflected on the occasional advantages of having been born without that sort of equipment.
Eleven
After the Ascot Stakes there came sweepstakes, derby stakes, Saint James palace stakes, and various other stakes that Eli lost track of. He watched them all pass before his eyes with the sort of polite attention one mustered for the long-winded stories of a kindly relative: only the appearance of interest.
His thoughts were fixed on Jane and the way she’d been talking to him. She hadn’t said anything filthy. Not really. But the way she’d been beckoning him on, her voice low and husky…
She’dwantedto hear what he’d like to do to her. Just as much as he’d wanted to say it.
God, what he wouldn’t give for an hour alone with her.
She sat beside him for the next two races, but he could barely manage an intelligent remark. Every time he glanced over at her, his eyes slid back down to her breasts of their own accord, no matter how he tried to stop. His blood was pumping through his veins with the sort of urgency he’d only known on deck when a storm was coming. It wouldn’t let him sit still. If he started talking again, he didn’t think he’d be able to cloak his language in their pretense anymore.
You’re going to scare her off.
