The hand he was holding gave his an affectionate squeeze.
‘And now that you have tested it, does my dancing meet with your approval?’ He gave her another quick spin in his arms and gathered her close again.
She responded with a gasp of delight. ‘You are a very good dancer. Perhaps the best partner I’ve ever had.’
‘It is good to know I can get you to follow, in this at least.’ He said it gently, so she might know he was only teasing. ‘And thank you for your opinion of my abilities. From now on, when you are dancing with another, remember this moment and come back to me.’
He’d always had confidence in his powers of seduction. But tonight, he was almost afraid that she would dismiss him as unmemorable. He held his breath, awaiting her response.
She gave him a dazed nod. Instead of her usual look of suspicion or disgust, she was staring at him as if he was the hero some claimed he had been. The music was ending, but the moment was too precious to relinquish. ‘Shall we take a walk on the terrace?’ he said, glancing towards the open French doors.
‘The room is stifling,’ she agreed, though as she said it, she shivered. In anticipation, perhaps?
‘Let us go, then.’ He had thought to say ‘come with me’, but those words sounded too much like a command. If they ended up in the same place, was it really any different if they went side by side rather than one following the other?
She linked her arm in his as if she could not be prouder to have him for an escort and they escaped the room together.
On the other side of the doors, it was a different world. The candlelight gave way to darkness, the music to the sound of nightjars and crickets. The stale smell of too many bodies jammed together in a small space was replaced with the fragrance from pots of night-blooming jasmine decorating the low railing that gave way to the garden.
Georgiana drew closer to him, shivering again, as if asking him to share the warmth of his body. The proper thing to do would be to return to the ballroom for a wrap. But was it really necessary to be proper at all times? The moon was full, the night romantic, and there was a beautiful girl in his arms waiting to be kissed.
He leaned forward, ready to oblige.
She touched a finger to his lips, holding him back. ‘We mustn’t.’
‘Why?’ He touched the finger with his tongue.
‘It is not polite. We are guests of the Duke.’
Nothing personal, then. Just his own rules, coming back to haunt him. ‘He will not mind if he does not know.’ Fred leaned forward again.
‘But if someone sees us. Think of the scandal.’
‘Scandal be damned,’ he said, lunging forward and pressing her close.
She gave one brief squeak of alarm before succumbing to the kiss, meeting his tongue eagerly with her own. ‘Mr Challenger,’ she murmured when he allowed her time to breathe.
‘Mrs Challenger?’ he answered, mocking her formality and cupping one of her breasts with his hand.
By the way she stiffened in surprise, he could tell she had not been touched that way before. ‘No,’ she whispered, but she was laughing as she said it, as if it was not a denial at all.
‘No?’ he asked, releasing her and instead rubbing his knuckles back and forth across the sensitive nipple he could feel pebbling beneath the fabric of her bodice.
‘Well…’ She trapped his hand with her own, pressing it more tightly to her.
‘That’s what I thought you meant,’ he said and pulled her deeper into the shadows of the house. When he was sure they were hidden by the darkness, he dipped his mouth to her neckline, following the edge of the fabric to search for the flesh his hand had excited.
‘No,’ she whispered again, still laughing. But her fingers were tickling the hair at the back of his neck, stroking his nape to reward him for his daring.
‘Just one kiss,’ he whispered back, waiting until he felt the gentle pressure of her hand urging him on. He lowered his head further, his tongue searching for her nipple. When he found it, he felt the flutter of her heart against his cheek and the flutter of her fingers in his hair. Then she pulled one hand away, covering her own mouth to stifle a gasp as he kissed her breast, languid and tantalising, but as he had promised, only once. She took a shuddering breath, like a woman on the edge of climax.
Though he knew he must, he did not want to release her. Until they were home and alone, one kiss was all either of them could withstand. Be damned to his foolish promise of marital celibacy. He would have his wife this very night. He would give her what they both wanted. Once desire was sated, they could discuss the future with minds unclouded by lust.
With a sigh of his own, he raised his head and pulled the neckline of her gown up again. Then he leaned her back in his arms to kiss her lips. When he released her, she sagged against the nearest wall as if ready to swoon. So he caught her again, holding her close and resting his cheek against hers.
From behind them, he heard a low chuckle and a cleared throat.
They broke instantly. He stuffed his hands into his pockets to resist touching her again. She made a hurried examination of her garments, hands travelling down her bodice to be sure that everything was in place.
