They kissed and kissed, as if they were the only two people in the world. As if there were no chance of anyone spying them. As if they had nothing but time and the promise of each other.
From the first moment he had met her, he had been drawn to her despite a lengthy list of reasons why he should not be. His own parents’ tepid marriage was proof enough to him that a union between a man and woman led to misery. He had spent all this time believing he would never find a woman who moved him. That there could not exist a woman he would want more than his next breath.
He knew now how wrong he’d been. Lady Julianna Somerset was the one. He felt it in her kiss, in her embrace. In the crush of her supple breasts against his chest, the way she wrapped her leg around his waist.
My God, that action—aligning her core with his rigid cock—sent more heat streaking through him. He had not thought it possible to sport an erection in cold water, but he had been wrong.
Sidney tore his mouth from hers at last, his breathing harsh. His gaze devoured her: kiss-swollen lips, eyes so brilliant blue, ringed with gray, all those freckles gilding her nose. Little copper flecks he wanted to kiss and count. She was so raw and wild, her fiery curls wet and cascading over her shoulders, the taunting buds of her nipples pink and stiff beneath the linen clinging to her skin.
He held her, afraid to let go.
“My lady, that was…” He struggled to find a means of describing what had just occurred.
So many words crowded his tongue. What he should say: unforgivable, wrong, inappropriate, scandalous. What hewantedto say: wondrous, life-altering, sensual, unspeakably erotic.
“Yes,” she agreed, and for a moment he feared he had spoken some of the latter aloud. “It was a moment that defies description.”
He nodded. “I should… I must beg your forgiveness. I was carried away.”
His tongue was tangled, much as his insides were. He felt as if he were muddled, deep within. As if these kisses with Lady Julianna Somerset had just changed everything.
“I kissed you first,” she said softly, a charming flush rising in her cheeks. But still, she held his gaze, and she did not relax the arms looped around his neck.
Sidney did not complain. He liked her here.
“I am older,” he countered. “Far more experienced. I ought to have been a gentleman and used my restraint.”
What a prig he sounded like, even to his own ears. Meanwhile, his body’s reaction to her belied those words. Soaked to the skin, waist deep in water, and all he could think about was laying her on the bank and making love to her beneath the warmth of the sun.
“You are not terribly old.” Her nose wrinkled. “No more than five-and-twenty, surely.”
“Seven-and-twenty next month,” he admitted, not sure he liked being described asnot terribly oldby this vivacious minx.
He already knew she was eighteen. Yes, he had inquired after her. Peppered Hellie with innocent-enough questions. His sister had not taken notice of his interest,thank Christ. It was mortifying to be so taken with his younger sister’s friend.
So taken, he was standing in the midst of the lake with her whilst she was nearly nude, after having kissed her as if his life depended upon it. Indeed, in the heat of his ardor, it had certainly seemed a possibility.Bloody hell, anyone could come upon them at any moment. A servant. A guest. His old school chums, the Earl of Huntingdon and the Duke of Northwich were visiting.
He had to get out of this damned lake.
Put some distance between them.
Release her.
God, why did letting go of her feel like losing a part of himself? His reaction to her was confounding. Alarming. Deuced unusual.Hell, he had one of the most sought-after mistresses in London, and Alice did not inspire even a hint of this passion in him.
Rein in these foolish impulses, Sidney. You utter simpleton.
“Thank you for rushing to my rescue,” Lady Julianna told him softly.
She gazed at him without a hint of calculation. Her face was open and sincere, like a rose in bloom. Nothing but unvarnished beauty.
He flashed her a wry smile and released his hold on her except for her arm, tugging her along with him as he headed to the edge of the lake. “No need to thank me, Lady Julianna. You hardly needed rescuing.”
She said something quietly then, and he could not quite discern it over the din of splashing water, but he swore it sounded likerescue me any day.
Damnation, what was he going to do with her?
Marry her, he decided.
