I have heard dangerous gossip about Lord Alston. He was seen in public today, making a spectacle of himself. It is time to remove yourself from that household at once if the young lord is recovered. It is fortunate that Cliffton will arrive the day after tomorrow. You will come to tea then and reunite with your faithful fiancé. It is time to begin the wedding preparations.
Octavia Claystone
Daisy shuddered. She hadn’t written back. She didn’t know what to say. She wanted to pretend she’d never gotten the summons, not until she had a chance to talk to Sam. He would calm her fears. He would know what to do.
Dinner had been a quiet affair with only her and Amelia. Daisy hadn’t been able to bring herself to mention the note. Themoment she did, she knew chaos would reign. So, Daisy had kept it to herself, trying to hold on to her hope for one more day. They’d played cards in the drawing room before retiring, but Daisy couldn’t stand to wait in her room. She settled into the large chair by the drawing room hearth, staring at the flames and wondering whether if she burned the letter, she could then pretend it had never been received. The house grew quieter, and the servants drifted off to their own beds. Daisy suspected they’d forgotten about her, but then again, they didn’t miss much. They’d left the candle burning in the hall, knowing at some time their lord would return. Daisy hoped it would be soon. Her eyelids were growing heavy.
The click of the front door startled her awake. She’d dosed off, her cheek on her fist. Quiet murmurs, the deep voices of men, came from the hall. Daisy peeked around the chair but could only see shadows. One drifted past the doorway of the drawing room and disappeared, the other loomed in the doorway, then entered, stepping into the glow of the oil lamp. The light gilded Sam’s curls in heavenly licks of gold and Daisy bit her cheek. She should say something, shouldn’t she?
He turned his head in her direction as if hearing her thoughts. Then he doused the lamp and Daisy gasped as the room was swallowed in shadows, except for her little haven of warmth and light here by the hearth.
“Sam!” she whispered. She heard his quiet chuckle as he moved around the room.
“This isn’t amusing. What if you trip?”
“You’re in my chair,” he said directly behind the tall back.
“Oh, here.” She stood. He came around the padded arm and sat. Daisy smiled, overjoyed to see him, though he was looking weary and a little mussed. Amelia said they’d gone to the Den to speak with Mrs. Dove-Lyon. She couldn’t tell if that endeavor had gone well by his closed expression.
“How was your evening?” she asked.
“It’s better now.” He grabbed her hips and turned her, tugging her into his lap, her back to his chest. He nuzzled her neck and undid the coiled braid on her head, dropping pins haphazardly.
“Sam!” Daisy whispered again, scandalized by his hungry touch but also melting from the inside. He lived in her mind, inappropriate and sinful visions filling her head of what it would be like when they married,ifthey married. She hated that her doubt still lingered. She didn’t buck the rules, yet here she was, poised to attempt to break an engagement. Cliffton would be here all too soon.
She didn’t want to dwell on it. Whatever action she was to take could wait a few more hours.
His lips blazed a path across the back of her neck. “You wouldn’t believe the night I’ve had.”
“Will you tell me?”
“I don’t want to think about it right now. I have you right where I want you.”
Her heart skipped. His voice settled her nerves, the deep, sultry tone heating her blood, and now all she could think about was his hands on her body. His kisses sent chills down her spine and Daisy arched, her bottom pressing to his lap where she could feel the stiffening line of his arousal. His hand had been roaming over her stomach but as she turned her head toward his, he cupped her breast, and his hips bucked against her rear.
He let out a shaky exhale, his breath feathering over the sensitive skin between her neck and shoulder. Daisy reflexively swiveled her hips in answer to his and he moaned.
He softly bit down on her neck and her skin erupted in prickles.
“Sam,” Daisy gasped.
He soothed the gentle bite with his tongue.
“We’re not private here.”
“Everyone is asleep,” he said.
“You don’t know that!” she hissed half-heartedly.
One of them had to be reasonable, remember, and it wouldn’t be him. He was a fallen angel, intent to corrupt and sin, but she too eagerly wanted to fall from grace with him. She was learning a lot about herself in a very short time. He’d unleashed her, shown her parts of herself she hadn’t known existed, wants, needs, desires, sensations.
She’d been so deprived. Feeling forever unwanted because of Cliffton. It had been impossible not to think she was the reason, especially when Lady Claystone reprimanded her for every little error she made. But now...
“I do know it,” Sam said. “It was established long ago that my household need not wait up for my return. They can leave a candle on the hall table, and I’ll let myself in.”
He licked up the side of her neck and Daisy swallowed a moan. His tongue on her skin... she wanted it all over.
“We’re completely alone.”
