“Why not? Why do you care what I do?”
“Hart, of course I care about you!” She stepped closer.
Her proximity set off alarm bells in his head. His whole body tightened as he tried to keep from pulling her close.
“Why are you always pushing at me? What do you want?” he growled.
His gaze lowered to her mouth. He desperately wanted to kiss her. To lose himself in her for a few moments of peace from his churning thoughts. But she had been angry at him the last time he’d kissed her.
“I want…” Lucy stared up at him, the blue of her irises like the delicate petals of larkspur in a country field.
Pink stained her cheeks and her rosy lips parted as if to say more, but she didn’t finish her thought. He couldn’t tear his gaze from her mouth. She sucked her bottom lip between her teeth. That small action caused his groin to tighten in response.
Just one taste.Hart slid a hand around her nape. He took his time lowering his lips to hers, watching for any sign of displeasure. But she stepped forward, erasing the space between them, so he captured her mouth and sank into the kiss. Her soft lips slid against his with purpose, exploring and nipping. Setting him on fire.
He’d been so wrong. There was no peace to be had in this embrace. This kiss called forth a fucking inferno of need. He groaned and wrapped his arms around her. God, she felt perfect tucked against him. With every brush of her hot tongue against his, his cock hardened in response. Her hands slid from his shoulders to tangle in his hair.
Hart picked her up under her backside and set her on top of the desk. “Is this want you want?” he murmured against her mouth.Please say yes.
“Yes.” Her fingers tightened in his hair.
He moved his lips across her cheek as he lifted her skirts high enough so that he could press himself between her spread legs. “You shouldn’t play with fire, brat, or it might consume you. It’s been a long time since I had a woman in my arms.”
She shook her head. “I don’t want to hear about your harem, Hart.” Grasping his face between her hands, she took possession of his mouth.
God, the passion inside this one small woman, perhaps it was he who would be consumed. He thrust his hips forward against her skirts. Too many clothes… He reached down to skim his fingers along her silk-covered calves and slowly pushed her skirts higher.
“Ahem, Your Grace.” Townson’s voice carried from the doorway.
Hart tore his lips from hers and dragged in a ragged breath. Lucy’s breasts rose and fell rapidly as she also sucked in much needed air.
“The carriage for Miss Middleton is ready,” Townson’s voice was like a deluge of cold water pouring over his head.
“Thank you, Townson. She will be right out.”
He heard the click of the door as it closed. He leaned his forehead against Lucy’s. “You should go home.”
“But you haven’t told me—”
“You should go home.” He reiterated as he tugged her skirts down.
What had he been thinking?Grabbing her around the waist, he picked her up off the edge of his desk and put her on her feet. He had not been thinking, only lusting. He was one giant mess of throbbing emotions. Lucy did not deserve to be mauled by him.
He tucked an errant lock of her hair behind her ear. “Thank you for caring. I’m sorry I’m such a miserable bastard.” Then he gave her hand a tug and pulled her across the room before she could say anything else.
As he opened the door, she turned to look up at him. Her mouth opened to say something, but he placed a finger over her lips to stop her. Then he gave her a push through the threshold and firmly shut the door.
Leaning back against the solid wood, he closed his eyes.Dear Lord, Lucy was temptation itself. Regret wound its way through his gut. He needed to stay away from her if she was ever to have a chance at a future with a nice young gentleman. Perhaps the paper had been right. Ruin seeks to ruin.
Chapter Seventeen
“And then hekissed me.” Lucy lay back on the blanket Adeline had provided and stared up at the stars.
“Again?” Her friend’s astonished voice came from next to her.
The night air was warmer than usual for early summer, but Lucy loved it. She stretched like a cat, twisting her neck to look up at Adeline, who stood a few feet away next to her telescope. This was Adeline’s retreat atop the Earl of Rawlings’s residence. The small terrace jutted out from the roof about ten feet by ten-foot square and was bordered by a decorative stone parapet. They had accessed the terrace through a window in the attic. South facing, Adeline said it allowed her perfect unobstructed views of the constellations. Lucy left the scientific calculations up to Addie. She just loved gazing up at the stars.
“Yes. One minute we were arguing, and then he was kissing me senseless. It all happened so quickly.”
