Irritated with himself for caring when she had insisted on ending things between them, he abandoned his pillar and made his way to the card room. When he got there, however, he near collided with a figure just leaving it.
And, curse his luck, out of all four hundred guests, it had to be Caroline Spenser herself.
#
Caroline stopped short at the sight of George so close to her—closer than he had been since the day they had left Worthington Hall. All evening, she had been flirting, hoping she might feel something with at least one potential patron. But now, pinned like a butterfly underneath the weight of his gaze, all the desire she had been waiting to feel came rushing through.
And it was with a man who would be married imminently.
A man to whom she had become altogether too close to in the past. Worthington Hall had been a wash of madness, a desire too deep to deny, but more than that, it had been an exercise in intimacy. Lying awake in the early hours of the morning, the sensation of his fingers threading through her hair. Gentle kisses after he had finished with her.
It was the first time in a long time that she had allowed herself to be held, and it had been intoxicating. That was why she had cut him off before she could risk getting attached.
And now here he was, a manifestation of her desires, his eyes darkening the longer he looked at her.
“Caroline.” His voice was low, a little rough.
She couldn’t let him know how much he affected her. “Mr Comerford,” she said, batting her eyelashes like she might at any gentleman who greeted her. “Where is the delightful Miss Stanley?”
“Securing a fortune for herself elsewhere.” His gaze travelled down her body, and she fought the urge to preen. “That gown is divine, Caroline. You are divine in it.”
“Thank you, darling.” She stepped aside and gestured him in the card room, where she had been making the rounds. Gentlemen who enjoyed cards were often tempted to bet on other pleasures. “Were you heading this way? Please, don't let me stop you.”
“As it happens, I was looking for some air.” He offered her his arm. “Will you accompany me outside?”
She bit her lip, hesitating. “I shouldn’t.”
“But you want to.”
“But I want to,” she conceded, and accepted his arm. He guided her to the French doors thrown open to welcome in the cool night breeze. The billowing curtains brushed the bare skin at the top of her arms, and as she stepped onto the balcony, she looked down on the onto the street. She felt like a naive girl on her first assignation.
Ridiculous.
Rather thrilling.
She was not in the market for any more scandal than her usual variety, but thiswasfun. The push and pull, the forbidden nature of it. The desire.
In the darkness, he was almost more compelling than in the light, though only because she had his features memorised. A certain silver in his brown eyes. The roguish slant of his smile. Not quite a smirk—he was not a rake—but something approaching one.
“Caroline,” he said, his voice low and caressing. The sound of it was delicious against her flushed skin. He took her wrist now, thumb smoothing across the soft material of her gloves.
“We said we would not act as lovers here,” she said, though she had been the one to dictate the terms.
“I know.”
"So we shouldn't."
“I agree.” His hand touched her elbow, at the precise place her gloves ended. His fingers were bare, and heat swelled through her. Her nipples hardened. "It would be foolish. And in full view of the ballroom." He tilted his head, and a slow smile dawned across his face. His eyes glittered in the dim light. “Although perhaps you like that.”
"Perhaps."
"A thrill. The potential of discovery." His hand travelled up her arm to the puff of her sleeves. Then down, caressing her breast. The heavy ache of it resounded through her. "I’ve missed these. I’ve missed you.”
She’d missed him too. Both his conversation and the way he took control. When it came to her body, the bedchamber, she enjoyed commands, a forceful hand to bend her will. George had learnt it about her, as he had learnt so many things about her body, and she thought the domination called to him, too.
“So kiss me,” she said.
He wasted no time.
