Araminta’s heart pounded in her chest, but she slowly slipped her gloved hand in his. Strong fingers wrapped around hers, and with a gentle pull, he guided her onto the frozen ice.
At first, her legs protested the slick surface, but it didn’t take her long to gain her balance, having enjoyed this same activity many times as a child. But even after she no longer felt as though she might tumble onto her arse, he kept hold of her hand, and she decided that she didn’t really mind. In truth, it was rather… nice.
She glanced at her companion and found that he didn’t have any issue standing upright. He looked as confident about skating as he did about anything else he did. Dressed in a navy blue waistcoat and buff trousers and a black greatcoat flying out behind him, he was quite dashing. She also couldn’t help but note that she wasn’t the only one who thought so. As they moved along, several envious glances from other female skaters were shot their way. Araminta merely lifted her chin a bit higher and smiled as if she was having a grand time, when in truth, she was.
“You’re a rather accomplished skater,” she said.
He glanced at her with a smile that was almost rakish in nature. “I’ve had plenty of practice. You weren’t the only one who spent most of the time in the country. My sister and I used to head to our pond quite often either to skate in the winter, or fish in the summer.”
She tilted her head slightly. “Somehow I can’t envision you sitting along a grassy bank with a pole in your grasp.”
He held her gaze. “You’ll find that there is much to learn about me if you would allow yourself to do so.”
Araminta’s breath caught at the blatant invitation in those eyes. She looked away and stared at the ice beneath her, hoping that she could gather her thoughts before they completely scattered to the wind.
“Have you ever spun on the ice?”
She was relieved that he turned the subject back to something more neutral. “I—” She hesitated. “I don’t think I ever tried.”
With a wide grin, he said nothing more, just pulled her around so that they were face to face. He grasped her other hand and said, “We shall dance on the ice. Just follow my lead.”
As he began to skate forward, she did the same in the opposite direction. Once they had built up speed, he turned his skates outward and with their momentum pulling them around, Araminta did the same. Spinning about like a top, she laughed at the sheer joy of it all. She hadn’t been this carefree in some time. While her father had never been so strict as to inhibit their outdoor play, she admitted that her determination to do things on her own terms had swallowed up any sort of personal freedoms that she might have otherwise had.
When they finally slowed to a stop, she fell forward and he caught her easily, their arms encircling each other. With the blood still pumping steadily through her veins, she glanced up into his face. It was inches away. “I’m dizzy,” she remarked breathlessly.
His focus moved over her face, coming to rest on her mouth. “It happens,” he murmured. “Some of the best things in life can make one rather dazed.”
Araminta abruptly stilled, her smile fading away, for something told her that he wasn’t speaking of skating any longer.
Grey wonderedwhat she would do if he gave in to the impulse to kiss her. The urge was so strong that he was filled with the anticipation, the moment that his mouth would press against hers. She looked so lovely in that moment that he would be hard pressed to think of anything else. Her silver eyes were sparkling with the brilliance of the Christmas star. Her full, rosy lips were parted slightly; the dark curls peeking out from beneath her bonnet framing her face rather adoringly.
In that moment, he knew that there would be no other woman for him. He wasn’t sure how she’d managed it, but Lady Araminta Bevelstroke had quite bewitched him.
And she didn’t even know the power she held over him.
He started to lower his head, and it was as if time stood still.
“She fell through the ice!”
Grey stopped and turned to where the warning had been shouted. There was frantic pointing as a pair of flailing arms in blue struggled to return to the surface along a deserted section farther downriver.
His heart stuttered in his chest, for that attire looked vaguely familiar, but it was Araminta’s gasp of horror that proved his suspicions.
“Oh, my God.” She covered her mouth with her hand and instantly paled. “It’s Olivia!” She started to rush forward, and Grey was right on her heels.
A crowd had started to gather around the area where the woman was crying out for help. “I’m coming, Livy!” Araminta shouted as she began to push her way through the people, scared to draw any closer, for fear that the ice wouldn’t hold.
It wasn’t until Araminta was close to Olivia that Grey heard the dreaded pop of the ice starting to break even further.
He grabbed her arm and kept her immobile. She flashed him an angry glare. “Let go of me! My sister—!”
“It won’t hold both of you!” he snapped. “And I don’t need to rescue two Bevelstroke women today.” He threw a hand out to the people gathered around. “Get out of here! Get off the ice!”
The onlookers scattered as Araminta glanced down at the ice, as if finally noticing the cracks beneath her feet. Grey unstrapped his skates and tossed them aside, along with his hat, and then he dropped to his stomach, thinking that approaching Olivia by this angle might be the best way to get her out of the freezing water without causing more stress on the cracking ice before they both went under. Either way, there was no time to waste, for already he could see that her lips were starting to turn blue.
He began to crawl toward her. “It’s going to be all right, Lady Olivia.” She nodded her head, her teeth chattering as she clung desperately to the edge of the ice, so she wouldn’t be lost to the current beneath.
If that happened…
