“I know.”
She met his gaze boldly now and flattened her hands upon his chest, palms moving over the dreadful black fabric, tracingthe shape of his body and staring up at him with a look that made his blood fire in his veins.
He smiled, leaning down and rubbing his cheek against hers, breathing in the scent of her. “But I want to kiss you more. I want to kiss every part of you, to hear you sigh and admit that you want me as much as I want you.”
“There’s no need to go to so much trouble,” she said, and he heard the effort she took to keep the words casual, the slightly breathless quality that made his heart kick in his chest. “I do want you.”
He gazed down at her, seeing the truth of it in her eyes. She hid nothing, this impossible creature who hid everything, and he felt he was lost in the conundrum of who and what she was, and he didn’t care. He would learn her, do whatever it took to understand her, if she would let him.
“Kiss me, then. Make a ruin of both our lives. It’s inevitable now,” she said, pragmatic to the last, damn her.
“No, but I’ll kiss you and make you believe you’ve been sleepwalking through life until this very moment.”
“Promises, promises,” she taunted him, but lifted her face to his as he pressed his lips against hers.
Aubrey’s hands slid down her back, circling her narrow waist, revelling in the feel of her supple body beneath his palms with no stays or endless layers of feminine wrappings to interfere. There was certainly something to be said for trousers, he thought as he backed her up against his bedroom wall. Her slender arms reached up, twining around him, those clever fingers curving possessively around his neck, his shoulders, in a way he thoroughly approved of. He remembered then what a complete arse he looked in the bizarre costume he was wearing but, as it didn’t seem to diminish her desire for him, he decidedit was not worth thinking about. There were far better things to consider, after all, like the fact that he’d managed to undo her waistcoat. She sighed as his fingers touched warm skin, guiding his hand beneath her shirt where a small but perfectly exquisite breast was to be found beneath the black linen. His other hand dropped to her delicious backside and squeezed. Hell, but she was perfection, and he wanted her badly, his body reacting to her proximity. Aubrey pressed closer until she could be in no doubt of his desire for her and felt her breath catch.
He made a soft sound of satisfaction and felt her shiver, the delicate nipple growing taut beneath his palm. His mouth watered with the desire to taste it, to tease it and worry it with his teeth, but he knew this was hardly the time or place. There was too much risk of his valet interrupting them, and of some very awkward questions if they were discovered. Alfie’s identity needed protecting, keeping safe from discovery and he would not risk that. Instead, he delighted in closing his fingers and thumb over the tiny peak and pinching gently.
She leapt beneath his touch, her breath catching on a laugh as she slid her hands under his shirt and returned the favour. A jolt of electric desire shot from the place where her fingers pinched him, directly to his groin. Aubrey groaned with frustration.
“I wish we were somewhere else, somewhere we did not have to worry about keeping quiet and being discovered.”
“You don’t find the circumstances invigorating?” she asked, a teasing lilt to the question.
He leaned down, pressing a kiss to her neck. “I think,” he said, trailing his mouth up to the sensitive place beneath her ear. “That I have had my fill of invigorating circumstances for one day. I’d prefer a quiet room with no threat of discovery, far awayfrom everyone, where I could pleasure you for hours and make you sigh and call my name.”
She made a choked sound. “You are very sure of yourself, sir. Ofme.”
He heard the indignation in the words and drew back, staring at her, one hand cupping her face. “You can be sure of me. Do you know that?”
She shoved at his chest, an expression of annoyance flickering in her eyes. “Don’t say such things.” Though she kept her voice low, it did not diminish the contempt he heard there.
“Why not?” he asked, stepping away and immediately regretting the loss of her.
“Because you and I do not exist outside of this moment, and if you start saying such things, well, it’s romantic nonsense and I won’t have you playing make believe at my expense.”
Aubrey stared at her, taken aback by the sudden shift in her mood. “I am not playing anything, Al—Alfie.” Correcting himself at the last minute he saw her scowl at his slip-up and cursed himself. “Do you think I am leading you on? Making promises I won’t keep?”
Her expression softened, though he did not like the regret he saw there. Reaching out, she pressed her hand to his cheek, and Aubrey caught hold of it, turning his face into the caress and pressing a kiss to her palm.
She let out a heavy sigh, her voice soft. “I think you are a good man who believes the things he says, but there is no future for us, Aubrey. We both know it. I’m a criminal. I earn my keep through robbing other people. There’s a price on my head, for heaven’s sake! So I will thank you not to make out like anything else is an option.”
Aubrey stared at her. He knew she was right. She was not of his class, born in the workhouse,a thief.She could never inhabit his world, nor he hers. Though he had enjoyed the thrill of breaking into Hatherley Hall there had been no real danger, and no actual crime committed. He was too honest to consider for a moment that he could live the life Alfie pursued, besides which he was a rich man, and it would be a ridiculous thing to turn his back on that. Aubrey almost laughed as he pictured Hawkney’s face if he was ever taken up for burglary. Yet despite his rational mind agreeing, everything inside him rejected those arguments as unimportant. If she wanted to, if she was brave enough to try, they could overcome any obstacle, and she was the bravest person he’d ever met.
For a moment he hesitated, wondering why he was thinking like this, why consider the future now at all. Why rush into something when they had known each other such a short time? Except he felt instinctively that he hadthismoment. She was like quicksilver, melting away before he had the chance to catch hold of her. If he persuaded her to stay now, at least for a while, perhaps he had a chance to make her stay for good. If not, she would slip from his grasp and he might live the rest of his days regretting not having tried harder, not having been bolder.
“I like you,” she told him, her grey eyes serious as they met his. “And for you, I… I would be open to-to an affair,” she said, though he heard the nervous quality of her voice.
“An affair,” he repeated, knowing this should be everything he wanted to hear and yet feeling nothing but resistance. He’d have a taste of her, a few glorious days and weeks, and then he would wake one day and find no trace of her. Damnation. He’d had no plans to settle down, and the idea of a quiet life and raising a family withAlice, or Alfie, or whoever the hell thefrustrating creature was, seemed nigh on impossible to imagine. But did that mean he did not want it—that it was not possible?
A sound outside the door made them both stiffen, their bodies alert to the danger of discovery.
“Sir? Mr Aubrey, sir?”
Aubrey let out a breath, recognising his valet’s voice. “Go back to bed, Martin. I can see to myself.”
There was a pause, and Aubrey could picture the man’s indignant expression upon hearing this. His supposition was proven correct a moment later. “But,sir?”
