Gathering her fan from her reticule, she lightly waved it in front of her face.
“Are you feeling warm?”
She waited for the shiver to crawl over her skin at the soft whisper from the earl’s breath, but again—nothing. Frustrated, she exhaled heavily and paused her fan. “It would seem so.”
Rather than appearing insulted by her sarcastic tone, the earl chuckled lightly. “You are more entertaining than the current performers.”
She decided that his statement needed no reply, so they fell silent. However, as the minutes wore on, Lexie was starting to feel as though she might expire on the spot. A trickle of perspiration trailed down her spine, and she was surprised that for such a cool autumn evening she could be so hot. Perhaps she was coming down with some sort of illness?
But then, when there was a break for the guests to engage in some refreshments, Lexie stood with the excuse of stretching her legs and turned to look behind her.
Immediately, her gaze locked with that of the duke and a fresh wave of heat slammed into her.
She wavered slightly on her feet, the impact so great.
“Are you quite well?” the earl asked at her elbow.
She watched the duke slip toward the terrace doors, and her pulse instantly sped up. “I think I’ll just get some air…”
She started to go but he grasped her arm. “I shall join you?—”
“That’s not necessary,” she said almost too quickly, because he frowned slightly. She glanced at her aunt who was engaged in conversation with another matron and was grateful she hadn’t been overheard because her aunt would have surely considered her refusal as rude. “I would appreciate a bit of punch, if you don’t mind?” she added gently.
“Of course.” He smiled, and as soon as he left her side, Lexie made her escape.
Walking out onto the dark terrace, Lexie scanned the area, thrilling when the shadows separated and she was staring into the handsome visage of the duke.
He didn’t give her a chance to speak, he merely crushed her to him and set his mouth on hers in an almost bruising kiss that caused her toes to curl in her slippers and her fantasies to soar. She clutched his broad shoulders and could tell that there was no need for padding in his jacket. She was feeling nothing but hardened muscle.
Just as quickly as the kiss started, he was setting her back from him. “We have to quit meeting like this,” he teased in a husky voice.
“Must we?” The words had escaped her before she had time to reconsider such a bold query.
His dark eyes caught the light from inside the house behind them and flickered with a wicked gleam. “I suppose that depends on how far you want to take these little interludes.”
“I—”
Lexie wasn’t sure what she had been about to say because it didn’t seem that any sense was functioning at this point at all. Not only that, but in the span of a single blink, the duke had melted back into the shadows just as the earl appeared at her side with a glass extended to her. “How are you feeling now?”
Her lips still tingled from the duke’s kiss. “Better,” she murmured and forced herself to sip on the punch. It slid down her throat and pooled in her stomach with a sour comparison to the excitement of being with the duke.
As the instruments began to signal the start of the next half of the entertainment, the earl held out his arm to her. “Shall we?”
She inclined her head and accepted his proposal, although it was all she could do not to glance back at the terrace as they departed.
Thankfully, the second half of the musicale passed with less discomfort, but she figured out why when it had concluded. The duke was no longer there.
It caused her no end of annoyance that he should kiss her with such wild hunger and then abandon her after things were starting to get interesting. But then, she supposed it would have been rather difficult to find another excuse to part ways with her aunt and the earl without being too obvious about her intentions. While she claimed she didn’t care about her reputation, she had yet to defile herself thoroughly and until that happened, she had to be mindful of her actions. She couldn’t be too defiant.
As the earl’s coach came to a halt at their townhouse, her aunt bid the earl a good evening and glanced at Lexie in a meaningful way before she disappeared up the stairs. It seemed to be a silent warning to be on her best behavior if she wished to snag a titled gentleman for a husband, and it was apparent that her aunt approved of this one, which meant Lexie should as well.
Forcing a pleasant smile on her face, she looked at the earl and again, wished that he stirred some sort of fiery sensation within her that could rival that which the duke flamed inside. But there was nothing beyond a calm acceptance of his presence. “I should like to call upon you tomorrow to go riding, if that is amenable to you?”
Lexie inclined her head. “I should like that.”
He lifted her gloved hand and pressed a gentle kiss on top,but by the glimpse of determination in his gaze, she knew what was coming next. “Might I kiss you goodnight, Miss Givenwald?”
She swallowed the regret that rose in her throat but pushed it down firmly. Perhaps this was her chance to say for certain she felt nothing for the earl. In answer to his query, she stepped closer to him and lifted her face.
