“According to Stone, the girl was pretty, and Darly not immune to her…allure. Fortunately for him, Mother noticed this.”
The two stopped walking when they reached the trunk of a large tree. Garrett removed his jacket, placed it on the ground, and indicated she sit. Organizing her skirts, Natalie settled upon the jacket, pulled up her knees, and hugged them with both arms. For all her bravado, she looked forlorn. Garrett took a seat behind her and leaned against the tree. With his long legs bent along each side of her, he pulled her back to lean against his chest. This intimacy was inappropriate, but she did not protest or even lose track of her conversation.
“Mother and Aunt Eleanor followed him to the rectory that day.” Natalie chuckled and let her head relax against him. “They slipped into the side door after seeing the girl’s mother running back to the vicarage. Already suspicious, they assumed rightly that the girl’s mama had gone to fetch someone to witness the compromising situation. When the girl’s motherreturned with a few ladies and burst into the chapel, all four of them were earnestly praying in the front row.” She paused for effect. “According to Stone, the daughter’s hair was unbound and her dress wrinkled. What could be said, really, with both Mother and Aunt Eleanor sitting between them?”
Garrett laughed, picturing the young viscount sitting with his mother and godmother between him and the ambitious girl. Darlington was lucky to have such devoted womenfolk in his life.
Garrett tipped his head and inhaled the sweet scent in Natalie’s hair. When he did so, a few tendrils tickled his lips. He’d wrapped his arms around her waist and could feel each breath she took.
Jolted by an unwelcome memory, Garrett spoke without thinking. “There are women who will use whatever means available to capture a title.”
Natalie leaned to the side and looked over her shoulder so she could meet his eyes. “There are men who will use their superior strength to capture a dowry.”
This gave Garrett pause. He raised his eyebrows in question and felt his jaw tighten in anger. “Cortland?” he asked incredulously.
“Oh, no. Good Lord, never him.” She spoke with derisive laughter, relaxing into him once again. “Anyhow, the scoundrel did not succeed.” She sighed. “I was ridiculously naïve. It was my first season, and I’d not become betrothed yet.” She moved her arms from her knees and placed them atop Garrett’s. “He convinced me to walk outside with him. Believe it or not, I took him at his word when he told me a kitten had caught itself in a rosebush.” Again, she laughed at herself.
“Of course, there was no kitten.” Garrett spread his fingers wide and threaded hers through them. He tucked them into his fists.
“Once we reached the roses, in which, of course, there wasno kitten, he attempted to kiss me despite the fact that I’d told him ‘no’ more than once.”
Garrett nuzzled his lips at the juncture where her neck sloped into her shoulder.
“I was saved though, as Joseph had followed us. He sent me back inside and settled matters to his satisfaction. I was terrified he would call the cad out.”
“He did not?” Garrett asked. “But punished the brute with his fists, I hope?”
Again, Natalie turned her head to look at him. “How did you know that?”
“Your brothers are protective of you.” He nuzzled the soft skin on the lobe of her ear with his lips. “They are not all bad, now, are they?”
She didn’t answer. Instead, a shiver ran through her body. He responded by pulling her closer. This was madness! When had he become such an utter fool? He ought to remove his hands from her person and lead them back inside, back into the safety of the drawing room surrounded by her mother and father and several of their close acquaintances.
“What?” she asked, her voice barely a whisper.
Garrett chuckled softly this time. “Your brothers, protecting you.” Where were they now? They ought to be protecting her from him. His tongue traveled along the peach-like skin at the top part of her ear. He trailed it around the inner edge.
“Oh…” She sighed softly. “Not so bad.”
Lady Natalie Spencer was affected by his touch. With his arms around her waist, he felt her breathing quicken. His lips explored the outer shell of her ear in a lazy manner, nipping and licking the tender skin. Pleasure coursed through him when she moaned softly.
“Um…” she murmured. “Uh…Tell me about…the women,” she finally managed to get out.
This time it was he who paused. “The women?”
“The ones who have tried to marry you for your title,” she prompted.
“Similar girls to the one who attempted to trap your brother, only…” He stopped playing with her ear.
She tilted her head toward his mouth as though bereft without his lips. But she persisted in her question. “Only?”
“Only I had no womenfolk to ward off the mothers.” His voice came out harsher than he’d intended.
“But you are not wed,” she said curiously. “You have not married.”
“How do you think a gentleman gains a reputation such as mine, sweetheart?” He stilled. His arms loosened around her waist. As though sensing his withdrawal, Natalie grasped on to his hands and wrapped them about her firmly.
“It is ridiculous, is it not?” Annoyance, he thought, shook her voice. “That two people would be forced to marry regardless of their emotions. The notion of being compromised seems a terrific penalty for so innocent a crime—or no crime at all! And the punishment of a lifetime married to whomever one might be trapped by? I am appalled, and yet we are bound by society's rules. Marriage ought not to be a penalty. It ought to be a gift shared between two people—two people whowantto pledge themselves to one another for life.”
