“Och, lass,” he murmured as he kissed his way back down the column of her throat, letting his hand cradle the nape of her neck that distracted him so much.
Her gown wasn’t as structured as her usual dresses, and as his fingertips danced across her bare shoulders, he knew he could ease the short sleeve of fabric down her arm without resistance. He pushed it slightly and bent his head, kissing along the edge of her collarbone, feeling her rise up on tiptoe to meet the exploration of his lips. A blessing, in truth, given the difference in their heights. Although there were always ways around that particular issue.
To prove the point, he let his hands map the exquisite curves of her narrow waist and shapely hips, until they settled behind her tormenting thighs. In one swift, powerful move, he hoisted her up and pressed her back into the cedar trunk, barely able to contain his need for her as she instinctively locked her legs around him.
He smiled against her neck before kissing downward, no longer needing to bend so far or strain his neck. Gently, he teased aside the draped fabric of her Grecian bodice, eager for a taste of her ripe bosom.
A soft cry rippled from her throat as he traced his tongue over the swell of her breast, while his other hand gripped her thigh. Taking everything slowly, as if they had all the time in the world.
But as his hand started to move upward, toward the heat of her, and his teeth brushed the edge of her neckline, a moment away from pulling it aside to find the sensitive peak of her nipple, her teasing moans turned into a quick, sharp gasp.
“Stop,” she panted, though she clung to him in a most confusing fashion. “You must stop.Wemust.”
He paused. “I will not hurt ye, lass.”
“I have taken leave of my senses!” she whispered, her eyes wide. “We are at the Marquess’s manor! There is a ball underway, right over there! Someone might see us. Please, set me down at once.”
He did not need to be asked twice. Carefully, he put her back on her feet, though he did not immediately step away. He could not, not without ensuring that she looked exactly as she had before he had gotten swept up in his desire.
With a tender touch, he put her short sleeve back onto her shoulder and gently teased the neckline of her gown back to where it ought to be. Only then did he step backward, where he offered his arm to her.
Anna glanced at the proffered arm and shook her head. Offering him no word at all, she hitched up her skirts just a little and began to hurry toward the lights of the manor. A memory of when she had come to complain at him beneath the cedar tree at Stonebridge came to him, when he had glimpsed the slender line of her ankles.
One more encounter like this, and I might actually scare her right out of me life.He had meant the thought as an amusement, to take his mind off her sudden departure, but he found that there was no mirth in it as she blended into the dark and vanished.
Even before his brother passed, his life had never been more interesting than it had been since meeting her.
And that was exactly why he had to follow the plan. She had been through enough; he would not become another dark chapter in her story.
The carriage rocked violently over the shadowed country roads on its short but uncomfortable trip back to Stonebridge.
I know whyIam silent, but why is he?
Anna forced herself to stare out the window at the passing night world, but she could see Jeremy in her peripheral vision. He had not sought her out or spoken to her since their risky moment beneath the cedar tree, and she had not either. Not until she told him she wanted to leave, anyway, but he just nodded and escorted her out silently.
Is he angry that I stopped us from doing something stupid?
She frowned at the looming hedgerows, her thoughts as impossible to decipher as the smudges and dark shapes of the world beyond the window.
Is he saying nothing because he, too, has realized how foolish it was?
No one within the ballroom had seemed to notice her excursion to the gardens, and no one had mentioned her absence upon her return. Then again, she had only spoken briefly to Colin, and then had a lovely conversation with a group of young ladies that had swiftly turned sour when they learned who she was, and scurried off.
Fine. We shall be silent. We shall not talk at all about what happened. We shall forget it ever happened.
She folded her arms across her chest and let out a small sigh of relief when they soon crossed the gates of Stonebridge. Being home was a wonderful feeling, even if Jeremy wanted to take it away from her.
As the carriage came to a standstill outside the entrance steps, Jeremy stepped out first and reached out his hand. Anna looked at it, considered taking it, then decided against it, choosing to step down on her own and move toward the house.
Jeremy followed closely behind her, his silence distinctly weighted… as if he wanted to say something to her but was holding it back.
It is likely yet another command for me to marry as soon as possible.
At the bottom of the stairs, she turned and cast him a cool look. “Goodnight, Your Grace.”
Deciding that she would be the one with the last word, she turned back and made her hasty ascent before he had the chance to reply. After all, whatcouldbe said to make any of this better? Once again, she had been bewitched and overcome by temptation. Once again, she had indulged with a married man. And, this time, she did not have the excuse of not knowing he had a family, who would soon be coming to this manor, squeezing her out whether she liked it or not.
Perhaps, instead of ‘goodnight,’ she should have said ‘goodbye.’
