“Lady Harriet was beside us during the fireworks and the rope-dancing, didn’t you see her?”
He hadn’t, so he shook his head, still enjoying the feel of having her soft warmth securely against him. What’s more, she was making no move to pull away.
“Just as the last fireworks were going off, she invited me to do some exploring. She mentioned other music, the Turkish band and the Pandean band, and even a Scotch one.”
“I promised to show you everything,” he reminded her, caressing her back.
“You were otherwise occupied,” she said tartly, and he realized she was jealous of Madame Saqui.
“I could hardly let the lady fall.”
“If you hadn’t been staring at her with your tongue hanging out, she might have chosen someone else at whom to launch herself.”
He chuckled. At the same time, a couple passed by, heads averted, and disappeared at a trot into an alcove of shrubbery.
“But how did you end up here?” he asked, feeling riled again.
“I know not. Lady Harriet said we would find the Pandean band down this path, but she must have become befuddled, as lost as I am. Then she stumbled upon a root in the dark and said her ankle was sore. She told me if I went along here, I would find assistance.”
Philip was growing angrier on Miranda’s behalf. Lady Harriet had purposefully sent her into danger.That cunning hoyden!
“And did you find assistance?”
“Well, no,” Miss Bright admitted.
“That’s because the only people on the Dark Walk are couples,” he explained.
“The Dark Walk?” she repeated.
Just then, as if to prove him a liar, a sole figure came strolling along the path between the high hedgerows.
Instinctively, Philip hunched, molding her into his body and turning her away from prying eyes. But when the stranger passed, Philip glanced over his shoulder, and the man turned.
Lord Geoffrey Beaumont!
If he wasn’t mistaken, brother and sister were playing games, and Miss Bright was their toy.
“I thought you said only couples,” she began, her voice muffled as she spoke into his jacket.
“Unless there is a prearranged meeting. Imagine if you had been alone.”
He felt her shiver and let her draw back.
“Thank you,” she said meekly, looking up at him and raising her fingers to touch his cheek.
It was his undoing. Keeping one hand on her back, he slid his other to the base of her head, his large palm anchoring her in place.
When she parted her lips, he leaned down and kissed her. Heat shot to his loins, and his heart sped up the way it had when he’d been madly searching for her. But this time with pleasure. He didn’t even have to coax her mouth open as she’d given him sweet access.
Slipping his tongue between her lips, he explored her warmth, feeling her tentative response. When the tip of her tongue slid along the length of his, Philip moved his hand from her back to her waist before stroking up to palm her breast through the thin silk of her gown.
“Mm,”she moaned, the sensual sound inflaming him further. He rubbed his thumb over her nipple, feeling it stiffen. That wasn’t all that stiffened, and he groaned in return.
Miss Bright giggled into his mouth.
Giggled?!
Philip raised his head. “Is something funny?”
