Lifting her hand, he dropped a kiss upon the exposed skin at her wrist.
“Our hostess needn’t have gone to the trouble. I knew I had found someone special.” He shook his head. “Yet for a scary moment, I thought you were forming an attachment to Devenport.”
Lady Delia squeezed his hand. “He is a knowledgeable man, and seems nice, too. But he is in love with America. And I was already falling in love with you.”
Chapter Twelve
The last ball was infinitely better than the first one. Delia felt no butterflies in her stomach. What’s more, she made Frances hurry to get ready. She’d also eaten a proper dinner, giving her energy for dancing. Best of all, she would be dancing with a man had professed to be as smitten with her as she was with him.
In Lady Osbourne’s great room, Delia had no wish to hide behind the curtains. She couldn’t wait to dance with Lord Perish. And no longer caring what other gentlemen thought of her, she didn’t mind dancing with them either.
All because Rupert had chosen her.
In a violet gown with gold trim, she let him sweep her onto the dance floor.
“You look ravishing,” he whispered against her ear. “I wish I could ravish you tonight.”
Delia smiled, even as her body heated and dampened at his wicked suggestion.
“Would that be possible?” She wished her voice hadn’t squeaked.
He cocked his head, desire flaring behind his emerald eyes. “Don’t tempt me, lady, by seeming interested.”
“Iaminterested,” she confessed. Every night since they had met, she climbed into bed and thought of him. Never had she experienced fervent longing before, making her pulse race merely by imagining him beside her, both of them naked and touching.
The tantalizing opportunity for a dalliance at a country party might never come again.
His fingers tightened their grasp. “I would never disappoint a lady. Therefore, I shall endeavor to ravish you at the earliest opportunity.”
Delia could not get that turn of phrase out of her mind for the remainder of the evening.He would endeavor to ravish her!When she ought to be relishing her first successful ball she only wanted to see it end. After all, ravishment could not happen on Lady Osbourne’s parquet!
Regardless, because of her lack of nervousness and happy smile, she never once lacked for a partner. Moreover, she danced without misstep. No one looking at her tonight would ever imagine she’d been labeled a wallflower in London.
Hours later, Delia paced her bedroom.Had Lord Perish meant what he’d said?By every look and touch all evening, especially during their second dance, she believed he had. When he claimed her for a scandalous third dance at the end of the night, she could practically hear the gasps echo around the room.
It was practically a declaration of intent.
For half an hour, however, nothing happened. Lucy had helped her undress and brushed her hair before being sent to bed. Sitting upon the counterpane, Delia felt too excited to be tired, listening to every noise.
Tap, tap. She did not remember her feet touching the carpet, so swiftly had she reached the door. In an instant, her fingers grasped the handle and opened it cautiously.
It was he, no jacket, no cravat, and no waistcoat. She swallowed and let him in.
Lord Perish — Rupert, as she now thought of him — wasted no time in kicking the door closed with his foot before sweeping her backward toward the bed.
“Your hair is glorious,” he said, his face buried in it, just behind her ear. His hands roamed her back until they cupped her bottom and squeezed.
Gasping, she held her breath and held onto him, too. Suddenly, she was upon her back on the soft mattress, looking up at him.
His mouth crushed hers, and she tilted her head to accommodate him. When his tongue touched her lips, gladly she parted them, welcoming him inside.
As his tongue stroked hers, Delia thought her body would combust into flames. Heated throughout, her heart pounded, her pulse raced, and the sensitive area between her legs throbbed with the same beat.
When he rose from her, she moaned in protest, but he moved only far enough to shed his remaining clothing while she watched, fascinated.
His bare torso was a revelation. A broad chest angled down over a flat yet muscular stomach. Below his navel, his hips were slender, cradling a thatch of brown hair and a jutting arousal over long, sculpted thighs and firm calves.
He was a thoroughbred of men!
