“Please,” Hart said. “Let me finish. Because if I don’t I may never be able to say this again.”
All she could do was nod. He stepped forward, head and shoulders taller than she was. He pushed his hands beneath the coat, and ran his palms down the backs of her arms, pulling her toward him, and cupping her elbows. She sucked in her breath and held it.
“I feel guilt, Meg, not just because of my part in what happened to Sir Winford, but also because I can’t stop thinking about you.” He pulled her against his chest. “Like this.” His mouth swooped down to capture hers. She opened for him and his tongue moved in to slide against hers. He was kissing her. Really, truly kissing her. The coat fell off her shoulders. His hands cameup to cup her face. Her hands moved to his shirtfront, outlining the feel of his muscles beneath the fine fabric. He kissed the side of her mouth, her cheek, her ear. His tongue trailed its way down the side of her neck where he gently sucked. Then his mouth moved back up to tangle with hers again.
Meg was on fire. She’d never known kissing could be like this. When his hand moved up to cup her breast, she gasped again, but for an entirely different reason. Not surprise, but… delight.
“Meg,” he murmured in her ear. She kissed him endlessly. Her hands traveled up his shirtfront to tug at his cravat. He helped her and soon his shirt was open and her gloves were off and she placed her palms against his hot chest and ran her fingers over his shoulders inside his shirt to feel the outline of strong, muscled arms.
Meanwhile his hands were busily undoing the back of her gown. His mouth moved down to her décolletage. His lips were on the top of her breast before she even realized it was exposed and she gasped for a third time when they covered her nipple and gently sucked.
Gravel crunched nearby and the hedge shook. They only had seconds to pull up their clothing and cover themselves before Delilah Montebank came racing around the side of the hedge, directly into their path. She stopped short and gasped when she saw them in their state of undress. Then she called out in a loud, clear voice that the entire household could no doubt hear, “Your Grace! I found them. And it’s a scandal just like you said it would be!”
Within seconds half the dinner party came flying around the hedge as gasp after gasp filled the night air.
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
Hart broke away from Meg with an alacrity that frightened him. He pulled his shirt back up over his shoulders and leaned down to grab his coat, vaguely aware of Meg fumbling with her décolletage. She glanced at him, a stricken look on her face, just before Lucy and some of the other ladies bundled her off into the house. Hart was left with his sister, who watched him with a mixture of alarm and uneasiness. Hart ripped at his cravat and tied it. He paced around the small space, his boots crunching the gravel, anger filling him with every step.
Damn it. He’d been a fool. A complete and utter fool. He’d sat in that dining room and watched Lucy and Meg planning this and he’d walked directly into their trap. It was Annabelle all over again, only worse because he’d actuallytrustedMeg. He’d thought she was better.
“God damn it,” he screamed to the night air.
“Hart, your language,” Sarah said quietly.
“I doubt I could cause more of a scandal tonight if I tried. My language is hardly going to hurt.” He paced away from his sister and just as quickly paced back. “I’m only going to ask you one question, Sarah, and I damn well deserve the truth.”
Sarah’s throat worked as she swallowed, but she nodded in agreement. “Go ahead.”
“Did Lucy and Meg plan this? Did they send me out here to meet her on purpose? Did they send Delilah to find us?”
Sarah expelled a breath. “It’s not like—”
“I said I deserve thetruth!” Hart shouted so loudly his sister flinched. “You owe that to me. Was this thing planned?” He clenched his jaw so tightly it ached.
Sarah hung her head and stared at her slippers, her arms crossed over her chest. “Yes, but—”
“Yeswas the only word I needed to hear.”
“Hart, you must listen to me. There’s more to—”
“I thought I could trust her. I’m an idiot, a fool. I have no one to blame but myself.”
“No, it’s not like Annabelle—”
“It’sexactlylike Annabelle. I even told Meg the story of whathappenedwith Annabelle. Only Meg learned from it. She knew enough to send an entiregroupof people to find us.”
“Hart, you’re being unreasonable.”
“Tell me, Sarah, how reasonable should I be when I discover I’ve been led into a trap? One my ownsisterwas a part of?”
“Listen to me—” Sarah eyed him as if he were as unpredictable as a wild animal. At the moment, he felt that way.
“I can’t even look at you right now.” He shrugged on his coat and began to stride back toward the house.
“Where are you going?” Sarah called after him.
“I’m bloody well going to do what I have to… inform our parents and Meg’s that we’re betrothed.”
