She swallowed the lump in her throat that had formed the moment he’d got so close to her. “What’s that?” she asked.
“That I did this.” His mouth swooped down to capture hers.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
The moment Ewan’s lips touched hers, Thea’s mind raced. Her first thought,what is he doing, was quickly replaced by her second thought,I hope he doesn’t stop. At first the kiss was soft, inviting, and then he turned to place his body in front of hers, presumably so that Phillip wouldn’t see, and that’s when it turned insistent, urging.
His tongue probed at her lips and she parted them. When she did, his mouth slanted across hers, shaping and molding, urging her to let her tongue play with his.
By the time he pulled his mouth away and stepped back one step, Thea was breathing heavily and shaking with desire. She’d been kissed before by some ham-handed would-be country suitors, but none of those missteps were anything likethiskiss.
She stared up at Ewan with wide eyes as if he’d just done something to her she would never forget, because she was certain she wouldn’t.
“I hope you’ll forgive me for that,” he said, clearing his throat, stepping back, and straightening his coat.
At a complete loss for words, all Thea could do was stare at him, her mouth opening and closing as if she was some sort of fish out of water, before Phillip’s voice interrupted whatever she’d been intending to say.
“He’s just as I remember him,” Phillip called.
“He’s been waiting for you,” Ewan managed to call back as if he hadn’t just kissed Thea passionately.
Thea continued to stare at him. How could he speak after that? How could he talk to Phillip as if nothing had even happened? Meanwhile, she was never going to be the same. She was thankful, however, that Ewan was so composed because one of them had to be.
Ewan stepped out from behind the stall and made his way to his friend to discuss the horse while Thea gaped after him. She’d finally been kissed by Lord Clayton … and she already wanted to kiss him again.
EWAN SPENTthe next quarter of an hour telling Phillip the story of how he’d managed to buy not only his former horse, but all of his family’s former possessions at the auction his distant cousin had held in London several weeks ago. Ewan was saving all of it for his friend. Words came out of Ewan’s mouth and he managed to relate an entire cogent tale, but his mind was decidedly elsewhere. Namely on the kiss he’d just shared with Thea.
He shouldn’t have done it. Of course he shouldn’t have. He had no excuse for it, and it made little sense, but he simply couldn’t help himself. After seeing the sincerity of her reaction to Phillip being reunited with the horse that she’d wanted for herself, he’d simply fallen a bit in love with the girl. That’s all there was to it. Oh, he didn’t necessarily believe in love, but he’d been wanting to kiss her for days and lately, he’d got the distinct impression that she wouldn’t be unhappy if he kissed her. There had been only one way to find out and the emotions of the morning had got the best of him.
Only it wasn’t just emotions. He was even now fighting a cockstand the likes of which he hadn’t experienced in quite some time. He felt like an untried school lad, he was so unable to quiet down the rampaging demands of his body after the heat of her kiss. She hadn’t just allowed him to kiss her, she’d kissed him back with all the passion he’d always known was in her.
The problem was … now he wanted her. And that was deuced inconvenient. She wasn’t some widow or opera singer. She was an innocent young woman. A spinster perhaps, but the daughter of a peer, not someone he would trifle with and certainly not someone he could take to his bed.Damn. Damn. Damn. Ithadbeen a mistake to kiss her. How would he manage to live under the same roof with her for at least another fortnight if not longer? She’d been at his house for nearly three weeks now and Dr. Blanchard, who visited regularly, had indicated that it might be a total of six weeks before her leg could be moved enough to ride all the way home in a coach.
Ewan had walked away from her. He’d gone to talk to Phillip in order to give her time. He could tell she’d been dazed by the kiss. But he had no way of knowing if she wanted to slap him or kiss him again. He guessed it was the latter. She wasn’t the type of woman who would be shy with a slap.
He needed to return to her. She had a broken leg and he’d left her propped against a stall door like a pitchfork. He turned to look at her. She was staring off into the distance of the stables. Her profile was lovely.
“Shall we go back?” he said to Phillip.
Phillip nodded, gave Alabaster one last pet, and the two men made their way to where Thea was standing. Before Ewan could move to help Thea into her wheelchair, she cleared her throat. “Phillip, would you be so kind as to help me sit?” she asked. “I’m certain Lord Clayton could use a break from me.”
On the contrary, Ewan thought, stepping aside to allow Phillip to assist Thea back into her chair. The last thing he wanted was a break from her. In fact, he wanted more of her. Much more.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
The next day, Thea sat in bed, her leg propped upon pillows, writinganotherletter to her brother. She had no idea why Anthony had chosen to abandon her, but she intended to send him a scathing reply. She’d already sent off a letter to her uncle in London days ago. In it, she’d briefly sketched out her circumstances—if leaving out the bit about trying to break in Lord Clayton’s stables while dressed as a lad—and asked Uncle Teddy to come fetch her immediately in order to save her reputation. If her uncle didn’t reply, next she’d write to Lady Hophouse, her mother’s closest friend.
Someonehad to see the logic in Thea’s argument and come for her. She had to get to get out of here. She’d already stayed far too long. Ewan had kissed her, and she had wanted it, and now she was having visions of marriage and children and oh, the whole thing was so complicated. One didn’t marry someone whom one had met by sneaking around his house and breaking one’s leg. It was preposterous.
She had an awful feeling that she was falling in love with Ewan. And that was something she could not allow to happen. Her mother had been quite clear on the subject when only weeks before her accident, she’d told Thea the story of how her parents had met and married.
Mama had fallen madly in love with Father when she’d met him at a ball in London soon after her come out. She’d been convinced that Father loved her back, but Father had truly only been in love with her money and her family connections, both of which were quite impressive. They’d agreed to marry after only a few weeks of courting, which was quite normal. But it wasn’t until weeks after the wedding that Mama realized that Father had a mistress in London. A mistress that he had no intention of relinquishing. He left Mama in the countryside and returned to his amusements in London as if he’d never taken a bride. He showed up long enough to impregnant his wife and produce his two offspring. Mama did her duty and gave birth, kept the estate, and presided as hostess whenever Father arrived from London with company. She also managed to convince him to have an annual Christmastide ball. It was the one time of year she could be certain he’d be home with her.
Thea’s heart ached for her poor mother who had loved a man who never loved her back. She would never forget her mother’s final words to her. “Never marry a man who doesn’t love you back, Thea. It’s pure torture.” Those words had rung in her ears for the last six years.
In addition to being in mourning when it was time for her come-out, Thea had also been frightened of marriage. How, precisely, did one find a man who loved you back if they kept secrets like having mistresses stashed in London? The whole concept was horrifying. She’d managed to stay away from such subjects as love and marriage all these years and now Lord Clayton was making her wish for things she’d long ago abandoned. It was highly inconvenient, not to mention distressing. And she couldn’t possibly think correctly about it, while she was living under the same roof as the man. All she wanted to do was kiss him again. That wasn’t helpful.
No, she had to get back home as quickly as possible, and if the only way to do that, was to convince one of her relatives or friends to come and get her, so be it. She was on a letter-writing campaign. She turned her attention back to her brother’s letter, re-reading it to ensure she’d made all her most important arguments.
