The words made her melt. A choked sound caught in her throat.
“But we cannot remain here much longer.”
With a start, Eleanor realized how quiet it had become. She didn’t even notice when the roaring waterfall had stopped. All she heard now was the sound of the crowd dispersing not far away.
Stiffening, she opened her eyes and lowered her hands from the viscount’s shoulders as she backed out of his arms.
He made a brief sound of protest, but allowed her to retreat, removing his touch from her lips and his bracing support from her back.
Eleanor thought she’d crumple to the ground, her legs felt so weak and her control so awkward. Awareness had brought a swift return of her unbearable shyness and she struggled to lift her gaze to meet his. But when she did, a rushing wave of desire crashed back through her.
His gaze pierced through the darkness, igniting sparks of sensationalong every nerve. In his eyes she saw the hunger Bridget had mentioned. She saw it and recognized it because she felt it too.
“My lord,” she breathed, not knowing what else to say.
He lowered his chin and gave her an intimate smile. “I prefer Phin.”
“Phin,” she repeated, testing the feel of it in her mouth.
His eyes flashed. Then he cleared his throat and turned to look toward the front of the Cascade. “Shall I escort you back to your cousins? I imagine they are waiting for you.”
“My cousins,” she repeated again, starting to feel like an idiot without an original thought. “Yes. They will be waiting.” She gave herself a mental shake. “But no. I can return to them alone. It wouldn’t be good for anyone to see us.”
He nodded. “Right.”
“Um… Right. Good night, then.”
She turned and started to walk toward the path before she recalled her original purpose and swiftly turned back. For a second, her breath caught at how devastatingly handsome he looked as he stood there watching her. It took her several breaths to find her voice.
“There is something I wish to show you. Something that had belonged to my grandmother. If you would call on me…” she added awkwardly.
“Tomorrow?”
“Tomorrow,” she muttered with a nod before she turned and almost ran back to her cousins, her cheeks burning, her belly twisted in a heavy knot, and her lips swollen and sensitive from his kiss.
The crowd hadn’t fully dispersed yet, but she found the two young women easily enough.
Bridget took one look at her and gasped. “He kissed you,” she whispered fiercely. “And quite well by the look of you.”
Chapter Seventeen
The next morning,a note was delivered to Waring House with no return address.
Written on fine paper in an elegant hand it read:How dare you claim what is mine by right and by destiny! Your arrogance and your insolence will be the death of you. Karma will not be denied. You cannot stop the winds of fate. They belong to me.
It was not particularly original in comparison to other threats Phin had received for various reasons throughout his past. But a couple things did stand out.
They belong to me.
Notit. They.
Why the plural?
Another thing that stood out was how different the tone and manner of the phrasing was from the what the shadowed man at Vauxhall had said. The more he considered it, the less they seemed to match up in Phin’s mind. It was odd and confusing.
He couldn’t shake the suspicion that the warnings and threats were coming from two different directions.
*
