Page 6 of Reckless Desire

Stirling’s eyes twinkled. “One must always listen to his mama.” He stood, and they started toward the door. “Will we see you at Lady Lexington’s party tonight?”

Bryson caught himself before he blurted the word ‘we,’ and said in a casual tone, “‘We’?”

“Chastity, Miss Ramsay and myself.”

No doubt, Miss Ramsay would wear a silk ball gown—turquoise with a low bodice, like the dress she’d worn that morning. They would dance. He would entice her to walk in the garden, pull her close and taste those full lips—and the sweet rosy peaks of her breasts. His cock began to harden.

“Will you be there?” Stirling asked.

“I hadn’t planned on attending.”

They reached the open door.

Bryson gave a slight bow. “Thank you for the brandy.” He spun and strode into the hallway.

Twenty minutes later, Bryson entered the darkened foyer of his townhouse, stripped off his great coat and hung it on the coat rack to the left of the door. He strode across the foyer to the staircase directly ahead and began to climb the stairs, mind fixed on the full decanter of whisky waiting on the table in his room.

By the time he reached his chambers, he’d half decided to wake his valet and have a hot bath drawn. That and the whisky were sure to put him to sleep. He slowed two steps into the room, his gaze on the hearth’s low fire. For an instant, he envisioned Miss Ramsay on the carpet in front of the hearth, red hair glistening in the firelight, arms wrapped tightly around him as he thrust inside her.

“There you are, darling,” purred a sultry female voice.

His senses swam. Could it be? But the answer came almost before he truly comprehended the question. Bryson spun to face the naked woman in his bed.

“How did you get in here, Kathryn?”

She stretched like a cat. “I have my ways. Now, come here. I haven’t seen you in two days. I have missed you terribly.”

Even without the benefit of liquor, he recognized the lie. Mrs. Kathryn Sands wasn’t capable of tender feelings, which was the very reason he’d taken her as his mistress—that, and her dedication to pleasing him. He made it a point of honor to return the devotion, along with a generous monthly allowance. There wasn’t the slightest danger she would fall in love with him, nor he with her. For her to be here, in his home, without invitation, was a breach of their understanding. She was up to something.

He scanned the room and caught sight of her clothes folded neatly on the chair near the window. Bryson crossed to the clothes, snatched them up, and threw them on the bed.

“Get dressed.”

“Darling—”

“Now,” he snapped.

Her eyes widened. “Bryce, what is amiss?”

“Pray, do not embarrass yourself further. Innocence does not become you.”

She sat upright. “Surely, you are not angry because I am here?”

“Either dress yourself, or I will wrap you in that sheet and put you in a cab.”

“You wouldn’t dare.”

He stared.

Her mouth thinned. She scooted off the bed and, for the first time in their relationship, she didn’t tease him when she dressed.

Chapter Three

Kindness was going to kill Kenna.

The orchestra struck up a country dance as she entered the ballroom of Lord Lexington’s home alongside Lady Chastity and Sir Stirling. Lady Chastity had refused to leave Kenna home, insisting Kenna would be lonely. Her heart squeezed. She was far lonelier in this crowded ballroom than she would have been curled up in bed with a book, or in the nursery watching over the Stirlings’ darling baby girl. Shame washed over her. In fairness, Lady Chastity wasn’t wrong. Kenna was lonely. She missed home: the crisp air as the leaves turned color on these autumn days, and the clear, tinkling water of the fairy pools. The rocks in the shallows often reflected a green-turquoise color, much like the color of the dress she wore.

The one bright spot in the evening was the dress. She favored the color. But the pleasure was bittersweet, for her memories lingered on her younger cousin, Owen, as he waded, whooping, in the clear turquoise water with his friends, Allen and Kevin. How many times had her aunt sent her in search of the lad only to find him at one of the pools with his friends?