Chapter Four
“ W hat the devil?” Vincent exclaimed before he could stop himself. “You cannot be in here.” His feet hit the floor, and he was standing, arms crossed, in front of her in seconds.
The lady looked him up and down. “No, I suppose not. I saw you enter as I came out of the long passage. So convenient to traverse the house thusly, don’t you think?” She looked down at the area rug underfoot, glanced at every piece of furniture in his room, even the bed, and then finally set her gaze upon him again.
“Why are you here?” he demanded.
“You are in a state of undress,” she pointed out.
For the briefest moment of terror, he thought maybe he’d taken off his trousers before reclining. Luckily, however, he’d only divested himself of his coat and necktie.
“I am, indeed, because this is my bedchamber.”
“The corresponding corner room in the other wing,” she said, her gaze fixing on his bare collarbone, “on the ladies’ side, is a sitting room.”
“Yet this isn’t!” he practically shouted. Why wasn’t she fleeing in shame and embarrassment? “Not only shouldn’t you be in my chamber, you shouldn’t even be in this hall. What happens if you step outside my door and are seen?”
Lady Brilliance shrugged. “I know it would look bad, wouldn’t it? But I would simply explain —”
“That you followed me into my room! How would that help?”
“ Hm. I see what you mean. Perhaps you should peek out first and make sure no other gentlemen are lingering, and if the way is clear, I shall slip out.”
“Very well.” Vincent scooted past her, not bothering with his coat after all. The primary concern was getting her out of there.
He cracked the door only the width of his left eye. To his immense consternation, another two fellows were walking along. One was speaking, then the other broke out in laughter.
Vincent shut the door and turned, only to find Lady Brilliance so close her nose pressed against his chest. Unthinkingly, he reached out and grabbed her shoulders. If she was trying to throw herself at him, he would keep her at bay.
Yet she blinked up at him, her intense deep-blue eyes absolutely guileless.
“I was trying to see past you. But your shoulders are so wide, you blocked out everything.”
His gaze fixed on her ridiculously rosy lips, even as his grip on her upper arms relaxed. He ought to release her instantly. Instead, almost of their own accord, his thumbs caressed her warm, bare skin below her silly half sleeves, which he could push down with a puff of breath. Goosebumps rose under his fingers.
“You’re cold,” he said, wondering at the husky tone of his voice. He cleared his throat.
“No,” she replied, her gaze not wavering from his. “I mean, I was previously a little chilled, which is why I am here. I am looking for my wrap. Not in your room obviously. I was going to my own. I confess I took the same path as you, and then, as I stepped into the hallway, I saw this door swing shut.”
“I see.” He was still stroking her skin. And while he knew he should unhand her, the moment was so surreal and unexpected that Vincent held on. “There are two other guests in the hallway.”
“Then I suppose I must stay a little longer,” she said.
Vincent marveled at the appearance of her tongue, darting across her lower lip. A fascinating little movement that indicated she was not quite at ease.
It was his fault. He was behaving badly. Finally, he dropped his hands from her, despite the impulse to draw her closer and kiss her.
He attributed his errant inclination to being alone with one of the prettiest females he’d ever seen. One without an ounce of self-preservation, it seemed.
She didn’t step back, even with nothing keeping her close.
“Do you know something, Lord Handsome ... I mean, Lord Hewitt?” Her cheeks pinkened at the adorable slip of the tongue. “I thought you might be about to kiss me.”
His own cheeks were undoubtedly taking on a ruddy hue as she read his thoughts. She wasn’t quite so adorable, gazing up at him, her teeth once more tugging on her own lower lip. More like a hunter, with him the unsuspecting prey.
“Let me look again.” Vincent turned away from her and peered out the door once more. The corridor was thankfully empty. “We are in luck,” he said before feeling her bare, ungloved hand on his arm, searing him through his shirt sleeve.
“Are we? Let me see?”
He barely had the chance to move sideways when she pushed around him and looked out. Her back was practically pressed to his front, and her fragrant hair was under his nose. He sniffed in the heady aroma of roses and something else. Carnations perhaps?
Lady Brilliance giggled. “Are you smelling my hair?” She turned in the space between them, her breasts brushing his arm, and his restraint snapped. With his hands resting on either side of her head, he leaned in, making the door click closed once again.
With her back flat against the door, she looked up. “Why, you are going to kiss me! How exciting!” Then she shut her eyes and waited.
Although the moment struck him as funny, it didn’t diminish his desire one whit. While trying to remain somewhat of a gentleman and not touch her body with any part of his, Vincent claimed her mouth. His lips slanted across hers, and he felt her gasp in a quick, hot breath.
In the next moment, her arms worked between them until she was doing what he would not allow himself — she was tracing her fingers up his chest until they finally rested at the back of his neck.
“Mmm,” she hummed, and the sound stroked the length of him.
The kiss, itself, was slow, but the surge of longing raced through his body like a spark of fire.
Sweet Bedlam! She was lucky he truly was a gentleman in manner and not in name only. If not, he would have her on her back upon his bed in seconds, with her décolletage drawn down to expose her breasts and her satin skirts tossed up half a minute after.
Still, he didn’t raise his mouth from hers. Not yet. Not before he allowed them another few moments of bliss while he traced his tongue across her lips. She parted them.
He had to accept the invitation. It would be rude not to!
Sliding his tongue along hers, soon he was gently sucking it. Finally, he felt her hands pressing gently against his shoulders. She had come to her senses. She ought to slap him at the very least, denounce him to his own cousin as a rogue at the worst — and get him sent home on the first night.
Suddenly, he hoped she didn’t.
Looking down at her, half expecting to see ire and outrage, instead, he saw a tentative smile.
“You tasted of sweet orange. You ate my gift.”
“ Your gift?” he echoed. “I thought it from Lady Twitchard.”
She shrugged. “That was a perfectly splendid kiss. Shall we do it again?”
Now that some modicum of sanity had returned while they conversed, Vincent was determined to get her on her way to safety.
“No.”
“What?” she exclaimed. “Not ever? Wasn’t it done well? I thought so. Didn’t you like it? Was my breath not fresh? I vow I chewed on the sprig of mint after the last meat course.”
Realizing he was gaping, he finally let himself touch her, only to put his finger under her chin and tap her mouth closed.
“Silence! You must get out of my room, or you’ll be sent back to London in disgrace. Do you want that?”
“No,” she said, sounding reasonable. “Then we could never kiss again. I shall go.” Turning, she nearly yanked open the door until he stopped her.
“Wait!” Determining the hallway was empty, he said, “You ought to run until you are on the other side of the main stairs, then there will be little risk of someone assuming you were in this wing.”
“Very well.”
He started to crack the door wider when she said, “My very first paramour ! Isn’t it exciting?”
With that, leaving him shocked once more, she hurried out.
Vincent didn’t wait to see her progress, as his open door would ruin everything should it be noticed. Instead, he closed it firmly and faced his empty room.
What the hell just happened?
Brilliance fought to keep from skipping. Yet taking Lord Hewitt’s advice, she walked as hastily as possible, without losing a slipper, all the way to the ladies’ wing. Then she could catch her breath and reflect on what had occurred.
Her first real kiss. And what a kiss! While trapped in the hollow between his arms, scenting his cologne, a peppery fragrance of juniper, vetiver, and ... manliness, she had closed her eyes — the better to feel every whisper-soft sensation, as well as the harder ones, too, such as the back of her head on the door and the persistent ache that blossomed low in her belly.
She had wanted to curl her hips against his. Moreover, she had yearned to feel his fingers touch her skin. Anywhere! Instead, the gentleman had kept his hands frustratingly off her.
That had been her only complaint on an otherwise magnificent kiss. His lips were obviously meant for hers. Why, their mouths fit like two pieces of a puzzle with nothing left over.
Surely that could mean only one thing — they were destined for one another. All traces of tiredness from the long day vanished. Brilliance could hardly wait for supper when she would see him again.