The Trouble with Anna

Chapter 15

CHAPTER 15

T HE NEXT NIGHT, WHEN THE three women were settled in the Dowager’s townhouse and Julian was over from Ramsay House for dinner, Charlotte decided it was time to meddle some more.

“Anna, did you ride out with Julian this morning?” Charlotte said as the footmen ladled out the soup. “I hope my brother isn’t too much underfoot?”

“Join us!” said Anna, looking desperate. “I’ll let you ride Sally if you—”

“Rise before ten? Heavens no.”

Not when you came in looking kissed this morning.

The Dowager had insisted that Anna must not venture into company until she had a few proper dresses and a little town bronze. This meant there was little danger that Anna could get out to sell her horses, which was Charlotte’s chief concern. It also meant Anna was at Charlotte’s mercy for a week or two. But how to make use of it?

A thought occurred to Charlotte, delicious and devious. It flickered around in her brain like a firefly, and even the little flames atop the silver candelabra on the table seemed to dance with encouragement. “I must confess it’s hard to be cooped up in the house like this. I’d love a waltz, a good rousing one to chase away the cold. The kind that makes your cheeks pink and bounces your hair right out of its pins.”

“That only ever happens with your pins, darling,” said the Dowager from across the table.

Charlotte ignored her. “Have you ever danced like that, Anna? Spinning so fast that one wrong step and you’ll fly off to the moon?”

Anna took a delicate sip of soup.

“Anna?” Charlotte prompted. “Did you hear my question?”

“Yes, but I didn’t think you expected me to answer.”

From down the length of the gleaming table, Julian gave a coughing laugh.

“Oh, that’s right!” Charlotte continued, ignoring her brother. “You don’t know how to waltz, do you? I forget how behind things are in the country.”

Anna’s face went carefully blank and Charlotte experienced a rare pang of remorse. Luckily, it didn’t last long.

Hold on, my friend, and trust me. It may sting now, but unless I miss my guess, there will be even more kissing in your future.

The Dowager leapt to Anna’s defense. “You’re not a bit behind, Lady Anna. I myself have never waltzed. A giddier display I have yet to see.”

Charlotte clapped her hands. “That gives me the most wonderful idea, Gran! You and Anna must both learn the waltz. I’ll teach you!”

Anna choked on her soup.

“What a ramshackle thought! I have no desire to learn!” the Dowager cried.

“There’s only one problem. We can’t go out until Anna’s gowns are ready and I’m sure the dancing master’s not available with so little notice.” Especially as Charlotte had no intention of asking him. “Who could we possibly get to partner us?”

Julian lounged back in his chair and raised his glass in a silent toast. “As the only gentleman present, I’d be delighted to offer my services.”

“There’s no need!” Anna protested.

“Certainly not!” agreed the Dowager. “A woman of my age, waltzing!”

“It’s settled, then!” Charlotte cried, drowning them both out. “Dancing lessons start tomorrow.”

A month ago, Julian would have laughed if anyone had told him he would spend an afternoon teaching a reluctant young woman how to waltz. If anyone would have had the guts to suggest he’d enjoy the activity, that his boots would ring out with haste as he strode across town to his grandmother’s townhouse, he would have leveled them with a stare. Yet when he entered the Dowager’s ballroom, his mood was almost as bright as the afternoon light that spilled across the acres of polished floor.

Charlotte was there already, as was Anna, standing stiff as a board, though the corners of her lips curled when she saw him.

Julian grinned back at her.

To think her prickliness had bothered him, that he’d found her drab and charmless. Now her small attempts to hide herself away amused him, like the ill-fitting black dress she wore again, or the way she yanked her hair ruthlessly back from her face. No one would call her beautiful, but it was becoming harder and harder for him to look away.

“Good afternoon, Lady Anna.” He gave her a sweeping bow. “Charlotte.”

“I’m here too,” came an aggrieved voice from the pianoforte in the corner.

Julian turned. “I beg your pardon?”

“I’m here as well, though I should be writing up my hybrid rose results.” The Dowager perched straight-backed and disapproving on a gilt bench. “I thought I’d mention my presence, as you didn’t seem to notice.”

Charlotte let out a strangled laugh and Julian bowed in the Dowager’s direction.

“Forgive me, Gran. I’ll endeavor not to overlook you again.”

“It’s the least you can do, now that you’ve dragged me here! To learn to waltz, of all things, though I notice I am meant to play for you, not learn myself. I wish you would get on with it.”

Anna pressed her eyes closed for the briefest second, as she did whenever she was rattled. He could almost see the fervent wish to escape that she sent flying up into the skies. He had the strangest desire to catch her wish and send it winging back to her with a message of his own. Don’t wish me away, Countess. Wish me closer.

The Dowager was not finished. “In my day, young people didn’t drag their elders about. Especially when it’s cold and there are no fires lit. My fingers will ache before we’re done. How am I to write my paper then?”

“I didn’t know you were feeling so infirm, Gran,” Julian called.

“Or so argumentative.” Charlotte’s hair quivered at the effort it took her not to laugh.

“I will not be mocked,” snapped the Dowager. “It’s been much too tense lately and it’s taking a toll. I blame you and your brother, I do.”

“I do too!” Anna said, earning herself a sharp glance from the Dowager that quickly softened.

“They’ve both gone mad. Hurry up with your waltzing, and then let’s lock ourselves up together in the salon and have a bit of peace.”

Charlotte clapped her hands. “Shall we begin? Anna, you stand in front of Julian.” She frowned. “A little closer! Come on, closer still. Ooh, that’s good! Now, Julian, place your hand around her waist. No, Anna! Don’t stiffen up like that! You must relax a bit—but no, not your right arm! Hold that firm, so he encounters some resistance.”

“Not too much resistance, I hope,” Julian whispered.

Anna looked up at him and bared her teeth.

He laughed. “There’s my Countess.”

“Stop whispering!” called Charlotte. “Now, Gran, play something and I’ll count.”

The Dowager’s hands landed on the keys with an irritated crash and a great wave of music spilled out from the pianoforte. It rolled through the room with an insistent one-two-three, one-two-three, one-two-three that pulled at them, until even Anna started to sway in Julian’s arms.

“That’s it!” Charlotte encouraged.

Anna went stiff again.

“Thank you, Charlotte. I can manage without your help.” Julian looked down at Anna, held in the circle of his arms. He lowered his voice. “You didn’t object to being held like this by me yesterday morning in the park.”

Her cheeks turned a furious scarlet. “I most certainly did!”

“One-two-three, one-two-three!” Charlotte called, extra loud, in what Julian assumed was a poor attempt to pretend she wasn’t eavesdropping.

Julian spun Anna halfway around, startling a breathless “Oh!” from her. With his broad back shielding them from the room, he pulled her even closer and bent his head to her ear. “When did you object—remind me? Was it before you licked my neck, or was it after?”

“Oh god.” Anna swallowed. “I must be very gauche.”

Julian’s heart clenched. “I would never call you gauche. I would call you delicious. Addictive. You’re all I think about lately.”

A blush spread up from her chest, seeping over the delicate line of her collarbone. He wanted to nibble his way along it, trace the heat.

He gave her a little shake. “Shall we dance, or shall I whisk you away and prove it?”

She yelped, but he could see she was trying not to laugh. “Dance!”

He firmed his arm. “Ready then?”

“Always!”

“Do you know the steps?”

“Not at all,” she returned coolly.

Julian fought the urge to pull her into his arms and kiss her obstinate eyebrows, the sharp tip of her nose. How he lightened at her dark clouds.

“Think of it as a race, like the ones we’ve had before. You run ahead and I try to catch you.”

She raised her eyes to his. “If it’s simply a matter of outrunning you, I’m sure I shall manage.”

“I wouldn’t bet on it, Countess.”

The downbeat came and he swept her away.

Anna stumbled, not ready for the big step back. For the briefest moment she was plastered against his chest and heat seared through him.

“I beg your pardon!” She skipped away, clutching up her skirt in an awkward attempt to right herself.

“There’s no need to apologize.” On the next downbeat, Julian lifted her right off her feet. They whirled around the ballroom, her toes peeping out as her ugly skirts belled at each turn.

“WONDERFUL!” called Charlotte.

“Put me down , my lord!” Anna said, but the demand was undercut by her laughter.

“Certainly. On your tiptoes, in two more turns. Do you hear it? One-two-three, one-two-three. Now!”

Anna touched down and then they were off again, crossing the ballroom in wide, sweeping circles. In a few passes she had it, leaning into the turns and arching her neck, unconsciously revealing the slight hollow beneath her jaw. How he ached to bend down and kiss it.

He spun her faster, his hand firm on her waist as he whirled them along. She matched his long steps, as light as a sparrow as she skimmed across the floor.

She was a graceful dancer, remarkably so. All her movements were fast and light, from the way she walked to the way she rode, even the neat flick of her wrist as she drank her tea.

Why hadn’t he noticed before? He’d been fooled by her ugly clothes and how she hid herself when the way she moved told the true story. Her quickness, her bravery, the exhilaration. If only he had noticed—

What? You would have gathered her up and married her?

Even as the room continued to spin around him merrily, something inside him went dark.

Was this woman really going to be his wife? Every time he stepped closer, she shied from him. He still only saw her in jagged bursts, little streaks of lightning that flared and went out. It was infuriating, how little he knew of her still and how much he was beginning to want.

I don’t want a damned thing! he yelled inside, even as he clutched her close.

Anna must have thought he was challenging her, because her eyes sparked and she leaned farther into the turn, almost running as the music spun faster and faster.

Julian chased her, and when he caught her, he would—

“Very good! I think you’ve got the hang of it!” yelled Charlotte. “What an excellent teacher I am!”

The music crashed to a stop and Julian let Anna spin right out of his arms. For a second, her glowing eyes were all he could see. He wanted to haul her back to him, pull out that wretched bun, and…

“We’re done for the day.” His voice was harsh in the sudden silence.

Anna’s smile fell away.

“Thank heavens!” cried the Dowager. “Tea at last!”

Anna watched Julian stride out the ballroom door without another word to anyone. Her skirts were still swaying, her ears rang with the pianoforte’s dying chords, and her waist burned where Julian’s hand had been, but he was gone.

“That went rather well,” said Charlotte.

An odd laugh bubbled up in Anna. “That went terribly .”

She streaked down the hallway. “Lord Ramsay!”

He turned the corner, but Anna ran after him. “Lord Ramsay, wait!”

Julian stopped, steadying her as she stumbled into him, and then let her go, correct to a fault. “Is there something I can do for you?”

“Yes! You can tell me why you’re angry.”

His face darkened. “I’m not angry!”

“Then why did you rush off?”

“I have business to attend to. Elsewhere.” His voice was clipped and flat, and she knew that he was lying.

Anna stared up at him. “I don’t understand you. One minute you whisper nonsense at me, and the next you act as if we’re strangers. I’m not a toy! You mustn’t play with me.”

Something hot and glittering flared in his eyes and he took her by the arm and hustled her to the nearest room, closing the door behind them. Anna pressed herself back against the wood as he leaned in, his forearm up over her head and his face just inches from hers.

“What if I want you to play with me? What if I think about these games of ours all the time?”

There was no air in the room, or perhaps Anna was still breathless from dancing. Either way, her lungs couldn’t get enough air.

“Stop!” She raised a hand between them. “I don’t like this hot and cold. I don’t know the rules!”

Julian caught her closest finger in his mouth and bit it, and when he scraped his teeth over the pad of her finger she felt it in her belly. He bit the plump flesh at the base of her thumb, and then nudged her hand out of his way with his chin to kiss her, hard, fast, and a little angry.

“The rules are new to me too,” he growled.

Anna fisted her hand in his jacket and kissed him back. “You’re lying!” She opened her mouth for his tongue. “You’ve played before.”

His hands tightened on her waist. “I’ve never played like this.”

Anna nipped him hard on the blade of his jaw. “What if I don’t like the game?”

He dragged a hand slowly up over the sensitive skin of her stomach to cup her breast, his eyes flaring when she gasped. “I think you do.”

Anna bit his bottom lip as punishment, except the dratted man didn’t seem to mind. He gave a low hum of approval. Anna’s blood hummed along with him and she did it again.

“My lord, is this…” Her eyebrows drew together, even as she leaned back to give him better access to her neck. She was so mad—there was a reason!—but her blood had gone hot and syrupy and melted her wits away. “Lord Ramsay”—she gave a laugh, shaky and uncertain—“we seem to be having a kissing fight.”

“Mmm.” He nuzzled into her collarbone, sucked the tip of her earlobe. God, his mouth was hot. “Am I winning?”

“I’ll tell you in a minute.”

Her back was firm against the door now, one of his hands on her breast and the other on her shoulder, easing her dress down. He looked down and swallowed, his pupils enormous. “Christ, what you do to me.”

Julian’s mouth lowered almost reverently to her nipple, and he tortured them both by rubbing his lips against it softly until he seemed to break. He uttered a pained growl and sucked it deep into his mouth.

Footsteps echoed from the hallway outside, bringing them back to reality. Julian gave her nipple a last, helpless kiss, and pulled her dress back into place.

They rested their foreheads against each other, breathing together.

“Lord Ramsay?” she said, when she could form words again.

“Julian. Please say my name.”

“Julian. I—” Anna paused and forced herself to gather her thoughts. “Please tell me—why were you angry when you left the ballroom?”

He moved to kiss her again, but Anna shook her head.

“No! You can’t kiss me witless and think it will shut me up.”

His lips twisted. “I can try.”

“Julian, please! All this—it scares me. Can we at least have some truth between us?”

He rested his forehead against hers again and his breath came out in a long shudder. “All right. Come to me at Ramsay House tomorrow. It’s time we sort things out.”