Chapter Six #2
Miss Cary had such excitement for the activity, and Elias found it catching.
He too was smiling and excitedly held up sticks he thought would suit their plans.
Then he’d almost puffed out his chest with pride when she gave him a satisfied nod.
He couldn’t remember the last time he’d had so much fun.
Before long, they had gathered all the different sticks and twigs they would need and had placed them with their other materials.
Hudson and Hannah had already started building, with Hudson rolling a large ball of packed snow over to where Hannah waited.
Matt and Miss Stone had also started their snowman, with their base in place and working to add some kind of elaborate detail around the bottom.
Elias glanced back to Miss Cary, and she grabbed his hand to pull him with her. Even through both of their gloves, he felt the warmth from her hand in his. He forced himself to look away from her and focus on their search. The last thing they needed to find was their sprig of mistletoe.
They entered the patch of trees at the edge of the open area where the teams were working, continuing into the trees until they were not visible to anyone else. He noted she hadn’t released his hand, and he found he had no desire to let her go. Their hands seemed to fit together perfectly.
She continued to pull him through the woods, looking up as she did so. Her cheeks were pink from the cold, and when his eyes dropped to her lips, he noted those were also a similar shade. He licked his own lips in an instinctive response and allowed her to lead him deeper into the forest.
Miss Cary stopped and looked around, trying to decide where they would go next. Elias glanced at the branches above them and grinned when he saw the most perfect bundle of mistletoe directly over her head. The white berries were easy to spot against the green leaves.
“Miss Cary,” he said, giving her a wide grin.
She glanced at him curiously, and he responded by pointing up above her head.
He was almost positive that her cheeks turned even darker when she realized where she stood. His cock took notice, twitching at the thought that he would taste her lips.
“It would be bad luck if I didn’t kiss you,” he said, stepping closer, her hand still in his.
She gulped. “I suppose you are correct.”
He cupped her cheek with his gloved hand and gave her a soft smile before he lowered his head and brushed his lips against hers.
The electricity that shot through his body was something he hadn’t experienced in all of his six-and-twenty years.
Needing to taste more of her, he ran his tongue along the seam of her lips.
When she opened to him, he swept his tongue inside to meet hers.
To his surprise, she didn’t back away or end the kiss, but deepened it, massaging her tongue against his. He released her hand and wrapped his arm around her waist, holding her tighter against him, the ridge in his breeches pressed against her midsection, since he was so much taller than she was.
Her gloved hands moved between them and pressed them flat against his chest, doing nothing to ease the intensity of the shockwaves he felt.
He wanted more and feared that even that might never be enough from the way he drank from her.
Elias imagined pushing her back against the tree and having her wrap her legs around his waist.
Perhaps she sensed he was losing his grip on his gentlemanly principles, because she broke the kiss and pulled away from him. He released the hold he had on her so she could take a couple of steps back.
“I got carried away,” Elias quickly said. “Please forgive me.” Although he wasn’t certain why he was apologizing. He didn’t feel bad about kissing her, and if she would allow him to do so again, he wouldn’t be able to turn down the opportunity.
“No one saw us, so there is no need to speak of it again,” she said, staring up at the mistletoe, as if she were unfazed by their kiss and ready to continue what they had ventured into the woods to do.
Elias tamped down his irritation. He didn’t need her to fall at his feet or profess some promise of love, because lord knows he certainly wasn’t going to, but it might have been nice if the kiss had some kind of lasting impact on her.
“Very well,” he said, deciding that there wasn’t much else he could say unless he wanted to appear as some besotted fool, which he absolutely was not. “I shall cut down what we need.”
Elias climbed the tree with ease and cut a few sprigs.
He handed them down to Miss Cary, and then he climbed back down a few feet to the ground.
Pushing aside the annoyance he still felt about how nonchalant Miss Cary had been about their kiss, he extended his arm to her, and they set off back out of the woods so they could begin crafting their scene.
His competitive nature only slightly helped him set aside the thoughts of how soft Miss Cary’s lips were or how her tongue had tasted like tea and blackberry jam.
They worked well together, even if he was constantly at war with impure thoughts of how pink her cheeks would look in contrast to the snow, if he were to lay her down in it.
They each checked over their scene as Aunt Penny announced that everyone’s time was up. It turned out even better than he had expected. The scene itself was ironic, given what had occurred between them, and that he would happily haul her right back to the very spot and repeat the action.
For their scene, they had constructed two snow people with twig arms that reached for each other.
Lydia had fashioned a dress for the snow woman from twigs and branches filled with pine needles.
Elias had constructed a replica of a top hat on the snowman using sticks, and a cravat made from greenery.
They had placed greenery around the base to make them appear as if they were standing on some kind of rug.
Then they had used a long stick to hold up the mistletoe, which Elias had taken care to pack the supporting stick well, so that it would remain secure.
Elias glanced around at the competition and believed they stood a good chance at winning. They had been the only ones to build two snow figures for theirs. The dress and the greenery bonnet that Miss Cary created at least matched, if not exceeded, the detail the others had created.
His father and sisters began walking by each of the teams, assessing their snowmen.
When they neared where Elias and Miss Cary stood, he extended his arm to her and they stood to the side, watching as his family looked over their scene.
He beamed with pride when his sisters pointed out the details.
Elias’s father caught his gaze when Jenny pointed out how romantic the scene was, and Elias looked away, not wanting his father to read too much into it. The scene hadn’t even been his idea.
The elder Lord Snowdon, Jenny, and Grace huddled together, and then, after several moments, they turned to face everyone.
“You all did a wonderful job,” his father started, “and it looks like you all had a lot of fun too. My daughter has already told me I cannot declare everyone the winner, so after reviewing the efforts from each team, we are ready to make our choice.”
His father paused for dramatic effect and glanced between each team. “The winners are Miss Cary and Viscount Snowdon.”
Diana stepped forward. “I shall inform you of your prize on Christmas Eve, the day after tomorrow.”
The only person who appeared put out by the announcement was Lady Billings, who crossed her arms and rolled her eyes when Miss Cary expressed her delight over winning. Elias turned his back to the woman and congratulated his partner on a job well done.
He played with a bit of fire when he leaned toward her and whispered, “I’d ask for a kiss for the winner, but I believe we already anticipated our win.”
Pulling back to gauge her reaction, he watched her cheeks pinken.
But aside from the change in her skin tone, there was no reaction from her.
The only upside to his disappointment was that it aided to keep his half-erection from increasing.
He wasn’t certain why her resistance to him drove him as mad as it did.
He reminded himself that no more could occur between them, regardless.
Miss Cary was an innocent, not a woman to dally with, but a woman who would seek marriage. And just because he might let a bit of his father’s lecture seep into his thoughts didn’t mean that he’d marry anytime soon, which meant the tempting Miss Cary was off-limits.