Chapter 15 #2
Leo felt pure, undiluted fury at her defiance. He placed one hand on the sink behind her, caging her in, his body leaning intimidatingly toward her.
“Powdering your nose.” His voice was a lethal whisper. “In the house of the people I have warned you about? Of those, you use yourself as a weapon to hurt me? I never took you for a fool, Prim.”
Prim scowled. His fury was fueling her own anger. Her chest took deep breaths, and she pressed her lips together.
“While I was expecting every bit of this brutish manner,” she countered.
“I am happy I didn’t disappoint,” Leo hissed. “What were you thinking, Prim?”
“I accepted an invitation to a ball.”
“You willingly walked into the beast’s lair and smiled about it. I have ridden like a madman through London and searched this place, fearing I would find you in the worst possible state imaginable.”
Prim’s fury took a massive hit at his admission. Her lips fell open, and she leaned back, as if to look at his face, to make sure he was sincere. He must have seen his worry, because she looked away. Leo grabbed her chin with punishing force.
“Do you know how I felt hearing about this from Edwin?” He accused.
He leaned even closer, inched from her face. His body was vibrating, his jaw locked. He wanted to hit the mirror behind her.
“It was my choice to accept the invitation,” Prim said coldly. “Nobody told you to come.”
She pushed him and made a move to walk out the door. A low, guttural sound escaped him. Before she could take a second step, his hand reached out to her arm. He spun her back toward him with a force that landed her against his chest, and in two strides, he had her against the wall.
“You walked into a battle zone, Prim. This is a war that sees you as a weapon, a victim, or, at the very least, collateral damage.”
“I did what I had to do.”
Leo hit the wall beside her head with his fist. Prim didn’t even flinch. Their eyes locked in a battle of wills, her fire against his cold.
“You defied me and came to the ball,” he barked.
“I chose what is best for my sisters!” She snapped. “They are all that matters in this ridiculous game. If I have to walk through fire, through a ballroom, through hell itself to secure a future for them, I will do it without a second thought.”
“Damn you,” he hissed.
Before Prim could even realize what was going on, his mouth crashed down on hers. His fingers dug into her waist as he claimed her lips in a searing, harsh kiss, meant to completely destroy her.
He felt Prim tense for one second before her body gave up into his, her anger melting. She kissed him back with ferocity, her hands into his hair. She let her lips fall open in a gasp that he swallowed whole, and his tongue met hers in a furious, desperate clash.
His hands went behind her knees, and he pulled her up against the wall. She wrapped her legs around his hips instinctively. A low, guttural moan escaped him as he pressed his body against hers. This new angle deepened the kiss, his tongue sliding over hers with a hunger that bordered on violence.
For a moment, he forgot where they were, how dangerous it was, how risky, how mad. All that mattered was her body arching with need against his, the fact that she was safe and warm and his.
Then he heard it.
“You can freshen up through here, Lady Trowbridge.”
Leo barely registered the words when the door flung open. At the doorstep was his mother. A moment of eternity passed between them. His mother’s shock quickly dissolved into action.
“I am afraid,” Bridget tried to block the view from the door, “That this powder room is occupied. I can lead you-”
Leo felt Prim tense in his arms, hiding her face against his chest.
“What is going on in here?” Lady Trowbridge demanded.
It could have been anyone but her. Anyone but this meddlesome gossip. One look over Bridget’s shoulder, who was struggling to close the door, and all was lost.
“This is most inappropriate!” She shrilled, her eyes wide with scandalized glee.
She took in the scene. There was no mistaking what was going on. Prim was still perched up against his thighs, her hair ruined, his clothes disheveled, and their lips swollen.
“Your Grace! And… and Miss Jenkins! In a state of… Such a scandal!”
“Lady Trowbridge, please,” Bridget tried.
But the damage was done, and the woman’s shrill voice was like a summons to everyone in the ballroom. Voices were raised, and whispers spread. A crowd gathered outside, curious eyes, dignified gasps, malicious smiles.
Leo slowly, deliberately lowered Prim to her feet.
Shielding her with his body, his back to the crowd, he looked down at her.
All color was drained from her face, her teeth gnawing at her lips to keep herself from crying.
She was trembling, her breath coming shallow, in hitches.
She didn’t look at him. She looked at the abyss opening before her.
The future she had fought so desperately to build for Camilla and Myrtle was crumbling to ash before her eyes
A profound, icy calm settled over him. This was his fault. His family’s war. His reckless kiss. And he would be damned if he let her pay the price for it.
He turned to the crowd gathered with that easy, yet dangerous glint in his eye. He saw with satisfaction that most people were reminded of who he was, even in this vulnerable position.
“I see no scandal here,” he said in a sure, assertive tone, “but a deplorable lack of manners.”
Whispers of protest were raised, ready to turn into accusations, but Leo knew how to play the game better than anyone. His voice rode over them, clear and absolute.
“I have just proposed to Miss Jenkins. She graciously accepted my proposal.”
He allowed a moment for the shock of his announcement to settle in everyone’s minds, for reality to catch up with them.
“We were merely… celebrating,” he added with his trademark smirk.
For a heartbeat, there was absolute silence.
They all stared and blinked, perhaps expecting Leo to admit this was some kind of jest. When Leo returned their stunned faces with teasing reassurance, as was his distinctive style, the hallway erupted.
There was a cacophony of gasps and cheers, of murmurs and complaints.
Leo ignored all that, and he turned. Prim was there looking up at him, shaking her head lightly in utter disbelief.
Her eyes were wide and unblinking, begging him to tell her that he didn’t just do that.
He lifted his hand to rearrange her disheveled hair, to straighten her clothes.
Prim simply breathed, wallowing in shock.
When he was done, he lifted his chin so she would look upon him.
“It’s like you said, Prim. I did what I had to do.”