Chapter 1 #2
Rupert grinned, a lazy smile creeping over his face. It was a miracle. A true miracle! To think, he had not even considered attending Lady Jarrold’s card party this evening.
Only a lady? Far below his station, and he rather expected his parents to agree with him, forbid him to go.
As it was, they had become distracted with affairs far more important than their son, and Rupert had been free to attend as he wished.
And when he had seen her…
“Well?” said Lady Elizabeth sternly, still glaring at him. “What have you got to say for yourself?”
He would have to remember that she was probably not as smitten by him as he was by her, Rupert tried to remind himself.
After all, it was he who had been hit by a thunderbolt the moment he had seen her. Such perfection, such beauty—and the more Lady Jarrold had spoken of her, the more Rupert was convinced she was absolutely perfect.
And the way she glared at him, all bristling malice and outrage did something rather painful to his heart, and a little lower down.
But he could not rush ahead of himself, Rupert thought, trying to collect himself. just because he knew how he felt about her, that did not mean she was ready to hear such overtures.
Or any overtures whatsoever.
“I did not realise you wished for a private audience, Lady Elizabeth,” Rupert said, his smile dancing on his lips. “If I had known—”
“Private audience?” Lady Elizabeth snorted. “My word, for a cad you do give yourself airs!”
It was difficult not to be a little prickled by this statement. Rupert was hardly a flawless gentleman—there were certain jests when he had been younger, certainly, that he was not ashamed of, but hardly proud of.
After all, the butler did not deserve to be so utterly dunked in the fishpond. At least, not the second time.
But he was hardly a cad!
“I wonder why you consider me a cad, given you know so little about me,” Rupert said mildly.
Lady Elizabeth snorted by way of response and moved away from the door, striding around the library.
Only then did Rupert give any thought to his surroundings. It was most certainly a library that she had pulled them into; rows and rows of books lined the walls, their gold lettering on the leather sparkling in the two candles which had been left burning on a small table in the centre of the room.
The fireplace was blazing merrily, a large pile of logs beside it, and there was even a drinks cabinet, from what he could see. A large fur was spread out by the fire, and there were several plush armchairs and a sofa dotted about the place.
Really, it was a most delightful place. The perfect location for a young lady and a gentleman to…talk.
“I need know none of your specifics to know you are a rake.”
Rupert turned. Elizabeth was facing away from him, as though looking at him was far more than she could bear, and was examining some of the books on the bookshelf on the other side of the room.
“A rake?” he repeated.
Really, this was getting better and better! If he was a betting man, and it was a vice he had never tempted himself with—men in his position could hardly permit themselves to become indebted to just about anyone—he would guess that the Lady Elizabeth had no idea who he was.
Rupert’s smile became one of astonishment, but he managed to hide his expression as she turned around to glare at him again.
Well, well. This would certainly be interesting. He had assumed that everyone in London would know—but then, how was one to recognise a man like him on sight?
Unless one was introduced…
“I hope you have come to your senses,” Lady Elizabeth said coldly. “It is outrageous that a gentleman such as yourself would speak in such a way to me, and I hope that—”
“When was the last time you were kissed, Elizabeth?”
Rupert was right. He thought she would be flummoxed by such a forthright question, and as her cheeks pinked it appeared her tongue was utterly at a loss.
“Kiss—last time I—you rogue!”
“Perhaps,” said Rupert, stepping towards her and wishing to goodness she would just fall into his arms and capitulate. But then, those ladies were never the most fun, were they? “But I have taken a great liking to you, Elizabeth—”
“Lady Elizabeth!”
“And the more you speak, the more I like you,” Rupert added, closing the gap between them.
Elizabeth blinked, retreating from him as her back hit the bookshelf behind her.
A flare of desire rushed through Rupert but he knew he could not give in now; not yet, at any rate. It would not be long, surely, before she realised precisely who he was and then he would probably have to force her away with a stick.
His eye caught hers, and his stomach lurched with a sensation that was not quite desire but was rather close to it.
Or perhaps he wouldn’t. perhaps, for the first time in his life, he would have to actually seduce someone.
“You hardly know me,” she breathed.
Rupert locked eyes with her as he stopped, a mere foot away from her, and congratulated himself on his own self-control. It would not do to entirely lose one’s balance, after all.
“I know enough,” he said quietly. “I have an instinct for these things, you see—”
“I bet you do!”
“—and I can see that you wish to be kissed. By me.”
Rupert watched as Elizabeth licked her lips, seemingly unconsciously, and tried hard not to groan.
Oh, he had been right, the moment he saw her.
Strange, he had never felt such a jolt in all his life, but he had followed his instincts and now he was in a library, all alone, with a woman so tantalising—
“I have no wish to be kissed by you at all,” breathed Elizabeth.
He could hear the lie, see it in her eyes. Why, she may never have been kissed before. Rupert tried not to quiver at the delight of giving a woman her first taste of pleasure. This was different, this encounter. He had never felt so…so at sea with a woman.
No woman had ever resisted his charms so defiantly, and yet somehow that made her all the more exquisite.
“I think you do,” said Rupert, lowering his voice and his gaze to her lips. “I think you want very much to be kissed by me. I think you saw me watching you out there, in the drawing room, and wished every other person in that room to be gone, leaving only you and I.”
She said nothing, and a spark of passion flooded Rupert’s heart. He was right.
“Well, now you have your wish, Elizabeth—”
“Lady Elizabeth,” she breathed.
“—and remember, it was you who pulled me in here, and locked the door,” continued Rupert, determined to make her see, make her understand her own wishes. “You wanted me alone with you, and now you have your wish. The question is, what are you going to do with me?”
And he moved, just ever so slightly. Just enough for there to be an inch and an inch only between them. he could feel her warmth, hear her fluttered breathing, see the confusion and desire in her eyes, and Rupert knew it would only be a matter of seconds before—
Elizabeth pushed past him, breathing heavily as though she had undergone great effort, and laughed dryly as she approached the door.
“And that is where you are wrong, Mr. Rupert, or whatever your name is,” she said breathlessly. “I-I only brought you in here to tell you just how very forward you were being, and that it was scandalous for you to behave that way to a lady of nobility!”
Rupert had to force down a wry smile at that remark. She definitely did not know who he was.
“And furthermore, I have not locked the door,” Elizabeth said boldly, placing her hand on the door handle. “I would never do such an outrageous thing as to open myself up to gossip and rumour. See?”
She turned the handle and pulled. Nothing happened.
Rupert blinked. Elizabet turned away from and to the door, pulling it with all her might. Then she tried pushing it. she leaned down and glared at the lock, as though it was purposefully offending her, and then pulled at it again, hard. nothing happened.
Slowly, very slowly, she straightened up and with pink cheeks met Rupert’s gaze.
He grinned. “Oh dear.”