Chapter 14
Chapter Fourteen
Jonny groaned into Ada’s mouth, due to both what she was doing to him and in frustration that he had surrendered.
He had tried to hold out, but the way she had looked at him, the argument she had made — it was all too tempting.
He had given in, and given in with gusto.
Maybe it didn’t matter what the future held.
Maybe she was right, and they should just take this for what it was.
He wrapped a hand around the back of her head, his fingers threading through her soft curls, his kiss becoming hard, urgent, desperate.
It was like the more he tried to keep himself away from her, the more he lost his head when he finally touched her.
He was like gunpower, waiting, dormant, and she was the flint to ignite him and cause him to shoot off.
His tongue slid over hers, and in the back of his mind, he worried about how his stubble would scrape her skin, wondered if he would leave marks on the softness of her face.
While he didn’t want to hurt her, he hoped he left just enough redness to tell anyone who might see that she was spoken for.
By him.
He groaned again at how good she felt in his arms as his fingers flexed in her hair, heat spreading through his body at how much she made him want her, how, if the opportunity presented itself, it wouldn’t take much for him to divest them of their clothing and take her right there, in this parlor or wherever they found themselves.
He backed her up until she hit the wall, just missing the lamp beside her, heat spilling off of it onto them, if it was possible for them to warm any further.
He had never known a woman to give back so much in return when she was in an embrace. With other women, it felt practiced, like they were doing what was expected of them.
With Ada, he could tell that she was putting her whole heart into this, that her kiss came from deep in her soul, that she wanted this just as much as he did.
One of her hands wrapped into his hair, the other against his chest, her fingers curling into him as she gave up power to him while returning his caress at the same time.
Jonny lost control of his thoughts as his skin got hot and he was no longer driven by anything but pure need that flowed through his body.
How he would return to the party or look anyone in the eye after this, he had no idea, but that didn’t overly matter at the moment.
All that mattered was her.
His arms wrapped around her waist, pulling her closer until they were flush against one another. He didn’t care if she felt him heavy and hard between her legs. In fact, he wanted her to feel it, to know what she was in for if she followed him down this path.
He pushed it a little further, one of his hands trailing up the side of her body to cup one breast, which was the perfect size, firm and filling his hand. He ran his fingers over her nipple, feeling it harden beneath the layers that separated their skin from each other.
She moaned as she arched her chest into him, and Jonny was debating whether or not to rip off the ridiculous lace that covered her neck and upper chest when a shout from outside the door had him stepping back and away from her as though they had been physically torn apart.
Their eyes met, hers glazed over in desire as he turned his attention toward the door.
He reached out, taking her hand, her brows lifting in some confusion at the intimate gesture, but he needed her to know that this did mean more to him than just the physical, even if he could never put that into words.
He led her toward the door, opening it a crack to see beyond.
“My jewels!” Lady Harcourt cried to her husband, who was standing at the other side of the corridor. “They’re gone!”
Jonny and Ada exchanged a glance, disbelief on both of their faces. The first event that the footballers were invited to and jewellery had gone missing? This wasn’t good.
Not at all.
Ada’s heartrate was just coming back to normal after that life-altering kiss when Lady Harcourt’s cries had distracted them.
Someone had stolen her jewels. Well, it certainly wasn’t Jonny. He had been rather occupied.
Although it appeared that they were both losing this current battle.
“Call the police!” Lord Harcourt shouted beyond the door, likely to the butler. “Is everyone accounted for?”
“People have been arriving and leaving all evening, my lord,” the butler said. “But I have a fair idea of who is no longer here.”
“Very good,” Lord Harcourt said. “Make a list.”
“We’d better get out there,” Jonny murmured. “Make ourselves known.”
Ada nodded but tugged on his hand before he left.
“Jonny?”
“Yes?”
“If anyone questions your whereabouts, I have no problem telling them the truth. That you were with me.”
He stared at her, blinking.
“You can’t say that. You know what that would mean. No marriage to David Carter. Or likely to anyone else.”
“I know,” she said, resolved.
“I have no wish to marry.”
“That’s fine. That’s not what this is about.”
He narrowed his eyes at her and her spine stiffened.
“You’re not using me, are you?”
Her mouth gaped open at him. “You cannot be serious. Using you for what?”
“For an excuse not to marry Carter.”
“Absolutely not,” she said, her jaw dropping. “I can deny him all on my own.”
“Just had to ask.”
“I just offered to ruin my life and any chance at marriage for you,” she bit out. “I would appreciate not being insulted in return.”
He only shrugged as he stepped into the hallway, leaving Ada to glare daggers at his back.
“Such an ass,” she muttered, hoping he heard her.
Why was it always like this with him? The moment she thought that maybe there was something between them, something more than just a desire for one another, he did or said something that told her that he could never be invested in her.
It was infuriating.
She followed him out the door, surprised when he stopped so quickly that she ran into the back of him.
“Ouch,” she said, rubbing her nose from where it hit him between the shoulder blades. “What are you doing?”
He crouched down, picking something up off the floor. He turned around and faced her, his lips pressed together in a grim line.
“What is it?” she leaned forward to look at what he held. He lifted the piece of cloth up toward her. A scarf was in his hand, navy blue with a distinct pattern over top of it.
“What is it?” Ada asked, uncertain why someone’s old piece of clothing would be of such consequence.
“I know this scarf.”
She lifted a brow.
“It’s Will’s.”
“Will’s?” she hissed. “What is he doing here?”
“I have a feeling,” Jonny said grimly, “that he just accomplished his goal of making us look bad.”
“But why?”
“Why wouldn’t he?” Jonny said with a shrug. “If he can pull my name back down, then I would have nothing – nothing except to return to where I came from. If I lost football, lost my job?” He shrugged, looking at her. “I have a feeling that there will be evidence leading toward me.”
“Then we will fight it.”
Jonny might be an ass, but he still didn’t deserve to be blamed for this.
He shook his head slowly, a wry smile hitting his lips.
“That’s the thing, Ada. We can fight it all we want, but when people have an idea of what they think is the truth, they latch onto it.
No one here has any reason to believe me to be anything different than what I am.
I think you need to keep yourself as far away from me as you can, to prevent anyone from associating us together. ”
“That’s the last thing that will help you,” she scoffed.
“Perhaps I don’t want you anyway,” he said with a nonchalant shrug, and she stepped closer, getting into his face despite the fact that voices were nearing, that anyone could see them out here.
“Don’t pull that with me,” she said in a low voice. “I know much better than that. You’re just trying to push me away.”
His mouth tilted, as though in admittance that she was right. “Well then, we’ll play this as we go.”
She nodded in agreement as footsteps sounded on the other end of the hallway.
“Party’s over,” Colin said, staring at them as he walked toward them, seeming to understand something had occurred between them, though he thankfully didn’t question it.
“I promised Harcourt that we would all be available for questioning if we’re needed.
He asked if we would agree to being searched on the way out, but I thought that would be beneath us. ”
“I’m happy to show him I’m not hiding anything,” Tommy said, lifting his jacket.
“If it means I’m left alone, then I’ll do the same,” Jonny agreed.
Colin sighed. “Very well. Come with me, men. The detective has just arrived, and he said he’ll take a quick look around. Perhaps we can see him first and then you can all get out of here. I know this wasn’t what you wanted to do tonight, so I appreciate you all coming. Rhys said the same.”
Ada watched Jonny. He hadn’t wanted to come, even knowing that she was likely to be here? What did that mean?
His eyes met hers, but there was nothing in them to answer any questions she might have.
“Goodnight, Ada,” Tommy said, a grin on his lips as he looked from her to Jonny and back again.
“Goodnight,” she said to them all even though Jonny said nothing specifically to her.
Apparently, she wasn’t worth a goodbye from him, or for whatever reason, he didn’t want his teammates to know there was anything between them.
At least she didn’t have to worry about word spreading, unless she did it herself.
She passed the men as she continued on to the drawing room, avoiding her mother in order to sit with her friends.
“What in the world is happening?” Emmaline half-whispered as she joined them.
Ada told them about the robbery and Jonny finding Will’s scarf, as quickly and as quietly as she could.
They listened in shock until Emmaline perked up, straightening her spine as she turned to her.
“So, tell me, Ada, were you with Jonny at this time?”
“I was,” she said, not making eye contact with any of them. “With Jonny and others from the team as well. Your husbands were there.”
“Were they with you the entire time?”
“No.”
“So, the rest of the time…”
“It was just the two of us.”
“And what happened?”
She sighed. “I’m trying to determine if that really matters anymore.”
“Oh, it does,” Minnie said softly. “Very much so. Jonny doesn’t let anyone close.
Tommy said the team barely knows him, and he’s been playing with them for three years now.
That he’s spending time with you, telling you things about his brother…
” She studied Ada as though trying to read something there, but Ada looked away, unable to meet her gaze, knowing that she was keeping a fair amount from her friends as well.
“I thought he annoyed you,” Emmaline said, quirking a brow.
“Oh, he does,” Ada said. “I wouldn’t read anything into this. We just had some things to discuss.”
She could feel Lily’s eyes on her, knew that she had more to say, but thankfully, Emmaline moved onto the actual robbery itself.
“If this was Will, what does that mean?” Emmaline asked.
“I think it means that Sharpe is making his mark, and for whatever reason, he wants Jonny involved.”
Lily eyed her. “I think you need to stay far away from this, Ada,” she said, correctly reading her intentions.
“If Jonny won’t fight this, then who will?” she asked, her eyes narrowing and her hands clenching into fists. “We need to do this for him, so he doesn’t get unfairly blamed.”
“You know we will back you in whatever you want to do, Ada,” Minnie said, placing her hand on Ada’s. “Are you sure about this?”
“No,” she said. While she appreciated her friends’ support, she would do most of this herself so as not to put them in danger. They didn’t need to know that. “But I’m going to do it anyway.”