Chapter Seven #2
Well, after he put her in a few other, more pleasurable positions, that was.
A soft gasp betrayed her hurt.
“Oh, I didn’t mean…” That was outside of enough, but he couldn’t recall the words, even if he’d wanted to. They’d exploded from him, propelled by bad luck and unresolved emotions he couldn’t sort.
“You did. Don’t deny it.”
When hurt shadowed her eyes, his chest tightened, and he mentally kicked himself for being a cad.
“Fine. I meant the words.” Yet he couldn’t think clearly when she was so near.
Why did she affect him so greatly? “I’d rather not find myself in your company again.
If we are to be engaged, we can do it at a distance.
” At least then his misfortune might not transfer to her.
Surprise flitted across her face. “Why? What is so awful about me?” That hint of vulnerability in her eyes and the waver in her voice nearly sent him to his knees with an apology on his lips.
“Nothing. Everything.” He shoved a hand through his hair and then headed for the door. I don’t need this drama. Having her in his life for just the few days had tied his insides in knots. Women just didn’t affect him like that.
Unless… No. The thought was dismissed as soon as it formed.
“I won’t let you leave without an explanation.” She caught up to him at the door before he could put his hand on the latch. Again, she dared to lay a hand on his arm, and he swore the heat of her seared through his sleeve to burn straight to the bone. “You’re angry too.”
“Of course I am.” He snorted. “And why shouldn’t I be?” he asked with heavy sarcasm, then wished he could take back those biting, hurtful words. “This is a terrible imposition as well as a burden.”
A gasp was the only reaction that vile response. “You needn’t be cruel. Also, I refuse to become any man’s burden. I have dreams, too.” Charlotte narrowed her eyes as she planted a palm to his chest. And damn if he didn’t wish to concede to her. “Why are you so frightened?”
“I’m not.”
“Poppycock. A man can be afraid of anything in this life, and there is no shame in it.” She continued to peer into his eyes. “You were the same way when we drove on Rotten Row. Again, I ask why.”
Damn, how could she discern that about him without truly knowing him? “I…” He cleared his throat. “I have had ill-luck with becoming engaged in the past.”
“Who of us hasn’t? Try again.”
She was a force unto herself, and he rather liked this side of her. “Everyone in my family—especially the men—have died early. Why should I marry and leave someone behind to grieve?”
Shit! Why did I admit that?
“Ah.” Her eyes widened behind the lenses of her spectacles. “That is why you wish to put distance between us? Yet you feel I’m only good enough to trifle with? To dump me into a scandal with you? But not good enough to marry?”
Fair questions. “I… Well, you see…” Finally, he shrugged. “You are proving a distraction I hadn’t counted upon.” At least that was the truth. “I don’t appreciate it.”
“Coward.” Two red spots of high color decorated her cheeks, a sure indication she was incensed. “Why do you think that is, Your Lordship?”
The words annoyed him. “I don’t know. Perhaps I don’t want to.
” When he tried to maneuver around her to open the door, she put pressure on his chest, effectively holding him captive between her hand and the panel.
How had she done that without him being aware?
Admiration for her grew. She was certainly becoming more confident.
“Well, I do.”
“Indeed? Then why don’t you enlighten me, because apparently, I’m an idiot.
” He was acting the beast, but he couldn’t stop it.
She set him at odds, had him so wound up it was all he could do not to kiss her right there.
But kissing her out of spite wasn’t well done of him.
He wanted her to want him as well. And that wasn’t his usual style.
What the devil ails me?
Where most women would have slapped his face for his effrontery or left the house in a huff, Charlotte stared him down, kept him frozen in place with curiosity and aggravation warring for dominance in her sapphire eyes. “You find me interesting and intriguing.”
What the devil was she on about? “Preposterous notion.” Though a tremor went down his spine, for she hit too close to the truth. “You are vexing, to be sure.”
“Popinjay.” She scoffed and applied more pressure to his chest. “Of course you desire me; you’ve already shown that bit, but it goes beyond that.
Somehow, you’re fascinated by someone like me who has no looks, no title, no fortune, and no carnal experience, who doesn’t kowtow to who you are, and honestly, you don’t know what to do about it.
In fact, you find it a bit terrifying yet compelling.
” The knowing grin she flashed proved the start of his undoing.
If he didn’t put distance between them, the consequences would be dire. “What utter rubbish. You should leave this instant.” God, he had to get away lest she just how much he wanted her.
She tossed her head, and when a slight lock of blonde hair escaped its pins to curl gently at the side of her neck, he nearly lost his mind and kissed the spot. “I never thought you were a coward, William.”
That brought him up short as did the sound of his name in her dulcet tones. He landed his gaze on her with a frown. “I am many things, but a coward is not one of them.”
Or so he thought, until he’d met this petite windstorm and his whole world was tipped upside down without his consent. More to the point, she continued to do it and wasn’t even aware of it.
“No?” She snorted. “The few improper kisses and a brief caress we shared have affected you more than you’d anticipated, and you are afraid this might be the one relationship that has the power to stick.
” Sadness glimmered in her eyes. She lowered her voice.
“Or is it that you’re put off because of me, a woman who has shoddy eyesight, a woman who hasn’t the looks or the charm most ton women should possess?
A woman who enjoys books more than the company of most people?
A woman who cares nothing for advancing herself in society? ”
Oh God. This was both a nightmare and a fantasy.
Far too many women in his past only desired him for his title and what expensive gifts he could bestow on them.
Yet here was this petite, curvy, tornado laboring beneath false facts, and that honesty made her every bit more attractive.
The tears welling in her eyes nearly sent him to his knees to beg for her forgiveness.
“I don’t… I won’t… Damn and blast.” The fog of his thoughts held him captive.
Why was she so confusing? The longer he looked at her, the more irritation mixed with the raw, inexplicable desire he had for her.
It formed a miasma of instability and insanity.
And white-hot lust.
There was only so much a man could take before he broke, and this was that moment.
For good or for ill, he was engaged to this woman.
Oddly, there was a certain comfort in that.
With a curse beneath his breath, William pulled her into his arms, and crushed his mouth to hers.
Charlotte was as sweet as sin, her petal-soft lips eager, and she welcomed him with the tentative enthusiasm she had when he’d kissed her in Hyde Park.
The connection they shared, that invisible thread tugging them together despite his reserve, was no less prominent now.
No longer could he withstand the waves of need that battered him.
When she made tiny sounds of surrender or encouragement at the back of her throat, William was lost. He wrenched away, his breath labored, his heart hammering behind his ribcage as he stared down into her eyes. “Charlotte…”
“Are you throwing me out?” How she managed to twine fear and disappointment together in her voice was beyond him, but it drove him closer to the point of no return with alacrity.
“No. Hardly.” He took her once more into his embrace, maneuvered her around, and kissed her so forcefully they crashed against the wooden panel with her snugly trapped between him and the door.
And damn if she didn’t feel good—right—in his arms, as if she alone could prove the balm he’d needed for quite some time, as if she could usher contentment into his life.
William kissed her, drank from her, dragged his lips along the silky side of her throat while she clung to his shoulders.
Too far gone to give thought to what he was doing, he yanked down her bodice, and when the perfect globes of her breasts were bared, he palmed one while taking the nipple of the other into his mouth.
“Oh.” A shuddering sigh escaped her. She arched her back, putting herself more securely into his care.
“William, I…” Her words were lost to a moan as he pleasured those pebbled tips with tongue and teeth and fingers as he’d wished to do yesterday before they tumbled out of the shrubberies into scandal.
“I need more of you,” he whispered against the crook of her shoulder as he slid a hand down her side and gathered handfuls of her skirting.
“I haven’t tried to beg off yet,” she responded in a soft and throaty voice. “And my curiosity hasn’t died since yesterday.”
“Shit.” He growled and kissed her again, shared breath with her, wanted to show his possession.
Perhaps in that way she wouldn’t be so furious with him.
When he’d bunched a good bulk of her skirts between them, he eased his hands beneath the layers of fabric to clutch the rounded curves of her buttocks.
A surprised squeak came from her, and the sound made him grin.
Oh, she was an innocent, but tempting, indeed.
He desperately needed her. “Tell me you want me, Charlotte, for I won’t have you crying foul that I took you against your will, even if we are engaged.” Already, his shaft pulsed with pain-tipped pleasure. He’d explode soon and embarrass himself if she declined.