Chapter Thirteen #2
In that moment he found himself hurting for her all over again. She has a tender heart, he reminded himself, and he could so easily damage it. ‘I suppose,’ he said at last, ‘that you made a deliberate choice to look as inconspicuous as possible in your sister’s household?’
‘Indeed. I wished to deter Edward and anyone like him.’
She didn’t look inconspicuous now. She actually looked quite beautiful.
They needed to talk and perhaps this was his best chance.
As she gazed around the room in fresh wonder, he said, ‘Listen. As we’re here, do you want to see more of the Pavilion?
There’s the green drawing room where the card tables are set out, then there’s the yellow drawing room, and—’
‘Stop, please, Dan!’ She was laughing now. ‘It is all a little excessive, I must admit. Very grand, but soulless.’
Dan. She had called him Dan, and the intimacy of his name on her lips brought back so many memories of the passionate moments they’d shared. He took a deep breath to calm the pulse of fierce desire leaping through his body.
‘As soulless as my house, I fear,’ he said. ‘Especially now that Oliver has gone.’
‘Your brother has left? But why?’
‘He told me it was to attend a regimental reunion back in London, but I suspect it’s because he’s angry with me.’
‘I cannot imagine him being angry with you! Did he have a good reason for it, do you think?’
‘Probably.’ Dan took a deep breath. And then—then, he came out with it. ‘He denounced me over my behaviour towards you, Kate.’
‘Your behaviour to me?’ Her hand flew to her mouth. ‘Oh, no. He doesn’t know, does he? About us yesterday afternoon, on the beach?’
‘No, he doesn’t. But he knows me all too well and he warned me I should leave you alone, because he thinks I’m a danger to you.’
She nodded slowly. ‘Am I allowed to say what I think?’
He paused to look around. From the other rooms came noise and laughter, but in here they were completely alone. He said at last, ‘Perhaps you better had.’
He could see she was preparing her words carefully, and he braced himself.
‘Very well,’ she said at last. ‘My opinion is this. Any life, if it’s lived to the full, involves choices and therefore risks.
You and I have laid out our ground rules.
We are old enough to know what we want, and we are each happy with our independence. But…’ She hesitated.
‘But?’ he queried softly.
‘But if I hadn’t met you, Dan, I would have missed moments I can never forget. Being with you. Dancing with you. Laughing with you. And—’ he saw the soft flush colouring her cheeks and the glow in her eyes ‘—I would never have experienced what happened yesterday afternoon, down on the beach.’
She gazed at him almost defiantly, as if challenging him to answer.
But when he said nothing, she spoke again.
‘If I have invited danger,’ she said, ‘it’s because I wanted to.
I know this summer won’t last for ever. Your brother is a good man, but please don’t listen to him now.
Don’t end the magic yet, because that’s what it is for me, Dan—pure magic.
Someday I know you need a wife and heirs, but at the moment we are both in a position to decide what we want.
Yes, this must come to an end, but not yet. Not just yet.’
She smiled at him, but her smile was uncertain. ‘There. I’ve said what I needed to. I’ve said far too much, probably. But have I made myself clear?’
Just at that moment some people wandered into the room, and they were so busy talking that they didn’t see Dan and Kate in the far corner.
‘I believe the Earl of Rivington has a guest here tonight,’ someone was saying. ‘He’s with that woman who lives up on the hillside. He seems quite taken with her, but really, what a very odd choice for him— Oh!’
Dan had stepped forward, keeping Kate at his side. ‘Ladies, gentlemen. May I introduce Miss Kate Summerby? She is my neighbour and my friend, and we find that we have a good deal in common—such as avoiding, at all costs, the company of gossip-mongers. We’ll leave you to it.’
Feeling absolutely furious, he led Kate out of there. ‘I’m sorry. That was detestable for you… . Kate, are you all right?’
He had seen that she was pressing her hand to her mouth, and when she took her hand away, he realised she was laughing.
‘I’m quite all right, Dan! And heavens, I’m not upset. I’ve known far worse than that. It was actually quite funny.’
‘Funny?’
‘Yes, funny! Their faces were such a picture when they realised we were in there. I often overheard vicious comments during my Season, and I can’t say I found it easy, because I was young and alone. But here I really don’t care, because I’m with you.’
Dan felt moved beyond words. In this vastly extravagant building, so full of show and artifice, Kate Summerby shone like a beacon of courage and honesty—and she was beautiful beyond compare.
Suddenly he realised that he didn’t want to spend any more time in this ridiculous place, holding conversations with people he didn’t even like. He grabbed Kate’s hand. ‘Let’s go, quickly, because soon the music will begin and we’ll never get away. Come.’ He began to lead her towards the doorway.
She looked anxious. ‘Are you taking me home? Is it because I’ve said something wrong?’
‘Hell, no.’ He looked around. ‘As far as I’m concerned, you’re the only person in this whole place who’s said everything right.
The problem is that I can’t spend the whole evening here without kissing you.
Damn it all, Kate, I don’t think I could last another hour without kissing you.
’ He paused a moment. ‘I suppose Harriet will be watching out for your return?’
‘Actually, no. She has gone to stay with Tilly and Joseph for the night, to help care for their poorly grandchildren.’
‘So if I came to Clematis Villa, no one would know?’
He thought he could see the thrill of excitement rippling through her. She said a little breathlessly, ‘Absolutely no one.’
‘Then let’s get a cab.’ He hailed one on the road outside, and if the driver was surprised to see them leaving the party so early, he made no comment. Dan helped Kate inside, then he took her in his arms and kissed her until at last she broke away, flushed and breathless.
She was thinking, what am I doing?
Living. That was what she was doing, living, and when he kissed her again, she kissed him back.
This man caught her by surprise every time—for example, look at her now!
Just when she had her future planned out as an independent lady with no need for anyone else in her life, he had appeared and swept her off her feet until she found herself doing incredible, impossible things like this—riding home from a party with a gorgeous man who had no intention of politely escorting her to her front door, but instead had just one thing on his mind.
And so did she.
The hired cab was badly sprung, so every time they went over a rut it bounced and flung them around.
But always she ended up in his arms, and his kisses, wonderful though they were, didn’t satisfy her but merely stoked the heat that was already raging inside her.
When the cab stopped outside Clematis Villa, Dan paid the driver while she went inside and began lighting candles.
She had to think of something to do, because she suddenly felt shy, nervous even.
She started prattling away when he joined her. ‘I’m afraid I have no wine or brandy for you. This must be hardly what you are used to—’
He put one finger to her lips. ‘Miss Summerby, I think your house is unbelievably perfect. Just like you.’
‘Really?’
‘Really.’
She said no more. Instead, she took a lighted candle and led him up the stairs and along the twisty corridor to her bedroom.
Was she afraid? Yes, she was, just a little. She was also astounded at herself—was she, London’s most-rejected debutante, actually inviting a roguish Earl into her bed? Whoever would believe it?
In a way, though, it was perfect. There might be whispers indeed, but they would soon fade, because after the summer she would never see him again. No. Don’t think of that. Already she felt the pain of loss, but then she realised he had come up behind her.
‘You’re still worrying too much,’ he said. ‘Stop.’
So she did. He undressed her with tenderness and respect and she thought, I shall remember this for ever.
She also realised that, dear God, he was mightily skilled at removing a woman’s clothes, but she tried not to think of the reason for that either.
This was tonight, this was her moment of delight, and she was safe, because she was under no illusions.
This was not a promise of undying love. This was for now, for mutual pleasure, and—
‘Oh!’
She couldn’t help letting out a cry of delight, for his hands, with those long, supple fingers of his that had always fascinated her, were cupping her naked breasts.
Her nipples had hardened instantly, sending frantic messages straight to that place between her thighs where a pulse of need was throbbing almost painfully.
She wanted him. She reached for his shoulders, longing for his kiss, and he knew it because it arrived soon enough and it was warm, cherishing, reassuring. Then he drew back, and disappointment crushed her, until she saw that his eyes were full of dark, glittering promise.
‘Patience,’ he murmured as he cast aside his red velvet coat and white neckcloth. She nodded, trying to curb her fierce longing, and watched as he sat on the bed to tug off his boots, then stood and unbuttoned his shirt.
His back was to her now, so in the light of the solitary candle, she could see the play of his muscles as he pulled the shirt over his head.
Lowering her gaze, she could see that tattoo of the dragon also, and its slitted eyes were staring at her as if in challenge.
Then her throat went quite dry, because he was easing off his breeches and coming back towards her.