Heaven Scent (12 page)

“I was the only person at our dinner
party that was interested in your views on women and the
vote.”

She felt her face heat. “Yes
-”

“And as I remember,” he
interrupted, taking another step towards her. “I sneaked you into
the men’s seminar - a seminar you had been trying to get into
for
months
.“

Swallowing hard, she stepped back
again. She didn’t like the way this conversation was going.
“Y-yes…”

“And
, I was the man that got Pensworthy to sign your damned
petition,” he reminded her, pinning her back against the fireplace
mantel, and planting his arm beside her head. “And I signed it
myself. So don‘t throw me in the same waste pile as everyone else.
I won‘t have it, Tarin.”

Tarin wanted to run from the room - and
tried.

Rafe was too quick. He blocked her
escape with his other hand against the mantel. She was pinned in.
Blast it.

“Is that right?“ she asked,
staring up into his hypnotizing eyes. “And, just what is it
you
will
have?”
“Acknowledgement of your support? A thank you for your
interest?”

Rafe’s scent enveloped her, making
Tarin wince inside at the power of its appeal. Inhaling deeply, her
breath came out in short, shallow spurts. He leaned towards her,
the rustle of his clothing the only sound in the quiet parlor.“I
want exclusivity.”

His lips hovered above her mouth. Tarin
shut her eyes against their magnetic pull. She couldn’t think
straight with him so close. “Exclusivity?”

“Yes,
mi dulce
,” he whispered against her
mouth, his lips brushing hers. “Just you… and me.”

Heaven help her, she wanted his kiss.
Wanted his lips pressed against hers like a weak, infatuated female
deep in the clutches of a man’s charm.

How was she supposed to resist this?
This man that made her forget all she had worked for?

Suddenly, Rafe’s lips were gone.
Tarin’s eyes sprang open just as his lips found the sensitive area
behind her ear. She gasped, his breath on her skin shocking in its
intimacy. Tarin arched her neck to allow him better
access.

“Say yes, sweetheart.“ He trailed
kisses down her throat, taking his sweet, breath-stealing time,
until his lips met and lingered on her erratic pulse. “Say yes and
anything you want is yours.”

You. I want
you
.

Rafe’s fingers in her hair caused a
shiver to dart through Tarin. She couldn’t move, couldn’t form a
coherent thought. His touch was soft, reverent, as he smoothed the
pins away and allowed them to fall to the floor in a tinkling
symphony. He fanned the thick waves around her shoulders like a
blanket.

His fingertips grazed along her jaw,
eliciting goosebumps on her skin. The rough calluses were foreign
to her, like sandpaper against her flesh.

“Rafe, I can’t think –“

He kissed her then, his lips
feather-light against her own as he cradled her head in his palm.
His fingers trailed down her throat, across her collarbone, then
lower still.

“You’re so soft. Your skin is like
silk.”

Tarin’s heart raced in her chest. She
knew he could feel it racing beneath his fingers. How could he
appear so normal, so in control, when she could hardly
breathe?

He kissed her eyelids, one at a time,
his fingers teasing as they brushed across the tops of her breasts
peaking above the neckline of her gown. He was gentle as he trailed
kisses over her face and down her throat, his scent filling her
nostrils. Tarin wanted to weep from the gentleness emanating from
this big, strong man. But, she wanted more, so much –

Tarin gasped. His mouth at her cleavage
shocked and exhilarated her. She clutched his head to her chest,
her heart wild and pounding.

“Yes, Rafe...”

He growled low in his throat as he
flicked open the front of her dress. The cool air rushed over her
breasts exposed above her corset. She couldn’t watch him as he
freed her breasts, shame warring with the exquisite pleasure of his
mouth. She didn’t want to think about it, didn’t want to realize
what she would surely regret in the morning.

He crushed his mouth to hers as his
palm closed over her breast. Tarin moaned into his mouth as
sensations she had never known existed, bombarded her. She held his
hand to her breast, deepening the kiss, reveling in the freedom of
his touch, the rum-laced taste of his tongue in her
mouth.

Tarin had known men and women did such
things. But heavenly days, she could also see why such sinful
delights weren’t spoken of.

She wanted to know where it would take
her.

He crushed her against the cool wall
beside the fireplace, his body hot, taut against hers. His
breathing was loud, labored as he carried her on a wave of ecstasy
she never wanted to end.

The shock of his mouth leaving hers and
covering her freed breast caused Tarin to cry out. Just when she
thought the pleasure was too much, he gave her more.

“Oh, Rafe, yes…”

Plowing her hands into his hair, Tarin
held him to her as he drank from her like a man dying of thirst.
She wanted to touch him, kiss him, as he did her. She wanted him as
drunk on sensation as she was, wanted to know she could elicit the
same feelings in Rafe as he did her.

She had never had the freedom to touch
a man as she pleased, to feel the heat, the passion of
arousal.

She wanted it with Rafe.

Pulling her fingers from his hair, she
splayed her palms against his back. She slid them under his vest,
needing the heat of his body.

Rafe jumped away from her as though
he’d been burned. “No.”

Losing her balance, Tarin clutched his
arm for support. She stared up at him, dumbfounded, feeling as
though he’d struck her.

“Get dressed, Tarin.” He steadied her
and stepped away.

Shame and regret slammed into her like
a speeding carriage. And with it came confusion, hurt, and a desire
to sink into the carpet.

She must have disappointed him. Why
else would he have stopped?

Yanking up her corset, Tarin knew Rafe
watched her every move. She refused to meet his eyes as she closed
the front of her dress. “I’m sorry I am not more experienced in
these matters.”

Rafe‘s laugh was bitter. “Tarin, you
have no idea...” Blowing out a breath, he shoved his fingers
through his hair.

“Well, what is it then?” She smoothed
down her hair.

Rafe’s hand shook as he gripped her
chin. She stared up at his handsome face, saw the hurt and desire
in his eyes. The enormity of what she had done came crashing down
on her.

She had acted like a harlot, had thrown
herself at the first man she was attracted to. How could she face
herself in the mirror? Face her father, and Kit?

Tears sprang to her eyes and Tarin
hated herself for them. Why was she so weak? Why did she put
herself in this predicament?

“Tarin, don’t cry.” His thumb grazed
her chin.

She couldn’t face the pity. Not from
Rafe. She ran from the room.

“Tarin,” he cried.

Snatching the door open, Tarin stopped
short when she saw Kitty waiting across the foyer. Kitty rushed
towards her. Tarin halted her with a palm out. “Please, no
–“

“Tarin – “ Rafe said, springing from
the door.

“Leave her be,” Kitty cried, wrapping
an arm around Tarin despite her protest. “I think you should
leave,” she told Rafe, her gaze trailing over him as though he were
a river rat.

The worry on Rafe’s face disappeared to
be replaced by a determined glint. Busting through the weak defense
of her wide-eyed friend, Rafe clutched the back of Tarin’s head and
kissed her with bruising force. The raw, open-mouth kiss declared
her his, despite his earlier protests. Her knees would not hold her
when he let go. He steadied her only to grace her with a smile that
made them go weak all over again.

“I will call on you tomorrow.” He gave
a curt bow. “Good evening, ladies.”

Chapter 7

“Tarin, you must marry Rafe Sutherland
to save your reputation.”

Staring at the shocked face of the
Worthington’s butler, Rafe held his finger to his lips. He stood
just outside the parlor door blatantly listening to Kitty admonish
Tarin for what had transpired between them the night
before.

“I will do no such thing. It is not as
if I shared the man’s bed.”

Oh, but she would have, Rafe declared
to himself. If he had been the man he once was, Tarin would’ve lost
her virginity last night. He would be making wedding plans this
morning, rather than standing beside an owl-eyed English butler,
eavesdropping on her conversation.

Passionate was too mild a word for
Tarin Worthington. She made quiet moans and heavy breathing more
exciting than bedding the women he’d had. If he’d allowed it, she
would’ve stripped him and explored to her leisure, just as easily
as he could’ve stripped her and done the same.

Dammit, how would he do this? If he
succeeded in getting her to marry him, how would he handle her
rejection in their marriage bed? Would she go to other men? Would
he spend every night alone, waiting and wondering if she was with
someone else? Would he have to endure another man’s scent on her
skin, his seed in her belly?

Rafe cursed under his
breath, eliciting raised brows from the butler. What the
hell
was he doing
here?

“Tarin, when word gets out about what
has happened, your reputation with the Brahmin will be ruined. The
women will oust you and no man will want you.”

Rafe wanted her. His body could attest
to that.

Kitty was naïve to think no man would
want Tarin. She had too many assets to ever be considered
unmarriageable.

“Who is going to tell? You, my closest
friend? Or Rafe, the man who’s trying to improve his family
business, and whose own heroic reputation would be
ruined?”

Rafe grinned at the butler. Damn, the
woman was a pistol. If anything, life would not be dull with Tarin
around.

He told the butler, “I assume your
discretion goes without saying…” Rafe added a deep scowl for
emphasis.

The butler gave him a brief nod. “Sir,
I traveled with the Worthington family from the Motherland. If
anyone should question loyalty, perhaps it is I who should question
you.”

Rafe grinned. Apparently spunk ran
rampant in the Worthington household. Rafe held out his hand for a
shake. The butler stared at it as though it was covered with
manure. “Sir, I do not - “

“What, you have something against the
Brahmin, Mr…?” The butler’s rounded eyes were replaced with a brief
shake of his head. “Hobbs, sir.”

Rafe nodded as they exchanged a
handshake. “Hobbs. You’ll be seeing a lot of me around
here.”

“I assumed as much, sir.”

“So, are you going to announce me or
should I just surprise her?” Again.

Hobbs’s wide eyes and straight back
alarmed Rafe. “Oh no, sir. Surprise her, please. I am under strict
orders from Lady Worthington not to allow you in the
house.”

Rafe chuckled to himself. He knew he
was in for a battle today. “So, why did you let me in the front
door?”

“Because Lord Worthington also told me,
in no uncertain terms, that I was to allow you to see Lady Tarin
any time you’d like.”

Rafe laughed aloud just as the butler
opened the door and ran. Silence filled the parlor. If looks could
kill, Hobbs would be lying in tiny pieces on the carpet.

Or was that deep frown on Tarin’s
beet-red face intended for him?

She looked exceptionally beautiful
today with her coppery hair trailing over her shoulders in thick
curls. She wore a pink dress that made her skin look as smooth as
cream. He couldn’t wait to touch her again.

“Lady Worthington,” he said with a
brief nod. “Miss Hamilton.”

If the smile on Kitty’s face was any
indication, she had forgiven him his sins from the previous
evening. He wasn’t sure why, considering she had been ready to toss
him out on his ear last night. But he was not one to question her
change of heart. Rafe could use all of the allies he could
get.

“Mr. Sutherland,” Kitty announced from
where she stood in front of the wall tapestry, “it’s a pleasure to
see you again.”

His eyes turned to Tarin. She glared at
him from across the room.

“What are you doing here?” Tarin
barked, her arms crossed over her chest.

Rafe started across the room. Tarin’s
eyes widened. She took a step back then stood her ground. She
glared at him beneath lowered brows.

Rafe laughed to himself. She must’ve
realized how close she was to putting herself in the same
predicament as the night before. “I told you I was going to call on
you today.” He stopped in front of Tarin and took her hand in his.
Before he could kiss it, she snatched it from his grasp.