A Proper Scandal (Ravensdale Family Book 2) (32 page)

“Yes,” he swallowed. His azure eyes made an efficient sweep of her, assessing, as if he didn’t understand she was undressing for him. “Yes,” he said again, returning back to his papers.

“I think everyone found the rumors about Evangeline Dupree hard to believe. I was a saint at your table this evening.”

“I believe the word you’re searching for is respectable.”

“A respectable actress?”

He didn’t even grin. All Minnie heard was the scratching of his pen and it grated her nerves. The man was impossible to seduce. Minnie stripped the other glove off and tossed it over her shoulder as she sauntered into his bedroom.

A fire was lit in the marble fireplace, bouncing off the stark white walls. Besides the intricacies of plasterwork, the room was bare of decoration except for the velvet curtains framing the two tall windows.

Minnie took in the details of the room, slowly unbuttoning the side of her dress until it fell open and she stepped out of it. The room looked unlived in. Somehow that was fitting of Alex. His house was grand, even for her tastes. She tossed her dress over a chair and walked to the doorway. “Behaving myself is dull.” She braced her arms above her head on the doorjamb. Finally, she had his attention.

“Darling?” His voice was suddenly husky. A shiver chased down Minnie’s spine. He collected himself from his shock and smiled a slow, calculating smile. It was worth the discomfort of wearing her red corset without a chemise for his look alone.

“And I’m so tired,” she declared, swinging her hips as she retreated back into his room. She felt him watching as she stopped at the foot of his bed. With a glance over her shoulder, she climbed onto the coverlet. With a final flourish, she propped herself into a deep sea of pillows, casting him an inviting brow, daring him to make the next move.

“You’re in my bed, Minnie.”

There was a beat that could have filled centuries before she said, “I won’t tell, if you don’t.”

Alex threw his head back to stare at the ceiling. “You were put on this Earth to haunt me.”

She let out a rough breath, her body growing warm with anticipation. “I’m here in the flesh. Have me.”

Alex loosened his tie, his eyes pinning her in place. A coin flipped over in between his fingers as he studied her. She was about to protest when he dropped it to the floor, stalking closer. She feared he would stand at the end of the bed forever, simply staring at her with enough intensity that she felt as if he was making love to her. She wanted more, of course, and finally he snapped back to the present and crawled up onto the bed.

Words escaped her, breathing became difficult. She wanted his touch, his kiss, his mouth on her skin until he covered her and they were no longer Alex and Minnie, but one. He slid up next to her, covering her without allowing his body to touch hers. Any nerves she had for their reunion melted under the familiar heat of his body, leaving behind a simmering wake of lust for her favorite pickpocket.

He stopped his ascent, his hand braced on either side of her head, his eyes averted from hers. “I thought you were tired. I wouldn’t want to keep you awake.”

“No…no trouble,” she sighed as he nipped her neck.

“I don’t want to inconvenience you, darling.” His lips and tongue blazed a path to her breasts.

He held his body above hers, denying her his touch. “Alex,” she choked out. He excelled at turning the tables against her. Did she honestly think she could seduce Alex like the rest of the gentlemen in her life? His feelings for her ran deeper. It was bound to be complicated.

A rush of air entered her lungs once he freed the first few laces of her corset. She arched her back, wishing, wanting him closer. But Alex pulled away and retreated down her body. He stopped at her garters, running his fingers underneath the bands of fabric, distracting her enough that she didn’t anticipate him licking her inner thigh. With a slow exhale, he blew against her wet skin, sending a wave of need through her body.

“I want you, Minnie,” His voice was a low verbal caress. “I’ve dreamed,” he whispered, pausing to quickly undo her garter, “of you.” The other garter snapped. He removed her stockings one by one with his teeth until they pooled at her ankles. “But I don’t want to keep you up.” With the faintest touch of his fingertips, he lifted her foot and pulled the gossamer silk off her skin. “If you’re so dreadfully tired.” He threw the other over his shoulder, arching an inquisitive brow, daring her to make a move of her own.

“I can stay awake, if you can.” Her voice faltered. His smile grew larger.

“I’m glad to hear it.” Alex climbed over her once more, pausing with his lips above hers.

“What about your work?” she whispered.

“I can’t think straight with you in my bed.”

Minnie blinked, needing a moment free from his hardened stare. His eyes begged her to touch him, to kiss him, but she needed to hear he wanted her just as much. “Alex,” she begged. “Please.” It was a whimper. She never whimpered for anyone. “Touch me.”

It was the softest of kisses, but it rang through her body, vibrating from the her lips, to her fingertips, to the shivered skin of her stomach, ultimately warming her to her core.

“Please.”

“You’re shivering.” He kissed her closed eyelids.

Minnie felt as if she had been dropped into a heap of burning coals. She shook her head, unable to form a complete sentence. She didn’t remember him ever having as much power over her as he did now. He left her tongue-tied and shaking, begging for his blissful touch.

She could not tolerate much more. Her hands hungrily yanked at his shirt and pulled it free from his trousers.

He stilled her hands. “Patience.”

She ignored his request. She tore at his shirt until he was blinded and forced to sit back on his knees to pull it over his head.

Minnie gasped.

Across his abdomen was a tangled mess of flesh. It was an ugly reminder of that last time they shared a bed. Without thinking, she sat up and pressed her lips upon the wound. A low rumble sounded from Alex’s chest.

Their eyes locked, suddenly unsure of what to say or what to do. They were even once more.

“Why are you here?” he asked finally.

“Let me stay. Until morning. Just for tonight.”

His cupped her face. “You can stay as long as you want. C’mere and kiss me.”

Minnie erased the small space between them, her lips moving over his in careful practice, committing his touch and taste to memory. He laid her gently back amidst the pillows, raking his hands through her undone hair. “I think you’re more beautiful than when I saw you last. I don’t know how—”

“I’m here now.” If she began remembering what happened during their time apart, Minnie would draw back into that place within and push Alex away. There were nights and weeks, men, she didn’t wish to remember. That was best left alone and separate from Alex.

He furrowed his brow as he undid the rest of her laces, freeing her body from the confines of that terrible torture device.

Minnie worried her bottom lip with her teeth, her mind speeding ahead, trying to make sense of the beautiful man above her.

He bowed his head to her chest, his lips discovering the thrumming beat of her heart. “I don’t want any more secrets between us, Min.”

They couldn’t withstand any more secrets. Everything that had happened had lead up to this one point, his body waiting to be with hers in his bed, without censure from others. They didn’t have to hide from anyone if they didn’t wish for it. That was, if he would have her. There were too many years between them now. Far too many confessions left unsaid. Too many feelings to be pushed aside for the sake of a happy reunion. There was no clean slate, only Minnie and Alex, each of their clouded pasts, thick with sins and crime.

She laced her fingers through his hair, his heat coursing down her arms as she tugged his gaze back to hers. “I don’t want that, either.”

Her heart split in two as he smiled, the perfect mirror of the strange emotion fluttering in her chest. Minnie had never been looked at like that her entire life, except by Alex. Somehow, he had always known the person she truly was, not the imagined woman.

He stood on his knees, a wistfulness filling his eyes. Minnie remained still, even as he moved to the side of the bed and finished undressing. “I’m tired of running, Min.” When he laid back down, he wrapped his arms around her body, igniting the shallow passion pulsing through her veins for him. He settled back into the pillows and drew up the bed covers, cocooning her with the sensations of him—his skin, his smell, his heartbeat drumming against her ear. Alex drew her fingers to his lips and kissed them tenderly until her eyes grew heavy with sleep.

“I’m glad you’ve come back,” he said. She heard something else entirely. Something like,
I’m glad you came back to me
. Minnie was glad of that as well.

He asked nothing further of her than to lie there and sleep beside him. It was a blissful experience not to have to live up to expectations. When his breathing evened out and she thought him asleep, she said ever so softly, “I missed you, too.”

I
t was the first morning Alex had Minnie to share his bed, and of course his head was about to explode with the force of a fire ripping through an ammunition factory. He attempted to lift his head off the pillow, but felt swept off to sea, the mattress swaying underneath him. His stomach lurched and he groaned as he buried his head under the pillow, moaning again, half in shame, half in frustration. This wasn’t how he wanted to spend the morning at all.

He thought perhaps they could have breakfast in bed and stay there for a while and practice their gymnastics before he was absolutely forced to go to the club and start his day. There was a lot of kissing involved and naked limbs and pleasure in his plan. But the steady thrashing in his head was going to make that all impossible. He winced when the pain wracked his body, just as steady as his shallow breathing.

He felt Minnie leave, before his stomach gave another disconcerting lurch. He didn’t want to her to leave. He didn’t want her to see this either. He heard her draw the curtains shut and the click of his study door.

She removed the pillow from over his head. “There,” Minnie whispered softly into his ear. “It’s dark.”

If it didn’t hurt so much, he would have nodded. She dropped a kiss at the base of his neck and ran her fingers through his hair, gently massaging his scalp. It was treacherous and delightful all at the same time. His head didn’t appreciate her touch, but the rest of him did. She gave him calm. That was enough for the moment.

“If you wanted me to leave, you could have thought of something more original than taking ill with a migraine.” Her voice was like a warm balm to the thrashing of his skull. He winced as he fought back a smile at her teasing. He tried to roll over, but his stomach lurched again, and this time, he couldn’t fight it back.

Alex flailed his arm, hoping she would understand that he needed the bucket by the bedside table, but she didn’t. Instead he rolled out of bed and crawled, pulling the bucket to his face where he emptied the contents of his stomach with the most wretched and disgusting sound.

“Oh, dear,” Minnie said, her voice a little stronger.

His head. The blasted thing would not quiet. It was just a parade of bone-crushing pulses against his skull. One after another, after another.

His eyes watered and burned as he struggled to open them. Alex was sure this wasn’t the way to win back Minnie. It certainly didn’t make him appear very manly, lying about on the floor, naked, and tossing the contents of his stomach in a bin like a drunk.

He pushed himself off the floor and staggered to his feet. The ground wobbled beneath his feet and he swayed. He held his arms out in hopes of finding a center of gravity. The touch of her cold fingers sent a shock through his body and he stumbled again.

“Steady,” she whispered. Her hands held his gripped his waist. “We’ll just get you back in bed and I’ll ring for someone.”

“No,” he groaned. The edge of the mattress hit his thigh. “Work.”

“I don’t think so.” Minnie softly chuckled. “There you are.” She settled him back into bed and pulled the sheets over his body. Alex grimaced, pushed suddenly into a corner of hell as her breast brushed his bare chest.

“You’re killing me,” he groaned, clutching his head as another wave of pain struck.

“I don’t believe I am.” He heard her pad away to his dressing room. He opened his eyes as she reentered wearing his velvet dressing robe. Her copper hair looked like a candle’s flame against the navy of his robe. Good God.

There was a knock at the sitting room door, sounding as if he were back stoking the fires at the iron factory once more.

“Sir?” Chapman asked.

“Go away,” Alex said, waving his arm.

“Don’t worry about him. You must know how he is when he’s like this,” Minnie said.

Alex opened his eye as she addressed the butler wearing only his robe. “I’m fine,” he grumbled. But he wasn’t. The pain washed over him again.

“You’re a bear,” she said back in a snappish whisper. “Can we have some tea and laudanum, Chapman? Oh, and maybe some dry toast.”

“You
are
trying to kill me.” Alex mumbled into his pillow. If she hadn’t just slept in his bed, he might have had Chapman escort her to the curb. Problem was, he was awful fond of the frustrating creature. “Send a note that I’ll be late for the theater meeting, Chapman. I’ll be dressed shortly. Have the carriage waiting.”

“You aren’t going anywhere,” Minnie insisted. “I’ll go to your meeting.”

“Sir?” Poor Chapman was lost to their volleying debate.

Alex was about to protest, but it came up in the bucket instead. For the love of all that’s holy, he was ruining his first day with her.

“No.” He wiped his mouth clean and sank back into the pillow. “Work.”

“If you get out of that bed, you’ll live to regret it, Alex Marwick.”

“Please, sir,” Chapman said again.

The room wouldn’t stop spinning, his head wouldn’t stop feeling as if it was on the verge of blowing to bits. Fucking hell. “Send a note to Boyd. Inform him that the inquisition is coming.”