Eloisa's Adventure (32 page)

“After a
suitable courtship, of course,” he replied with a grin. “Although,
seeing as we have skipped several steps already, I think that it
would be more prudent to rush matters along a little.”

He
didn’t want to mention just yet that he hadn’t stopped once to
think about taking steps to prevent a child. It seemed a triviality
at the moment because, as far as he was concerned, his entire
future was already decided. He just had to convince Eloisa to share
her life with him and everything else would fall into place, he
just knew it.

“Rush
matters along?” she whispered and stared at him as though he had
lost his mind.

“I know
that we have a lot to learn about each other, Eloisa, but I am
afraid that what we shared the other night quite firmly committed
you to being mine. I insist now that you follow through on your
promises, and spend the rest of your life with me.”

Eloisa
stared at him and shook her head absently, unsure if she understood
him correctly. “I don’t believe that I promised you
anything.”

Simeon
knew that she hadn’t but wasn’t prepared to back down and allow her
to evade him. “You gave me your body.”

Eloisa
blushed guiltily and glanced around her furtively. “I know but that
hardly promises you anything.”

“You
gave me your body. You effectively promised me your future,” he
argued.

“I did
no such thing,” she protested weakly. “Did I?”

He
nodded. “I am afraid so. I insist now that you follow through with
your promise, and take this matter to a more suitable conclusion
that befits our status.”

The way
his eyes slid lovingly over her, from the tip of her tightly curled
head to the tips of her satin clad toes, told her what ‘suitable
conclusion’ he considered that to be. A wild flurry of awareness
swept through her, and she could do nothing to stop him from
holding her closer.

“Simeon,” she warned chidingly, and she threw him a warning
look that was more humorous than chiding.

“I am
just stating fact,” he replied obliquely.

“You
don’t have to do so here though, do you? Anyone could overhear us,”
she declared cautiously, and cast a furtive glance at the now empty
window.

“They
have gone back inside now that you haven’t slapped my face,” he
remarked dryly before he turned his attention to the rest of her
statement. “I am afraid I do have to make my feelings perfectly
clear, darling. I am not going to waste a single moment of our time
together,” Simeon argued, not bothered at all about who overheard
what. “The Calversham family have already crested the first wave of
scandal. I am sure we will be more than capable of surviving the
second wave.”

“Scandal? Wave?” she parroted with a frown.

“Renwick,” he said flatly. “It will cause a scandal again
when he faces the punishment he is served, but it cannot be
avoided.”

“At
least he is behind bars. Nobody bodes you ill, do they? I mean, you
were the one who turned him over to the authorities as soon as you
found him, and he stole from you. It would be a mean person indeed
who blamed you for anything that man does,” she declared somewhat
protectively.

He
mentally cheered at the look of outrage on her face, and her ready
defence of him. For the first time that evening he began to relax,
secure in the knowledge that everything really would be alright
now.

“Everything is fine, Eloisa. There is no lasting damage done
to either me or the Calversham name,” he assured her.

“Good,”
she sighed with a nod.

“You
see, when I do something, I do it properly,” he said. His gaze
dropped to her lips and lingered there suggestively.

Eloisa
shivered and felt hot and cold at the same time. She was hypnotised
by the way his lips moved as he talked.

“You
do?” she murmured weakly.

Rather
than respond though, Simeon showed her just how the Calversham men
and this man in particular, fought for what they wanted.

Before
she could reply, he bent her over one arm and held her there while
his lips laid claim to her. She wanted to push him away. They were,
after all, standing feet away from the door to a ballroom that was
packed full of guests who were all gathered to begin the dancing.
If someone looked outside, they would notice two of the guests
locked in a lovers embrace, and she would face
ruination.

That
said though, the feel of his lips against hers was so wonderfully
tantalising that she just couldn’t bring herself to care what
anyone thought. She would face ruin just to be held by him
again.

The
desire that flared to life between them felt so infinitely right
that she knew that she would follow him to the ends of the earth so
they could stay together. Rather than push him away as she knew she
ought, she sighed and returned his embrace with a ferocity that
stunned him.

His body
roared to life and elicited a groan that came straight from his
very soul. He slowly stood upright and took her with him, but drew
her closer still while his lips continued to plunder. It was only
the slight smattering of applause that sounded some way off in the
distance that reminded him they were not alone, and this was no
time to indulge in the pleasures of the flesh.

Unfortunately, although he tried he couldn’t stop. His lips
wouldn’t release hers, not until he had assured himself that
everything truly would be alright between them. When he tried to
put some distance between them, the hot brush of her breath against
his cheek and the slumberous desire in her limpid eyes drew him
back down.

“God,
Eloisa, say you will be mine again,” he growled huskily before he
buried his face in her neck. He held her so tightly against him
that he could feel her every heartbeat but even that fanned the
flames of desire.

“Yours?”
she whispered, unable to deny him anything.

“Say you
will be mine. We will have a proper period of courtship, but I warn
you now that I shall waste no time in getting you up the aisle. I
want us to be married sooner rather than later. If you don’t want
to reside in Pendlebury Hall, we can live at Mitchelham Castle, so
you can be closer to Cissy.” He leaned back to smile down at her.
“I can even arrange for the secret passageways to be blocked up, if
you would feel safer?”

Eloisa
smiled at him in spite of her thundering heart and scattered
wits.

“I
really don’t care what you do with them.”

“I love
you, Eloisa,” he murmured huskily. “Say that you will marry
me?”

“I would
love to,” she whispered. Stunned disbelief coursed through her that
he had actually said the words, and so soon in their acquaintance
as well. But she couldn’t doubt him, because she knew that she felt
exactly the same way. She leaned forward to kiss him
again.

Simeon
leaned back and looked down at her bemusedly. “Are you always going
to be this amenable when we are married?”

“Not a
chance,” she whispered.

They
remained locked in a lover’s embrace for quite some considerable
time while they ironed out the smaller details of their new life
together. When the first strains of a Viennese waltz rent the air,
Eloisa gasped and looked at him in delight. Heaven only knew how
many dances they had missed while they had been talking but the
strains of the now familiar tune brought forth a flurry of
excitement that lit her eyes.

“I was
supposed to dance to this,” she whispered. She looked around
guiltily for Mr de Lisle.

“Were
you darling?” he murmured as he teased one curl with the tip of his
finger.

“Have
you seen him?” she asked him as she tried to see her old dance
tutor in the crowd inside.

“Who?”

“Mr de
Lisle. I am supposed to dance this waltz with him,” Eloisa replied
vaguely.

“Do you
know the Viennese waltz darling?” Simeon asked quietly.

She
nodded. “Oh, I so wanted to dance this one,” she admitted
whimsically only to gasp when Simeon held his hand out.

“You are
here to dance, after all,” he whispered. “I am not altogether too
familiar with it, but I shall endeavour not to step on your toes
too much.”

“But I
was supposed to dance with Mr de Lisle,” she protested weakly. She
could think of nothing better than spending the evening wrapped in
Simeon’s arms but she couldn’t offend her dance tutor. Not after
everything he had done for her.

“I am
afraid that your card is already marked, darling, and Mr de Lisle
knows it,” Simeon reminded her. “Your evening is mine and mine
alone.”

Eloisa
shivered at the hidden note in his voice. By ‘evening’ she knew
that he meant life. A shiver of need swept down her spine and she
took a tentative step toward him.

“All
evening?”

Simeon
nodded. “We have missed several dances, I think, so we shall have
to make up.”

“Of
course,” she whispered, giddy with delight when he swept her into
his arms and began to dance with her around the terrace.

The
world swirled and whirled around them, but she was lost to
everything except the love that shone from his beautiful eyes as he
smiled down at her. The waltz was over far too soon as far as she
was concerned. When they eventually drew to a stop, she found
herself wanting more.

“Are you
ready?”

“What
for?” Eloisa gasped breathlessly. “Another dance?”

She
listened for the music but couldn’t hear the signal to indicate
that another dance was about to start.

“No.
Another adventure, my darling Eloisa,” he declared softly. “On the
night we met, you set out on an adventure into a world in which you
felt you didn’t belong. Fate threw you into my arms, and dragged us
both into an adventure that turned both of our worlds upside down.
Now I am asking you to give us another chance, so we can start a
new adventure – of a lifetime.”

“It
sounds wonderful,” she replied. “A perfect adventure.”

The
End.

COMING
SOON…..

WISHING FOR RAINBOWS

August 2015

When
Ursula Proctor is given an ultimatum by her father to find a
husband or he will find one for her, she knows it will not be easy.
Her knows her attributes are mediocre and, although her father is
wealthy, she has very little to offer any eligible suitor who
inhabits the upper echelons of society, the likes of which Trenton
Calderhill moves about in.

Having
had a crush on Trenton for as long as she can remember, Ursula
knows that it is time to move on with her life. He is, after all,
about as far out of her reach as the rainbows in the sky,
especially now that he is engaged to someone else. However, when
she attempts to put her girlish fantasies aside and focus on her
own future, things do not go as well as expected. It quickly
becomes evident that she is completely unprepared for the ordeal
that lies in wait, which brings her several, rather unexpected
surprises.

When he hears about Ursula’s search for a husband, Trenton
Calderhill knows that he must take steps to stop her. She is far
from prepared for life amongst the
Ton
, so he endeavours to save her
from the scheming machinations of lecherous rogues and insipid fops
before she is ruined completely. However, keeping an eye on her
proves to be difficult, especially when it becomes evident that
this particular lady is determined to avoid him at all
costs.

When she
captures the attention of a rather disreputable rogue, Trenton is
forced to step in to protect her. With the charming admirer in hot
pursuit, and his rather annoyed ex-fiancé appearing rather too
often, Trenton is forced to take drastic action to ensure that his
future with Ursula is secure.

Unfortunately, his endeavours are thwarted by the determined
efforts of his ex-fiancé, and London’s most dissolute wastrel, who
threaten to ruin any association he may have with the woman he
wants as his wife.

Can he
persuade Ursula to agree to marry him, or will Ursula’s father
follow through with his threat and force Ursula into matrimony to
someone else?

OTHER BOOKS BY
REBECCA KING

Further details on all of Rebecca’s books can be found on her
website:

Rebeccaking-author.co.uk

Shattered Dreams (Released April 2015)

Lies and Misdemeanours (Released July 2015)

Eloisa’s Adventure (Released July 2015)

TIPTON HOLLOW SERIES

Harriett (Tipton Hollow Book 1)

Beatrice (Tipton Hollow Book 2)

Tuppence (Tipton Hollow Book 3) (Coming soon)

Constance (Tipton Hollow Book 4) (Coming soon)

STAR ELITE SERIES