In the Garden of Temptation (10 page)

The earl grinned. “Now, sir, I had the
distinct impression you set your asking price at more than I or any
sane person would pay. That leads me to wonder why you’ve gone to
such lengths to bring me here.”

“
Are you calling me a liar?”
The baron’s voice rose dangerously.

“
I’m saying your motives are
suspect, Bourgeault.” Unlike his host Adam remained
unruffled.

“
I put a price on my
beauties that reflects their true worth to me. If you assumed it
would be painful for me to part with them, then yes, I admit it.”
Lord Bourgeault rose from his seat and loomed over the table. “I
will not have my word called into question. Write a draft on your
bank for the full ten thousand, and you may leave with the grays in
the morning.”

Catherine gasped.
“
Ten thousand pounds
, Edgar?”

The gazes of both gentlemen shifted in her
direction before Adam brought his back to the baron. “Not going to
meet me ‘halfway,’ Bourgeault?”

“
No, damn you! I’ll not
lighten the price by so much as a
sou
. You want those horses you’ll
have to pay for them. My first offer is my final offer.” The baron
paused. “Well, what will it be?”

The earl drew in a deep breath and exhaled
slowly. “Tell you what, Bourgeault, I’d like to think on it for
tonight. If you have no objection, I’ll give you my decision in the
morning.”

That ought to keep the old bastard wondering
for a few more hours.

“
Right,” the baron sneered
the word. “Wouldn’t want you to make a hasty decision.” He stood to
leave. “I seem to have lost my appetite, so I’ll bid you both good
evening. Catherine, see to our guest’s pleasure.”

A peculiar feeling of insinuation followed
his parting words.

What had he meant by that?

*****

“
Convenient to lose one’s
appetite when the platters have all been eaten clean,” Adam
murmured aloud.

“
What? I’m sorry, what did
you say?” Catherine watched her husband’s retreating back, a pulse
in her throat throbbing with apprehension.

“
I said you are looking
lovely tonight.” The earl grinned at her, his eyes filled with
things remembered.

Catherine felt her face flush. “You are a
rogue, sir.” She bit her lip in an effort not to respond to his
charm, but against her will a begrudging smile tipped the corners
of her mouth.

“
Ahhh…there’s a sight to
warm a lovelorn gentleman’s heart. May I hope that you’ve found
forgiveness for whatever I’ve done to offend you?”

How was she supposed to protect herself from
this assault on her defenses? She felt vulnerable and, though she
wished to deny it, his nearness still had the power to disconcert
her. She’d better be careful or the fragile fortress she had
erected around her raw emotions would crumble without a fight.

“
There’s nothing to
forgive,” she said.

“
You disappoint me. I had
hoped you would be honest with me. Please give me a chance to make
amends.” His tone, though bantering, was underscored with a note of
seriousness.

What could she say? The only hope she had of
saving her cracked heart came with distancing herself from him as
soon as possible, yet he seemed determined not to let that
happen.

Perhaps it was already too late.

“
Come, walk in the garden
with me,” he tempted her. “Share with me some of your
thoughts.”

“
What of Edgar?”

“
Last evening I was angry
with your husband for deserting you to the company of a stranger.
But tonight,” here his voice dropped intimately, “I find I’m
grateful for his boorishness. Is that wrong of me? Moreover,” he
suggested ingeniously, “he said to see to my pleasure. I desire a
walk in the garden.”

Catherine could not help smiling. “All right,
my lord, I’m at your command.”

Adam stood and bowed as he bent his elbow to
her. He took her slim fingers and, placing them on his forearm,
covered her hand with his own.

Night had arrived with a hint of nippiness in
the still air. The sky was decorated with an impressive display of
tiny, twinkling stars, while a brilliant moon cast illumination on
the unkempt garden. They strolled down the walk to a stone bench
enclosed by an overgrown boxwood hedge. The greenery provided some
privacy once the couple seated themselves.

For several moments they sat without
speaking, enjoying the peace and tranquility of the moment and the
nearness of one another.

“
Are you cold?” Adam
asked.

Catherine shook her head. “No, the air feels
delightful. I think I was overheated when we were inside.”

“
Will you tell me what I’ve
done to displease you?”

She searched the planes of his face in the
darkness, looking for some sign of the humor she had seen before,
but she detected none. She shrugged her shoulders.

“
It’s very difficult
sometimes to put into words one’s feelings,” she said, “especially
when one is not quite certain what those feelings are.”

He chuckled. “Would it make you feel any
better to know I am also grappling with disturbed emotions,
also?”

“
Really? I thought it fairly
easy for you.”

Adam frowned. “Why would it be easier for me
than for you?”

“
You’re a man,” she stated
simply as if that explained everything.

“
I see. My being a man means
I’m less complicated. I couldn’t possibly feel as deeply as a
woman.”

“
Is that what I said?” she
asked in a small voice.

“
It’s what you implied.” His
tone was brusque.

Catherine allowed several seconds to pass
before she continued. “I didn’t mean to suggest you are
insensitive. You must admit, though, it is not uncommon for a
gentleman to find his pleasure where he will without giving a
thought to the women he possesses.”

“
Is that why you’re angry
with me? Do you think I have used you and will discard you like
rubbish? There are men like that, but I’m not one of them.” His
eyes glittered in the dimness as he brought his face close to hers.
“And what of you? Was I the only one in that little glen who
enjoyed himself?”

Catherine swallowed painfully, but an
inherent honesty would not let her lie. She turned misty eyes on
him. “It was wonderful,” she whispered. “I’ve never been so moved
in my life. I’m having a terrible time separating what was purely
passion from what was more. One does not love in a day, does
one?”

Against her better judgment she was opening
her heart, entrusting him with her innermost feelings, allowing him
to see the bewilderment and hurt.

Adam grasped her upper arms and turned her to
face him. “I don’t know, love, I swear. But if it offers you any
comfort, I’m drowning in confusion too. I know I want you,” he
averred huskily. “The attraction is unbearable, and yet, like
nothing I’ve experienced before. I’m no school lad. I’ve seen
something of the world, so you tell me, for I haven’t a clue.”

And that, of course, was the crux of the
matter. They didn’t have time to find out how they felt about each
other. In fact, they didn’t even have the right to explore their
feelings. Tomorrow would bring the premature end to a budding
romance filled with promise, and nothing could stop the
inevitable.

“
I can tell you, I will
regret one thing—that I’ll never be able to do this again.” Adam
clasped her to his chest and roughly covered her lips with his
fiery mouth, demanding she respond to him.

He had said the one thing she wanted most to
hear. Catherine threw her arms around his neck and kissed him in
return.

His breathing grew harsh as he continued to
ravish her mouth. He hooked his fingers in the sleeves of her gown
and tugged the diaphanous material down her shoulders. Slipping his
hand into the plunging neckline, Adam scooped out one breast,
dislodging the carefully arranged lace. He brought his tongue to
the tender peak.

There are moments in life that can only be
described by sensation. For Catherine this was such a moment. The
blood surged in her temples and soared through her body. Tossing
her head backward, she reveled in the intense carnality his mouth
produced. She gradually became aware of a soft keening that broke
the calm of the night. Shocked, Catherine realized she was the
source of the sound.

The excited mewling evidently acted on Adam’s
senses like oil on a raging fire. He pulled Catherine from the
bench and onto the ground, rolling on top of her. He freed her
other breast and, grasping a rounded globe in each hand, began to
knead the silken flesh as he rained frenetic kisses on her neck and
shoulders.

“
God! What am I doing?” he
groaned hoarsely. “Have I no integrity when I’m near you?” He drew
himself up on his knees, pulling Catherine onto her knees as well.
He lay his cheek against her forehead as she felt him fight for
control.

Catherine was dazed. She had been sucked into
an erotic play that had ended long before the actors had finished
their scenes. To say she was disappointed would be a monumental
understatement.

“
Why do you stop?” she
queried fretfully.

Adam drew in an unsteady breath as he pulled
back from her. His gaze trailed along her naked torso like a
caress. He squeezed his eyes tight as though to shut out the
provocative display.

His face was lined with pain, and Catherine
reached out to him. “My lord…? Are you all right?”

His eyes flew open, and he stared at her
fiercely. “I’ve already dishonored you once today. I’ll not do it
again.”

“
I don’t feel dishonored,”
she said.

He snorted as he shook his head. “You don’t
make this easy, love.”

Adam’s hands shook as he began to fumble
ineffectually with the bodice of her dress. His palm accidentally
grazed the nipple of her left breast, and they both froze at the
intimate contact.

“
Help me,” he entreated in
an anguished voice, “for both our sakes.”

He was right and she was wrong. The earl’s
conscience would suffer if he continued on in this way—although she
had to admit it seemed a little late in the day to begin worrying
about her honor. She leaned forward and deftly eased herself back
into the top of her gown.

“
It’s not as though I pulled
it down myself,” she said with some spirit.

Her throat ached and she wished desperately
to cry, but she controlled the urge because to break down now would
only cause him further grief.

Adam, taking her chin between his thumb and
forefinger, stared into her eyes. “I think I will rue all the days
of my life that I made myself end this. How in God’s name am I to
forget you?”

“
If it’s all the same to
you, my lord, I’d rather you didn’t forget me. After all, I will
always remember you.”

She scrambled to her feet and brushed her
skirt, more from a need to do something than from any real concern
over her dress.

Adam came to his feet also and stood
awkwardly, hands at his sides, while she finished adjusting her
clothing. Catherine glanced up and caught him watching her, his
features a study in sadness. She moved toward him, and he took her
in his arms in an embrace so tender, she felt certain her heart
would break. The passion was gone, and in its place came a deep
awareness of what might have been.

“
Do you come to the city?”
he asked.

She shook her head against his shoulder, not
trusting herself to speak.

“
Parting is such sweet
sorrow,”
he quoted, his voice gruff with
emotion.

Pulling back, Catherine looked at him,
determined to memorize all the details of his handsome face. “I’ll
not come down tomorrow unless Edgar insists. Please forgive me, but
I think it’s best that way.”

“
I won’t say good-bye—it’s
too final,” Adam said.

She stood on tiptoe and brushed a
feather-light kiss on his mouth. “Till we meet again,” she
agreed.

Then she disappeared like a wraith into the
darkness surrounding the house.

*****

The Earl of Ashworth lay in his borrowed bed
and stared at the cracked ceiling overhead. Awake for some time, he
had no desire to rise. A single cobweb dangling in a far corner of
the room had consumed much of his attention as he muddled through
the events of yesterday. He had fallen in love and behaved like a
blackguard, all in the span of twenty-four short hours. How he had
come to such a sorry state was beyond him.

The love part still confused him. Maybe
infatuation was a better word. Yet something had turned his psyche
into knots, and if not love, what then? All right, a beautiful
woman had much to do with his mental state. But he had known many
beautiful women in his adult life, and he had never before called
his sanity into question.

The worst part of this imbroglio stemmed from
his inability to control his baser self. He was appalled that he
could depart so far from the fundamental tenets that molded his
life. And if he admitted the truth, he wished nothing more than to
commit the same unthinkable act that had recently led him
astray.

Even as he castigated himself for his
unchivalrous behavior, his body tensed with desire for the lady.
Adam had gone to bed in a state of pronounced frustration, and an
uneasy night’s sleep had only served to make matters worse.