Reckless in Pink (23 page)

He lost himself in her kiss, but drew away, breathless. He nudged the gauzy folds of her fichu aside, giving him access to the upper slopes of her breasts. He licked between them, that inviting cleavage that beckoned him to do wicked things, and pressed kisses along the line between her rigid bodice and that delicious bounty beneath. “I can’t stay away any more.”

With an effort, he tore himself away from temptation and rested on his elbows, gazing down at her. “We can’t meet like this,” he said.

Her fingers caressed the back of his neck, playing havoc with his carefully tied neckcloth. Not that he cared. “Why not?”

“Because someone will catch us.”

His words shocked him into a realization of where they were. He shot a glance at the door. The key was still in it.

“I turned the lock,” she purred.

“Someone will miss you.”

“No, they won’t. Not until it’s time to go home. We have hours.”

He’d left after the first act of the first play. She was right. Hours. They could—not here not now. His wayward arousal pressed against his clothing. She must be able to feel it. Her skirts were light silk, and he must be crushing them. People would guess what they were up to, but he couldn’t move off her. He couldn’t stop himself wanting her. “Claudia, this is impossible.”

“Yes it is.”

He reared back, startled when she agreed with him. “I’m in danger. You know that. I can’t drag you into it.” He touched her hair, slid a finger along the silky mass.

“Nobody’s been near you for a week.” She stared at him, unusually solemn, the laughter gone from her eyes. “I worried. I wanted to be by your side to face it. Nobody approached you, nobody attacked you.”

He didn’t ask who “Nobody” was or how she knew. He knew the answers to both. Nobody was the Jacobites, particularly the Young Pretender and his people. She knew, because when she hadn’t been watching him, her brothers had. That did not make him feel any better, except that she’d cared enough to find out. “Nobody did.”

“That’s why you stayed away, wasn’t it?” She was too perspicacious for her own good. “I was shot, and then you were abducted. You wanted to ensure I wasn’t attacked again, did you not?”

“Yes.” What was the point of prevaricating? She had the truth of it. “I’d die if you were hurt. I hoped to conclude this business somehow, and then, if you were still free, come back for you.”

“You are a legitimate child of the Young Pretender’s father. That makes him illegitimate. It stands to reason that he’d want to eliminate you. It also stands to reason that situation isn’t going to change very much. You are who you are. Julius is engaged in tracking Maria’s children down. That’s his real work, or has been since we discovered the secret. I cannot tell you who. Please don’t ask.”

He wouldn’t dream of it. He didn’t want her to break the confidence of other people. “I would like to meet them.”

“I think we should tell Julius that.” She paused. “One lives in the country. It’s highly unlikely that you know her.” Guiltily, she swallowed. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t even have said that.”

A sister. He had a sister. Maybe more, but the prospect of meeting her made his head spin. Perhaps some good could come of this after all. “Does she know?”

Claudia nodded.

“Does she have any intention of claiming her birthright?”

Claudia shook her head. “She’s violently against it. She’ll be relieved now a son has turned up.” She stroked his neck gently. “You. Will you claim it?”

He laughed. “I should give a direct no, should I not? I don’t think it’s that easy.”

“That’s what the Young Pretender is afraid of. You can make him illegitimate and claim the throne for yourself when the Old Pretender dies.”

He shook his head. “You make it sound as if the throne is mine for the taking. You know it would be a hard fight.”

For the first time her gaze faltered. She shifted under him, her silks rustling. “Yes, I do.”

He pressed home his advantage. She had to understand what this poisoned chalice meant. As she pointed out, he might never be free of this inheritance. “Would you stand by my side if I announced what and who I am?”

She swallowed.

“Would you come to Rome with me and introduce yourself to my father as my wife and princess? Since his two sons have turned out such disappointments, I have no doubt the man would renounce them. He probably knows where the original certificates are. He could prove our existence, claim us, and revive the Cause. What do you think, Claudia? Would you help me with that?”

Slowly, she lifted her gaze and met his eyes. “No,” she said. “I might— I couldn’t help you start a war that could cause death and betrayal. My family has experience of that, don’t forget. Some of our members were Parliamentarians and others Royalists in the Civil War. That was only a hundred years ago, only just out of living memory. We won’t forget the death and misery that caused. I can’t aid anyone to revive that.”

“What if it was a bloodless revolution?” he persisted, and this was the possibility that had kept him awake for most of the last se’enight. That and thoughts of this woman in his bed. “What if the government wished to reinstate the Stuarts? Acknowledge them as royal? Maybe some of my brothers and sisters are in abject poverty. They might be in extremis. What if they want this? Do I have the right to reject them?”

“You must,” she said. “If it would lead to bloodshed, you must.”

Her sentiments were so close to his, it only proved how much he needed her. “Claudia, I don’t know what to do. For the first time in my life, I don’t know.”

“Come and see Julius with me,” she said. “But only after we announce our engagement.”

* * * *

Seeing her man so conflicted broke Claudia’s heart. Warmed by his body for the first time in a week, her private places heated and softened. She ached for his touch, but nevertheless wanted to give him anything he needed. If only he could get rid of that lost expression.

This wasn’t her strong, capable soldier. That man had an answer for any peril and could talk or fight his way out of any difficult situation. This man was lost in the myriad possibilities of what he was and who he was. Having one’s childhood and youth negated in this way must be unbearable. She’d never know, but she had enough imagination to put herself in his place. Enough to want to share it with him. She’d played her game this last week knowing that whenever she could see him, something inside her eased. Although she wanted more, at least she had that, the sight of him and the knowledge that he was safe.

Proposing to him might be unusual, but she suspected she’d never get him to the point if she did not take the initiative. He wouldn’t let her close. “We need to do this together,” she said, smoothing her hands over either side of his face, holding him steady. “I can’t stay away from you any longer. Either we are together, or we are finished.”

He wet his lips. “Together,” he said, his voice hoarse. “I’m a selfish bastard, but that’s what I want. I need you, Claudia. Be my…viscountess.”

Happiness flooded through her, and she forced herself to slow down and savor the moment. That was what she’d always done, and she wouldn’t stop now. Enjoying what was happening now, instead of worrying about the past or the future was a gift, and she appreciated it and reveled in it.

“Yes.” Before he could change his mind or take back his words she said it. “I will. I do!”

Dragging him down, she sealed their bargain in a kiss. He couldn’t change his mind now. She’d set her brothers on him if he tried to.

When they separated, they were both breathless and laughing with happiness and shock.

“When?”

“I have the license,” he said. “Whenever you like. Tomorrow, if you want to.”

“My father would murder me.” She couldn’t stop smiling. “It’s almost worth doing it for that.” She kissed him again, smacking her lips against his, making him laugh. Before Dominic, she’d never imagined laughter came with passion.

“You must visit my father tomorrow and encourage him to bring the wedding forward.” Because if he did not, he’d find another reason to try to keep her out of danger. Danger was everywhere. Didn’t he know that yet? “Listen, Dominic.” She still held his jaw, and she tightened her hold. “A family like mine faces danger of one kind or another every day. I don’t take this threat lightly, but you are dividing your efforts. With me under your roof, working with you, don’t you believe you will be more effective?”

At least she’d made him laugh. “You could persuade a monk to marry you.” He held her close. “I’ve long been able to deny myself anything, but I am helpless with you. You are right, in many ways. You have an allure I don’t understand. Every time you are near, I know it, and when I see you, I can’t look away.” He shook his head. “I don’t understand it. Do you?”

She did, but she was too wise to tell him now. She might frighten him away. She shook her head, too. “Lust, perhaps?”

“More than that.”

She didn’t ask him how he knew. He bent and fastened his lips to hers once more, taking her in a frantic, almost desperate kiss. “Yes. I have to have you soon. Under my roof. In my bed.”

When he decided on a course of action, he really committed to it, Claudia thought happily as he spent the next five minutes kissing and caressing her. Her campaign had worked better than she’d imagined. Putting herself in his way, merely being there, had done the job. She’d have to buy her sister something expensive that she really wanted. Because without Livia putting her in the way of it, Claudia would never have achieved her ambition this quickly and with so clear a conscience. If he’d ignored her or merely been polite, he wouldn’t have been ready. Either that or he didn’t care enough to take the next step. Not that she cared. She was too desperate to care.

Only now could she admit that. If he’d rejected her, or worse, never approached her and left her in limbo, she might have gone to the country and meandered around the place, making a nuisance of herself. Worrying about him.

Totally happy at this moment, she kissed him and kissed him. Until finally he told her they had to go and proceeded to help her tidy herself up. Just as well one of them had a practical turn, or she’d have been there in the morning.

As it was, the morning saw Dominic, hat in hand, at her door, asking formally for her hand. Of course Claudia knew, but the principal player in the scene had to stay out of the way until the menfolk called for her. The way they arranged her life infuriated her, but her mood was too sunny for her to allow it to bother her for long. She’d be at the contract signing, and she’d most certainly insist on reading the documents, even if they made no sense to her.

After the formal meeting with her father, Claudia waited with her mother in the drawing room. When he entered, her mother greeted him kindly, poured him a dish of tea, and left them alone.

Immediately he crossed the distance between them and swept her into his arms. He kissed her before he allowed her to say anything. When he lifted his lips from hers, she was nearly past words. “That was just in case you said no.” He released her and took a step back.

Then dropped down on one knee. “Lady Claudia, I am not worthy to ask you this. Will you do me the greatest honor of becoming my wife?”

Oh, she liked that. She clapped her hands. “Oh, yes, please, I would like that very much.” Even now, she avoided the word “Love.” With him so conflicted, she didn’t want to give him more to worry about. What if she was wrong, and it was lust or liking or something else? She loved her family, true, but that was different, something that was right. Her feeling for him had come out of the blue, and she was still uncertain.

He stood and took one of her hands, her left, and slid a ring on to it. A single emerald with diamonds either side.

“Oh how pretty!” The green stone was clear and unclouded, its purity only enhanced by the simple setting.

“It reminded me of you,” he said. “In a few days, I’ll be putting a gold band there.”

She caught her breath. “A few days?”

“Saturday.”

Goodness, four days, to be precise. “You persuaded my father into that?”

“He didn’t take much persuading. He asked me if I was sure I understood what I was taking on.”

“What did you say?” she asked, still admiring her ring.

“That I was certain. Well, I could hardly say that you’d bewitched me completely, and I couldn’t wait to get you into bed!”

Gasping, she warmed. Her face would be an unbecoming shade of rose, and she wished she could get her recalcitrant complexion under control.

Dominic didn’t seem to mind, but held her close and let her rest her hot cheek against his chest.

“Is that true?”

“Can you doubt it?” He kissed the top of her head, as tender as a maiden could wish for.

She wanted the other thing, too. The passion they’d shared the other night. Life, which had seemed so tedious a short while before, had suddenly become interesting and full of promise.

“I can’t keep away from you when we’re close.”

“How long does that last?”

He laughed. “You’re not supposed to ask that. You’re supposed to assume that we are starting the journey fresh and new.”

“Do you have a mistress?” she asked abruptly. She wouldn’t apologize for asking. She didn’t want to share him, but many members of society had interests elsewhere.

Although she’d be surprised if her father had someone in keeping. He appeared perfectly happy with her mother, and they shared so much of their lives that there would be little time for anyone else. She wanted that for herself, that kind of all-encompassing relationship, but did he? She should probably have asked him before.

“No,” he said quietly.

“Have you had one?”

“You know you shouldn’t ask me that.” He stroked her hair softly, his touch soothing.

“I know. I don’t care.”

He laughed roughly. “I thought you might say that. I’ve had a mistress, yes. More than one. Not since I met you. Does that meet your expectations?”

She lifted her head and bestowed a beaming smile on him. “Yes, yes, it does. Now it’s up to me, isn’t it?”