The Danger in Tempting an Earl (23 page)

She looked undecided for a moment, but then she turned about and headed back the way she’d come, her posture stiff and decidedly unwelcoming. It didn’t have much effect on Lucien. He still wanted to kiss her in spite of his annoyance. “Would you care to explain yourself?” he asked as soon as they were alone.

With raised chin and straight back, she stared back at him. She would not be cowed, for which he could not help but admire her. Instead, she looked quite prepared to defend herself and, if need be, accept the admonishment that she surely expected him to give. “I wished to write an invitation to your sister. I did not think that you would mind if I used your stationery.”

“Don’t vex me, Kate. You know this has nothing to do with the damn stationery.”

Her lips flattened into a thin line. “Very well. I suppose you wish me to apologize to you for thwarting your wishes.”

“It would be a start.” He hated himself for sounding so strict, but his constant worrying over her had come to a crux when he’d discovered her under his desk. “I do believe I specifically asked you to avoid the downstairs rooms when I am not here in case an unexpected visitor might arrive and see you. The least you could have done was inform Parker of your whereabouts. What if they’d seen you, Kate? The scandal would have been irreparable!”

“I’m sorry, Lucien, but if you recall, it was
your
idea to bring me here. You only have yourself to blame.”

He gritted his teeth. In a sense she was right. “All I ask is for you to employ a bit of common sense. Yes, I insisted you stay here so I could protect you, but casting blame will be of little help if you are found out.”

She glared at him. “I feel as if I no longer know you. You’re harder than you used to be . . . less forgiving and less . . . kind. You unsettle me these days, Lucien, and I find that I do not care for it.”

Closing his eyes for a brief second, he shook his head.
She
was the one who drove him to behave the way he did. His constant concern for her well-being weighed heavily upon him, the fear of losing her forever present in his mind. “I am only worried.” In fact, he was sick with it.

“I appreciate that.” Her tone softened. “And I will do my best not to disappoint you again.”

Something about the way she said it, the inflection of her words, gave him pause. He had to kiss her, even if she would break his heart in return. However great the pain he might suffer, he could not allow her to think that she would ever disappoint him. It was his fault that she did though. Due to past experience, she thought herself undeserving of a man’s affection. She did not trust that he would accept her the way she was—that he would not care about the discolored marks upon her skin. But rather than lessen the distance between them, he’d broadened it with his own fears of rejection. In short, he’d been careless with her trust.

Looking at her now, her hands clenched at her sides, her posture proud, there was no denying that she was attempting to hide her vulnerability and the pain she surely felt in response to the lack of attention he’d given her recently. If only she understood that he was clinging to sanity by a very thin thread, that if he went to her, he’d want to drown in everything she had to offer. He wanted her as his wife, but she had already told him no twice before. Who was to say that she wouldn’t do so again?

On a deep breath, he went to her, his footfalls soft upon the carpet. She didn’t move, but she didn’t look the least bit welcoming either. Indeed, she appeared wary, which he could understand. “I fear that I am the one who has disappointed you, Kate.” He stopped before her, reached for her hand and raised it to his lips so he could kiss her palm.

Her breath caught. “I feel as if my life is spiraling out of control.”

“Because of me?” he asked.

“Because of everything.” Her fingers quivered. She was not immune.

Lucien gazed back into her eyes and saw the fear-tinged pain that lurched there. “I have made you suffer, though it was not my intention to do so.”

“It’s all right. I understand.”

“So you have said before, but I don’t believe that you actually do.” Lowering her hand, he placed it over his chest and held it there. “My heart grows frantic whenever you are near.”

“So does mine,” she whispered.

She pulled at him with her essence, and he was powerless to stop her. He’d decided not to kiss her again unless she was willing to marry him, but it couldn’t be helped. She was already in his arms and his lips were soon upon hers, nibbling and kissing until she uttered a sigh that drove him wild.

Without thinking, he backed her up against his desk and lifted her up so she could sit on the edge of it, his hands pulling at her skirts, creating a space for him to stand between her legs. He kissed her harder, pouring into her the passion he’d kept at bay since he’d last held her in his arms. She intoxicated him with her scent—a crisp flavor of lemon, softened with honey. It only made him hungry for more.

“Lucien,” she murmured, her fingers digging at his shoulders as he kissed his way along the curve of her neck. “I didn’t think you wanted me anymore.”

He should have challenged himself to a duel if such a thing had been possible. The pain his stupidity had caused her was unforgivable, but he had every intention of making it up to her now. With a swift tug of her bodice, he bared her breasts, their fullness just as glorious as he remembered. They filled his hands and he kissed his way toward them, his thumb scraping a nipple just before he took the tender flesh in his mouth.

Katherine groaned, her back arching toward him, offering him more. “I want you,” he muttered. Reaching between them, he placed his hand against her and slowly circled the area that would give her the greatest pleasure. She shuddered, her breath a little uneven. There was something so exquisitely erotic about touching her like this through the layers of her gown. “I will always want you,” he whispered.

Sighing, she tilted her hips. “More,” she begged, her words sending waves of hot desire straight to his groin. How he longed to give her more, to take her right there on his desk in broad daylight. He considered it—the urge to do so was powerful indeed—but he had promised himself that he wouldn’t. Not until she agreed to marriage.

Regrettably, now was not the time to pose such an important question. Not unless he wished to manipulate her answer, which he did not.
Later,
he promised as he pushed his fingers against her, increasing the friction while his mouth returned to hers. He thrust his tongue inside, speaking without words of his greatest fantasies, of his desire for her and of what was in his heart.

On a jagged groan, she came apart, her hands clutching him close as she shivered with ecstasy. “I love you,” she whispered against his shoulder. “God help me, I love you so terribly much.”

He should ask her now, and he prepared to do so as he leaned back a little so he could help her adjust the bodice and skirt of her gown. Cupping her face between his hands, he looked at the beautiful features he’d loved for so long. “Kate,” he murmured, his heart thrashing about like a caged beast. “I—”

There was a knock at the door. Lucien closed his eyes and willed the unwelcome person away. This could not be happening. He was about to propose to the woman he loved, to assure her of his devotion, and he was being interrupted. The knock came again.

“Will you get that?” Katherine asked.

Lucien gazed past her at the window beyond. “I suppose I must,” he said with reluctance. Stepping back so she could slip off the desk, he paused for a moment to appreciate the color he’d brought to her cheeks. “This conversation isn’t over,” he promised. “We have much to discuss, you and I.”

Her lips parted, but she said nothing. Lucien went to the door and opened it to find Parker on the other side of it. “I hope you’ll forgive the intrusion,” he said, “but it appears you have another caller.”

Lucien groaned. His house was suddenly being overrun. “You may tell them that I am not at home.”

“I daresay the dowager countess will not take kindly to being lied to,” Parker said stiffly. “If I may, I would suggest you go and greet her in the parlor. She is quite eager to see you.”

Good God, his grandmother was here? Lucien swallowed. He had to think of some way in which to prevent her from staying at the house. Bloody hell, this was rapidly turning into a very complex nightmare! “I wasn’t expecting her to arrive for another two weeks. She’s rarely in Town so early in the Season. Is Mama here with her?”

“Apparently—”

“No, she is not,” he heard his grandmother say.

Rushing forward, Lucien almost collided with the butler, who was still standing before him. With an apology, Lucien hastily closed the door to his study while Parker stepped nimbly aside, allowing Lucien a clear view of the lady in question. “Grandmamma,” he said as he went toward her and reached for her hand. “How wonderful to see you again.”

He kissed her knuckles, but she did not smile or say anything amusing at all, the way she usually did. Instead, she was scowling, her hawk-eyes fixed on the door he’d just closed. “What are you hiding?” she asked.

“Nothing,” he said, aiming for a nonchalant tone. “Shall we adjourn to the parlor? We’ll have some of that peppermint tea you’re so fond of.”

Her scowl deepened. “Don’t try to distract me, Roxberry. It won’t work and you know it.” She turned toward Parker, assessing the poor man shrewdly. “Tell me, what is my grandson hiding?”

The butler looked perfectly miserable as he glanced from one to the other.

“You are being unreasonable,” Lucien told his grandmother. “The study is my own private domain.”

“That may well be,” she agreed, “unless of course you are up to no good, my dear. Now, if you will please step aside so I can see.”

“I will not,” he said, panic rising in his chest.

His grandmother looked at him sharply. She then began tugging off her gloves. “Rumors can be devastating to anyone’s reputation, you know. From what I hear, Lady Crossby has recently gone missing. Nobody knows where she might have gotten to, though I understand that her location has become the source of a wager over at White’s.”

“How long have you been in Town?” he asked suspiciously.

“I’ve only just arrived, but this sort of news has a tendency to travel on the wind. Fortunately for you, however, nobody seems to share my opinion on the matter as of yet.”

“And what is your opinion?” Lucien asked, though he had a fairly good idea that he already knew.

“That she is residing in this very house.” She smiled at last. “Of course, this has been nothing more than mere speculation until you just greeted me. Now I am convinced, you see, and if I am right in my supposition, then you’d best be straight with me. Lady Crossby doesn’t need this sort of scandal, and neither do you.”

He felt like the small boy he’d been when he’d found his grandfather’s fob watch forgotten in the parlor. He’d picked it up so he could admire it, but he’d been too curious and had somehow managed to break the thing. When his grandmother had entered the room, he’d hastily hidden the watch behind his back, but she’d seen right through him, and although his punishment had been lenient, guilt had shamed him.

Bowing his head, Lucien turned back toward the door, took a breath and opened it. Before him, much like he had left her, stood Katherine, as beautiful as ever. She had not taken refuge under the desk this time.

“Good afternoon,” Lady Roxberry said as she strolled into the room behind Lucien. “I see I was correct after all.”

“My lady,” Katherine said, dipping into an elegant curtsy. She did not meet Lucien’s gaze, which was probably just as well right now.

“Please leave us,” Lady Roxberry told the butler, whose bland expression appeared to have slipped for the first time Lucien could remember. The door closed with a quiet thud. “Are either of you aware how sticky this situation will likely become if word of your . . . living arrangement gets out?”

“We have considered it,” Lucien told her plainly.

“I see,” his grandmother remarked. “Then would you please tell me what in blazes you are thinking? Gracious me, Roxberry, I thought you more levelheaded than this.”

“There is a perfectly good explanation,” he said, upon which he told her everything that had happened since the night of the ball—except, of course, the manner in which his relationship with Katherine had progressed. Some things were sacred.

“It does seem rather noble and heroic I suppose,” his grandmother said at last, “but that doesn’t change the impropriety of it. Thankfully the two of you have always gotten along famously. I’m sure you’ll be incredibly happy in your marriage.”

“Grandmamma,” Lucien gritted. The last thing he needed right now was for his grandmother to involve herself in his proposal.

“Well, you are going to marry her, are you not? After all, it’s clear to anyone with a pair of eyes in their head that the two of you have been up to no good lately. Either that, or Lady Crossby has recently grown very fond of rouge.”

Lucien groaned. He looked at Katherine, who was indeed a very bright shade of red, her lips still slightly swollen from their kiss. There could be no denying that they’d been doing more than talking moments before his grandmother’s arrival had been announced. “I will do the right thing if the lady will allow it,” Lucien said. If only he’d asked her sooner, during the two full days of opportunity he’d been given. Now Katherine would likely think he was merely following orders, averting disaster and saving her from the very real possibility of being referred to as his mistress.

“Good.” His grandmother’s nod was stiff. “You have my blessing, and your mother’s, I should think. Your father would be very pleased by this match, Roxberry. He was always quite fond of her ladyship when she was a little girl with braided hair and scruffy shoes. Tell me, my dear, do you still collect flowers for pressing?”

“On occasion,” Katherine said, her voice sounding faint. “I’m particularly fond of wildflowers, my lady.”

“Yes. I recall that you used to make the most delightful pictures with them.” Lady Roxberry turned toward the door. “I’ll leave you to it then, shall I? Don’t be too long about it though, or I’ll have to come back in to ensure that you’re behaving properly. A brief kiss is all you’re permitted. And just so you know, I do not plan on leaving. If Katherine is to stay in this house, then I shall stay here with her as her chaperone.”