The Hellion and The Heartbreaker (23 page)

Although she
would have preferred not to, for she hated to lead anyone on, she accepted
invitations from a few of her suitors, primarily to keep any suspicion from
falling upon her relationship with Alec.  Though she found several of the
gentlemen to be handsome, intelligent and decidedly charming, none of them even
came close to diminishing her secret adoration of the Duke of Worthe.

Unfortunately,
she and Alec had managed to spend only five glorious nights together since her
arrival in London.  Due to her near nonstop schedule and attendance at
events that often lasted well into the early morning hours, finding
opportunities to be together was not always easy.  It was frustrating to
say the least.  In her wildest imaginings, she had never dreamed that
she
of all people would have caused such a stir since arriving in London.  She
received invitations to every social event, and much to her mortification, her
activities were chronicled in the papers, gossip rags and scandal sheets on a
daily basis. 

The
Scarlett Angel attended the theater on the arm of so and so.  The Scarlett
Angel was seen waltzing with this gentleman or that gentleman.  The
Scarlett Angel was seen riding through the park with none other than, etc… etc…
  For someone who had grown up
relatively sheltered on her family’s country estate, the amount of attention
she was receiving was completely overwhelming, and in her mind, utterly
ridiculous.  She kept hoping that people’s fascination with her would
fade, but unfortunately, it only seemed to be increasing. 

She had
learned from Rory just yesterday that numerous wagers were already being placed
at the local gentleman’s clubs, as to when her betrothal would be announced and
to whom.  Apparently there were a few odds on favorites including at least
two dukes, three
marquesses
and half dozen
earls.  Knowing of Alec’s aversion to marriage, she highly doubted that he
was one of the two dukes, but she hadn’t had the courage to ask. 

Much to her
ever-increasing consternation, Alec’s attitude toward her seemed no different
than it had been during his visit to Grey Oaks.  Though she fell more in
love with him with each passing day, Alec, while more than generous with his
passion, seemed to be keeping a tight rein on his other emotions.  He was
warm and caring, and even affectionate, but despite those things he continued
to hold something back.  She felt certain that in time he would come to
love her as much as she loved him, but despite her confidence, a tiny voice at
the back of her subconscious warned her that she could very well be setting
herself up for a terrible fall.

Since she’d
been in London, Scarlett had learned a great deal more about Alec than she had
known previously.  As one of the most sought after bachelors in England,
he was a popular topic of conversation with many of the young ladies with whom
she had become acquainted.  Apparently, despite the constant urgings of
his mother to settle down and take a wife, and much to the disappointment of
every eligible female in England, he seemed determined to resist.  Though
he had been linked with numerous women throughout the years, he had never shown
the slightest interest in any of the marriageable young ladies of his set,
preferring it seemed, to keep company with older, more experienced women, women
who weren’t looking for husbands, or who perhaps already had them.

She had also
discovered some interesting things about marriage itself, or rather, marriage
as it was within the members of the aristocracy.  As she’d learned from
Georgie
, the vast majority of unions were “arranged” and
she had observed for herself a number of wedded couples who seemed to have
relatively little fondness for one another.  She also learned that
extra-marital affairs were quite common and most often overlooked.  It was
disheartening to learn that love matches amongst the nobility were surprisingly
rare, even more so than she had expected.  Alec, having grown up within
that very world, had likely grown as cynical and jaded as his peers.  It
was a distressing thought, and one she tried not to dwell upon.  Hopefully
she would be able to convince him that they could be one of those rare couples
who defied the odds.

It was just
after midnight and the house was quiet as she pulled on a shirt and pair of
breeches.  Her maid had assisted her in removing her gown a short time ago
and Scarlett had then quickly sent her off to bed.  Georgie had already
retired for the night, and fortunately Colin had left the house to join Rory
and Gavin at one of their clubs, and Conner had long since returned to Grey
Oaks.
 
Opening her bedroom door, she
listened for a moment, assuring herself that the servants had all gone to bed
for the night, and then crept silently down the hall.

She, Georgie
and Colin had attended a dinner hosted by the Duke and Duchess of Mawbrey
earlier in the evening, where Alec had also been in attendance.  They had
already planned to meet later that night, but Alec, managing to get her alone
for a brief moment, had informed her that he might not make it home as early as
he hoped.  He’d told her that he had left the set of French doors leading
into his study unlocked, and that if he wasn’t at the gate at half past twelve,
she was to let herself in.

Opening the
door that led into the rear garden, Scarlett stepped into the shadows and
quickly proceeded to the back gate.  Alec wasn’t there, so as he had
instructed, she slipped through the gate and headed toward the set of unlocked
doors.  Feeling a bit uneasy without Alec beside her, she quietly entered
the study which was alit by only the faint glow of the moonlight, and silently
prayed that none of the servants were still up and about.

Tiptoeing to
the door, she cracked it open a tiny sliver and listened.  Hearing
nothing, she slipped off her boots and then carrying them in one hand, made her
way to the stairs.  Her stockinged feet were whisper quiet as she trod
lightly across the polished marble floor, and then up the staircase.  She
didn’t realize that she was holding her breath until she was safely within
Alec’s bedchamber and the door was closed securely behind her.

Glancing
about, it seemed different and exciting somehow, to be alone in Alec’s room,
and to be alone with his things.
 
Slowly
she walked around the perimeter of the room, running her hand along the
enormous, cherry-inlaid dresser that sat against the north wall, then moving to
the large matching wardrobe that was angled against the rear corner of the
room.  Opening one of the massive doors, she inhaled the pleasant scent of
sandalwood and cedar chips.

His shirts,
vests and jackets were hung neatly within, and Scarlett couldn’t resist
trailing her fingers lightly across the expensive fabrics.  Unable to help
herself, she pulled one of Alec’s shirts from its hanger and drew it against
her body.  Closing the door, she tossed the shirt over a nearby chair and
then began to remove her clothing.  When she was naked, she slipped her
arms into the sleeves of Alec’s shirt, rolling them up at the cuffs when they
fell well past her fingertips.  Slowly she did up the numerous buttons
along the front, reveling in the feel of the crisp cloth as it brushed against
her naked breasts.

As Alec sat
within the richly appointed confines of his coach, listening to the sounds of
the coachman’s gentle commands and to the clomping hoof beats of the horses as
they moved briskly along the cobblestone streets toward his residence, he
contemplated his relationship with Scarlett.  If he were being honest with
himself, he had to admit that his fascination with her hadn’t diminished in the
slightest over the past weeks.  He looked forward to each of their
clandestine meetings as if it were their first.  He desired Scarlett more
than he’d desired any woman he ever had before, and to his continued surprise,
that desire seemed to be far from fading.  He realized now that he had
been a fool to think that he would eventually lose interest in the enticing
little minx.

Though he
still felt an inordinate amount of shame and self-loathing for betraying
Colin’s friendship, his nights with Scarlett and the pleasure they entailed,
far outweighed his guilty conscience.  But for how long, he
wondered?  How long could they continue their affair before someone found
out, or before someone got hurt?  Despite her bravado, he feared that
Scarlett’s feelings regarding their relationship were not nearly as cavalier as
she let on.  Could she truly walk away from their affair unscathed? 
And for that matter, could he?  The latter was a question that had begun
to plague him more and more frequently and with increasing unease.

His feelings
for Scarlett were growing more complicated with each and every day, and it
worried him.  He knew better than to let his emotions override his good
sense, and the fact that they were beginning to, made him nervous. 
Scarlett was still young and relatively innocent, but he was older and wiser,
and he knew quite well how time changed things.  He’d seen it too often
with his own eyes.  Unlike what he suspected Scarlett might be
anticipating, he refused to let himself fall victim to the notion that what
they had together could ever be anything more than it already was.

When the
coach finally came to a halt, his thoughts were still a tangled mess. 
However, as he descended from the vehicle and made his way up the front walk,
the thought of Scarlett waiting for him in his bedchamber quickly began to
overshadow his concerns.  Letting himself in the front door, he could
already feel his pulse beginning to accelerate.  Tossing his coat and hat
aside, he headed for the stairs, and had to stop himself from taking them two
at a time.

It was a
quarter past one when Scarlett finally heard the sound of Alec’s footsteps in
the hall outside the door.  She took another swallow of the whiskey that
she had discovered on a side table shortly after donning Alec’s shirt. 
She had been chilled from her trek through the gardens and the potent liquor
had done an admirable job of warming her up.  She hadn’t cared much for
the taste at first, but surprisingly it had quickly grown on her.  She
couldn’t recall precisely how many times she had refilled the glass, for after
the third she’d stopped counting.

Entering his
bedchamber, Alec found Scarlett sitting sideways in the large high-backed chair
that sat near the fire.  He was surprised to see that she was wearing one
of his shirts, the sleeves rolled up; the top three buttons undone, revealing
the soft contours of her lovely breasts.  Her legs were bare and dangled
languidly over the arm of the chair, and the flickering light from the
fireplace cast her entire body in enticing shadows.  She held a crystal
tumbler filled with a dark amber liquid in her hand and there was a whiskey
decanter sitting on the floor beside the chair.  Her head rested against
the deep corner of the chair, and as she watched him walk across the room her
lips curved into an inviting smile.  It was one of the most alluring
images he had ever seen and one that would be forever imprinted into his
memory.

Looking at
her in her state of decadent disarray, it was far too easy to forget his
increasing reservations about the state of their affair.  She drew him
like a lodestone, and he seemed entirely incapable of resisting her pull. 
Drinking in the sight of her luscious charms, he moved toward her.

“You’re
wearing too many clothes,” Scarlett pouted wantonly as he drew near, her eyes
boldly raking him up and down.

Alec stopped
a few feet in front of her, assessing her temperament.  It appeared that
Scarlett was in the mood to play, and he was more than happy to oblige. 
“My valet appears to have retired for the evening.  Perhaps you could give
me a hand,” he said, with a seductive smile and nefarious lift of his brow.

“Hmm,
perhaps I could.”  Swinging her legs over the side of the chair, Scarlett
sat up and placed her glass on the nearby side table.  As she stood, her
thoughts seemed to have a dreamy quality, a bit fuzzy and slightly off
kilter.  It wasn’t an unpleasant feeling and one she accurately attributed
to the whiskey.

Alec
couldn’t help wondering just how much of the potent alcohol Scarlett had
consumed as he watched her rise from the chair, swaying just slightly as she
stood before him.

Reaching for
his cravat, Scarlett leaned up against him, breathing in his scent as she
loosened the white silk at his throat.
 
“
Mmm
, you smell so good,” she said, inhaling the masculine
aroma of his cologne.  Softly she rubbed her cheek against the faint
stubble that was beginning to darken his rugged jaw line, loving the slightly
rough feel of it against her sensitive skin.

Alec sucked
in a ragged breath as Scarlett pressed her body against him.  He was already
rock hard and unsure just how long he could wait before picking her up and
tossing her onto the bed.

Drawing
back, Scarlett pulled the silk from Alec’s neck and let it fall to the
floor.  She slid her hands up his chest and then pushed his jacket off his
shoulders.  It too dropped to the floor as her hands moved to the gold
studs on his shirt.  As she undid each one, her lips brushed against the
newly exposed skin of his chest.  When she tugged the shirt from his
trousers, her tongue trailed a line of fire along his flesh, and his shirt soon
joined his other garments on the floor.  Alec knew his clothes would be a
wrinkled mess come morning, but he couldn’t have cared less, for Scarlett was by
far the best damned valet he had ever had.  When her hands moved to the
waistband of his pants and the straining bulge below, it was all he could do to
remain still.