Wildfire Kiss (10 page)

“But, Corry … he showed an interest … and
yet …?”

“My dear sweet friend, he is not the sort to feel a
lasting—”

“You don’t know him,” Babs protested.

“Do you?” Corry attempted logic.

Babs put a hand over her heart. “In here I do …
but you are quite right, and I am being foolish.”

The drawing room door opened at that exact moment,
and Maudly surprised the assembled group by dropping into a bobbing
curtsey and saying in regal terms, “His grace, the Duke of
Barrington, Sir Charles Liverpool, and, oh dear, I’ve forgotten
t’other one’s name.”

The duke, just behind her at the double doors,
grinned and bowed his head winningly to say with some amusement,
“Good for you, my dear. If you are to forget anyone’s name, it
might as well be Freddy’s here.”

“That’s right,” said Maudly smiling widely at the
duke and dropping another curtsey. “Sir Frederick Douglas.”

***

The duke’s eyes were on Babs as she jumped to her
dainty feet. Her morning gown of yellow fitted her body to
perfection, and that body … he couldn’t stop from gazing at it. He
found himself almost hypnotized as he looked at her from the top of
her beautiful, dusky curls set high on her head, and damn, he liked
the way they bounced around her piquant, exquisite face! His gaze
traveled down her slender neck to those full, luscious breasts,
heaving with her breath, above the empire bodice of her pretty
morning dress. Those sweet, full, and plump, and, hell, what the
hell was he doing? He was in her drawing room … and with her
father present!
Bloody hell!

He looked to her father as he and his companions
exchanged greetings with him, and went through the usual amenities,
but he could see her out of the corner of his eye, standing there
like a goddess …

He paid his respects then to Lady Jane, bent over
Miss Bretton’s hand, nodded to Otto, and finally was able to move
to Babs. He bent his head to her proffered and ungloved hand. He
allowed his lips to linger a bit longer than was customary. When he
brought his head back up, he found her sparkling dark eyes; he felt
as though the air had been instantly sucked out of his lungs.

“You are even more enchanting in the full light of
day, my lady …” he said softly and cursed himself as an idiot.
What stupid, inadequate words.

She released a short laugh. “And
you
are, as
ever, all too charming to believe.”

He smiled, for he could see the skepticism in her
eyes. Damn, but he admired her, and it was for more—a sight
more—than her beauty. She could be trouble, she was trouble,
bloody hell
,
he was in trouble
.

He played the game to cover his tension. “But, sweet
beauty, how can you doubt the truth of the words … even though
they are spoken from
my
lips?”

She clapped her hands. “Very good, but …” Her
finger very naughtily, saucily went upwards and touched his nose.
“Coming from you, a lady could never be sure just what truths lie
behind the words.”

He wanted to take her in his arms. He wanted to
shove his tongue into her mouth and taste her. Hell and fire, he
wanted to ram his cock deep inside and make her his own. Why the
devil had he come here to torture himself? He couldn’t do any of
those things, so what had moved him to visit her …

The smile she wrung from him was driven by his
desire. The voice he spoke to her with was infused with heat. His
words were low and meant only for her. “The truth is—
I dream of
you, of what it would be like …”

She nearly gasped with surprise and pleasure, for
she had no doubt about what he meant. She might be a virgin, but
she wasn’t stupid. She was not, however, taken aback. “Do you, your
grace … and are they pleasant dreams?” She knew she was being
bold and audacious, and it was thrilling.

“I wish I could show you …” he whispered.

Lady Jane interrupted their tête-à-tête at that
moment by calling out, “Dearest Babs, come help your cousin—she is
surrounded by gentlemen!” It was her way of getting her wayward
niece away from the duke, whom she was sure could only have
lascivious intentions!

However, even as she spoke, Maudly came in with
refreshments, and Lady Jane got up from her chair to oversee this,
clucking her tongue as she instructed Maudly who in the room
required what, giving Babs the opportunity to respond to his
outrageous remark. “I am certain you do … after all, you did
not get your title of Wildfire for holding back … did
you?”

The duke moved in on her. She was saucy and playing
with fire, for he was heated up and beginning to wonder how
innocent she was. She flirted beyond the norm for an innocent maid.
He whispered, “Why is it you have such a low opinion of me? Has
someone been spreading false rumors?” He took her hand and kissed
her fingertips.

She gently pulled them away as she glanced towards
Lady Jane and then returned her dark eyes to him. She drew on all
his senses. He felt alive in her company. What was it about this
chit that drove him to such extremes?

“I don’t listen to rumors. They never serve to
further the truth. I draw my conclusions about you …
from
you
,” she said softly and lowered her gaze.

“Then, there is only one thing to be done,” he
answered with a mock sigh.

“Oh?” Her dark brow was arched.

“
Reform me
, my angel.” His hand went
playfully to his heart. “Make of me what you will, for I am your
slave.”

She laughed out loud. “Oh, do stop! I am persuaded
that there isn’t a female alive who could reform you—or enslave
you.”

He was suddenly serious as he looked down at her.
“Right you are, my Lady Babs, and how wise of you to see it.”

***

“And do you miss the wilds of America?” Sir
Frederick asked Miss Bretton, as he had just learned from Lady Jane
that Corry had spent most of her years there.

Corry eyed the newcomer. A certain attractiveness
characterized his boyish smile. She recognized him at once as the
gentleman Babs had pointed out when they were in the park the other
day. There was a scandal attached to his name? She fleetingly
wondered what it could be—he seemed so very pleasant.

He asked the question, but she couldn’t help but
notice a distant, vagueness in his light blue eyes, a sure sadness.
She was a bit weary of the subject, as she had had to answer this
question so many times; however, she smiled kindly at him and
answered a bit differently this time, going into more detail than
she had been wont to do. “Sometimes, yes, when I think of
hunting …”

His gaze sharpened. “Hunting? Fox hunting? In
America?”

She laughed. “Why, yes. My father kept a kennel on
our plantation in Virginia, and I loved helping him take the hounds
into the field and train them off deer and onto fox.”

“Virginia? Red fox?” Clearly, Sir Frederick was
amazed.

“Indeed, marvelous red foxes and grays as well.
Crafty and full of sport.” She leaned in and whispered, “We never
allowed it to go too far … we weren’t in it for the blood,
simply for the chase.”

“Ah, you let the fox get away? Not good for the
hounds, you know …”

“Well, most of the time the fox would run to earth,
and we didn’t keep a Jack Russell to dive in after them, you see.”
She eyed him. “I take it you are an avid fox hunter?”

Otto overheard and joined in. “
Fox hunting
?
What’s this? What are you arranging, Freddy … we ain’t in
season yet.”

Corry laughed. Otto had very quickly adopted her
along with Babs and treated her very much like a sister. “No …
no …”

***

Babs looked their way and was drawn into the
conversation, though she was still thinking about the duke’s last
remark. He was warning her off himself. And she knew why—because
he simply was not in earnest.

“How you can switch in midstream from the prime
minister’s murder to fox hunting is beyond reason, Count,” Lady
Jane said, shaking her head.

“What is murder—even the prime minister’s—when
compared to the only worthwhile sport ever discovered by man!” Otto
responded with feeling.

“I feel I should say, ‘Amen’,” Sir Charles said with
a laugh.

That was all that was needed. Babs laughed to
herself as she sat back, watched, and listened. It was a room full
of fox hunters all ready to embark upon the sport’s merits, its
flamboyant extremes, its disadvantages, and its glories. So the
conversation went until Otto, who knew only vaguely that Babs
enjoyed scribbling of sorts, surprised her and said, “That would
make a good story, Babs. You should write it.”

She blushed; she hadn’t realized he had retained
that bit of information. She also felt the duke’s blue eyes
appraise her, and she returned quickly, “Oh, Otto. Why me? I only
dabble with the pen, after all.”

“Nonsense—there was that piece you did not so long
ago for the
Chronicle
, and it was very entertaining. I’d
wager a monkey you would have the readers splitting their sides if
you recounted some of our hunting adventures on paper.”

Babs never thought she would be thankful for Sir
Edward’s interruption, as he had quite worried her the other night,
but it was at this juncture that he silently did indeed win her
thanks.

“How cozy you all look,” Sir Edward Danton said from
the open doorway. “I do hope I am not interrupting a private
party.” He smiled lazily as though thoroughly bored. “There was a
crisis of sorts in the nether regions of the house, and I told your
poor housekeeper that I would show myself in.” He had already bent
over Lady Jane’s proffered hand and turned to give Babs’ father a
respectful greeting before he even acknowledged Lady Babs’
presence.

Lady Jane looked him over with mild disapproval and
said, “Private party? Nonsense, and do stop quizzing us with that
glass of yours! What sort of crisis?”

“I am sure I do not know,” Sir Edward said, dropping
his glass as he approached Babs, who stood a bit apart from the
duke and eyed him warily.

He approached, and she did not want to be rude so
she allowed him her hand. He bent over it. “My lady …” he said
softly.

She felt as well as noted the hard look in his eyes.
She rather thought he intended mischief because of her refusal to
accept his courtship, and she frowned as she worried about it for a
moment.

The duke moved closer to her, but it did not deter
Sir Edward as he unbent and said, “Ah, my lady Babs, you are as
ever, exquisite and have quite made my day.”

“You are … too kind,” she said carefully.

“I suppose you all are aware that the Prince Regent
is in a thither over poor Spence’s murder,” Sir Edward remarked
nonchalantly.

“Well,” Otto said gruffly, “I don’t blame him in
this instance. Everything must be in a muddle. Whigs and Tories at
each other’s throats … the Hartfords moving in …”

Sir Charles clapped Otto on the back and frowned
darkly. “As you say, ol’ boy. Everything is in mass confusion, and
there is the third coalition to think about.” He turned to Lord
Waverly. “Do you come with us then, my lord, for Nick and I must
trudge over to Carlton House.”

Babs’ heart sank at the thought the duke was
leaving. She also suddenly realized the duke had dropped by
not
to see her at all. Because of the planned meeting at
Carlton House, the Prince Regent had requested they bring her
father along. It was a most lowering notion. His flirtation was
only that—a mild flirtation. Hadn’t he even warned her not to take
him seriously?

However, then he threw her back into a silent
flutter as he made her a bow and said low and sweetly, “Until
tonight.”

“Tonight?” she asked.

“Do you not go to the masquerade in Vauxhall
Gardens?” he asked, showing some concern.

“Yes, but I never dreamt you would be there,” she
answered and realized her voice displayed the delight she felt.

“Ah, yes, you are quite correct. Ordinarily, it is
just the sort of affair I avoid, but I shall not avoid it
tonight.”

She felt his deep blue eyes look into hers with such
profound meaning that a flash of heat rushed through her veins.

Sir Frederick leaned in to her, drawing her
attention, and asked, “Does Miss Bretton accompany you to the
Gardens tonight?”

“Of course,” Babs said at once and noted to herself
that her cousin had made another conquest.

“Then so shall I.”

Babs waved her father and the three gentlemen off,
even as Lady Jane stood up and made it clear in her forthright
manner that she expected the count and Sir Edward to leave as well.
Babs smiled to herself as Sir Edward attempted to linger and Lady
Jane offered her hand, saying, “So good of you to call, Sir
Edward.”

He had no choice but to take the offered extremity
and say softly, “So good of you to have me.” With this he cast Babs
a lingering look and departed, with Otto sighing and saying, “Right
then, Babs, I will see you tonight.”

Lady Jane turned to her charges. “Well?”

The girls regarded one another and then their aunt
doubtfully. “Well what, Auntie Jane?” Babs asked.

“I want to know if you, Babs, mean to have that Sir
Edward, and don’t play your games. I want an honest answer, for I
can’t say anything against the match—it would be a good one—but for
the fact that I cannot like him.”

“Precisely how I feel,” said Babs with a
twinkle.

Lady Jane turned to Miss Bretton. “And you, young
lady …?”

“No, I don’t want Sir Edward either,” Corry said,
her own eyes laughing.

“Widgeon. What of this Sir Frederick, who seemed
particularly interested in you?”

“I have only just met him, Auntie Jane, and have no
opinion on the matter.”

“Humph,” said Lady Jane.

Ten