The Exception of an Earl

by Deborah Wilson

  “And Sencio,” her mother went on. “It’s Lord Sencio’s party as well.”

  Camilla’s mouth fell open.

  Why hadn’t she been told about this? Why hadn’t Will mentioned he was being given a party? Did he not want her there?

  She was worried all the way up until she reached the ballroom.

  Her grandmother must have consumed several cups of coffee a few hours ago because she was more awake than Camilla had ever seen her as she greeted old friends.

  Camilla stayed close to her, ducking her head in order to not be seen too much.

  Will was hard to miss. He stood across the room at the front with another handsome dark-haired man. They were both laughing.

  Though unable to hear his voice, she shivered from the sheer magnitude of his beauty. His muscled form was encased in a red coat and dark breeches. The uniform looked far too good to fight in. He looked ready for his portrait to be painted for a gallery or even the British Museum.

  He was extraordinary. His hair. The width of his shoulders. His tapered waist and long legs. T

  here was something extra about him tonight. Something… more.

  Then she realized what it was.

  Will was happy. His smile and posture were unguarded.

  A gentleman behind him spoke in his ear and Will turned to speak to him. But then his eyes cut back across the room and landed directly on her.

  Camilla didn’t know what her face said, but she stopped breathing when he started across the ballroom, moving around the dancers.

  A shiver started in her legs and spread up her body.

  And then he was there. He stood right in front of her.

  Nervously, she looked around. Her grandmother had moved away and she hadn’t even noticed. She was exposed to the room.

  Exposed to him.

  She looked at Will again. She couldn’t help but look at him.

  Happiness had transformed his eyes. There were golden flakes in them that she’d never noticed before. They seemed almost unreal.

  He seemed unreal. The urge to touch him, to make sure he was yet a man and not a dream made her fingers ache.

  Her heart ached as well. Her knees were weak. Her mouth was dry. Far too dry for speech.

  Which seemed fine with him, because he wasn’t speaking either.

  Instead, his eyes were raking over her. His gaze was so thorough that she shivered again.

  Her grandmother had made a fuss about the evening, so she’d dressed well enough. She’d chosen one of her best green silk gowns. Gold ribbons were at her shoulders and tied the material in the back. Her mother had allowed her to borrow a diamond and emerald tiara to place in her curls. The dress was cut modestly, yet her emotions felt otherwise, nearly inappropriate with how bare she wore them.

  When his eyes returned to hers, he paused. She didn’t know what he saw, but whatever it was, he clearly liked it. His smile grew.

  She said, “I’m sorry…”

  “How did you…?”

  They’d spoken at the same time and stopped.

  She tried again. “I didn’t know…”

  He spoke over her. “I’m glad you’re here.”

  She felt her smile climb. “You are?”

  He nodded. “I wanted you here, Camilla.” His brows pinched with near pain. “Badly.”

  ∫ ∫ ∫

  3 4

  * * *

  Camilla took a breath. “You wanted me here?” She’d begun to feel pain in her chest, but at Will’s words, that pain began to ease.

  He nodded again. He wore a lazy grin that put her tried and tested heart to the limits, forcing it to flip on itself. “I wanted to ask you, but after our discussion about Annie… I feared you’d say no.”

  She frowned. “I would never tell you no.”

  His lazy grin grew into a powerful one.

  The heat that penetrated her core stole her next breath.

  She laughed nervously as she tried to fight back the fires of her desire. “I mean… I would have come if you asked. Of course, I would have come if you asked.”

  He nodded. “I forget how much you enjoy parties.”

  She shook her head. “No, I would have wanted to come for you. To be here for you, William.” She did enjoy parties, but this wasn’t about that. This was about him and his moment. It saddened her that he hadn’t told her, but she wouldn’t say as much. This night was his. She hadn’t come with the intention to support him, but it was what she’d do now.

  Will’s eyes lit with shock and then gentle pleasure. “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you. I should have.” His voice was so smooth and deep and rich that Camilla forgot why he was apologizing. “But you’re here now. God must be working in my favor tonight.”

  He turned to her grandmother, who’d moved back over when he’d approached.

  Camilla introduced him and then Will asked her permission to dance and walk the room.

  “You may dance with my granddaughter,” the dowager said. “But don’t be gone too long.”

  “I’ll return her to you soon enough,” Will assured her with a smile.

  Camilla bit her lip to keep from laughing.

  * * *

  Camilla was here in his arms, and Will couldn’t help but think it was where she’d always belonged. It was a dangerous thought and yet nothing had felt more right than this moment.

  The night had been a good one, but he’d been thinking of her with every moment, regretting his decision to not ask her and hear her rejection. Yet now she was in his arms and nothing short of a war could separate them.

  He’d happened to catch her right before a waltz had begun. Clearly, God was indeed working in his favor.

  Her eyes remained locked with his and though she didn’t speak, her starlit irises seemed to say many things. She was happy.

  He was like a starving man the way he studied her. Her face sent flutters in his belly, which was odd considering he’d never felt anything like it before. He was nervous and elated and touched by the things she’d said since her arrival.

  She’d have come for him.

  And suddenly, Will didn’t feel so very alone. Even with Raven, his greatest friend in the whole world present, he felt connected to Camilla in a completely different way.

  She was his friend and that friendship had already been tested. They’d worked out their differences and now he never wished to be apart from her again.

  “I have to say it again. I’m happy to see you.” The words pressed in on his heart.

  Her laugh was light and again, he felt that flutter in his gut. “I can’t remember anyone ever being so happy to see me.” He watched as she gave it some thought. “I could get used to this.” Her gaze became teasing. “Perhaps I should start seeing you every other week.” She giggled.

  He laughed. “Oh, that’s funny, is it? I shall make you regret your words.”

  “How?” Her eyes lit with excitement.

  He laughed again. “You’re such an odd creature. No one gets excited when I threaten them.”

  “Well, you wouldn’t actually hurt me.” Her confident tone made his heart cease and start again. The rhythm was deeper and seemed in tune with her.

  She lowered her voice. “How would you go about punishing me?”

  He took a shaky breath. There were so many ways to entwine pain and pleasure. He was sure she knew none of them. But that was for another time.

  Or not. How could he forget that this woman wasn’t his and would never truly be his?

  Not in that way.

  But he could have her like this. He could have her teasing smiles and her friendship.

  That could be enough. It would have to be enough.

  “I don’t know,” he said. “Are you at all ticklish, my lady?”

  She laughed again. “I haven’t been tickled since…” Again, her look was far off. “My father.” Her smile was soft. “I was a little girl.”

  He could sense the sadness she didn’t show. “Well, I plan to change
that.”

  Her smile fell away completely. “Oh, please don’t. I don’t actually enjoy being tickled.”

  “That’s why it’s a punishment.”

  She laughed, but there was genuine fear in it. “William, please.”

  He laughed. He wanted to kiss her but restrained himself.

  He wanted to be closer to her. He wanted to bury himself inside her and for once, he didn’t mean it in any sexual sense. That was simply how much he’d missed her. He wanted to be inside her. Embedded in her any way that came about.

  She was watching him warily.

  “I’m not going to tickle you here on the dancefloor.”

  She sighed. “I know, but now it’s all I can think about.”

  “I can give you something else to think about.”

  She blushed and he chuckled.

  He was so glad she was there.

  He felt younger. Innocent. His years of pain and regret vanished. In their place was the boy she’d once described him as. Curious. Irreproachable wonder.

  She looked around the room and then back at him. “Did this dance belong to someone else?”

  “Perhaps.” It most definitely had.

  “Will!” she hissed. “You can’t give me a dance that belongs to someone else.”

  He wanted to tell her that his every dance belonged to her, but instead, he said, “Why not?”

  “Because that simply isn’t the way things are done. I just arrived.”

  “Camilla, if I didn’t give you someone else’s dance, I’d never have gotten the chance. You came late.”

  “I know.” she sighed. “It’s just not fair to the other women.”

  “I know. I’ll dance with only you for the rest of the evening. That way everyone loses their dance.”

  Her mouth gaped. “You wouldn’t.”

  He didn’t respond. She knew he would.

  “You can’t,” she said. “We will finish this dance and then be done.”

  “Very well.”

  “And you’ll dance with whatever girl is next.”

  “If that is what you want.”

  “It’s what I want.” She smiled. “It’s your night. It should be perfect.”

  His night was perfect because she was perfect.

  He decided to not tell her that though.

  ∫ ∫ ∫

  3 5

  * * *

  When the dance ended, Will led Camilla from the dance floor and said, “Come meet my best friend.”

  She held out her hand and he gave his arm. She was glad he wasn’t taking her back to her grandmother just yet. She wasn’t ready to let him go.

  It didn’t matter what she’d said before. A part of her was willing to break a few rules if it meant being with him. Not that Camilla had ever needed a reason to break the rules.

  She could feel the eyes that were on her as they moved to the front of the room. They were stopped twice and then the third held him for a great time.

  Lady Dana Louly fluttered her eyes as she gazed up at Will. “My lord, did you forget that the waltz was mine?” She threw a nasty glance Camilla’s way before her blue eyes returned to the true prize.

  And Will was very much a prize in the eyes of most of the women present.

  It only made Camilla grip him harder.

  She didn’t like the way he was being looking at. No one seemed to see the man underneath the title. They all whispered Sencio with such reverence that one would think him a god and not a man. And he was a man. Camilla had discovered great depths to him.

  She doubted that Dana could think deeper than her hope to become Lady Sencio. Sure, it helped that Will was handsome, but she wondered how many people even cared about that.

  But alas, she had to admit that he did deserve some admiration. He was a hero. A great one.

  Yet she knew Will didn’t see himself that way.

  “My apologies, Lady Dana,” Will said. “I didn’t mean to offend you. I saw a friend and forgot myself.”

  Camilla smiled. She was glad she could make him forget himself and glad she wasn’t the only one forgetting the rules.

  “Well, Lady Vivian has gone,” Dana said. “She got terribly ill at the buffet table. I could have her dance.” There was no remorse for the other woman. Dana was ecstatic by Lady Vivian’s plight.

  Camilla felt Will’s resignation rather than heard it. “Very well. If Lady Vivian is gone, I shall dance with you.”

  Dana threw a challenging glance at Camilla before she turned to praise Will over his chivalrous decision. It took everything in Camilla not to turn back and glare at the other woman once they’d walked away. It was customary for men to dance with many partners, but she didn’t want to share Will with anyone else at the moment.

  She was so glad her grandmother had forced her from her writing-table. The very thought of missing Will’s moment broke her heart.

  He covered her hand with his other and looked at her. “What’s wrong?”

  “Nothing.”

  “Are you sure? You’re holding me tightly. Shall I slow my walk? I’m sorry. I’m anxious for you to meet Raven.” His steps slowed and Camilla blushed before she loosened her hold on him.

  For some reason, it touched her that he wanted her to meet his friend. “What’s Raven like?”

  “Strong. Smart.” Will chuckled. “Patient. Far more patient than me.”

  “Really? I think you rather patient.”

  He shook his head. “No, when I truly want something…” He sighed. “I can get so focused on my goal that I forget everything else around me.”

  She thought about the way he’d crossed the room to her. As they passed the crowd, she could feel a thousand eyes on them. His direct path to her would have drawn anyone’s attention.

  As if reading her mind, he said, “I’m sorry. You caught me off guard. Once I saw you, I had to get close to make sure you were real.”

  She tightened her hold on him and struggled for her next breath. This evening felt different than the others they’d shared. She couldn’t say why.

  And he must have felt it too because he lowered his voice and whispered, “You’re so beautiful, Camilla.”

  Her body was scorched by his words. The pounding between her breasts flowed through her blood and settled between her legs. And suddenly, Camilla desperately wished they were alone.

  As though her desire jumped to him, his eyes shifted and became pools of lust.

  She tightened her hold on him again, making sure he understood just how willing she was.

  A male voice broke the hold that need had on them. “Well, if you won’t come to me, I’ll come to you.”

  She immediately knew this man was Raven. He was nearly as gorgeous as Will but very different. His eyes were a pure wolfish gold and his features were sharper, even more dangerous than Will’s.

  Camilla had thought that impossible. Here was another man who could cause both fear and intrigue, the kind women would want to touch even at the risk of losing their hand.

  How appropriate that these dark creatures would become friends.

  Raven took Camilla in and then turned to Will. “You nearly caused a scene.”

  Will stiffened under her hand. “I did?”

  “You both stopped walking and were just staring at each other.”

  Camilla gasped and looked around. Raven was right. They were not far from the woman who’d forced Will to request a dance. She was glaring at Camilla.

  When had their feet stopped moving?

  “Don’t worry,” Raven said. “I approached just in time to break the tension.”

  “Everyone is watching us,” Camilla said. Slowly, she let go of Will. She didn’t want to, but she knew it was the right thing to do.

  Will shifted closer, but their bodies didn’t touch.

  “You’re with both the honored guests,” Raven told her. “They aren’t looking at you so much as they are looking at us.”

  Will finally did the proper introductions and his voice
was so warm when he did it that Camilla had no choice but to like Raven.

  She immediately felt at ease with him. He made Will happy and that was enough to make her adore him. “Congratulations. I saw you both mentioned in the papers, but I had no idea you were friends.”

  “We’ve known each other since before true memories could be formed,” Raven said.

  “Were your mothers friends?” Camilla asked.

  “Our fathers,” Raven said. “They were both soldiers, and we wanted to be just like them. Didn’t we, Husher?”

  Will nodded.

  They looked different, but their mannerisms were the same. Their postures and gestures were similar. As they spoke about their shared past, she noticed that even their laugh was the same and Camilla could almost feel the deep connection that flowed through them.

  They were brothers by every measure but blood.

  Raven insisted she call him Raven and not Nyeport and she felt honored to do so.

  She learned just as much about their relationship by watching them as she did listening to their stories. Raven had missed Will. In the hour that she’d stood by them, he’d said as much at least twice.

  She learned that Raven worked up north and tended a property of Van Dero’s that happened to be close to the land he’d been given. By his expression, he made it clear that Van Dero had likely had something to do with selecting just which land Raven would get.

  “But you won’t work for the duke anymore, will you?” she asked. “You’re an earl. You’ll have your own lands to see to.” And occupations were not something earls kept.

  Raven and Will shared a look. Then Raven said, “We’ll see.”

  The music changed, and Dana approached with her mother.

  The older lady said, “Lord Sencio, you promised my daughter this dance.”

  Will inclined his head graciously. “And so I did.” He held out his hand for Lady Dana who all but pushed Camilla out of the way to get near him.

  Camilla stepped back to avoid her feet being trampled over. When she looked up, Will was staring at her. And she was once again lost in that gaze.

  “I’ll return you to your grandmother.” Raven stepped forward.