by Amelia Grey
Zane smiled at her. She smiled too.
She realized that sometime during their wild ride, he’d lost his hat. His dark hair was tousled and wild. Her bonnet had fallen to the back of her shoulders. Her hair must look as windblown as his. She didn’t care. She’d had the most stimulating experience of her life. And she didn’t know how or why, but it was downright sensual too.
Twisting and turning around, she stared down the long empty street behind them. They had left the populated section of London. She had no idea where they were, but it wasn’t near Mayfair or St. James’s. The houses were small and farther apart, the lawns not as well-maintained. Rather than tall, crisply cut yew, there were small uneven hedges and fences that needed mending.
“Do you see him?” Zane asked.
“No. I think we lost him.”
“I think so too, but best we find a place to park and get out of sight for a while.”
He went a little farther and then turned the horses down a tall brush-covered trail and maneuvered them up and over a small slope, coming to a stop under a budding tree. He set the brake and immediately jumped down to check the horses. She watched him pat their necks and check their hooves before climbing back onto the seat beside her.
“Your cheeks are flushed and you’re smiling,” he offered. “I think you and the horses need a rest.”
“How are they?”
He nodded and started taking off his gloves. “Winded, but all right. I’ll see they have a good rubdown when I get them back to the stable. I thought you were going to be frightened, but I don’t think you ever were.”
“Frightened? No. Well, maybe for a few seconds,” she answered truthfully, still feeling the intensity and madness of what had happened and very much protected by him too. “The ride was so exhilarating! You were so daring and masterful in the way you handled the horses with strength, yet care for their well-being. They followed your lead perfectly.”
He placed his gloves on the seat between them and started untying his neckcloth.
“I’ve never seen or been a part of anything so unbelievably thrilling.”
His gaze stayed on her face. “That’s because it’s dangerous and shouldn’t be attempted often.”
He unfastened his collar and loosened his neckcloth. Watching him heated Brina, and she pulled off her bonnet and placed it on top of his gloves.
“I understand now why young men like to race curricles,” she said in an exuberant tone.
“It’s something most men learn to get good at if they don’t want to lose a lot of money or their self-esteem.” He gave her a tweak of a grin. “Am I now forgiven for wanting to wait for you to return from the school so you could join me today?”
“Yes, you are,” she maintained firmly. “Completely.”
Brina continued to assess him. His windswept hair, the brightness of his eyes, and the look of strength in his face drew her. The longer she looked, the more her senses whirled. Tightness bound her chest. Zane’s confidence and skill had been incredible.
He was incredible.
Without thinking about what she was doing or why she might be doing it, and despite every ounce of sanity she had, she threw herself into his arms and her lips came down on his with a demand she didn’t know she was capable of issuing.
Chapter 14
The force of her weight knocked Zane back into the corner of the carriage, lifting his feet off the floorboard, though he seemed not to notice. In one swift motion, his legs spread and he caught her between his thighs with a primitive groan. He accepted her hard, eager, and commanding kiss. With ease, his hands slid under her cape, circled her back, and pulled her close, pressing her breasts against the firmness of his powerful chest as if he were trying to bind her to him.
They clung together, his lips as hungry as hers. Neither seeming to get enough. His tongue probed deeply into her mouth over and over again. Their breaths came in ragged little gasps of infinite pleasure.
“Mmm,” he whispered against her lips. “I needed to touch and kiss you like this.”
Heart-throbbing impatience filled Brina with an eagerness she couldn’t ever remember feeling before.
“Why did you make me wait so long?” she asked between deep, searching kisses.
The rumble of his chuckle thrilled her. “I was only waiting for you to let me know you were ready.”
Brina leaned her weight onto him when he ran his hands down the sides of her body. Cupping her hips, he shifted his body to fit her softness against his hardness. Her womanhood clinched deliciously. Immense pleasure filled her, and she had no desire to stop what was happening between them.
She intended to relish every moment of it.
Her fingers curled into the fabric of his waistcoat before relaxing and brazenly skimming down the front of his trousers. A breathy, satisfying moan left his throat. Knowing her provocative caresses caused his body to tighten and tremble with need, she touched him again and again.
Their intense, ravenous kisses didn’t slow. Neither did their searching caresses. Brina wasn’t sure she understood the explosive spirals of sensation shooting through her at alarming speed. These were new to her but wondrous. She couldn’t deny herself the exquisite vibrations that had taken control of her senses, her body, and her mind. The ecstasy of what she knew was about to happen between them was shaking her to the core.
It couldn’t come fast enough.
Zane’s lips left hers, and he kissed over her jaw and down the length of her neck. Gently he pulled on the neckline of her dress and it easily fell off on her shoulder. Her head fell back, and he kissed the small rise of her breast while his hand caressed and fondled it.
They shared every gasp, every moan, and every breath that passed from their lips as they kissed long, deep, and savoring. It pleased her to feel him tremble beneath her searching hands. She loved the way his arms tightened around her possessively as they teased, tasted, and enjoyed this time of being alone with each other to give into and explore the passion between them.
The thrills that swept through Brina were shattering all remembered thoughts of how kisses and caresses in the past had made her feel. Surely if she’d ever experienced this kind of earthly, raw, and heated desire, she would have remembered it.
The pressure of their kisses and touches became harder, deeper, and longer. She pressed her lower body against his, wanting more of him. Zane answered by reaching down and gathering her skirts, pulling them up to her thigh. Her knee came up, knocking her bonnet and his gloves off the seat. With natural ease, his hand slid beneath the soft cotton of her underclothes and his palm outlined the shape of her hips, buttocks, and thighs as they kissed and kissed and kissed again. When his hand moved over to her most womanly part, shivers and sensations of exquisite pleasure soared through her as his light touch pleased her swiftly all the way to a climax.
A whispered moan, a breathy “Yes” escaped past her lips as her body fell, weak and satisfied, against his. She buried her face into his hot, pulsating neck, unable to move.
Zane let go of her dress and caught the back of her head in his hand. His breaths came as deep and hard as hers, though she knew he had not finished what they had started, even though she had. She looked down into his eyes, her heart still beating franticly as she stared at him.
Breathless. Stunned. And more than a little confused that he had not carried through. Her whole being cried out for him to make their union complete. The tension of the moment was still holding him rigid.
“Don’t ever think I don’t want you,” he whispered huskily, and then winced as he shifted his weight beneath her, proving his words to be true.
Raising her head, Brina swallowed hard. She’d wanted him too. Completely. Not just this brief act of consolation.
“What happened?”
His eyes focused intimately on hers. “I intend to make you mine, but the first time I make love to you, it won’t be in a carriage behind a tree.”
She wanted him. Didn’t he realize
how distinct it made him? She hadn’t even looked at a man with desire in over five years. He was the first she’d ever considered for a lover. Her skin tingled and she shivered slightly. All of a sudden, he was the one being sensible and she, the reckless one.
She stared down into his dark, fathomless blue eyes. He neither blinked nor retreated from the issue between them. “But there won’t be many times we can be totally alone.”
“I want you too much to do this now,” he said earnestly, gripping her shoulders tightly to hold her against him.
Her heart continued to pound in her ears. Her pulse continued to beat in her chest. “It’s not an ideal situation. A carriage, but we can manage.”
Blacknight shook his head.
“Why?” she asked from a thick throat.
He reached up and brushed kisses across her bare shoulder, up her neck, to her lips for a deeper, longer kiss. Ripples of pleasure danced inside her and fed the hunger that hadn’t been sated. She hadn’t had enough of his touch, his kisses, and the thrill of his passion.
He pulled back from her but kept his gaze on her face. “If I am to make you mine for all time, I must not make you mine today. We have a bargain. Tempting though it is right now, I’m not going to break our pact.”
Brina suddenly realized what he was saying.
No women.
But that didn’t mean her. Did it? No, not her!
She struggled with what was between them as she continued to seek clarification from him. She supposed it did mean her. He was taking her at her word.
“Why do you all of a sudden have scruples?”
His brow and around his eyes wrinkled with concern. “I’m fighting for you,” he answered earnestly. “I told you I always play to win.”
But she didn’t want him to win their wager. She wanted him for a lover. But as a husband? Her heart started beating faster. No, no. She couldn’t go down that road again.
“I’ve never been so thoroughly seduced by anyone as I have by you,” he whispered. “You are an inviting mix of a proper, innocent lady and a sinfully tantalizing woman.” He gave her a faint smile. “And I want both. I was unbelievably tempted to disregard my promise to you. I was only one more kiss away from giving in to your desire for more and my yearning to make you mine. You must believe that.”
Yes, she did. She didn’t like it, and it shocked her. She averted her eyes and pushed at his chest. His hands tightened on her arms. He looked as if he wanted to say more but fell silent. Softening his grip, he slowly let go.
Pulling at her dress and cape, she straightened in the seat and moved away from him. She shouldn’t be upset with him, but she was. It didn’t matter that he was only following her dictates. Rules she never expected him to take to heart and actually follow. Demands she never expected to haunt her.
Yet, she had no one to blame but herself. Now she had to be levelheaded and get over it. He wanted marriage. She only wanted him for a time.
They were in each other’s lives for the duration of the Season. For now, she had to leave it at that and hope he hurried to the nearest gaming house to have a drink and a game of cards. She certainly wasn’t going to marry him.
She couldn’t marry anyone.
Ever.
“I don’t know what happened to me,” she said, straightening her clothing. “I’ve never been so free before. I—I guess it was the thrill of the ride that caused me to forget myself to the point I lost all rational thought.”
“It was your desire for me that had you mindless of all else,” he said with a teasing grin as he picked up her bonnet from where it had fallen and handed it to her.
“What? No, no,” she argued, half irritated and half amused by his assertion as he laid her hat in her lap. “You’re a horrible person to insinuate that.”
“I’m truthful. I fully admit you have seduced me like no other woman, but you won’t admit I make you feel the same way.”
He was right. It was hard enough admitting it to herself.
She placed the bonnet on her head and stuffed strands of hair underneath it.
“Are you upset with me?” he asked, tightening his collar and then his neckcloth.
“Of course I am,” she said in a lighthearted tone. “You’re a beast.” But she was pleased that he had—well, by what he had done for her. “You ruined a perfectly good ending to an exceptional ride.”
He chuckled, pulled the brake handle, and gave the horses a gentle nudge to start moving. The harness rattled once more, and the curricle lurched as they moved out from under the tree’s branches.
“What party are you attending tonight?” he asked.
“The Duke of Middlecastle’s dinner,” she answered, tying the ribbons under her chin. “He and Lyon are good friends. The duke is always at Lyon’s card club—anyway, I know him fairly well, and I’m going with Adeline and Lyon.”
“You know Lyon invited me to join his club,” he said offhandedly, keeping his eyes straight ahead.
“Yes. I shouldn’t have, but I jumped to conclusions and accused Adeline of asking him to do it so he could keep an eye on you.”
Zane whipped his head around to look at her. “Did she?”
“No,” Brina answered. “She assured me it was issued because of your reputation as a card player in London. I believe her and she forgave me. Apparently, many gentlemen are clamoring to play with you.”
Seeming satisfied with her answer, he gave his attention back to the horses. “I told Lyon if he has an opening after the Season, I’d be happy to join.”
“I am not opposed to you joining right now,” she said with a hint of delivery in her tone.
Zane chuckled. “Your wishes will not persuade me to go back on my word to you. I wasn’t going to attend Middlecastle’s dinner, but if you’re going, I will. Seated in a very small, uncomfortable chair, squeezed elbow to elbow at a table for a dinner that can last three hours is a form of torture.”
“I just had an excellent idea,” Brina said, before the plan had developed fully in her mind. “I think you should give a sit-down dinner party.”
“No.” He shook his head. “At my uncles’ insistence, I had one for my family shortly after I returned. I want it to be a long time before I have another.”
“Family dinners are easy.”
“So my uncles said, but there is nothing easy about my family and the things they want. More allowance, trips to America, commissions in the military, and land. Their requests seem endless.”
“You must decide about those things, but you say you want me to help you do things that are proper. A dinner party where you invite people such as the Duke of Middlecastle, the Earl of Lyonwood, and other peers who are in Town would be good for you. It will have to be toward the end of the Season as most evening dates are already filled for everyone, but I think we can fit one into everyone’s schedules.”
“No.”
“Yes,” she countered evenly. “I don’t know why I didn’t think of it before. It will please your family for you to have a grand dinner for such important guests and prove to other members of the peerage that you are serious about your place in Society. Mainly that you want to get to know them and are willing to work with them should they need you.”
He grimaced. “They should know that anyway.”
“Some people need to be told and shown things like that. It will strengthen all your relationships. This will be wonderful for you.”
He flashed her a grin. “You sound as if you’re already getting excited about this idea of a dinner party.”
“Somewhat, I am. It would be refreshing to plan a party. I haven’t had reason to in a very long time. Living with my parents in their home gave me very little to do. My mother is talented, efficient, and neither needs nor wants help. Besides, I promised to facilitate your transition into the world of London Society and the peerage, and help ease your family’s concerns. I’ll start planning it for you. With your permission, of course. Perhaps your sister will agree to act as you
r hostess.”
“I’d rather you do it.”
Brina frowned.
“No, wait,” he quickly said. “Don’t say anything. I already know. It wouldn’t be the proper thing to do.”
They laughed as he guided the horses back onto the trail that led to the main road.
Chapter 15
“He could have killed you!” were the first words out of Harper’s mouth when Brina walked into the drawing room.
How did he find out and then get to her house so quickly? Brina had hardly been home half an hour. In fact, she was quite sure the blush from all Zane’s kisses and caresses in the carriage hadn’t yet left her cheeks.
Remaining calm, she said, “If you are talking about the carriage ride, I suppose you’ve never driven a curricle fast through Town.”
“Of course I have,” he insisted tightly. “But never when a lady was with me. From what I’m hearing, the earl was exceedingly reckless and showed no regard for you or your safety.”
Her cousin’s statement was pointed and damning. It wasn’t easy to rile Harper. His nature was happy and easygoing. What happened had obviously perturbed him greatly.
“Oh, heavens, Harper,” she said dismissively. “You are making way too much of this. The earl is six or seven years older than you and has had more practice. Who knows? By the time you are his age, perhaps you will have been reckless with a young lady as well.”
“No,” he answered firmly. “There are some things a gentleman doesn’t do. But, lest I forget, the earl is no gentleman.” He walked closer to her, his face contorted in anger. “I want you to stay away from him. In fact, I think I should pay a call to him and insist upon it. Your father would do it if he were here. I intend to do it for him.”
Brina felt her hackles rise. “Now, wait a minute, Harper. I don’t know what you heard but I don’t want you speaking for me to Blacknight or anyone else. And, not that it’s any of your business, but I will tell you, I am the one who encouraged the earl to go fast. He was quite reluctant to do so.”
