by Merry Farmer
One of Lord Malcolm’s eyebrows twitched. “Harley Street is where the money is,” he said. Natalia was very close to being appalled.
“True.” Linus nodded. “But it is not necessarily where there is the greatest need.”
“You are a man of principle, then?” Lord Malcolm asked.
Natalia began to understand that the two of them were holding some sort of negotiation.
“I am,” Linus said.
Lord Malcolm paused before going on with, “Your lack of an established medical practice is not because of some scandal in your past that has prevented you from making the right contacts, is it?”
The notion was preposterous and Natalia was about to laugh…until she noticed the slight flush that came to Linus’s cheeks. He answered, “Certainly not, my lord.” But suddenly Natalia wasn’t so sure. Could there have been some sort of scandal in Linus’s past that she didn’t know about? If she were honest with herself, she didn’t know as much about his past as perhaps she should.
“If that were the case,” Lord Malcolm went on, “I can assure you that the truth would be uncovered.”
Natalia’s nerves began to fray. She had never cared much for mysteries, and suddenly it felt as though one were standing right next to her.
But Linus smiled and answered Lord Malcolm with an easy attitude. “I can assure you that my past is in my past, and there it will stay, my lord. My only concern now is for the future and the sort of life I might build for myself and…someone else.” He glanced to Natalia.
All at once, Natalia felt at ease again. Linus did love her, she was certain of it. And as long as the two of them loved each other, nothing could get in their way.
“See, Mama?” she said, turning to her mother with a smile. “There is so much more to making a suitable match than mere class or birth. And don’t you want me to marry a good man? One who is full of kindness and ambition?”
Instead of rushing to agree with her at last, Natalia’s mother crossed her arms and cleared her throat. She shot a look to Lord Malcolm before glancing past Natalia. “Oh look. It’s Mr. Mercer. What excellent timing you have, sir.”
Natalia clenched her jaw, winced, then turned to find the very last person she wanted to interrupt the conversation walking sedately toward them.
“Good evening, Lady Campbell, Lord Campbell.” Mr. Mercer bowed to Lady Katya and Lord Malcolm. Natalia hated that he was clever enough to address her mother first, in spite of social convention. He then nodded to her with perfect grace. “Lady Natalia.”
“Mr. Mercer,” Natalia mumbled.
Mr. Mercer glanced past her to Linus with a curious look. “Dr. Townsend, I presume,” he said, still as civil as could be.
“Yes.” Linus answered with a polite nod. “You must be Mr. Mercer.”
“Quite.” Mr. Mercer nodded, paused, then turned to Natalia. “My lady, I was hoping I might be able to tempt you into a waltz.”
“I…oh…er….”
“Yes, Lady Natalia would love to dance with you, Mr. Mercer,” Natalia’s mother blurted. “Wouldn’t you, dear?” The threat of fire in her mother’s eyes made it clear that Natalia had no choice.
“Um….” Natalia sent a desperate look to Linus.
“We’d all love to see the two of you together,” Lord Malcolm said.
Mr. Mercer sent a cautious look from Lord Malcolm to Lady Katya to Natalia, and even to Linus. Natalia had the feeling he knew which way the wind was blowing, but he offered his arm to Natalia all the same.
“Very well,” Natalia said, trying her best to smile. She took Mr. Mercer’s arm, letting him lead her out to the dance floor as she sent a regretful look over her shoulder to Linus.
The waltz began. Natalia waited for the inevitable moment when Mr. Mercer would question her about Linus, who he was, what his business was with her, and a thousand other questions she didn’t know how she would answer.
Instead, he asked, “Are you enjoying the ball?”
She blinked, nearly missing a waltz step. “Um, yes.”
He smiled slightly. It irritated Natalia to no end. He wasn’t that bad looking. “You look lovely this evening.”
“Oh? Um. Thank you.”
Blast him, but his manners were nice as well.
Except that he didn’t say another word through the entire waltz. Not a comment about the weather or the election or the other ball guests. And he was an accomplished dancer. All of which added up to one terrifying fact—he was exactly the sort of man her parents would push her to marry if she let them.
By the time the waltz ended and Mr. Mercer returned her to her parents—and Linus, who had stayed doggedly where he was instead of letting Lord Malcolm chase him away—Natalia was certain that if she didn’t immediately take drastic action, she would be Mrs. Mercer by the end of the summer.
“I need to speak with you at once,” she whispered to Linus as soon as the proper pleasantries were exchanged and Mr. Mercer escorted Lady Katya out for a waltz.
She turned, ready to march away, glancing to Linus to be certain he was ready to go with her. He sent an apologetic look to Lord Malcolm before leading Natalia away.
“I’m afraid Lord Malcolm wasn’t moved by any of the arguments I made,” Linus whispered as they wove their way through the ball’s guests. “I tried to make my case while you were dancing, but he and your mother kept commenting on how fetching you and Mr. Mercer looked together.”
Natalia growled in frustration. “I’m tired of no one taking my feelings about the matter into consideration,” she said, feeling more tired than she had in ages. “I don’t want to be a child in perpetuity, constantly controlled by the whims of my parents for now and Mr. Mercer later.”
“I think I understand,” he said, resting his hand over hers as it nestled in the crook of his arm.
“We have to take action, and we have to act fast,” Natalia rushed on, feeling her heart beating a mile a minute.
“Do you know,” Linus began slowly, “I think I agree.” He glanced around the ballroom for a moment before picking up their pace as they headed for one of the exits. “Let’s talk about this in private,” he said, whisking her out of the room.
They left the ballroom and made their way through the halls of Campbell House. Natalia had forgotten how well he must have known the house after living under Rupert’s roof while caring for Lord O’Shea. He took her right to a parlor that was distant enough from the activity of the ballroom that they wouldn’t be disturbed.
As soon as they were alone together, he turned to her, taking her in his arms, and asked, “Are you completely certain that you would be content to live the life of a physician’s wife? Lord Malcolm brought up a good point about the change in lifestyle that it would represent.”
Natalia blinked and leaned back in his arms to study him. “He didn’t say anything of the sort.”
Linus grinned crookedly. “That’s what he was saying with all his talk about Harley Street.”
Natalia sighed. “Why must people speak in riddles all the time? Why can’t they speak openly so that I can refute their arguments?”
To her surprise, Linus laughed. He did more than that, he drew her closer in his arms and leaned in, slanting his mouth over hers. Her eyes went wide at his kiss and she sucked in a breath as best she could for a moment before letting all of her tension drain away. She kissed him in return, loving the way his mouth felt against hers and the way his whiskers tickled her skin. In all the time they’d known each other and flirted with each other, he hadn’t kissed her. It was like heaven.
“Forgive me,” he said, pulling away from her. “I shouldn’t have taken that liberty.”
“I’ve been waiting for you to take that liberty for so long now,” Natalia said, feeling as though she were melting on the inside. “Kiss me again.”
“I want to, but I’m afraid if I do it will lead to more,” he told her. “And you remember what your mother said.”
“Blast Mama,” Natalia answere
d breathlessly. “I’m tired of being the only one in the family who doesn’t know things. I want to know, and I want you to teach me.”
“Oh, my darling.” Linus held her tighter, kissing her again and making her head spin with joy.
Natalia thought she heard some sort of noise from the hall outside the room, but she ignored it. All she wanted to do was kiss Linus. No, there was more she wanted to do than that.
“I don’t care what Mama or anyone else thinks,” she said, breaking their kiss. “You are the only man I ever want to be with in my life. I’ve known it from the moment I met you. If they won’t let us be together openly, then we must write our own rules for being together, while there is still time.”
She could tell by the way he was looking at her that he wanted the same thing she did, but something within him was conflicted.
“I was raised differently than you might think,” he said slowly, brushing a hand along the side of her face. “I don’t have the same inhibitions that are drilled into most people. If you’re telling me that you’re willing to risk a certain degree of social ruin to be with me, then I will support you in that decision.”
Joy of an exciting sort that Natalia had never experienced before blossomed within her. “How unusual,” she said, resisting the urge to giggle. “And how perfectly in line with everything I was thinking.”
She stepped away from him, taking his hand and leading him out of the parlor.
Chapter 4
Natalia’s heart skipped to a lively beat in her chest as she and Linus dashed out of the secluded parlor, hand in hand. She felt wicked and she felt alive. Finally, she was taking her romantic fate into her own hands. Her parents would never be able to force her to marry Mr. Mercer if Linus had her first. No wonder Bianca had rushed to do such reckless things with Jack Craig. If Bianca could be reckless, then Natalia could be to.
“This way,” she whispered, slowing her pace and tugging Linus away from the main hallway toward a back staircase that would take them up to the bedroom where she slept when she stayed the night with Rupert and Cece. “My brother keeps a room for me to—”
She gasped as they rounded the corner into the staircase, only to come face-to-face with a man in a bowler hat. Natalia had never seen him before in her life, but instantly she didn’t like the look of him. More than that, she was terrified that her naughty plan with Linus was destined to fail before it began.
But after one startling moment of shock on all sides, the man in the bowler hat turned away from them, sprinting down the stairs. Natalia blinked as she watched him go, but the stranger was the least of her concerns at that moment.
“Upstairs,” she told Linus, bursting into a grin.
“If you’re absolutely certain,” he said, matching her grin with a spark in his eyes that thrilled her.
“I’m more certain than I’ve ever been.”
She proved her statement by mounting the stairs and drawing Linus along with her to the second floor, and then along a narrow hall to a larger, but still quiet hallway. She could hear the faint sound of the orchestra playing in the house below them. It gave her the confidence that anyone who might catch them was currently occupied. It also made her wonder if being naughty and sneaking around to take a lover was easier than she’d thought it was.
They made it to her bedroom and slipped inside without being noticed.
“That was deliciously easy,” she said, shutting and locking the door, then turning and surging into Linus’s arms.
He held her close, closing his mouth over hers and kissing her deeply, but laughing at the same time. As wonderful as his kiss was, she jerked back, still keeping her arms around his neck and stared curiously at him.
“Why are you laughing?” She wasn’t sure if she should be laughing along with him or scolding him.
“Because this is utter madness,” he said, still smiling, even as he gazed into her eyes with carnal fondness. “Running off in the middle of a ball to engage in illicit activities is the sort of thing that happens in novels that young ladies shouldn’t be reading.”
Her smile returned. “But it’s terribly fun, isn’t it?”
“It is always terribly fun,” he said, arching one eyebrow, then kissing her again.
Natalia relaxed into his kiss, feeling as though she had conquered the world. She had everything she wanted, right there in her arms. All of the flirting and hours of conversation getting to know him, and they had finally reached the moment of truth.
His body was strong and firm, and the way his arms wrapped around her sent thrilling sensations through her. She had never feared proximity to a man, like some of her friends. How could she, coming from the family she belonged to? They were all notorious, and even though they’d hidden so much from her, they had never instilled fear in her.
She adored the way Linus’s lips molded to hers, the way his tongue teased her. She even loved the way his beard scratched her. There was so much to learn and so much to share, and her time for it had finally come. When he parted her lips with his and slipped his tongue against hers, she moaned in triumph, knowing she was about to get everything she wanted.
“I do love you, you know,” he said breathlessly, leaning back enough to stare into her eyes. “Even though I shouldn’t. Even though your parents are right when they say you’re too far above me.”
“They’re wrong,” Natalia assured him, pressing her body against his. “There is no class when it comes to love.”
“There is,” he said with an amused grin, glancing bashfully to the side for a moment. “But I believe you when you say I am more than I was raised to be. Your faith in me has given me the sort of faith in myself that I have been missing for so long. You lift me up.”
“Then let me give you more than just faith,” she said, sliding her hands from behind his neck, across his shoulders, and to the buttons of his formal jacket. “Let me give you everything. Let me entrust all that I am to you.”
“I will,” he breathed with so much emotion that it nearly brought tears to Natalia’s eyes.
She finished with the buttons of his jacket but leaned in to kiss him before starting on his waistcoat. She’d never undressed a man before, but she’d never truly kissed one the way Linus kissed her either. She was hard-pressed to decide which activity she wanted to explore more. Linus’s mouth was so warm and so skilled as he teased and probed her, raising sensations in her that she’d only ever dreamed of. It was like magic.
He moved his hands to her waist, slipping around to her back in search of the fastenings of her gown. As romantic as their kiss was—as the entire wicked rendezvous was—reality struck as she realized undressing while wearing ball regalia was far from a sensual and romantic activity.
“It buttons down the back,” she said, feeling far too practical for the moment, turning her back to him.
“Ah, I see.” He set to work undoing dozens of buttons.
Natalia found herself questioning why women’s fashion required so many buttons and hooks, ties and fastenings. Once he finished unbuttoning her bodice, he moved on to loosening her skirts and petticoats, which was disappointingly practical. She let out a sigh and stood where she was, bristling with energy at the brush of his fingertips against her back, but itching with impatience all the same.
For a moment, everything seemed beautiful again as he pushed her bodice off her shoulders and bent to lay soft kisses against the bare flesh of her shoulders. She sighed in approval and swayed closer to him, but he paused halfway through the process of pushing her sleeves down her arms.
“Are there fastenings on your sleeves?” he asked as he met resistance.
“What? Oh. Blast.” Natalia huffed with impatience and grabbed at the fingers of her long gloves, pulling them off. “I was under the impression that this entire process was far more alluring than it is proving to be,” she said.
Behind her, Linus laughed. “Did no one ever tell you that layers of restrictive clothing do little to enhance a romantic mood?�
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She turned to face him, sending him a long-suffering look. “No one tells me anything.”
“Then let me be the first,” he said, reaching for her and pulling her flush against him. “This is the most tiresome part of the entire process. It is also the reason I believe women should wear far looser-fitting clothing.”
Natalia’s brow lifted as she dropped her gloves to the side and wriggled out of her bodice, letting it fall as well. “Is that your medical opinion, Dr. Townsend?”
“It is my opinion as a man,” he said, then punctuated his statement with a kiss.
Once again, Natalia found herself lost in the sweetness and fire of his kiss. She sighed and slipped her arms over his shoulders, giving in to whatever he wanted from her. She assumed he was far more experienced than she was, and he seemed to prove it by continuing to undress her, making quicker work of her skirts than had been possible with her bodice.
Once he removed her corset, Natalia’s heart began to beat faster. She was down to her chemise and drawers while he was still fully dressed. There was something dangerous and erotic about it, something she wanted to explore to the fullest. She had her chance as he lifted her and carried her to the bed, laying her against the soft coverlet. For a moment, she held her breath, not sure how things would proceed, but certain she wanted them to proceed as fast as possible.
He stroked his hands down her sides, and then her legs, sending a delicious shiver through her. He then surprised her by removing her slippers, then stepping away from the bed. Her moment of confusion was followed by a quiver deep in her belly as he shrugged out of his jacket and began removing the rest of his clothes. This was it. This was the moment she’d been waiting for.
She wriggled around on the bed, tossing aside the extra pillows and pulling down the bedcovers while he undressed. Part of her thought she was being silly to bounce around with so much excitement, but she couldn’t possibly meet her moment of victory with anything approaching stolid dignity.
