‘Then I will help you.’ Because somebody needed to be wholly on Penny’s side and Clarissa would do whatever was necessary for her friend, as well. She could do that better working with the King’s Elite than banished to her sister’s under house arrest.
Her answer surprised him and for the longest time he searched her face. ‘You have done enough. All I require now is your silence. It is better if I do this next part alone...’
‘I’m not suggesting I tackle any smugglers. I am not that foolhardy, but I can still be an asset to you socially—unless you lied to me about that, as well.’ If he had, if the real Seb was not the awkward, insightful and honourable man she had believed him to be, then her heart would be broken in two.
‘I am not that good a liar. You saw the real me before all this started, otherwise you would still be none the wiser.’ He said this with the calm confidence of a man who lived in the shadows and dealt with this sort of thing as a matter of course. Perhaps he was truly shy. And perhaps he wasn’t. Clarissa really didn’t know this man stood before her at all.
The noisy sound of male voices in the hallway beyond signalled the end of the billiards as one by one they tumbled out of the door. Both held their breath as the voices receded back in the direction of the drawing room. Clarissa was about to speak when he stayed her with his hand. Only then did she hear the soft sound of approaching footsteps on the carpet outside. Footsteps his trained ear had been supremely aware of. Good heavens, she was out of her depth.
‘I’m not drinking any more of that cheap muck.’ The slurring voice of Lord Regis punctuated the strained silence. ‘Gives me wind.’
‘There’s cognac in the decanter. Port, too.’ At the sound of Penhurst’s voice, both Seb and Clarissa’s eyes shot to the crystal set on his desk complete with three glasses. Three, not one. In a few moments they would be caught snooping and then heaven only knew what would happen.
Seb gestured to the still-open window and Clarissa shook her head. Even if she could get to it in time, he would still be discovered and then all the trust he had built up with their vile host would be gone. There had to be a more satisfactory way of explaining their unauthorised presence here. In the dark.
Only one sprang to mind. Before she thought better of it, she lunged and grabbed him by the lapels and then pushed him back onto the shiny new chesterfield before quickly scrambling onto his lap. For good measure, she tugged one sleeve to hang off her shoulder while grabbing frantically for the hair comb which held the bulk of her coiffure in place. She felt Seb’s sharp intake of breath as the door knob began to turn and pressed her lips soundly against his.
Chapter Eleven
An illicit tryst was a brilliant idea, a perfectly plausible and simple solution when he was over-complicating things yet again. Seb managed to think all this before all rational thought evaporated in the intense heat of the moment. To Clarissa it would seem as if he played his part well, when in reality plunging his fingers into her hair and tumbling her to lie beneath him had been as necessary as breathing. She felt so good in his arms, utter perfection. She curled both hers around his neck, her body softening in surrender as she sighed into his mouth. That was all it took to send him over the edge. His pent-up lust and yearning exploded as he hungrily kissed her, fired hotter by the passionate, earthy way she kissed him back. Seb didn’t need to fake the carnal groan which vibrated in his throat or the rampant need which instantly surged though his body to settle in his groin. Just the taste of her lips and tongue released them and he was powerless to hold back.
Seb filled his hands with her curves, running his flat palm along the side of her silk-covered ribs, her waist, hips. The burning desire to cup the breasts which were pressing insistently against his chest was overwhelming, so he allowed himself to kiss her neck and collarbone, drowning in the intoxicating smell of her perfume on the bared skin above the low neckline of her gown instead before returning like a starving man to her mouth. Almost as an aside, he became aware of the candlelight from the hallway bathing them in a revealing glow and didn’t care because her hands had snaked between the fabric of his jacket and shirt and her nails were raking over his back. In seconds, what had started as a ruse had become very real to him, mirroring his fevered dreams and he never wanted the miraculous, heady experience to end.
‘I say, Millcroft. Bravo!’
At the sound of Lord Gaines’s voice, Seb reluctantly tore his mouth from hers and the pair of them did an excellent job of appearing mortified. Gem wrestled with the misplaced sleeve of her dress because the laces had somehow come loose during their embrace, her eyes wide and a fat coil of tousled hair trailing from her cheek to below the wonderfully pert breast straining against the top of her gown. A breast which had been squashed against his chest just a few moments ago. He didn’t need to pretend to be a gentleman by trying to shield her, because the primal need to hide her bared skin from the unworthy eyes of those men kicked in before he realised it made being caught in flagrante more convincing. ‘You don’t waste any time, do you?’
Lord Regis leered openly at her. ‘Now I know why you crept out of the billiards room, you dog—you had better things to pot!’
The cronies laughed bawdily at their own inappropriate humour and nudged one another, shamefully ignorant of how they might be hurting Gem’s feelings at being spoken about as if she were both deaf, mute and inconsequential. Only their host didn’t join in. Penhurst’s eyes took in the scene with barely disguised interest and finally locked with Seb’s as a slow smile spread up his face.
‘Are we interrupting something?’
Seb forced himself to stare back smugly. ‘I’d say you interrupted something, wouldn’t you?’ It sickened him to smile back. Sickened him to treat Gem with such an outright lack of respect, but that was what these men would expect and he hoped she would understand it was what he had to do. ‘And you continue to be an interruption. Be good fellows and disappear. Clearly I’m not done.’
Gem stood, playing the part of an affronted woman well—or he hoped she was acting. The last thing he wanted to do was treat her like an object as her idiot Duke or these filthy rogues did. She made a pitiful mewling sound as her hands flapped around her mouth and the still-displaced, sadly wilting sleeve, then picked up her dishevelled skirts and dashed from the room.
‘It appears you are done now, old chap.’ Gaines feigned a sympathetic frown and then shuffled towards the decanter on the desk. He sloshed a generous splash of brandy into the glass, took a huge gulp and belched. ‘I knew she’d be a feisty one... I like a feisty one.’ He placed his hand on the bronze buttocks of Aphrodite and bucked his hips for the entertainment of the others, then winked at Seb. ‘Never mind, Millcroft. The week is young and there will be ample opportunities to get your leg over. Especially as she was obviously desperate for it.’
Seb’s stomach was churning with disgust. His fists wanted to pummel Gaines. ‘What can I say? I’m irresistible to the ladies. Always have been. It’s a curse. But who am I to deny them their pleasure?’
‘Westbridge is my friend.’
Penhurst was testing him, Seb knew it just as surely as he knew the callous viscount was as guilty as sin of everything they suspected. All the scoundrel cared about was himself. Men like that had a warped sense of what the word friendship meant. Seb made a show of adjusting his clothing and tightening his cravat. Only when his cuffs were in their correct place did he deign to answer. ‘Westbridge is a damn fool. If he’d romanced the girl properly, then she wouldn’t be so welcoming of my advances. Instead he plays her off against the Spencer chit right in front of her pretty nose and is oblivious of her needs. Beautiful women like that need to be adored. It’s what they live for. I’d be a fool not to enjoy a bit of adoring if it’s there presented on a platter. And believe me, it is very much on the platter and I am no fool. I do hope it’s not going to be a problem between us.’ Finally he stood and simply stared as
he awaited the viscount’s judgement, showing him he neither cared about his opinion nor was remorseful for ravishing a lady right under his roof.
In the end, Penhurst shrugged, unoffended. ‘I can’t say I blame you. I wouldn’t mind taking the chit for a ride myself.’ He would pay for that comment. ‘Once you’ve done the deed, we’ll expect details, Millcroft. All the explicit details.’ He would pay for that one, too.
‘A gentleman never tells.’ Seb winked conspiratorially. ‘But as you know, I am no gentleman.’ Idly he picked up one of the empty crystal glasses and held it out towards Gaines. ‘Seeing as you’ve royally spoiled my fun for this evening, the very least you could do is share that cognac.’ When some was offered to him, he swirled it in his glass and took a sip, then sighed at the taste. ‘Smuggled?’
‘Of course. How did you know?’
‘Because the best brandy always is. Like women, the forbidden is always sweeter.’ He downed the glass and held it out for more. He needed something to steady his nerves enough to do his duty after the most earth-shattering kiss of his life.
* * *
Nearly two hours later, Seb found his way to Gem’s bedchamber and gently tapped on the door. ‘Are you awake?’ To his surprise, the door opened swiftly and she stood before him dressed in another diaphanous and flimsy robe, that beautiful honey-gold hair draped over one shoulder in a thick plait and her trademark ringlets almost completely gone. She ushered him in with a flick of her hand and then closed it swiftly.
‘Did they believe us?’ She wasn’t offended—he instinctively exhaled as that huge weight lifted off his mind—however, she didn’t appear very happy. She had worry lines between her brows and a tightness about her mouth that he had put there and was desperate to erase.
‘Completely. I’ve been tasked with thoroughly ruining you and reporting back all the tawdry details.’
‘Do gentlemen always discuss those things?’
‘None of them are gentlemen.’ His eyes dropped to her lips and he immediately remembered the taste of them. How he had crushed his own against them as his hands had taken liberties. To avoid them he looked down at the floor and felt the tips of his ears warm. ‘Neither was I. I’m sorry if it offended you... The kiss, I mean... I went too far.’
‘Offended? How could I be offended by something I started? And if you went too far, then so did I. If you want to know the honest truth, it was all rather exciting.’
Hope blossomed in his heart and he risked gazing at her face. ‘Really?’ To think that she had felt it, too, that weird, passionate, overwhelming, intoxicating sense of rightness. That she had enjoyed his kisses...
‘Yes! To know I was helping the government made me feel a bit like a spy, too. That frisson of danger and the knowledge it was for justice was thrilling.’ The flame of forlorn hope cruelly snuffed, he simply nodded and hoped the sound of his grinding teeth was inaudible. ‘But it’s tinged with regret. I feel awful for Penny and dreadful for keeping it from her.’
‘I’m sorry about that—but for now it has to be that way.’
Her shoulders slumped as she sighed, but he saw the resignation on her face. She would maintain her silence. For now. ‘Did you learn anything new after I left you?’
Where to start? He learned he wanted to tear Gaines and Penhurst limb from limb. Learned that a kiss could mean the world and alter it completely. Learned that his feelings for Gem were real and visceral and bordering on the forever kind. Now, thanks to her profound uninterest in the effect of his kisses, he was more convinced than before that his stupid heart was destined to be broken by the ethereal creature stood before him. ‘Not really. Aside from the fact that Lord Gaines belches far too frequently for my liking.’
He moved to look out of the window rather than continue to yearn for what he couldn’t have. In the distance the moon glinted off the sea and he realised she had an even better view of the coastline than she had claimed. A clear and unencumbered view. Perhaps she needed spectacles. In spectacles, hair rags and covered in jam, perhaps he stood a better chance? ‘I’m edging closer into their circle. I can feel that. You should probably know I went along with all their bawdy talk.’ It was another apology. Talking about her like an object didn’t sit right and Seb needed to at least clear that part of his conscience.
‘Very wise. They will afford us more privacy if they believe we are indulging our passions.’
Our passions. If only.
‘That’s what I thought. I need to sound like one of them, so if I do say something completely insulting within your earshot, please remember it’s not the real me talking. It’s Millcroft.’ A man he was coming to dislike.
‘No offence will be taken.’ She dropped her bottom unceremoniously to rest on the mattress, blissfully unaware that the sight of her looking so beautiful and tempting was pure torture. ‘Will they tell Westbridge?’
‘As they have all made separate wagers with me as to the speed at which I ruin you, I sincerely doubt it. Penhurst seemed delighted by my shocking morals.’ And more delighted at the prospect of hearing Seb describe every inch of Gem’s naked body. ‘Promise me you will never get caught alone with him.’ Now that the viscount assumed she was game, Seb wouldn’t put it past him to chance his arm.
She shuddered and shook her head. ‘I’ve always avoided being alone with Penhurst and his horrid friends. They all eye me like a cake in a baker’s window. Always have.’ And they would pay for that, too. ‘But let’s not talk about them. After I left you I did a bit of exploring of my own. I had never noticed that the footmen appear to be standing guard. There is one posted on every door to the outside.’
‘Only at night. But then, no smuggler worth his salt would dare to be out during the day.’
‘How did you already know that when this is your first night here?’
Gray had already appraised him of as much and his Invisibles had been watching the house for days.
‘I’m a spy.’
‘You say that a lot, as if it explains your omnipotent knowledge of everything.’
‘If I knew everything, then Penhurst would already be in chains.’ He saw her expression cloud with worry again and wished he hadn’t been so blunt. ‘Try not to fret about Penny. The King’s Elite is run by Lord Fennimore. He is ridiculously well connected and resourceful. I’m sure he will help your friend once this is all over. Perhaps we could set her up with a new identity? A fresh start. One where her horrible husband never existed.’
‘Do you really think he would help?’
Her lovely eyes had brightened. ‘I’m certain of it.’ And now Seb was making promises he couldn’t keep. If the viscountess was complicit in her husband’s treachery then she would have to stand trial, too. His gut told him this was unlikely. Poor Penny mostly resembled a frightened deer around her spouse and Penhurst held all women in little regard so it was doubtful he would confide in one—even if she was his wife. But occasionally people surprised him. The image Penny projected to the world might well be as false as Lord Millcroft’s.
Gem reached out and took his hand, clasping it tightly between both of hers as she stared up at him in grateful adoration, yet oblivious to how much that simple touch was playing havoc with his conscience, his body and his heart. ‘Oh, that would be wonderful, Seb. Thank you.’
Uncomfortable, he gently tugged his hand away and went back to his safe spot by the window. Her touch made him want more than usual and he was still stunned at the power of one kiss. ‘This room sits between the French doors and the side door to the kitchen?’ The only two back entrances on to the garden on the west wing of the house. Both of which were guarded at this time of night. All the routes outside were guarded at night. Getting outside unseen would require some covert manoeuvring.
‘It does. Why?’
‘The dense bit of shrubbery below makes this an ideal escape route to go snooping around after dark.’
>
‘We are two floors up...do you have wings now, too?’
‘Spies don’t need wings.’
‘Ah.’ She smiled and his foolish heart soared again at the sight, supremely pleased that he had distracted her from her worries. ‘I suppose you are now going to ask if you can borrow my bedchamber from time to time?’
‘Actually, I was going to ask if I could borrow it indefinitely. Your view is perfect and I look out on to the drive.’
‘Won’t my moving arouse Penhurst’s suspicions? Or are you scandalously suggesting we share?’ The purposefully flirtatious look set his cheeks burning and she giggled, then stopped abruptly to stare at him like a specimen. ‘You really are shy, aren’t you? I had wondered if that, too, was a one of the convenient tools in your spying arsenal.’
‘No. It’s all natural.’ Seb found himself shaking his head at his own ineptitude until he plucked up the courage to meet her eyes again. Once he did, bizarrely he felt less awkward and realised he was becoming more at ease in her company than he ever had been with a woman before. But then Gem knew more about him than he allowed most people to know so he supposed it was to be expected. ‘And you wouldn’t have to move. I shall avail myself of your window once a night and climb back in at dawn.’ Where he would have to see her rumpled with sleep. The image of her sprawled across the same mattress she was sat on rooted itself in his mind and refused to leave it, except in his mind the nightgown was gone, her golden hair was fanned out over the pillow and her lips were deliciously swollen again from his kisses. For his own sanity, it was time to leave. ‘Goodnight, Gem. I shall see you tomorrow. For croquet, I believe.’
‘Amongst other things. There will be tennis and bowls, too. Then riding late afternoon. The Penhursts always plan a packed itinerary. Or at least Penny does. He normally sleeps till three after his night before. Keeping busy takes her mind off whatever her foul husband is doing when all the decent people go to bed. I suppose you will be privy to that debauchery, too.’
The Mysterious Lord Millcroft Page 12
