Harlequin Historical May 2021--Box Set 1 of 2

by Sarah Mallory

  ‘And now here we are—in a similar situation as we were that night at the Skeffington ball—whereas this time you arranged to have your friend bring me on to the terrace. If we are seen, then everyone will believe we are starting it up again.’

  ‘Let them. Following your rejection of me at the Skeffington ball, they’ll think I’m trying to repair my damaged male pride. That is what I want them to believe.’

  ‘You do? I’m not sure I do.’

  ‘I am heir to a dukedom, Lucy—dukes are few and far between. Since acquiring a title and wealth is like a holy crusade for most of them, they’ll admire and envy you all the more for it.’

  Lucy’s face was working with the strength of her emotions, which had, for the moment, got the better of her. Reluctantly she gazed up at him. His eyes glowed with the reflected light of the lanterns hanging from the trees as he watched her unrelentingly, heightening Lucy’s tensions until she could hardly stand the suspense. Two more couples stepped out on to the terrace.

  ‘I think I should go back inside.’

  ‘Walk with me in the garden. I would appreciate your company, Lucy.’

  On a sigh she nodded, reluctant to return to the dancing.

  She did not object when he took her hand and led her down the terrace steps to the garden below, then tucked her hand in the crook of his arm. They sauntered along a path lined with marble statues. Neither of them spoke until they turned a corner into a leafy arbour. Stillness was all around them and music drifted over the garden. Grateful he’d sought some privacy for them, breathing in the scented night air, Lucy turned to face him, gazing at his handsome face with its stern, sensual mouth and hard jaw, and in the moment that followed she felt once more that wild surge of excitement and anticipation when she remembered being in his arms.

  ‘Why have you brought me here?’

  ‘Because I wanted to be alone with you.’

  ‘I see.’ Horrified at the possibility that he’d somehow known what thoughts had been running through her mind on the terrace, she said uneasily, ‘Why should you think I want to be alone with you? What are you going to do?’

  Moving until he was only inches from her, Christopher regarded her from beneath hooded lids.

  ‘Actually, I would like to kiss you—to see if it’s as pleasurable as I remember. You are a desirable woman, Lucy, and I am a man who possesses a fine appreciation for such beauty.’

  ‘Really? You do surprise me, Christopher. Is your memory so lacking that, not satisfied with compromising me a year ago, you are about to do the same again?’

  He chuckled softly. ‘I’m willing to risk it if you are.’

  She sucked in a deep breath, the scent of his warm, clear skin, assaulting her senses and making her body tremble with awareness. She could not deny a dark fascination as she watched his beautiful features twist with what appeared to be intense pleasure at the idea of kissing her, a pleasure that she’d briefly tasted as his lips had captured hers in the past.

  It was one thing to want to be kissed by him before, but here, with absolute privacy and nothing to prevent him from taking all sorts of liberties, it was another matter entirely and far more dangerous. And based on that other time when she’d wanted him to kiss her, she couldn’t blame him for thinking she’d be willing now. Struggling desperately to ignore the sensual pull he was exerting on her, she drew a long, shaky breath.

  ‘I’m surprised that you want to kiss me again after the last time. I seem to recall you telling me that you regretted doing so—because of my age, I suppose,’ she said softly. ‘I, too, had regrets—about the fact that I behaved like a shameless wanton for letting you. We both should have known better and not allowed our—weakness to get the better of us.’

  His voice was heavy with irony. ‘Weakness? Is that what you put it down to? It had nothing to do with the fact that we were attracted to each other, that I could think of nothing other than dragging you off somewhere even more private to make love to you? Or that I had scruples enough to ignore that ignoble impulse? I wanted you then, Lucy. I want you now.’

  Lucy made the mistake of looking at him and his eyes captured hers against her will, holding them imprisoned. ‘It was a year ago, Christopher. We—have changed.’

  ‘Neither of us has anything to gain by pretending that what we felt then is over,’ he said bluntly. ‘Seeing you again has proved that it isn’t.’

  Lucy wanted to deny it, but she sensed that if she did he would hate her for her deceit. She raised her chin, unable to tear her gaze from his. ‘All right,’ she said softly. ‘I’ve never forgotten you. How could I?’

  He smiled and his voice gentled to soft velvet. ‘Thank you for not denying it. Now I would like to kiss you again—if you are willing, that is. I will not force you to do anything against your will because I do not want you waking up tomorrow and saying it should not have happened.’

  Some small, insidious voice in her mind urged her to do as he asked, reminding her that after the public contempt she’d had to endure this very night she was entitled to experience again the passion that had consumed her before.

  His smouldering gaze dropped to her lips, riveting there. Taking her silence for consent, he placed his hands on her upper arms and drew her close. Lucy was breathing too fast so that she was almost dizzy and knew she would not be able to bear it if he released her now. There were certain times when certain actions seemed natural. Christopher placed his finger beneath her chin and tilted her head back. Perhaps he could read in her face what she could see in his—wonder and hunger. Then he kissed her, with a passion that was like an explosion, stunning them both.

  Lucy felt the sturdy trunk of a tree against her back and his body against hers as she pressed herself closer to him with a shameless ardour she would not have believed herself capable of. They kissed with a passion and Lucy pressed the palms of her hands against his chest. His mouth moved urgently against hers and she began to match his pagan kiss, lost in the heated magic of the moment. A shudder shook his powerful frame as she fitted herself to him and his lips pressed down on hers, parting them with a hungry urgency before becoming gentle and caressing. Lost in the heated magic of the moment, Lucy touched her tongue to his lips and felt the gasp of his breath against her mouth. She could not have denied her longing for him any more than she could have commanded herself to stop breathing.

  An eternity later he lifted his head and looked down at her lovely face upturned to his. ‘Until now I have managed to convince myself that my memory of our kisses, of the passion that erupted between us, was exaggerated. But that kiss surpassed my imaginings.’

  Lucy was silent as her breathing evened out and the sounds of the night began penetrating her senses. Sudden female laughter coming from just beyond the arbour broke caused them to move apart.

  ‘I think we should go inside,’ Lucy whispered. ‘Aunt Caroline will be wondering where I’ve got to.’

  ‘I think Lady Sutton will be happy to know you are with me. However, we will return to the dancing and I would very much like it if you would dance with me.’

  ‘Do you think that would be wise?’

  He raised his brows and smiled wryly. ‘Nothing you and I have done has been wise, Lucy. Let the gossip begin. They’ll see how weak you are and see you can no longer evade my manly charms.’

  Beginning to walk away, she glanced at him coolly. ‘Don’t flatter yourself—and remember that now that my reputation has been redeemed, there are other beaux impatient to dance with me.’

  ‘You will dance with me first.’ He held out his hand. ‘I insist. I happen to have worked very hard tonight on your behalf—the least you can do is dance with me. Let everyone see us together and you will see how easily most minds can be manipulated. It might give the gossip a turn of direction, one they have not expected.’

  Lucy relented and placed her hand in his. As they walked into the ballr
oom, heads turned as one, every eye focused on them, some filled with curiosity, some with puzzlement. They stepped on to the dance floor, where Lucy walked into Christopher’s arms and felt his right arm slide about her waist like a band of steel, bringing her close against the solid strength of his body. His left hand closed around her fingers and suddenly she was being whirled gently around in the arms of a man who danced the waltz as thought he had danced it a million times before.

  ‘A whole year has passed since I last held you in my arms. It’s as if we have scaled some invisible wall that has kept us apart and now there is no need for impatience. We will wait and let matters run their course.’ Lowering his head to hers, Christopher murmured, ‘Lift up your head, smile at me, look as though you’ve never enjoyed a dance more.’ His eyes twinkled wickedly. ‘You might even flirt with me if you like.’

  Lucy drew a shaking breath and a smile curved her lips. ‘I can smile, Christopher, but flirting is definitely out. Look where it got me before when you danced me out on to the terrace and kissed me.’

  ‘How can I possibly forget? The kiss has been repeated and I am already impatient to repeat the experience.’

  ‘You sound very sure that I will let you.’

  ‘You will,’ he said, twirling her about. ‘Now relax. Your aunt and Amelia appear to have found each other. They have their heads together and are watching us closely.’

  ‘I am relaxed.’

  ‘Your body tells me something different.’

  ‘My body is my own affair.’ She was acutely aware of his hand against her waist and she had a sudden impulse to shy away.

  ‘I would like to know what your body looks like, Lucy.’ His eyelids were lowered over his eyes as he looked down at her upturned face, gently flushed by his remark. ‘I would like to know everything about you, every curve, every hollow and every inviting, secret place.’ He grinned at the shock that registered in her eyes and spun her round more vigorously than the dance required. ‘I am going to be a duke after all.’

  Lucy scowled up at him, seeing sparkling humour in his eyes. ‘You’re loving this, aren’t you?’

  ‘Every minute,’ he admitted shamelessly. Scowling when he saw her glance towards the edge of the dance floor and smile at a group of young beaux who stood in a group watching her, impatient to ask her to dance, he spun her in the opposite direction. ‘You don’t have to smile at every man you come into contact with.’

  ‘Why not?’ she replied, her look one of complete innocence. ‘I was only being polite.’ She laughed lightly. ‘Why, what’s this, Christopher? Are you jealous by any chance?’

  With his lips close to her cheek his voice was hunky and warm, his eyes devouring her with a hunger he did not try to conceal. ‘I am jealous of your every word, thought and feeling that is not about me. I want you, Lucy. It is my dearest wish to make you mine. Don’t waste your time on those young cockscombs. They’re not worth it.’

  Trying to ignore what she saw in his eyes, his lips hovering just above her own, Lucy tried to still her rapidly beating heart. ‘And what of you, Christopher?’ she asked, breathing heavily. ‘Are you worth it? You say you want me. If I were to yield myself to you, would you honour me?’

  ‘Until death,’ he breathed. ‘I have been plagued with thoughts of you since you left. Don’t you know how much of a temptation you are to me—how much I missed you when you were away?’

  ‘How did you miss me, Christopher? Tell me?’

  ‘I missed everything about you. I missed your bright smile, your high spirits and the wild sweetness of you that I have never found in anyone else. I missed you.’

  Her mind reeling over the shock of what he was saying, Lucy could only stare at him as a torrent of emotions overwhelmed her.

  ‘I want you, Lucy,’ he murmured. ‘There is a chemistry between us—has been from the start.’

  ‘But—’

  ‘And I must point out that a young lady should never, under any circumstances, contradict a duke.’

  ‘I wasn’t going to.’

  ‘Not even when I ask you to marry me.’

  Unable to believe what he had said, Lucy felt her surroundings melt into a haze. She was amazed that she carried on dancing. The heady, intoxicating joy that flooded through her body was nearly her undoing. She wanted to say yes, despite her bold determination to become a woman of independence, but she hesitated. His gaze had moved to her mouth, lingering there. He wasn’t smiling any more, his face having taken on a serious expression. After a moment, unable to work out where the proposal had come from, amazed that her voice sounded so calm and controlled, she said, ‘This is all so sudden, Christopher.’

  ‘Yes, I know.’

  ‘Couldn’t you have asked me somewhere else instead of the middle of a dance floor?’

  ‘You have less chance of running away from me here. It would be sure to start another scandal and that is the last thing you want.’

  ‘True.’

  ‘It is not the way I intended to propose, but the truth of the matter is that I have precious little experience when it comes to asking a woman to be my wife.’ He gazed down at her. ‘Have you nothing to say?’

  Lucy had plenty to say, but not while she was dancing a waltz. Besides, it did not take a great deal of intelligence to realise that, considering all that had happened, he felt obliged to offer for her. An awkward silence descended until she at last said, ‘You don’t have to do this, Christopher.’

  ‘What? Ask you to be my wife?’

  ‘Because of what has happened, I suspect you feel obliged to propose to me. It is not necessary to feel that way. I did not expect it.’

  ‘What occurred is in the past and has nothing to do with my proposal. You are in my blood, Lucy. I care for you deeply and I want you in my life.’

  A heady burst of heat flooded through Lucy’s body. It was more than she had ever hoped for, but she was cautious. ‘I might be in your blood, Christopher,’ she said, unable to completely disguise her doubts. ‘That is so very different from wanting me to be your wife. Marriage is important and serious and not something to be undertaken lightly. Forgive me, Christopher, but I’m reluctant to commit myself to you or anyone else just now. Aunt Caroline has gone to an awful lot of trouble in making me a debutante and I want to savour the opportunity a little longer.’

  Christopher’s expression hardened. ‘And to look over other eligible suitors before you settle on a husband.’

  Lucy smiled up at him obliquely. ‘Oh, don’t be too despondent, Christopher. I promise to consider your proposal along with any other I might receive. You sent me away, remember, and now you say you want to marry me. Pardon me if I appear confused.’

  ‘Yes, I sent you away—but you will never know the strength of will it took to do that. I had to do it. You were young. It wouldn’t have been right to ask you to commit yourself then. I had only recently come to England to accept my inheritance, which was a massive undertaking for me. And I had a duty to Amelia, who, as you saw for yourself, was still deeply affected by what Barrington had done to her.’

  ‘Yes. She’s come through it remarkably well.’

  With a smile he spun her once more as the waltz came to an end. ‘She has—and you are determined to make this difficult for me. I don’t expect you to answer right away—but in the meantime,’ he said, a wicked smiled curving his lips, ‘I will do my utmost to persuade you and enjoy every minute of it. I’m not noted for my patience, Lucy, as well you know,’ he said, looking at her with that all-absorbing attention Lucy had come to know. ‘The die is cast. You will be mine in the end.’

  They were met by Amelia and Lady Sutton, who looked from one to the other.

  ‘I’m so happy everything has been resolved, Lucy,’ Amelia said sincerely. She looked at her brother. ‘I think I would like to leave now, Christopher—if you would order the carriage. I’m quite fatigued w
ith all the dancing.’ She turned to Lucy. ‘On Wednesday of next week, Christopher has promised to take me in a boat on the river and a picnic at Greenwich—he’s so busy that we have to plan these things in advance, you understand.’ She turned to her brother, smiling in anticipation that he would agree to what she had to suggest. ‘Why don’t we all go? It would be such fun. Do you not agree, Christopher?’

  Lucy began to stammer a polite refusal, but Christopher would have none of it.

  ‘That is a splendid suggestion, Amelia. If you would care to join us,’ he said, ‘we would be delighted.’

  ‘Oh—but I don’t think...’ Lucy said.

  ‘I refuse to take no for an answer. It would be such fun,’ Amelia said, beaming. Lucy agreed. ‘Splendid. Then that is settled.’

  They talked some more and arrangements were made for Christopher and Amelia to collect them in their carriage four days hence at ten o’clock.

  They parted company then, Lucy and Christopher trying to give the impression that what had passed between them was nothing more than a friendly meeting. It was a poor pretence. They could not pretend the feelings they had for each other did not exist. But that’s what they did as they went their separate ways.

  CHAPTER TEN

  ‘Well,’ Lady Sutton said when they were in the coach. ‘It turned out to be an enjoyable evening after all. Now, don’t keep me in suspense, Lucy. You and Viscount Rockley spent a great deal of the evening together after everything was sorted out.’

  ‘We have him to thank for that—although I think you already know that. If you really want to know, Aunt Caroline, he asked me to marry him.’

  Lady Sutton was rendered speechless and then she smiled, well pleased with the way everything had turned out. ‘Well—that is good, isn’t it?’