by Gill, Tamara
Heat licked along his spine, and he wanted nothing more than to wrench her into his arms and kiss her until they both did not know where or who they were until they could not breathe from want of each other.
Instead, he held out his arm for her to take yet again. She wrapped her hand about his elbow, and he escorted her down the hill. "Let us hope that an opportunity does arise, Elena, before our time runs out, and I expire of want of you."
"Yes, let us hope it does," she answered him.
He couldn't agree more, and if he prayed hard enough, with any success, it would be sooner rather and later, and well before he left for London.
Chapter 15
Elena could not remember a happier day than the one she spent with Theo. They walked the small village for several hours, speaking to the locals and looking at the few shops the village was fortunate to have.
Elena had never been so free before. She had guards and courtiers following her in the past, maids and companions doting on every want and need. But here in Somerset, she had been able to remove herself from that glittering life and how liberating and wonderful it was.
Since the house party at Kew Palace was an event hosted by King George, even though he was not likely to arrive, she had not needed to take her guards or companions. As for her lady’s maid who had helped her with her plan, she had paid her to travel to Kew and attend Lady Villiers and her maid, so she would not be left in London where her sister Alessa could find her and start asking questions.
Theo had taken her to the modiste and cobbler, not a lovelier couple Elena had ever beheld. They ate small iced cakes before the bakery window and watched children chase ducks about the park. Their sweet laughter made theirs break free, especially when one child was fortunate enough to catch one.
The people of the town treated Theo with respect and kindness, and she could see that it pained him not to be able to help when they requested it. He was the caretaker of them all, after all.
They had returned to the estate later that afternoon, her feet sore, her gown dusty from the walk, but never had she had a more enjoyable time. That her day was spent beside Theo had made it even more memorable, and she longed for it never to end.
Later that evening, she sat in the upstairs parlor the dowager particularly liked, sipping tea while the dowager knitted.
"What are you thinking about, my dear? You are very quiet with your thoughts just now," the dowager said, her fingers working quickly with the needles in her hands.
She wanted to tell the dowager everything. That she had started to adore her son and wanted him for herself. When he laughed, a warmth spread through her heart. When he watched her, his eyes dark with delicious intent, she could not deny him any more than she could deny herself.
But with each day she was a guest here at the estate, she also became more and more aware of his lordship's financial quandary.
The house itself, its run-down gardens, and peeling wallpaper were obvious enough. But having visited the town, seeing the tenant farmers who now had to find employment elsewhere told her his lordship was in a lot worse financial debacle than she first imagined.
Tenant farmers worked the land, lived in cottages on the respective lord's property. They did not have to seek employment away.
"May I ask something, my lady? And please, do tell me to mind my own business if you do not wish to explain what is troubling me."
"Of course, I shall help you as much as I can. What is it that you wish to ask me, my dear?" The dowager settled her knitting needles in her lap.
Elena took a fortifying breath, needing to know the truth of the situation so she would know best how to proceed. "Lord Lyon is so very desperate to get to town, and I would like you to tell me if this is because he requires a wealthy bride?"
The dowager's mouth opened and closed several times before she sagged in her chair, her face a mask of pride, even after being asked such a difficult question.
"My son does need to marry well, and it is why he was to travel to London. We are at risk of losing the estate. Of course, Theo will keep his title, but the house will revert to The Crown if we cannot pay the taxes on the estate." Her ladyship sighed. "My husband was in a card game and lost a lot of our most valuable farming land to King George. When Theo inherited, he tried to make the land we did have in our name work to support the estate, but it was too dense with forest and wet for crops. The lady that my son marries will have to have a king's ransom to save us from relocating to London permanently. I have a townhouse there, you see, that I inherited from my grandmother."
A king's ransom. Or a princess’s fortune...
Elena studied her hands, having known the truth of the dowager's words, but hearing them aloud made Theo's plight all the more real.
"He ought to travel to town and soon. The horse is better, and the carriage is repaired, and you have recovered from your illness. He should leave as soon as tomorrow, for I would hate for you to lose this magnificent home over a foolish card game." And she would not marry a man unless he loved her for herself, not for who she was. Such a marriage would be the epitome of torture, and she could not stomach such a future.
The dowager smiled, picking up her knitting needles. "He will return to town soon and find a suitable lady. I know it was not the way he wanted to find his bride, but that is the way of the world. Not everything is fair and how we would like it."
The thought of Theo marrying a woman he did not love but required to save his estate also sent a chill down her spine. Such a marriage was abhorrent, and she could see why he was putting off traveling to London and choosing from the wealthy who desired a title and thought marrying a penniless lord was a good bargain.
His lordship’s plight made it all the more important for her need to keep who she really was from Lord Lyon. Should their relationship progress further and she started to feel for his lordship more than friendship, then she needed to know that he loved her for herself, not for what she would bring to the marriage.
Oh, who was she fooling? She already had feelings for Theo that went deeper than mere friendship.
"I hope his lordship finds a woman who is not only wealthy, but one who captures his heart," she said, the statement only partially true. For she could not wish for him to leave and marry another, no matter how much she knew he needed to. She wanted him to stay here with her. To prove to her that a lord would marry a woman without a penny to her name. Even when that lord needed blunt more than anything in the world.
Only then would she trust that his love was true.
Her dream of such a thing was unlikely to come to fruition, but she could wish for the end all the same.
The dowager packed away her knitting before standing. "If you would excuse me for an hour to two, my dear, I feel in need of a little lie down before dinner."
Elena stood, going to help her. "Are you well, my lady? Would you like me to escort you to your room?" she asked, going to help her quickly.
The dowager shook her head, preferring to proceed out of the room without any assistance. "No need, my dear. My room is not far. I shall see you at dinner.
Elena watched her go and slumped back onto the settee. She had not seen Theo today, he had ridden out on the grounds early this morning on the back of his elderly horse, and her heart had hurt that he did not have a mount suitable for a marquess.
Theo deserved to be on the back of a thoroughbred, as strong and fast as those raced at Newmarket. He deserved everything in the world, and if he did choose her for his wife, loved her with all of his heart, then all his wishes and dreams would come true. He just needed to follow his heart instead of his head.
* * *
Theo took the stairs two at a time, striding with purpose toward the upstairs parlor. He came into the room and found the woman he was looking for. Thankfully alone.
Elena sat on the settee, a Belle Assemblee publication open on her knee, casually studying the latest fashions available in London.
She was as pretty as a pa
inting of sunshine and flowers. "Has my mother stepped out a moment?" he asked her, pulling her attention from the brochure.
"Oh," she stated, startled by his appearance. "Her ladyship has gone to lie down for an hour or two before dinner this evening."
"Very good," he said, closing the door. Before he could think better of his actions or remind himself why this was a bad idea, a very, very bad idea he should not attempt, he strode across the room, hoisted Elena from the settee, and kissed her.
Hard.
She gasped against his mouth, and he took the opportunity to tangle his tongue with hers. She was all softness and smelled as sweet as the hothouse in summer.
Should he have one. The estate had long given up such luxuries.
He expected Elena to pull away, to ask him what he was about. Instead, her fingers gripped the lapels of his coat and pulled him close, her mouth taking as well as giving in the spontaneous kiss.
Theo lost himself in the feel of her. She kissed him with abandonment. He thrust away all that stood between them. His lack of funds and hers too, and merely enjoyed having Elena in his arms. She made a soft, mewling sound that taunted his resolve to keep the interlude at a kiss.
He wanted to do so much more with her. He wanted to untie the pretty dress from her delectable body, slide it down her feminine curves, exposing her ample breasts and flaring hips. He wanted to kiss her everywhere, mark her as his in the only way he knew how, with adoration.
She stood on tiptoes, placing her height almost equal to his, and kissed him. Her passion made his head spin. How was it she could not be his? How could life be so cruel as to keep him from having her?
You could have her. It would mean the ultimate sacrifice.
Theo did not want to think about the problem now. He wanted only the woman in his arms and nothing else to distract him. He clasped her jaw, spiking his fingers into her hair and feeling it tumble about her shoulders.
He broke the kiss, her eyes glassy with need and passion stared back at him, wide and with a question within them.
It was enough to make him crumple to his knees.
He would bow down to this woman as poor as they both were if it meant that they would forever be just as they were now.
Together.
Chapter 16
Her kiss with Theo was like a dream. He was everything she wanted in a gentleman and hers for the taking. Tonight at least.
She kissed him back with all the pent-up and denied need that had thrummed through her these past days. She had wanted him like this for so long. To have him kiss her with such sweetness made her knees tremble and her heart race.
She could not get enough of him. How was she ever to watch him ride off in his carriage to London to marry another? She could not. She had to tell him the truth.
Tell him who she really was before it was too late and he found out by other means. A fact that would happen. It was only a matter of when.
Elena threw herself into the kiss, taking all that she could from the man making her want so much. Delicious things that she did not understand but desperately wanted to learn.
Did all kisses feel like this? Like she did not know how she would ever return to earth, keep her feet on solid ground after the heights he threw her to?
His tongue tangled with hers, and she suckled his mouth. Her body was aflame. His hands slid over her back, down onto the globes of her bottom, wrenching her against his person.
His manhood jutted against her stomach, pooling heat at her core. She sought to satisfy herself against him and wanted to please them both, but she could not understand why.
She had never felt like this before. Her body did not feel like itself. It ached for his touch, more of his kisses, but not just on her lips, as wicked as they were there, but other places too.
Naughty, forbidden places upon her person she had never allowed another to know or see or touch.
Not until Theo.
She wanted him to know her. All of her.
"I want you, Elena, so very much. I ache for you. I've wanted you from the first moment I saw you step down from the carriage, so beautiful and confident."
She pulled back, sliding her hands over his shoulders, loving the look of dishevelment that had befallen him. He looked thoroughly kissed, his lips swollen and red from her touch.
Elena ran her finger over his bottom lip, soft and full. She wanted to kiss him again and again, knowing she would never be sated, not when it came to Theo.
"You did? How enlightening." She chuckled when he reluctantly stepped back but continued to hold her hand.
"You did not feel the same?" There was fear in his blue orbs, and her heart tumbled in her chest at his vulnerability.
She nodded, unable to lie to him about her feelings at least. "I did, of course, but then I'm a companion," she said, wondering when she would tell him the truth and if he would hate her for her deception. Now that she had included his mama in her lies made it doubly worse. But she wanted to hear that he cared for her, loved her, before knowing she was a princess and the answer to all his problems. Was that so very much to ask?
"I have no right in looking at you in a romantic light. I know I am not what you need." Even though she did see him as the man she wanted to marry. What a tangled mess she had weaved and needed to unfold before it was too late. She had fled to Somerset to leave the madness of London behind—including her life as a royal princess—only to find a madness of her heart here at Lyon Estate.
A madness she never wanted to end.
"Let us not speak of the difficulties that we face and merely enjoy our time together. I promise I shall not ask anything of you that will injure your reputation. No matter how much I may wish to."
With his words, he wrenched her back into his arms, kissing the underside of her ear, sliding his tongue along her neck, and eliciting a shiver of desire through her blood.
The man was impossible to deny. She did not care about propriety and what she ought to do and what not to do. For years she had stood behind her sisters, the third daughter of a king remembered more for her beauty than anything of substance. The man before her cared for her, a commoner, a woman without wealth or connections. That he did meant everything to her. It was as priceless as her jewels and estates combined.
No one had ever cared for her who did not know who she was already. Theo did not, which meant, with him, his affection was heartfelt and not brought on by what she could give him financially and socially.
It was an elixir more potent than pink champagne. And she adored pink champagne.
"I would like that very much. For now," she added. The next few days, she would bask in their newfound attachment. And then she would tell him the truth. He deserved to know she was no companion but the Princess of Atharia.
* * *
Just as she wanted, Elena and Theo were inseparable over the next week. The dowager accompanied them on most of their excursions. They had revisited the maze, determined to find their way in and out within a few minutes this time, instead of hours like the previous attempt.
Theo's mama had watched from the lawn on a chaise brought out by one of the footmen and laughed as they called to each other within the green walls, working their way through.
Elena had made it to the dry pond first, determined to claim her prize.
"Lord Lyon, I do believe I'm the winner." She laughed, smiling as he walked slowly toward her, his dark, hungry gaze sending her mind to race.
"This time," he replied, stopping but a hand’s length from her. "What do you wish for your prize to be?" he queried, not making another move toward her.
Elena closed the space between them, fisting the lapels of his coat within her hands. "You. I want you to kiss me again."
He growled, wrapping his arms around her back. "Your wish is my command, Elena." Theo kissed her until she did not know how to stop, how to regain any sense of time or decorum.
His lips were soft, beckoned her like nothing she ever felt before. His stron
g, muscular arms pulling her against him, his manhood straining against her stomach made her knees weak, her body ache.
The kiss had been playful at first, filled with laughter and small nips, but it did not take long to change. Somewhere in their teasing, the kiss turned molten, hot and determined, demanding and consuming.
Elena could not get enough, and it was only when Theo's mama had called out to them, asking if they were lost, that she knew she was admittedly lost, not in the maze, but within her heart that was as tangled up with Theo as the vines about them.
"We shall be right out," Theo called, taking her hand and, this time, leading them out of the maze without any trouble.
The following day they had visited the folly for a second time, taking the opportunity to steal a kiss or two along the way when the trees and shrubbery hid them from the dowager who once again stayed at the bridge.
Their nights were filled with games of cards and parlor games with the dowager until she was too sleepy to remain and retired for the night. Elena, of course, retired too, but tonight Theo had a special treat for her, although she did not know what that plan entailed. She wore a morning dress of blue cotton along with a camisole, unsure what they were doing.
After midnight she snuck from her room and tiptoed downstairs, meeting Theo in the library. He held up a basket, a bottle of wine, and an assortment of sweetmeats and treats wrapped up in linen.
"A midnight picnic under the stars. The night is oppressively hot, and sleep will be almost impossible in any case."
Elena could see he was pleased with himself at his gift, and she was too. He was so very kind and charming. He deserved everything he ever wanted, and when he proved his love was true, she would give him the world if he only asked.
He just had to say what she needed to hear. Three little words. Words that she knew she had come to feel for him and would say back without a moment of hesitation.
