Alyssa shrugged. While she was thankful that the focus had been turned from her and Travell, she wasn’t entirely comfortable with this line of questioning either. “It was, but it’s not as if I could stay there as an unmarried woman without a proper chaperone.”
“Do you know what you intend to do with the townhouse?” Triana asked.
She shifted in her seat. “It’s being taken care of.” She didn’t yet have the heart to tell her that it had already been sold.
“Tri, really.” Gabriel admonished his bride. “I don’t think Lady Alyssa wishes to discuss this subject at the moment. Perhaps when you’ve had some time to catch up on your own you can interrogate her all you wish.”
Tears instantly struck her eyes. “I’m sorry, Aly. I didn’t mean to…” Triana sighed as she laid her head on Gabriel’s shoulder, appearing at a sudden loss for words.
Alyssa watched as her husband held her close, his hand rubbing soothing circles on her upper arms. It was in that moment Alyssa started to feel like she didn’t belong there. While she’d long been friends with Triana and had considered Rosewood more of a home than Breyton Hall, as she watched the couple across from her, she realized that these people were family, while she was nothing more than the outsider looking in.
And as Triana began to start a new life of her own, Alyssa realized that things would never be the same. Those carefree days of inventing new worlds at the ruins, and standing together along the walls at the ballrooms were gone. Triana was a wife now, a duchess, with great responsibilities. Soon, she would be a mother. They would always be friends, but eventually their association would become nothing more than a murmured greeting at a ton gathering, and a few moments of conversation over afternoon tea.
With a sudden tightness in her chest, Alyssa rose. “If you’ll excuse me, I should… check on my roses.” It might have seemed like a rather inane excuse, but it was all she could think of to get away.
Alyssa rushed to the conservatory, her breathing heavy and uneven. The moment she shut the door behind her, she walked over to her Blue Ladies and attempted to draw on the comfort that they always provided. But today, they were oddly silent.
A single tear splashed on one of their sapphire petals and she gripped the edge of the table until her knuckles turned white. Get a hold of yourself! There is no need to be crying! But even as she chided herself, the quiet sobs continued.
Not until she heard the shuffle of a boot behind her, did she spin around with a gasp. Travell was standing in the doorway, his expression unreadable. She turned away and wiped at her tear-stained cheeks, but the moisture continued to seep out of her eyes, even though she told herself to stop being such a watering pot. Of course, he had to notice that she was upset, but she grabbed a set of nearby trimmers and pretended to speak as if nothing was amiss.
“What are you doing here?”
“Tri and Gabriel are speaking to Dr. Perimore. I thought I would give them a chance to talk to him alone.” He paused. “I came to see how you are.”
“I’m fine.” She waved a hand, but refused to look at him, her chin still quivering with emotion. Desperate to put some distance between them, she went around the other side of the table where most of her face was shielded by an overgrown rhododendron.
She heard him close the door and take several steps into the room. “I don’t think that’s true.”
Don’t do this to me! She wanted to shout. Don’t you dare back me into a corner like this, not when I’m feeling so vulnerable, when just the slightest touch of your hand could send me over the edge…
“Of course it is.” She tried to laugh, but all she did was manage to sniff rather guiltily. And so it became a game of cat-and-mouse. She moved through the foliage in the glass-enclosed structure, while Travell continued his pursuit.
As a bead of perspiration began to travel down her back, Alyssa tried to blame the humid temperature in the conservatory, but that wasn’t the only reason for her distress. Heat didn’t make one heart’s pound with anticipation, nor did it cause one’s pulse to flutter. No, that was all due to Travell and his towering figure that had neatly blocked off any hope of escape she might have otherwise had.
Glass enclosed three sides of the room, but as she faced the brick wall of the manor, she knew there was nowhere else to go. She set the trimmers down and laid a hand on the brick, the only thing there that was cool to the touch. She closed her eyes and laid her forehead against the wall, a harsh sigh escaping her chest. She couldn’t help but compare this barricade to her current situation. She might imagine that America would be the cure to all her problems, but she couldn’t outrun her own mind. These torturous thoughts would remain with her whether she was in England or across the Atlantic. She would always have a hole in her heart when it came to Aunt Pearl. Alyssa told herself she’d cried all the tears she’d had when Lady Alwan had been placed in the ground, but as the weeks passed without her kind shoulder to lean on, Alyssa realized that her grief still remained. It didn’t matter if she had started wearing lavender to appease Caroline, it wouldn’t change the fact that her heart was still broken.
Or that Travell would never truly love her.
“Alyssa.”
A traitorous sob escaped her when he put a gentle hand on her arm. She desperately wanted that touch, the show of human emotion that the Duke of Chiltern had shown to his wife, the kindness that she’d been denied after Pearl’s passing.
But that wasn’t all she wanted.
She slowly turned to face Travell, and through the haze of her tears, she could see that handsome face before her, watching, waiting patiently for her. With trembling hands, she lifted them to his face and whispered two words, “Kiss me.”
***
Travell couldn’t have denied Alyssa that simple request even if he’d wanted to — which he didn’t. He’d been aching for another sweet taste of her lips for days, so he bent his head and captured her mouth with his.
He set his hands on her waist, drawing her closer to him as she wrapped her arms around his shoulders with an almost pleading whimper. He knew she was hurting, and while he imagined he was the worst sort of scoundrel for feeling as though he were taking advantage of this moment, he reminded himself that she’d wanted this. In turn, he desired nothing more than to bring that brilliant smile back to her face, to make her feel pleasure instead of pain, to erase it altogether, if that were even possible.
But that might take more than a kiss to accomplish.
Did he dare?
Travell slowly slid his right hand up the side of her ribcage, stopping just below the curve of her breast. He broke the kiss just long enough to see her expression when he rubbed his thumb over her nipple. Even through the confines of her stays he could feel the hardened tip and he had to clench his jaw.
Alyssa’s lips parted and so he did the same with her other breast. When she didn’t stop him or pull away, he cupped the full mounds in his hands, and lightly kneaded them through the material of her gown. When he started to move away, she clutched his wrists and opened her expressive brown eyes, dark from her desire. “Don’t stop.”
Travell swallowed thickly, not sure if he should have started this. If she pushed him away, he wasn’t sure he could stand it. His control was hanging by a thread as it was.
But he forced himself to put aside his own needs and went one step further into his own torture by freeing one of her creamy, pert breasts. He nearly groaned as he spied that perfect, pink nipple. He lowered his head and took the peak in his mouth, sucking gently, as he rubbed his tongue over every inch of that soft flesh.
Alyssa moaned and so he urgently tugged down another section of her gown. Once they were both on display, he took turns laving one and then the other until she was panting heavily. “More. Please, Travell…”
He closed his eyes temporarily. God, he was going to lose his bloody mind. But until she told him to stop, there was no way he was going to end this sweet torment now. While he might leave this room unfulfil
led, he damned sure wasn’t going to allow her to do the same.
***
Alyssa could tell that Travell was lifting up her skirts, but it wasn’t within her power to really care. The attentions he’d showered upon her thus far had been so… incredible, her body a thrumming beat, the pulse between her legs especially insistent, that she knew there had to be something else as equally powerful to ease this ache.
The moment he touched her, she cried out, all sensation flooding to that one area. “Again,” she demanded, and he complied by rubbing his hand in a rhythmic motion in that single spot over and over again.
Stars danced behind her vision as she closed her eyes and leaned her head against the brick. He took advantage of her position by kissing a hot trail up her neck, but the moment he licked her ear, her hips jerked of their own accord and she knew she was close to… something.
He returned to her breasts and as he nipped one of the buds, the intensity between her thighs grew to a fevered pitch.
“Travell…” she moaned his name as her legs began to shake.
“You’re so beautiful, Alyssa.” His voice was harsh as she started to climb the precipice. “Look at me. I want to see you.”
She opened her eyes to see his face just inches from hers. Each exhale mingled together, and as her lungs hitched, her breathing faltered as a wondrous feeling that she couldn’t even describe clutched her entire body. It coursed through her veins as hot as liquid lava, as powerful as a tidal wave, and as Travell leaned forward to kiss her, the pleasure continued until she was finally sated and set on the shore where peace and calm surrounded her.
The next time she opened her eyes, it was to find Travell still standing before her, but her gown had been set to rights and his glorious hand was no longer under her skirts.
“How are you feeling now, Alyssa?”
She could see the unease in his expression and she could tell he expected to have a reluctant female on his hands. Instead, she walked forward and touched his cheek with her hand. Any regrets she could save for later, when she was in the privacy of her room. But not now, not after what he’d just done for her. “I’m fine. Thanks to you.”
He lifted her hand and kissed her knuckles. “I’d be glad to comfort you anytime, my lady,” he murmured softly, his blue eyes twinkling with a slight touch of wickedness.
She couldn’t help but laugh. “Let’s not get ahead of ourselves, my lord. How about we just take it one day at a time?”
He grinned and offered her a light bow. “I can only hope you have need of me tomorrow.”
Chapter Nineteen
Alyssa had been spending the past few days at Breyton Hall for supper, but at Triana’s insistence, she sent word to her cousin that since the Duke and Duchess of Chiltern were in residence, she would be dining at Rosewood. Unfortunately, that must have been received as an invitation, for while they were in the parlor waiting for the butler to let them know dinner was ready, Lord and Lady Lockley chose to arrive.
Caroline sailed into the room before her husband and paused before Alyssa. Attired in a rose colored, silk gown, the shade brought out the golden highlights of her hair and the brilliance of her smile. Although nothing could change the fact that her charming, outward display was entirely superficial.
“Oh, my darling, cousin! I was overjoyed to receive your message.” She turned to Travell and fluttered her lashes, blatantly flirting with him right in front of James who looked as if he’d been dragged there against his will, which he likely had been. “I daresay it was on behalf of Lord Curdiff, wasn’t it?” She laughed gaily.
In turn, Travell looked as though he might be sick. “Indeed,” he muttered, although there was no feeling in it. Thus, he had no choice but to tell Ives to add two more to the guest list, or else appear a rude host.
Caroline ignored the edge to his tone and glanced at the other couple in the room, and then back at Alyssa, who withheld an aggrieved sigh as she stepped forward to make the introductions. “Triana, Gabriel, may I introduce, my cousin, James Breyton, Baron Lockley, and his wife Caroline. The Duke and Duchess of Chiltern.”
“Your Graces,” the blond gushed. “It’s truly an honor to be received in such revered company. I understand you’ve just returned from your honeymoon in Italy. How very romantic! I have been telling James that we should find time to see more of the continent, at least, once this dreadful business with France is over. Haven’t I, dear?”
He replied with a mere grunt, but then, she barely spared him a glance over her shoulder as she turned her attention on Triana. “I should like a thorough recounting after dinner!”
Alyssa wanted to groan. The idea of keeping her tongue in cheek through an entire meal was loathsome enough, but to be subjected to Caroline’s insufferable company afterward — it was enough to make her consider staying behind with the men for port and cigars.
“And here I thought you detested dear Caroline,” Travell murmured in her ear.
Instantly, a shiver ran up her spine. That spectacular interlude in the conservatory was still too fresh in her mind for her to think straight with him near, but she did her best to paste on a neutral expression. “I do. She completely, and likely purposefully, misinterpreted my note.”
“I rather gathered that’s what happened,” he returned. “I suppose we will just have to weather the storm.”
As Ives reappeared, Travell offered Alyssa his arm. “Shall we?”
Her heart thumped as she threaded her arm through his, and while she did her best to try to hide her inner thoughts, she was quite sure they shone out of her eyes regardless of her best attempts to shutter them.
But when Travell’s blue gaze deepened to the shade of a stormy sea, evidence that he was still fully cognizant of what had transpired between them, her breath caught.
When Alyssa glanced behind her to see if their intimate exchange had been observed, she had to withhold a smile when Triana rolled her eyes at Caroline, who was still chattering incessantly. The duke, in turn, looked as though he’d bitten into a ripe persimmon. It was apparent his first impression of her relations was not one of fondness. At least the feeling was mutual on that score.
Travell sat at the head of the table with Chiltern on his right as an honored guest, forcing him to place the baron to his left, along with Caroline. Alyssa took the chair beside Triana, for she certainly wasn’t going to choose to spend the next few courses sitting next to her.
As Triana spread her napkin in her lap, she murmured softly, “It’s no wonder you’ve been spending so much time with my brother if this is what you’re forced to endure on a daily basis.”
Alyssa’s lips twitched, grateful that Lord and Lady Lockley’s presence could give her an appropriate excuse to latch on to, rather than the truth, that she was desperately in love with the viscount.
She lifted her eyes and slid a glance in his direction. Her face warmed instantly when she saw him watching her intently over the rim of his wine glass.
Alyssa quickly returned her gaze to the soup that had been placed before her and tried to concentrate on how to eat.
“Is Lord Trenton not joining us this evening?” Caroline asked brightly. “I had rather hoped to make his acquaintance at long last.”
Alyssa looked at Travell, whose hand had tightened around his spoon. “I’m afraid not.” Caroline continued to look at him expectantly, but since he offered nothing further, she allowed the matter to drop.
In an aside to Triana, Alyssa murmured, “How was the earl faring this afternoon?”
Triana frowned slightly. “Dr. Perimore, while it is obvious he is a brilliant man, is unfortunately, not able to perform miracles.” She paused to swallow. “My father didn’t even know who I was. He kept calling me… Sophie and rattled on about being poisoned.”
Alyssa’s heart went out to Triana. It was entirely different when they had conversed, for while she respected Lord Trenton, she wasn’t his own flesh and blood. For Triana to be called the name of her father’s
mistress was bad enough without being accused of treachery. “I know it wasn’t the homecoming you were envisioning, but you just have to have faith that the answers you’ve been searching for will come in time.”
Triana’s blue eyes were misty. “I have truly missed you, Aly.”
Alyssa swallowed past the lump in her throat. “And I, you.”
As they each returned to their meal, Alyssa couldn’t help but glance back at Travell — who was still watching her just as intently as ever.
She shifted her gaze and took a fortifying drink of her wine. She had the feeling she was going to need it.
***
Travell was grateful that, not only had Dr. Perimore chosen to take a tray in his father’s chamber, but also that Gabriel carried most of the conversation at dinner, regaling Lady Lockley with tales of their honeymoon adventures in Italy, mainly due to her continued persistence. As the baron drank most of his dinner and added little to the discussion, Caroline hung on the duke’s every word, and although his brother-in-law had glanced toward him several times for assistance, Travell had happily let him take the lead. Honestly, he was just glad for the reprieve, as a certain dark-haired, green-eyed woman seated farther down the table sorely distracted him.
He took another sip of his wine as the third course was served. He glanced at Alyssa over the rim and waited for her to notice him. When she did, he smiled, although she quickly glanced away. He knew he should be a bit more covert in his attentions, but when their interlude in the conservatory was still so fresh in his mind, it was hard to concentrate on anything else.
He realized he’d taken a great risk by seducing her in the midst of her prized flowers. If his sister had come upon them, he knew he’d never live down the scandal. But even if Alyssa had been compromised, he was more than willing to marry her. Hadn’t he proven this when he’d already asked her several times with the same result? While he didn’t want to resort to underhanded means to secure her hand, at the moment he wasn’t sure he was above it.
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