“What the bloody hell do you think you’re doing?” He remained silent as she stared up at him, his jaw clenching in anger. “You think you can come up here and cause a scene like that and just walk away as if nothing happened?
“You are not his.”
A hysterical bubble of amazement rose in her and she couldn’t stop the sarcastic snort that escaped her lips. “Really? Whose am I then? Yours?” When he remained silent, Moira snorted again. “You knew he was courting me. You know, having asked the question not one week ago, that I was planning to marry him. Did you think what we’ve done together would change what I want out of life? I want to get married! I want a family of my own! Why do you think Eve is taking me to London? So I can dance the Season away before I go back to a lonely life at the Tower? When a man courts a woman, they kiss. Harry is—”
“Not like that,” Vin cut her off with a slash of his hand. “That is not how a gentleman kisses a woman he is courting. A lady he is courting. And you! Why were you letting him kiss you like that? Is one lover not enough? How can you jump from one to another? You were kissing me just hours ago,” he snarled suddenly surprising Moira with the attack. “How could you do that? How could you do that to me?”
The temper leeched from her as she stared at him curiously. “Do you care, Vin?”
“Of course, I care. I don’t want to see you taken advantage of.”
Vin glowered down at her seeing her disbelief at his words, knowing he wasn’t even being honest with himself. He might be angry by her faithlessness but more so, he was angered by the sight of her in another’s arms, angered that another man had touched her. Angered that she had allowed it. Angered that, apparently, she wasn’t as attached to him as he was to her.
“I don’t want to share you with him. For as long as we are lovers, you will be only mine.”
“Were you jealous?”
It had been Harry’s point after all, to prove to both Vin and herself that he wanted her, that he cared more than he could admit. Moira wanted to hear it from his lips. She felt the need to force him to face what was right in front of him, perhaps for the first time in his whole life, to recognize the truth of what he saw. Acknowledge the truth of his own feelings.
He ground his teeth. “I do not share.”
“And if he asks me to marry him? What then?” She pushed even harder, determined to get something from him that would give her the assurances she needed. “You might not think I am now, but if I marry him, I will be his. I will be his wife. Harry’s wife.”
A strangled sound caught deep in Vin’s throat but still he remained stubbornly silent. “Will that be fine with you? Tell me!”
“I know you will want to marry someday,” he allowed though he sounded as if he were choking on the words.
Moira felt her heart clench and tears burn behind her eyes. “Why can’t you just say it?”
“What?”
“Say that you want me.”
A dry, humorless chuckle escaped him. “I didn’t think that was in doubt, lovey.”
The need to shake him nearly overwhelmed her. She wanted to rattle his mulish brain right out of his head. “I know you want me in your bed. The question is, do you want me out of it? Do you want to keep me as your own?”
“I’ve already told you, I do not intend to wed.”
“Then, let Harry court me as he will,” she told him, trying to keep the sadness out of her voice. “He may kiss me, touch me or whatever he will, because he will give me what I want. He won’t deny me or himself. I will marry him when he asks and then he will take me to bed and I will be his.”
Vin watched Moira turn away feeling the blood rising barbarically in his head once more at the picture she painted for him. Moira, in Aylesbury’s bed. That marquis touching her as he had, rousing her to the passionate heights he knew she was capable of. It made him nearly ill to think of it, but that sickness was combined with jealousy and anger. Torn between the desire to just let her go and the need to keep her as his own, Vin drove his fingers into his dark hair and grasped the hairs by the roots, tugging in frustration.
He couldn’t give her what she wanted, even if he wanted to. He couldn’t take that step. He knew he wasn’t the man to make her happy. He wanted her to be happy.
Moira needed an unburdened soul. He was so bogged down by guilt. The past was where he lived and he couldn’t keep her there with him. Before his return, she had begun to move forward with her life and he was doing naught but dragging her down with him. Pulling her into the hell he dwelt in.
Just let her go.
No! His heart argued. He couldn’t let that Aylesbury fellow have her, couldn’t let him take his friend from him. Couldn’t let him take the one person who gave him hope for the future, who gave him gladness and joy in his heart. Who put light in his life.
Vin grabbed Moira’s hand, pulling her back toward him and cupping her cheek in his hand. “You want me to admit that I was jealous? Fine, I do. Do you want to hear me say that the very idea of you in bed with him sickens me? It does. I am not ready to let you go, lovey. I will not give you up to him.”
“What will you give then?”
Ignoring the hope burning in her eyes, Vin skirted the question with a kiss, capturing her lips fiercely with his own and plunging his tongue deeply into her mouth. He was angry with himself, angry at her for pushing so hard. Torn between right and wrong, knowing that what he was doing was not fair to her but could not stop. Taken off guard, Moira’s head fell back helplessly as she took his kiss and returned it in kind. Her arms snaked around his shoulders and neck to pull him closer as she went up on her toes to press her body against his.
With an answering moan, he pulled her closer, trapping her in his arms as he devoured her. He could feel all the silk roses crossing over her skirts press against him, the ones near her hip pressed into his groin as she rocked against him. He growled savagely, dragging her sleeve down to press of kisses there, to her collarbone. Pushing one breast up with his palm, Vin lowered his head to suck on the soft flesh swelling over her neckline.
Moira’s head fell back and Vin kissed his way back up the slender line of her throat before returning to her lips. Pushing a knee between her thighs, he grasped her hips and pulled her against him, letting her feel the heated length of him. His moan of pleasure was matched by hers.
Chapter 35
This suspense is terrible. I hope it will last.
~ Oscar Wilde
“Well, what have we here?”
The snidely voice broke through the haze of lust and want that surrounded them and Moira pulled back to find an older but dapperly dressed man near the landing looking at them with malicious glee on his face.
Before she could respond, the fellow leaned over the banister and called down, “Lady Gordon, Lady Stanhope! Come see what I have found!”
Reginald Wallis. With a groan, she stepped away from Vin pulling together her bravado to face the greatest gossipmonger in all of Edinburgh and the crowd that was coming up the stairs and assembling behind him. Gossip followed Wallis and when a ball needed to be livened up, the people followed Wallis.
And they’d found a juicy tidbit tonight, she thought eying the little man regally and trying to formulate the best response. How had they been noticed up here anyway? She cast a glance at Vin only to find him glaring at Wallis. He looked like a wild animal backed into a corner and was ready to fight for survival. A muscle ticked angrily in his jaw and she sensed he was about to be very rude to Wallis.
Hoping to calm the storm before it blew, Moira took a step forward only to have Eve push through the crowd ascending the stairs and come down the hall, putting herself between Wallis and the scandalous couple.
“Wallis.” She nodded coolly. “Whatever do you think you’re about? This part of the house is not open to guests.”
“I might ask you the very same thing, Lady Glenrothes. It seems that you’ve been so occupied by your husband that you’ve neglected your duties as ch
aperone.” He tittered here and a few in the crowd joined him. “Or are you perhaps Lady Haddington? It is so hard to tell.”
Eve leveled a look of pure contempt on the man who Kitty often referred to as ‘that little toad’. He was a toad. Wallis took joy in making other lives miserable. When Kitty first came to Edinburgh and had been seen in Jack Merrill’s company; Wallis spread rumors abounding that the newly wedded Eve had already tired of her new husband and was having an affair with his closest friend even after knowing Eve and Kitty were so identical, they might be mistaken for one another. Eve would have thought after her sister planted the man a facer the previous summer, he might think twice about putting her family in his sights but it seemed that time dimmed the memory of his broken nose.
Flicking her gaze at the crowd, Eve’s mind raced for a solution. It had been a long night already. Though the music, dancing and food were all spectacular, there had been little to titillate and the crowd all looked eager for a good scandal to lighten the evening. Another glance behind her found Moira chewing her lip nervously but Vin looked ready to blow. She needed to do something. Her mind raced.
Facing Wallis once again, Eve addressed him in her haughtiest tones. “Surely an engaged couple can be allowed a few moments of privacy without reprimand, Lord Wallis.”
“Engaged?” Wallis sneered doubtfully. “A tidy excuse. Except you’re forgetting Lord Clarendon was considered dead these past five years. How could they be engaged?” The nods of the crowd showed that they agreed with this.
Eve waved her hand airily as she continued. “Lady Moira and Lord Clarendon had an understanding long ago before he was sent on to Burma with the Queen’s Guard. Lord Clarendon was courting her for years. Any who knew them then can remember how close they always were.” There was a murmur in the crowd that encouraged Eve to continue. “Lady Moira mourned him for a long while. Her friends all know that her love for him is what kept her from wedding another in all the years since.”
Eve looked back at Moira with an apologetic wince, but Moira knew there was nothing for it. She knew how Society worked. They were caught and would pay the price. Better to have their tale spread as a story of lovers reunited than something more tawdry. Vin, however, looked appalled and directed another glare at her. He could see what was happening as well as any, but she just shook her head slightly and put a calming hand on his arm.
Their family began to work their way forward and were coming out to surround Vin and Moira in a show of unity. Abby took Moira’s hand while Francis and Richard flanked Vin. Francis clapped a hand on his brother’s shoulder that might have demonstrated approval to the crowd, but she knew was meant to keep Vin silent.
The crowd was starting to grow restless. Some would want to see the MacKintosh clan falter a notch. Others knew the brothers were always good for a scandal. There were some however, that heard some truth in Lady Glenrothes’ words. What other reason would an heiress of Lady Moira MacKenzie’s magnitude have for remaining unwed all these years?
Sensing that he was losing his audience, Wallis laughed away Eve’s reasons. “That’s all nonsense! Everyone knows that Lord Aylesbury has been courting Lady Moira these last months. Any fool could see that he meant to marry her.”
“Nonsense,” Abby shot back. “Those in the know are aware of no such thing.”
“Ah, yes, family unity in the face of scandal,” Wallis’ words dripped with sarcasm. “It is easy to see you’re trying to cover up this disgrace with a quick lie. But no one here believes that for a moment.”
“Perhaps then, you’ll believe me.” There was a renewed murmur in the crowd as Lord Aylesbury himself appeared at Wallis’ shoulder standing tall with his arms crossed over his chest. He did not look down at the gossip but rather at Moira. His voice when he spoke was soft but dangerous. Low but loud enough to carry over the amassed gentry. “You think to know my mind, Wallis?”
Wallis jumped back but, despite a shiver of apprehension, could not seem to stop himself from arguing. “You were courting her. It was obvious! This whole ‘engagement’ is just a ruse to avoid scandal.”
“And I say differently. I say that I knew of their previous understanding from the day I met her and of their renewed engagement since the moment of Lord Clarendon’s return. She informed me the moment Lord Clarendon returned that she intended to renew their old agreement.” With a soft smile for Moira, Aylesbury turned and looked down at Wallis. “It is true I once thought to make Lady Moira my bride, for she is a beautiful woman and damned good company. But I tell you now, Lady Moira and I are naught but friends though I have appreciated her assistance these past weeks of keeping the matchmakers from making me their next mark until I return to London. Such a diversion also allowed Lord Clarendon time to recover from his trials before announcing their engagement.”
“You were a very convincing friend, Aylesbury.” Wallis had never known when to quit.
“Are you doubting Aylesbury’s word?” Francis questioned in low voice that caught everyone’s noticed and suddenly had heads turning back and forth between Wallis and Aylesbury.
“Doubting his…?”
Wallis’ mouth opened and closed like a fish out of water as he searched for an escape but Aylesbury was not finished. “You might dispute the truth from Lord Clarendon’s family given the timeliness of this announcement, but are you going to dispute me, Wallis?”
“Aylesbury…”
Kitty slid to Wallis’ other side and glared up at him coldly. “I should really hate to have to bloody your nose once more, toad.”
Wallis swallowed turning a bit green but seemed to know when he was outnumbered and undone. “May I be the first to offer my congratulations on your…timely engagement? Lady Moira? Lord Clarendon?” With a bow, he melted nervously back into the crowd more afraid of that pregnant, angelic woman than any subtle threat the arrogant marquis of Aylesbury might have carried.
* * *
Glenrothes waited with all the nobility of his station stamped on his face, glaring at his brother while Eve calmly shooed all her guests back down to the proper floor and encouraged them all back to the dance floor.
“Everyone else go back to ballroom,” he ground out between gritted teeth. “Celebrate, look damned happy. You,”—he pointed to Vin—“And you,”—to Moira—“Come with me, now.”
They followed him silently to the opposite end of the hall and into the private sitting room he shared with his wife. Crossing over to a table near the window, the earl poured himself a healthy dose of whiskey before turning back to them.
“Well, Vin, you’ve stepped deep into it this time,” Francis said, tossing back a large swallow. “I hope you are prepared to speak with Moira’s father and Mercea as soon as possible after such a display.”
Vin had seen it coming, of course. There was no chance he had misinterpreted those moments in the hall. It had been stupid, and he didn’t know who he was angrier with; Wallis, Moira or himself. Damn, but he couldn’t let this happen. None of them knew what a true disaster it would be in the long run to cave to the pressures of Society now.
“I have no intention of marrying, Francis, ever.”
“I don’t believe the option is yours any longer. You weren’t just caught kissing in the corner.” Francis pointed to Moira. “Look at her!”
He looked and winced. Her hair was tumbling half out of its once soft arrangement, one sleeve was pushed off her shoulder. The worst of it, though, was the red chafing that trailed down her neck to the love bite on the top of one breast. She looked as wonderfully tussled as she had that morning in his bed. Bloody hell, he knew what he should do, but the words just wouldn’t come to his lips. No matter what was best, he couldn’t bind himself to Moira without her being aware of the truth. Vin shook his head. He wasn’t prepared to face the truth as yet even with Moira’s future on the line.
Misinterpreting his denial, Francis barked imperiously, “You will marry her.”
“I will not,” Vin ground out, watching his
brother’s eyes darken with rage.
“Francis,” Moira began, holding up her hand. “Perhaps tomorrow…”
“Nay!” Francis shook his head. “We need to go out there now and announce a wedding as if we’d been planning to all night.”
Still Vin shook his head.
“Bugger it, Vin,” his brother spat out, his brogue deepening with his anger. “I’ve stood by and let ye fook the lass in my own home for the past two nights because it made ye happy, it made her happy. But if ye don’t wed wi’ her now, there are going to be a lot of unhappy people here starting wi’ me. Ye’ll do right by her now. I willnae see Moira ruined because yer a thick-headed lout who cannae see the truth right before his verra eyes.”
“What truth?” Vin barked back. “The only truth I know is that marriage doesn’t work and eventually every woman betrays their husband sometimes with his own brother. Even Moira! I caught her kissing Aylesbury tonight. Why doesn’t he marry her? She wants to marry him!”
“He didn’t get caught!”
“I will not get married just because I was caught.”
“Then ye should do it because of what ye did wi’out getting caught. Because, I know she wasn’t sleeping wi’ him as she was ye.”
“How can ye know that?”
“Because all of us know he was just trying to make ye jealous, that’s why!”
“Aye, it is what they do.”
Every word tore at Moira’s heart. He had no faith, he didn’t care. But she knew she had to try one last time even if it meant baring her heart to him.
“Francis, my I have a word with Vin alone, please?”
Francis looked with some disgust at his brother. Vin had always been one to see only what he wished, to see in the world what he wanted. He didn’t look beyond that. Had never been able to, but he wasn’t normally this obtuse either. It was as if he thought denying it could make it go away. He shook his head.
All You Could Ask For Page 114
