by Darcy Burke
The bright beauty of summer returned the following day with a lush blue sky and warm, sparkling sunlight. It was far too fine to remain indoors, so Felix had suggested an excursion to Scott’s Grotto since Sarah had seemed keen to go.
“You say we should spend the day outside, and yet the grotto is a series of tunnels, are they not?” Sarah asked with more than a little sarcasm. But then she’d winked and said she was joking and that she’d love to see the grotto.
Since taking just her was not the wisest idea, Felix invited Anthony, but he’d declined in favor of fishing. And so Felix found himself waiting outside for Sarah, wondering how he could cancel the outing without disappointing her.
She emerged from the house in a particularly fetching costume of lavender trimmed with dark blue. Her hat was, of course, the best part of her ensemble. Styled as a cavalier, a bright red feather jutted up from the side.
“Your hat is stunning, as usual,” he said.
“Thank you. I was a bit nervous about wearing the red feather with my mourning clothes, but I’m afraid I can’t resist a jaunty feather.” Her gaze flashed with self-reprobation as she moved toward the open gig.
“Sarah, we can’t go,” he said without preamble and with immediate regret as her eyes clouded. “Anthony’s not coming.”
“I’ll send for Dovey.”
“I’m not sure that’s wise.” Felix didn’t want to draw attention to why. After she’d flirted with him at dinner last night, he’d worried she might seek him out after returning to Stag’s Court. Worried? No, he’d hoped. But she hadn’t, and that was as it should be. Temptation, it seemed, was always before him where she was concerned.
“But I really want to see the grotto.” She exhaled. “I suppose I could just go with Dovey. You don’t need to come.”
Wise or not, he hated seeing the disappointment in her gaze. To hell with it. “I’m coming. I’ll have Seales fetch Dovey.”
Sarah’s face brightened to the shade of the sun. “Brilliant.”
Yes, she was.
A short while later, they were on their way to Scott’s Grotto. Set into a chalk hillside on the grounds of Amwell House, which was currently owned by Maria Scott, the grotto had been built by her father, John Scott. It was quite large, extending dozens of feet into the hillside and going perhaps thirty feet beneath it.
The crowd today wasn’t excessive, but there were maybe five or six vehicles parked outside. Felix stepped down from the gig and helped Sarah to descend. Then he offered his hand to Dovey.
The maid smiled and said, “I’ll wait here. My back is troubling me again.”
Felix didn’t believe her for a moment. It was clear Sarah’s maid was trying to facilitate a courtship. He just wondered if Sarah was behind it.
Sarah linked her arm through Felix’s. “Did you know John Scott was a poet?”
Felix sent her a sideways glance. “Are you trying to distract me from your maid playing matchmaker?”
“Not at all. You noticed that too? She hasn’t said anything, but when she stayed in the gig in Ware the other day, I assumed that’s what she was trying to do.” She looked at him as they walked toward the porch in front of the entrance. “You think I put her up to it?”
He shrugged. “I admit I wondered.”
She gave him a prim stare. “I did not. Now, back to John Scott. He was also a gardener.”
“Did you happen to know all this?”
“No, I spoke to Seales about it. He’s quite knowledgeable about local people and events.”
She’d been speaking to his staff? “What else has my staff told you? Do I need to be concerned?” He couldn’t imagine why he would, but he was an intensely private person. Not that any of his staff saw who he truly was. No one did.
Was that true? He shook the notion away.
“What a paranoid question,” she said with a laugh. “Yes, they’ve told me how I may steal all of Stag’s Court’s valuables.”
He laughed too, marveling at how he never failed to enjoy her company. How had he never noticed that before? They went into the main entrance chamber and found the guest book. Felix signed his name and handed the pen to Sarah.
She hesitated to sign and looked up at him. “Do we really want to make a record of our being here? Alone. Together.” She gave him an audacious stare followed by a cheeky smile.
Damn, she had a point. But it was too late, for she signed her name.
Moving into the center of the chamber, she looked up at the ceiling, her eyes wide. “This is spectacular.”
The walls were completely inset with shells and colored glass and all manner of rocks, including fossils. Felix realized Lavinia might find it of interest.
“Lavinia must see this,” Sarah said, echoing what he’d just thought. They did that often, he realized—finishing each other’s sentences or seeming to read each other’s minds.
He joined her in the center of the large chamber. “I was just thinking that. When she and Beck arrive, we’ll arrange another excursion.”
Sarah looked at him, her lips curved into a winsome smile. “She could help you when you build one.”
“You like to plan things for me to do, I’ve noticed. Apparently, I’m hosting races next year as well as building a grotto. What else should I do?”
“Let me think.” She put her arm in his again as they made their way to the right into the passageway. “If you turn out to be adept at matchmaking, you should definitely broaden your services.”
“Good God, no. I only agreed to help you because I like you. I couldn’t tolerate any other unmarried chits.”
“We’re ‘chits,’ are we?”
“Not you.” No, she was unlike any other woman he knew and certainly not a chit.
The passage led to a large, round chamber. The walls were as studded with shells, glass, and stunning rock as the entrance hall and passageway, and there were also seats inset into the walls.
Sarah’s indrawn breath filled the empty space. “I can’t imagine how long this took to make.”
Though Felix had seen the grotto before, it had been a few years. And it was as if he’d never seen it at all. He felt as though he were viewing it for the first time with her. He found himself staring at her upturned face instead of the grotto.
“It’s so beautiful,” she breathed.
“Astonishing,” he said.
A group of four people entered from the other doorway. Felix was glad for their arrival because he’d begun to consider how he might best use their time alone in a dark tunnel.
They continued on, moving from the chamber to the passageway the other party had just left. This one was long and narrow and very poorly lit. In fact, it was so narrow that he had to walk in front of Sarah.
“It’s rather dark, isn’t it?” Sarah clasped his hand.
Though they wore gloves, her touch lit through him like a spark catching flame. “There are light wells, but none along this passageway. We have to rely on the light from behind and in front of us.”
“It reminds me a bit of Darent Hall and the dark closet.”
Why had she mentioned that? His body was already in a state of half arousal and needed no encouragement. The passage turned to the left where there was more illumination due to a light well above them. Carved through the hillside, these wells provided sunlight to the grotto. Felix could imagine how much darker it would be if the day were overcast or raining.
The passage opened into another round chamber, this one maybe half the size of the one they’d left a few moments ago. There were no seats in this one and, so far, no other people.
Felix went to the wall to study a particularly bright rock. It was a gemstone. “I’m surprised no one has pried this off.”
“Who would be so terrible?” Sarah had come up beside him, and he was too aware of her proximity. “Did you hear what I said about this feeling like Darent Hall?”
“Yes. I thought it best if we didn’t discuss it.” It was bad enough they were here alo
ne. The word temptation, which he’d grown to loathe, hummed through his mind and body.
She exhaled. “Probably. Do you ever think about what might have happened if the footman hadn’t interrupted us?” Apparently, she wasn’t going to heed his suggestion. He should protest, but he simply couldn’t. Whether it was the breathy, seductive timbre of her voice or the delicious nearness of her parted lips, he was quickly losing the battle of staying away from her. But then if he’d really meant to do that, he would have abandoned this outing the moment Anthony had declined to go.
And yet here he was. Staring into her lush blue eyes, his cock hardening with every passing moment.
Her hand moved forward and grazed against the front of his breeches. It was the same way she’d touched him in the closet, which he’d assumed had been accidental. Now he wasn’t so sure.
“Did you do that on purpose?”
Her eyes narrowed. “Yes.”
“At Darent Hall, I mean.” He was entirely certain she’d done it purposely just now.
“No. That was unintentional, and I was horrified. But also titillated.” She let out a soft giggle. “And that was before I knew who you were.”
“This is a very dangerous situation, Sarah.”
She blinked and tipped her head to the side. “How so?”
“Don’t pretend to be naïve. You can see where this might lead.”
“In a grotto? I must admit, I’m intrigued.” She moved closer until their chests barely touched. “Tell me.”
He would do better than that. God, he was a fool. Or an idiot. Or both.
Taking her hand, he pulled her from the chamber into the next passageway. If he remembered correctly, there was a small alcove that nearly everyone missed. He hadn’t, of course, because he’d been looking for a place to steal a kiss.
Where the passageways turned, there tended to be an alcove of sorts at the juncture—it was like two passages intersecting. At this intersection, the alcove was slightly larger than the others, and there was far less light at the back. Because of that, it was easy to miss the smaller alcove tucked behind the wall of the passage.
Felix pulled her into that tiny alcove. It was just large enough for the two of them—and only if they touched.
“Felix,” she breathed.
He could hear the excitement and anticipation in her voice, and it fed his desire. He pressed her against the wall and kissed her, his mouth eagerly devouring hers.
She returned the kiss with sweet and sultry abandon, her hands curling around his neck. Her fingers tangled in the hair at his nape, tugging the locks and scraping his flesh through the thin cotton of her gloves.
He dragged his mouth over her chin and down her throat until he reached the prohibitive top of her gown. This wasn’t the place to disrobe her, so he did his best to fondle her through the layers of her clothes.
The gloves were a bloody nuisance. He removed the right one and handed it to her. “Hold this.”
He couldn’t see her face in the dark—and God, this was so like the closet at Darent Hall and that only made the occasion more arousing—but sensed her curiosity.
“I can’t wear my glove, and I need my hands free.” He started to lift her skirt.
She sucked in a breath. “Felix, this is very naughty.”
He paused. “Do you want me to stop?”
“Don’t you dare.”
“Good.” He would, of course, but he’d much prefer not to. When her dress was at her waist, he took her free hand and moved it to grasp the fabric of her garments. “Hold this here. And if you need to put the glove in your mouth to keep from screaming, please do so.”
She drew in another sharp breath, and he kissed her once more, using his teeth and tongue to tease and worship her. When he finished, she was breathless.
He dropped to his knees—damn, the floor was hard—and smoothed his bare fingers over her sex. Though it was pitch-dark, he found her easily. “Part your legs, my love.”
She did as he bade, widening her stance. Her scent washed over him—roses and something indefinable but wholly Sarah—and he nearly shook with want. But like the other night, this wasn’t about him. It would never be. It was only about her and giving her all the pleasure she deserved.
He braced his gloved hand around her hip, holding her steady, and then he licked along her sweet folds. She cried out, and then the sound became muffled. She’d stuck the glove in her mouth.
“Good girl,” he said, smiling against her heated flesh.
He used his bare fingers to stroke her clitoris, pushing and teasing her until she began to move against him. Then he used his mouth, his lips and tongue ravaging her sex with sucks and licks. He was vaguely aware of her muted sounds of ecstasy, but it was difficult to hear over the roar of his own thundering heartbeat in his ears.
Slipping his tongue inside her, he pushed at her thigh. Her legs began to quiver around him, and her muscles tensed. She was so responsive, so wonderfully sensual that he could hardly keep a thought in his head. Except for one: how badly he wanted to bury himself inside her.
And so he did. With fingers and tongue, he filled her. She rotated her hips against him, pressing herself into his mouth. He sucked her clitoris and thrust his fingers into her core, curling until he found that spot that would send her over the edge.
He was certain she would have screamed if not for the glove in her teeth. He held her hip tightly as she came in his mouth, never ceasing his attentions for even a moment as she crested the wave of rapture.
She stiffened one last time, and the shaking in her legs increased. He slowed, stroking her outer flesh until her body began to quiet. Then he stood and took the skirts from her tightly clenched fist, letting them fall to the floor.
He pulled the glove from her mouth and kissed her again, driving his tongue deep into her mouth as he curled his arm around her back and pressed her tightly against him. Gradually, he lightened the kiss until he broke it completely, his breath coming hard and fast.
“My God, Felix. I had no idea.”
“None?”
“Not really. I knew there were…things beyond sexual intercourse, but nothing like that.” She clasped the back of his neck and kissed his earlobe. “Thank you,” she whispered. “Now what about you?”
He stepped back, turning his body to reenter the larger alcove, pulling on his glove as he went. It was damp from her mouth, and when he thought of her with it clenched between her teeth, he wanted to frig himself until he came in spectacular abandon.
Alas, that would have to wait until he got home. He hoped he could make it that long. He’d never had an orgasm without someone touching his cock, but right now, he feared that was possible.
He took deep breaths, seeking to return his body to a less frantic state. But then she joined him in the alcove, moving behind him so that her breasts pressed against his back as she reached her hands around to stroke his chest.
He moaned softly. “Sarah, we need to go.”
“Where?” she asked hopefully. “Is there another alcove where I can do for you what you did for me?”
He turned and dropped a kiss on her forehead. “No. There is no other alcove. Not like that one.”
“Then let’s go back—”
Felix was saved when a party of three ladies emerged from the dim light as they made their way along the passageway. They bid Felix and Sarah good afternoon and asked if they knew the way out. They’d somehow become turned around.
“I do, in fact,” Felix said. “Follow us.” He led them in single file, making a few slight turns before taking a sharp turn to the left to return them to the entrance chamber.
“Oh, thank you,” the older of the women said. Now that they had more light, Felix thought she must be mother to the other two. “I worried we would be lost in there for some time!” She laughed with an edge of nervousness, then they bid farewell and left the grotto.
“Come, it’s getting late,” Felix said, guiding Sarah out into the sunlight.
/>
She turned to him with a slightly puzzled expression. “Why won’t you let me give you the same pleasure you’ve given me?”
“Because it’s not about me.”
She scowled and cast a look toward the sky. “Stop saying that. You deserve to have someone do something for you. Or maybe you’re incapable of allowing that.” She arched a brow at him.
He suppressed his own scowl. “Let’s get back to Stag’s Court. Dovey is staring at us in open interest. Please tell her to stop trying to push us together.”
“Do we really need her help?” Sarah murmured as they walked to the gig.
No, what they needed was for her to act like a bloody chaperone and keep them apart.
Dovey asked about the grotto as they drove back, and Sarah told her all about the shells and glass and rocks, as well as the darkness and cool temperature. Felix hadn’t even noticed the latter because whenever he was around Sarah, his body felt as if it were on fire.
When they arrived at Stag’s Court, a coach was just being driven toward the stables.
“I think that’s Beck and Lavinia’s coach!” Sarah exclaimed. She barely waited for Felix to help her down from the gig, and as soon as she hit the ground, she hurried toward the house.
Seales opened the door, and she rushed inside. Felix helped Dovey down, and they followed at a more sedate pace.
“The Marquess and Marchioness of Northam are in the drawing room, my lord,” Seales said. “Miss Colton has already started in that direction.”
“Thank you, Seales.” Felix was glad to see her so excited. He was also relieved to have their friends here as a necessary buffer between him and Sarah, because he couldn’t keep surrendering to temptation.
Chapter 11
After dinner that night, Sarah was delighted to remove to the drawing room with Lavinia while the men remained in the dining room to drink port.
“It seems you are very excited to have me alone,” Lavinia said, laughing, as soon as they sat down together on the settee.
A footman brought a tray with two glasses of sherry, which Sarah and Lavinia each took, then departed.
