by Darcy Burke
“Why is this cause for such alarm?” Henry asked.
“Millie is not that skilled on the pianoforte,” Anna explained.
“I’m dreadful, Carrington. I barely know the notes and cannot keep time.” Millie sent a sharp glare across the room. “And now Lady Catherine and Lady Henrietta have put my name down and I must make a fool of myself in front of Mr. Pennex!”
“Percy usually performs with her when something like this happens.”
“This happens often?”
Millie nodded. “You’d be surprised.”
Anna continued. “They turned it into something of an act. Millie performs dreadfully, Percy sings like an angel to cover it up.”
“And now Percy won’t be here.”
Henry marveled at the mundane things that could cause such drama. “Then I shall perform with you.”
They both looked to him in surprise.
“That might work,” Anna said thoughtfully.
Millie didn’t look convinced. “You would do that?”
Henry shrugged. “I’ve no qualms about making a fool of myself in front of people I do not know, and will likely not see again. Even more so if it helps you. I’d hate for this to cause you distress.”
Anna and Millie looked at each other for a moment before Millie nodded.
It was decided, and not a moment too soon. Millie was called as the next performer.
Henry stood and offered Millie his arm. She rose and accepted, calm confidence settling over her features, though he could tell it was a front as she glanced cautiously towards the pianoforte.
“Chin up, Miss Newbury.” He led her through the maze of chairs and settees. “We can bungle through this together.”
They moved to the pianoforte and Millie shifted through the stacks of music sheets.
“How terribly do you play?” he asked quietly, looking at the music over her shoulder.
“Enough for everyone to realize my abysmal playing is not in jest.” She glanced at him. “Thank you for this, Carrington.”
He tugged a set of papers from the pile and she glanced at the music. It was simple enough and he hoped she could manage through it. “Henry, if you please.”
“It would not be proper to do so.”
He shot her a sardonic glance. “I’ve not known you to concern yourself with what is proper and what is not.”
She moved around the bench before the piano. “Fair enough. Then I am Millie.” Her gaze shifted to the guests amassed in the music room.
He set the papers on the music rack. “Don’t worry about them. They won’t even notice your playing.”
Millie shot him a sideways glance as she settled her fingers on the keys. “And how do you expect to accomplish that?”
He grinned. “By being infinitely worse.”
Goodness, his singing was atrocious.
Anna hadn’t known a person could make such sounds. Somehow, he managed to sound as though his voice had never dropped from adolescence and like a clowder of fighting cats simultaneously.
Anna couldn’t be certain Millie even heard the noise he was making, as focused as she was on the sheet music and her fingers plucking each key. She didn’t miss many notes, but she was slow to play them, which only prolonged Henry’s wailing longer than tolerable. At least no one would notice Millie’s subpar skills on the pianoforte.
It meant something to Anna that he should do such a thing for Millie, make such an embarrassment of himself, when Anna knew him to have a beautiful singing voice.
Coming to Millie’s rescue was the sort of selfless act Anna hadn’t known him capable of. She’d not seen this side of him before, throwing his own reputation across the muddy puddle to ease someone else’s distress. It was reassuring, refreshing even, to know there was more she could learn about him.
Warmth spread through her. Not just the loving feeling of something touching her heart, but a warmth that centered and burned with awareness deep in her most sensitive spots. He didn’t even know Millie; she was not his daughter or relative. He didn’t have to come to her defense. And yet he did so all the same, in such a spectacular way.
The guests amassed in the music room didn’t quite know where to look. Most appeared horrified, most couldn’t tear their eyes from the performance, even as they winced in pain.
Truly, his every note was off-key. And not just slightly off, but painfully off. On some he tried to come up to the note too far, others he didn’t even try to find the right place. At one point he forgot the words and slipped into a verse of God Save the King.
He turned the page of the music and met Anna’s gaze across the room. Heat pulsed through her, and Anna knew she could not go another night without having him in her bed.
It hadn’t taken long—a few hours truthfully—for her to be right where she’d been ten years ago. It was all too confusing. She knew they no longer had a future together; she’d accepted that years ago. And yet just being near him filled her with an optimism she hadn’t felt since the last time they’d been together. With Henry, anything felt possible. Even if she knew it to be untrue.
He held the last note for longer than necessary, as it was not remotely in tune, but he sang it like he had just put on an incredible concert.
No one in the room moved as their performance ended. A strange silence vibrated throughout the room as no one knew how to react.
“Splendid!” came a voice from somewhere in the middle of the room. It was Mr. Pennex, who stood, clapping his approval.
“Here, here!” came another shout. This time it was Percy where he leaned in the doorway, clapping as well.
Anna rose and added her applause.
“Marvelous!” Lady Stratford called.
Slowly more and more people rose and clapped their hands, until the entire room roared with applause.
Henry took a dramatic bow, as did Millie, who beamed from ear to ear. Her embarrassment was gone, and in its place was a joy Anna could see even from halfway across the room. And Henry had done that for her. Well, Henry and Mr. Pennex.
Within moments they returned to where Anna waited. Percy joined them just as they reclaimed their seats.
“That was....” Millie’s eyes shone bright but she was at a loss for words.
“A performance for the ages?” Henry suggested.
Percy nodded. “It will certainly be talked about for years to come!”
Mr. Pennex approached with a gentleman Anna did not know and she quickly rose. Millie and Percy stood as well; Henry did so much slower and more reluctantly.
“Hello again,” Mr. Pennex said brightly. “May I introduce my father, Viscount Pennex.”
“A pleasure, Lord Pennex,” Anna said.
“Father, you remember Miss Newbury?”
“That was quite something!” Lord Pennex said as Millie dipped into a curtsy.
“Thank you, my lord,” Millie said with a smile. “We aim to be different.”
He chuckled. “Different can be good.”
Millie looked at Anna. “My stepmother, Lady Rycroft, and my brother, Lord Rycroft.”
The only word Anna could use to describe Lord Pennex was jolly. He was shorter than his son and balding, with wire spectacles that sat on the edge of his red nose. He nodded to each of them graciously. Even as he spotted Henry, his kindness did not falter. “Carrington, right? Stratford’s nephew?”
Henry nodded. “It’s a pleasure, sir.”
“And you are...” He glanced between Anna and Henry, a blush adding more red to his cheeks as he realized their past connection. Their failed elopement wasn’t exactly a secret and their reunion had sent the gossips into a frenzy.
“Just an old friend,” Henry supplied. “I am pleased you enjoyed our performance.”
Pennex chuckled. “It takes skill to perform that terribly.”
“Or complete lack thereof,” Millie added.
Mr. Pennex beamed at her. “Quite right. I say, would you like to join us? There is a candlelit walk throug
h the hedge maze.” He glanced at Anna. “With your permission, Lady Rycroft, of course.”
Anna smiled pleasantly, but her mind had moved from Millie being invited for an evening walk, to her needing a chaperone, to finding one quick enough to give her time alone with Henry.
“I see no problem with it,” Anna replied, but she looked at Millie. “If you’d like to accompany Mr. Pennex?”
Millie nodded, and Anna could see the excitement she held back.
“I was just about to retire for the evening,” Anna continued. “I worry I might have a megrim coming on. But I am sure Rycroft would accompany his sister?” Her brow rose in expectation as she looked to Percy.
“I’d be happy to accompany you, Sister.” Percy grinned. He would likely take much enjoyment out of chaperoning his sister. Either to tease her for it later, or to give her a wider berth than Anna would. Either way, Anna didn’t care.
Mr. Pennex and Millie glanced at each other before looking quickly away.
Henry shifted behind her, and she was thrilled by the glorious timing of Viscount Pennex and his son. Millie would be properly chaperoned, while Anna had a reasonable excuse to be somewhere else.
“Shall we?” Lord Pennex asked and stepped aside as Mr. Pennex led Millie from the room. Percy waggled his brows before following the viscount from the room.
Anna glanced at Henry, who looked highly amused.
“That was...”
“Interesting?” She nodded. “And troubling, and unexpected, and endearing. And much more than I am going to puzzle over at this moment.”
“Yes, to all of that. I’d never thought there was so much involved in having a marriageable aged young lady to tend to.”
Anna laughed lightly. “It has certainly given me a different perspective on what my father must have gone through with us.”
He gazed at her affectionately. “I remember.”
Warmth flooded through her again and she tingled with anticipation. It was time to put the rest of her plan into motion.
“I fear I have misplaced my book from earlier. I think I have left it in the library.”
Confusion slowly clouded his gaze. “Shall I retrieve it for you?”
“I am perfectly capable of retrieving the book myself, but I don’t know where the library is. These hallways are such an elaborate maze. I thought, since you are familiar with the castle, you might escort me. So I don’t get lost. Again.”
“Ah, yes of course, Lady Rycroft. I am happy to assist.” He stood and offered his arm, but she frowned at the gesture and stepped in front of him. Clearly, he was not picking up her hints, though she couldn’t say much more in the music room. He had no choice but to follow.
Chapter Eight
They were barely in the hallway before Anna turned to face him. Her gaze was unreadable but Henry could feel the energy of whatever warred inside her.
“What you did for Millie, was that to prove something to me?”
He’d not expected such an inquiry. “What? No, nothing of the sort.”
“Then why did you do it?”
He could tell this was an important question and his answer mattered, but to what end he didn’t understand. “I saw Millie was in distress, and I could help, so I did. It was as simple as that. No ulterior motive.”
Anna searched his gaze. “Your actions had nothing to do with me?”
He shook his head. “Sorry, love, it had nothing to do with you.”
“Good.”
“Is something wrong?”
“No, something is very, very right.” She stepped closer to him, wrapped her fingers in the lapels of his evening jacket, and pulled his lips to hers.
His craving for her that had been his constant companion since setting eyes on her again surged with intensity. Whatever answer she needed, he’d given the correct one.
“Anna, what--?”
She nipped at his lip. “I thought that to be evident. Did you really think I didn’t know the way to the library?”
“I knew full well you know your way around this castle as well as I. It was your request for my assistance that confounded.”
“Oh, I require your assistance tonight. Just not in the library.” She leaned away so she could catch his gaze. “Take me to your rooms, Henry. Now.”
He didn’t argue. They moved through the hallways, grateful to not encounter anyone. Most of the guests had moved on to the various after-dinner entertainments. Thankfully there were many, and their absence wouldn’t be noted.
In the safety of his rooms, Anna turned to him and recaptured his lips with a hunger he’d not expected. Her lips parted beneath his and he accepted the invitation with vigor. His tongue danced and pulsed with hers, stroking and teasing until they pulled apart, breathless.
He rested his forehead against hers, his breath coming in hard pants. Her breathing matched his and she tightened her hold on his jacket lapels.
“My desire for you has not waned,” he said softly. “But…”
“We should take it slower,” she finished.
He nodded. “This is something I’d like to savor.” He stepped away from her and let his gaze trail down the length of her dark brown evening dress. Round breasts curved above the bustline of her dress, but the rest of her form was a mystery that needed to be investigated.
He pulled her further into the room. His valet or a Stratford footman had been in to tend to the room, setting the fire in the grate and pulling the heavy drapes to keep out the winter chill. He found the box of matches on the mantle and moved about the room lighting the candles. The only light was from the fire, and he wanted to see all of her.
Anna hadn’t moved from the middle of the room. When he finished, he turned to look at her, marveling at her beauty. Slowly, she reached into her hair and began to pull the pins which held her curled tresses in place. One by one, locks of hair swung to their natural place, and the effect simmered his desire more. He had to touch her, had to taste her again.
He closed the distance in a few strides, tipped her head towards him and kissed her. He would never tire of kissing her, and a few days together would not be enough.
“You’re going to have to play lady’s maid,” she told him as she pulled away.
“With pleasure.”
She eyed him doubtfully. “First, set these somewhere. I’d rather not step on them in the night.” She set the handful of pins in his hand.
“You wear these in your hair? They look painful.” He set them on the mantle before returning to her and turning her around. He found the laces of her gown and got to work undoing the knots. It took longer than he would have liked, but eventually he lifted the dress over her head. Next came her stays.
One by one, each length of ribbon was loosened, and he pressed a kiss where each part widened.
She moaned softly. “Is it wanton to admit I’ve been thinking about this all day long?”
“I’ve been thinking the same thing.” He leaned up and turned her head towards him, pulling her lips against his again. He cupped her breasts, teasing her nipples with his thumbs.
She smiled against his lips. “I know when you’re lying, Henry Allerton. You’ve never been very good at it.”
He pressed a kiss to her neck before refocusing on her stays. “I will have you know I am exceptional liar.”
She laughed. “I don’t think that is something to boast about.” Her gaze drifted across the room. “Your rooms are bigger than mine.”
“I am still allowed family rooms. Aunt Cornelia apparently holds a room for me each year in the hopes I will attend.”
“That is nice of her.”
He spun her around, her stays finally loose. “I don’t want to talk about my aunt’s kindness.”
“I don’t either.” She met his kiss and he pushed her stays down her hips.
Her breasts pressed against his chest, nipples hard beneath her soft chemise and he took a step backwards. Soon he was at the foot of his bed, and he sank into the cover at her in
sistence.
Her breasts were now at his eye level and he palmed her through the fabric, licking and teasing her rosy nipples until they were peaks.
“Not yet,” she teased. She lowered her lips to his, capturing his kiss as she wound her hands to the back of his head. Her nails trailed through his hair, leaving imprints of light and sensation in their wake. She deepened the kiss, teasing his tongue with hers as she ground her hips against his. He found the edge of her chemise and gathered it in his hands, but she stepped away.
“You lit the candles for a reason.” She gathered her chemise into her fingers and pulled the thin fabric from her body. “I know you want to see.”
He did see. All of her. From the dark tresses brushing across her shoulders, teasing the edges of her nipples, to the soft curve of her waist that flared into hips he wanted to dig his teeth into. Further down her thighs met with a dusting of dark curls, hiding her sensitive parts from his view, but he remembered what she felt like in his arms only days before.
“Are you wet?” His gaze hadn’t left her curls and what he knew lay beyond. “Like you were before?”
Her mouth quirked up into a half smile as she reached for the falls of his trousers. She made quick work of the laces before he was freed, hard and proud in her hand. She stroked up and down his length and he bit back a guttural moan, his eyes nearly rolling to the back of his head. His lids fluttered closed.
She leaned forward to take the lobe of his ear between her teeth. “You wanted to see if I was wet. You might want to watch and see.”
He opened his eyes and his gaze found hers. In the candlelight, her eyes were dark, deep and black with desire. She slipped her hand between her legs and pushed her fingers into herself. She withdrew, slipped her slicked fingers around him, and stroked her hand down around his length.
“Does that answer your question?”
He nodded, dumbly, dazed from her hands on herself, on him, the aroma of her arousal mixed with his own.
“I mean to have you, Henry,” she whispered against his lips.
He nodded again. “Then let us move further onto the bed.”
