Regency Rumours: A Scandalous Mistress / Dishonour and Desire. Juliet Landon

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СКАЧАТЬ is not the way it’s done here,’ he snapped back. ‘Anyone knows that, but your brains appear to be governed by your woman’s instincts, and look where that’s got you!’

      ‘What choice did I have?’ she cried, furiously. ‘I’ve told you, it would have taken too long. Why, by the time those bumbling old fools had got together, you’d have had more corpses on your hands. Is that the way it’s done round here, my lord? It certainly saves on food, but my way saves lives. Don’t expect me to apologise for that. As for the scandal— well, it will soon be common knowledge now, won’t it? So you had better warn your Haydn-loving brother to have no more to do with my niece. She’ll do better in Buxton, after all.’

      ‘You’re forgetting something.’

      ‘What?’

      ‘That your past is not yet known hereabouts, but what has become common knowledge is what your loud-mouthed little friend Hurst blabbed to the entire posting-office before he left for London yesterday. This morning I’ve received two invitations for myself and my lady. Not to put too fine a point on it, for you. And if you think,’ he continued before her open mouth could let out a squeak, ‘that I’m going to have my future wife’s name linked to a local court case and to my mother’s scalding disapproval of that kind of scandal, you can think again. I’m not!’

      ‘You said you were never influenced by your parents’ approval.’

      ‘I’m not. But that doesn’t stop her telling the rest of society what to think. Once she’s done that, Miss Chester’s future will be even less assured than it is now, that’s for certain. Mother has resigned herself to having sons who keep mistresses, but neither she nor my father would welcome a daughter-in-law with a criminal record.’

      Amelie shook her head, trying to clear it, wondering what she was supposed to make of this tangle. ‘Then remind me, will you? You think I should go and explain? Is that what the Vestry will expect? An apology? I’ve told you, I won’t apologise.’ She flounced away, slapping at the reticule as she passed it.

      He moved just as fast. ‘Will you hold your peace, woman?’ he barked. ‘Saints alive, but it’s time somebody took you in hand before you fly off at another fence you can’t clear. Come back here!’ In two strides, he had cut short her quick march towards the door and, rather than subject her to an undignified tussle, he bent, placed an arm under her knees and swung her up against him before she could escape. Carrying her to the sofa in three more strides, he set her firmly back against the round tasselled pillow and held her by the wrists, sitting to face her so closely that his previously mysterious statement about offering her some help now began to take on a new meaning.

      ‘No!’ she said, growling and spitting with rage. ‘No…no!’

      There was more she would have said, but although she was beginning to guess at his intentions, the ensuing struggle took all her concentration. Then it was too late, and a cry was all she could manage before his mouth silenced her, blotting out all memory of words and protocol. Dominated by the weight of his chest upon hers, his hand in her hair, and his arm around her back, she was held captive by his searching mouth. She felt the change in him from the previous gentle occasion, a new urgency, as if to reinforce the message that someone should take her in hand. All the half-formed sensations that had filtered into her mind like moonbeams since yesterday suddenly faded, unable to compare in any way with the fire that flared through some deep untouched place inside her, seeping an ache into her thighs.

      One of her arms was trapped under his, her hand idle upon his warm broad back, her lips teased into a response where she could not remain passive beneath the tormenting invasion. Heady and upset by the emotional wrangling of the last half hour, and confused, her voices of conscience ceased to protest, then wavered and collapsed beneath the expertise of a master, and at last her lips moved and parted, tasting and curious, waiting for more, perilously close to surrender. His kiss deepened and her nostrils filled with the intoxicating and elusive scent of his virility, luring her even deeper into his complete control.

      But all the pent-up fears of a lifetime were even greater, surging over her like a giant wave that pushed back the needs of her body, lending strength to her arms. It was neither propriety nor reticence, but raw fear of some unspeakable consequence that held him away at last, tearing her lips from his. ‘Stop…no…stop! I cannot do this,’ she panted. ‘Let me go, my lord. If this is what you wanted from me, you should have given me warning, then I could have told you…to spare yourself…the effort.’

      However, if she had expected that he would leave her immediately, full of contrition, she had misunderstood his purpose, for he was not the kind of man to apologise for kissing a woman, as he had said, and his purpose was as resolute as ever. So, although he eased back enough to allow her to recover, he caught her pummelling hands by the wrists and held them close to his chest.

      ‘Let me go, my lord. You must leave immediately. Please. ‘

      ‘All right…all right…I’ve ruffled your feathers, my beauty, but I’m not leaving till we have this business sorted out.’

      ‘To your advantage, of course.’

      ‘Of course. Well—’ he almost smiled ‘—to both our advantages. You are in a bit of a mess, there’s no getting away from that, is there? And I can offer you a way out of it, if you’ve a mind to listen.’

      ‘I don’t need to listen. You’ve already shown me what’s in your mind, and I’m astonished you should take me for that kind of woman. I have received some serious offers, sir, but no one has ever taken such outrageous liberties, and I—’

      ‘Shall I kiss you again?’

      ‘No!’

      ‘Then be quiet, or I will. There. Now calm down and listen to what I have to say. And don’t pretend you didn’t enjoy that, just a little, because I know otherwise.’ He watched the colour flush her cheeks again, adding an angry sparkle to her eyes where a single tear hung like a pearl. ‘And talking of outrageous liberties, have you forgotten already how Hurst has set Richmond ears buzzing and how he’ll be doing the same in every gaming-den in town? So who was it first took liberties with the name of Elyot, my lady? Remember?’

      ‘I told you, it was an emergency. I thought you understood that.’

      ‘Oh, I do understand. But this whole situation is an emergency, isn’t it? And I’m not inclined to deny that I have an understanding with the lady who accompanied me to the local assembly when to do so would look as if one of us has had second thoughts. And no one in their right mind would believe it was me, would they? Unless, of course, they knew about your illegal deeds of charity and your exceedingly interesting past. Oh, I agree that was not through any fault of yours,’ he went on as she tried to protest, ‘but nevertheless, it’s there, and the only way you can keep it all quiet is by keeping me quiet. Do you understand me?’

      Her lovely face, usually so serene, was a mask of anger as every word took her further into a situation that both offended and enticed her, for she had not recovered from the effects of his lovemaking, and her body still trembled and responded to his shocking closeness. ‘You are…a…demon!’ she cried. ‘An unprincipled—’

      ‘There’s not a lot wrong with my principles.’

      ‘Let go of me!’

      He released her wrists, but the sudden blaze of rage in her eyes gave him all the warning he needed, and he blocked her arm in midair СКАЧАТЬ