Two Wicked Nights

by Quince, Dayna

  “But I will. One day.”

  “When you take a husband?” he asked, searching her face for any sign that she would not welcome his touch.

  She swallowed. “When you take a wife.”

  He stilled; her tone belied her feelings. The word wife was underlaid with fear as if she thought it could never be her. How wrong she was. He slowly raised his hand and brushed his thumb along the line of her jaw.

  His heart raced. “I’ve yet to meet a woman more entertaining, intelligent, or beautiful than you. Seeing you practice your wiles on the gentlemen here, it bothered me. I started to think about what would happen if you truly fell in love, and I didn’t like what I pictured. And then, when you forbid me from marrying your sister, something inside me clicked into place. I would have done it for you if you’d asked me to. I’d do anything for you, Bernie.”

  “Then kiss me.”

  His heart stopped and his body went rigid. “If I kiss you it changes everything, our friendship, every interaction between us from here on out. There will be no going back.” It was the only warning he would give her. He could not deny himself anymore.

  “I know. But things have already changed. I can’t forget how hearing you offer for Anne made me feel.”

  He was frozen, the last vestiges of his control, his honor, holding him. This might be the best moment of his life, but nothing about what came next would be easy. He knew that, she knew that. But he was going to jump any way. There were no halves with Bernie. She was all or nothing, and he wanted it all.

  She grabbed the lapels of his jacket. “Chester, I want you to kiss me.”

  He almost laughed. Leave it to Bernie to demand her seduction. He bent his head and couldn’t stop a smile as his lips brushed hers, so soft and full. His head filled with visions of all the ways he could enjoy her lips, but he quickly reined himself in. This was not the time or the place. He had to stay levelheaded. He dragged his lips away and met her dazed glassy eyes.

  “What happens now?” he asked. He needed to distract himself with talk or he’d kiss her again. He must remain in control or they would risk another scandal for her family.

  “I don’t know.”

  She let go of his jacket and he stepped back to put some necessary distance between them should anyone come upon them. She kept her gaze down, and Chester had never seen her so bashful.

  “Don’t turn shy now,” he teased.

  Her lips twisted in a half smile. For the first time she didn’t have a return jab, and he didn’t know how to feel about that. Everything truly was changing. And there was no going back.

  Chapter 8

  Bernie desperately tried to enjoy herself, she truly did. Anne’s secret was safe, and more importantly, she would soon be married, a blessing for all of them. But there was something off kilter inside her since that moment with Chester, or more specifically since the kiss.

  Her whole world had shifted, and she hadn’t yet regained her balance.

  She kicked a pebble and looked up ahead but the twins, Nicolette and Odette, had disappeared ahead of her in the Kirkland hedge maze.

  The sun shone high above her, spreading cheerful warmth over her skin. Bernie stopped and tipped her face to the sun, sighing. Perhaps she could stay here for a bit and enjoy the solitude. Her thoughts were loud enough on their own without adding the clamor of her eight sisters chatting away excitedly. Bernie was happy they were enjoying themselves so thoroughly. Having never been to London, or even outside the boundaries of Northumberland, they had every right to.

  But she couldn’t find the same joy in this party that her sisters did. There was still so much uncertainty in their futures. They were lucky not to bear the weight as Bernie and Anne did.

  And now there was more. Bernie couldn’t tell anyone what had happened between her and Chester. What would she even say? She didn’t yet know what that kiss had meant. Would they marry? Were they a couple now?

  All Bernie did know was that she wanted another kiss.

  The kiss was the only thing she did understand. Between the thundering of her thoughts and emotions, the kiss was the simplest variable.

  And it had been such a gentle kiss, leaving Bernie a bit unsatisfied. She wanted another kiss, a deeper kiss, a kiss that would quiet all the doubts and fears, leaving no confusion about the future, about what he wanted from her.

  Was that too much to ask for? Apparently yes, because one kiss from Chester, even a very brief, quite literal brush of his lips, rendered her dumb.

  She still couldn’t bring herself to speak with him today. Thankfully, the grounds of Kirkland gardens were filled with people she could keep between her and Chester and avoid another awkward silence. Which reminded her. Where were her sisters?

  The Kirkland maze was not to be trifled with, and Bernie had only completed it successfully once with Chester’s guidance.

  “Nicolette?” Bernie called out. “I’ve lost you.”

  “We’re over here.” Nicolette’s voice carried easily over the hedges.

  “And where precisely is ‘over here’?” Bernie asked. She rounded a corner and reached a dead end. “Drat.” She turned around.

  “Perhaps I can help?”

  A young lord turned the corner, and she was boxed in.

  “I don’t believe we are acquainted,” Bernie said. It was the most polite way of saying no, go away.

  “That is true, though I think I know who you are, Miss Marsden, correct?”

  “Tis a good guess. There are nine of us, after all. The odds favor you.”

  He chuckled and strolled closer.

  Bernie folded her arms. “I’ve sufficient knowledge of this maze to continue on my own, thank you. My sisters are very close by. Perhaps we will receive a proper introduction from our hostess once we have all rejoined the party.”

  He cocked his head and looked at his watch as if she hadn’t spoken. “Tis so quiet in here.”

  “Nicolette!” Bernie shouted.

  “We’re coming!”

  “They’re lost, I’m afraid,” he said.

  An uneasy squirmy feeling infused Bernie’s stomach. Who was this rogue? Did he qualify as a rogue? He appeared quite young to her mind. His facial features didn’t have the hard-edged quality of a fully matured man, and his ears were quite large in comparison to his head, sticking out from his oily brown hair cut in the Brutus hairstyle. His eyes were a bit darker than brown and rather sinister, but it could have been a trick of the light.

  “I will find them. Will you join me, sir?” Bernie stepped forward, hoping he’d take the hint and step back.

  He didn’t.

  Her hackles rose.

  She raised a brow. Whatever he was planning he better get on with it. The more time he kept her there the worse the potential scandal could be—and the more annoyed she’d become.

  “We should not let such a perfect moment go to waste.” He inched forward, stretching one hand out to the hedge and dragging his fingers along the leaves.

  Bernie stepped back. “I’d rethink whatever it is you intend to do.”

  He smirked. “Miss Marsden, Bernadette, to be exact. I took immediate notice of you when you arrived, and I’m afraid my heart’s yearning cannot be ignored.”

  “Do try.” Her back pressed into the hedge. She clenched her fists at her sides.

  He shook his head. “Tsk tsk, don’t be afraid. I’m a gentleman, but even gentlemen have limits to their control and you inspire such…” He looked away, appearing to search for the word he wanted to use.

  “Clearly not restraint,” Bernadette muttered.

  “Rabid infatuation,” he said.

  Bernadette scoffed. “Rabid? Would you like to rethink your word choice?”

  He grinned. “You are quite amusing, my dove.”

  Bernadette scowled. “Do not—” Her words caught as he reached for her, diving at her head first with pursed lips. Bernie cocked her arm and punched him square in the nose.

  He screamed, blood drip
ping between his fingers.

  Bernie sidled past him and skidded to a halt as Lady Kirkland rounded the corner.

  “Good heavens!” she cried.

  “My lady, you’re guest is injured. Might you have a handkerchief?”

  Her sisters then made an appearance at last. Bernie scowled at them.

  “What happened?” Nicolette asked. Odette turned away at the sight of the blood.

  Nicolette whipped a handkerchief out of her sleeve and presented it to the man. “Tip your head back, there’s a good lad.”

  Lady Kirkland was breathing heavily as she stared at Bernie.

  “Let’s return now.” Bernie eyed Lady Kirkland like a loaded gun. The woman had never liked her or the fact that she and Chester had been such close friends.

  “Don’t think you can escape your actions here today, Miss Bernadette. I invited you here as a favor to the duchess, and this is how you behave? By taking liberties with my esteemed guests in the garden?”

  Bernie gasped. “I beg your pardon?”

  “I saw you two kissing!” Lady Kirkland snapped her fan open and waved it frantically at herself.

  “You saw no such thing! He accosted me and I defended myself accordingly.”

  “Lord Rupert is a gentleman. He’d do no such thing.” Lady Kirkland narrowed her eyes. “You will salvage this situation to my satisfaction. Come with me.” She pivoted away and Bernie stood shaking as Lord Rupert followed without uttering a word.

  Nicolette took her hand. “We must follow.”

  Odette took her other hand. “Come. We will stay with you.”

  “We weren’t kissing,” Bernie said as she took a tentative step forward.

  “Of course not. He’s barely out of the school room,” Nicolette said. “Besides, why would you have hit him if you found his advances agreeable?”

  “She’s doing this on purpose,” Bernie whispered. She knew it in her gut. Her arrival was too convenient.

  All three sisters buttoned their lips as they followed Lady Kirkland out of the maze and into the house. The marchioness banished her sisters from the study, leaving Bernie and Lord Rupert in Lord Kirkland’s study and seated before his desk while he was summoned. Her ladyship stayed with them, standing over Bernie and glowering.

  “I just knew this was the fate you were suited for. I hope you will come to appreciate my benevolence in the matter. We will have this sorted out properly. On my property, good heavens. I always knew allowing you and your sisters to mingle with your betters would not end well.”

  Bernie bit her tongue, her face hotter than a red coal.

  Lord Kirkland arrived and Lady Kirkland related her tale, Mr. Rupert nodding along.

  “Those are outright lies,” Bernie said, fuming.

  Lord and Lady Kirkland turned on her.

  “Are you calling me a liar?” Lady Kirkland asked with a hand to her heaving bosom.

  “Yes. He attempted to kiss me and I defended myself. This is madness.”

  Lord Kirkland bid his wife to fetch the duchess. “She will aide us in coming to the appropriate solution.”

  “There is only one acceptable outcome,” Lady Kirkland snapped before exiting the study.

  Lord Kirkland poured himself a drink, offering one to Mr. Rupert.

  Bernie sat frozen, her palms clammy. What outcome could there be? There was no kiss. This wasn’t some illicit tryst. She wanted to scream but a profound helplessness overcame her. What could she possibly do to get out of this? She glared at Mr. Rupert, the worthless pup. Why was he going along with this? Didn’t he know what was at stake? He’d come at her like a deranged fish. She shuddered at the memory and closed her eyes. She’d had one kiss her entire life as of yesterday, and this scapegrace would have forever tarnished it with what was surely going to be a terrible experience. She could remember the exact texture of Chester’s lips, the heat, the thrilling tension that had filled her. This bounder would have ruined all of it. She wanted to hit him again just for that.

  There were many voices and footsteps coming from the hall. Bernie sat up straighter. She was not going down without a fight.

  The door opened. In walked the last person she wanted to see and the only person she wanted to see. Her heart did a giddy flip and her eyes began to sting.

  Chester.

  His alert gaze took in the situation in one glance. “What happened?”

  “It seems affections got a little out of hand in the maze,” Lord Kirkland said. “I expected the duchess not you, son.

  Bernie rolled her eyes but said nothing. The truth didn’t seem to be important to Lord and Lady Kirkland.

  Lady Kirkland wrung her hands. “I couldn’t find either the duchess or the duke.”

  “You aren’t needed here, Tiberius. You may go,” Lord Kirkland said to his son.

  “I will take responsibility for Miss Marsden,” Roderick said.

  Lady Kirkland gasped. “You cannot marry her!”

  “I didn’t mean marriage, I meant in place of my brother or my mother or Violet. I am responsible for her well-being.”

  Bernie snorted and Roderick glared at her. “What happened?”

  The unknown gentleman began to speak but one glance from Roderick and he quieted.

  Chester squatted before Bernie. “What happened?”

  Her heart melted at his concerned frown. She held his gaze and felt off balance as if the world would tilt her right into his arms.

  “He cornered me and tried to kiss me,” Bernie answered.

  “This doesn’t concern you, son,” Lord Kirkland interrupted.

  Chester stood and faced his father. “The well-being of my friend doesn’t concern me?”

  His friend. Right. Bernie bit her cheek.

  “This is delicate, and you are too close to her as it is. Mr. Rupert will do the honorable thing, won’t you?” Lord Kirkland turned toward the young man.

  “I won’t marry that lout,” Bernie said. “It was an attempted kiss.”

  Mr. Rupert stood. “You can’t make me marry her. Everyone knows she’s a poor country lightskirt.”

  Roderick moved to grab the rogue, but Chester was quicker. He punched him right in the jaw, and the lad fell like a puppet without strings.

  “Damn it to hell!” Lord Kirkland barked.

  Lady Kirkland fell into the wall, fanning herself.

  Bernie stood, beaming at Chester. “Good hit!”

  Chester glared at her. “Why were you in the maze?”

  “I went in with Nicolette and Odette,” Bernie said defensively. “We got separated. It’s hardly my fault.”

  “I’ve told you it’s dangerous to go off on your own.”

  “Yes, and I defended myself—not as well as you—but he didn’t kiss me. He got a bloody nose instead.”

  “This will be a scandal,” Lady Kirkland moaned.

  “We should leave,” Roderick said. “And I suggest you convince Mr. Rupert it’s in his best interest to not kiss unwilling women and to keep his mouth from telling tales.” He said this to Lord Kirkland.

  Lord Kirkland bristled. “I was against this party for this very reason. The Marsdens are undignified country rabble.”

  Bernie froze and turned. “Us! You—”

  Roderick clamped a hand over her mouth and hauled her out. Chester followed, his expression set in stone. But as they marched toward the drawing room, Anne stepped out of the retiring room and caught sight of them just as Lady Kirkland caught up with them. She grabbed her son’s arm. “You must distance yourself from them.”

  “They are my friends.” Chester pulled his arm from his mother’s grip.

  “They will only bring you down,” his mother pleaded. “It is time to cut ties and find a wealthy wife.”

  Wealthy wife. The words twisted in Bernie’s heart like a knife.

  Roderick tried to keep her moving, but Bernie held her ground.

  “What have we ever done to warrant such venom from you?” Bernie asked. “My father is a gentleman.
He may not be wealthy, but his blood is as blue as yours.”

  Lady Kirkland ignored her. “Chester, see reason. I’ve tried to indulge your penchant for collecting rabble acquaintances but no more.”

  “Rabble?” Anne shook free of Roderick’s hold. “I beg your pardon? Did you refer to my sisters and I as rabble?”

  Lady Kirkland faced Anne. “I am speaking to my son.”

  “About us. In front of us,” Anne returned.

  “Come, Anne,” Roderick said.

  Bernie stood back, stunned, and hurting far more than she thought a body could from mere words. She’d always known Lady Kirkland’s opinion of her family. The blasted woman had never been good at hiding it, but now that her heart was lost to Chester, every word was a weapon. What had been pricks to her pride before were now canon blasts to her heart.

  “I did Her Grace a favor by including you in my party today, but the truth is, you’re nothing but social climbers trying to attach yourselves to your betters by any means necessary.”

  “Mother stop,” Chester said between clenched teeth.

  “I’d rather be thought of as a social climber than a snob,” Bernie said, swallowing the sob that wanted to erupt from her. “Good day, Lady Kirkland. We’re taking our leave.” She took Anne’s hand and tugged her sister away. Roderick followed. Bernie couldn’t speak as they climbed into the open carriage and began the short ride back to the castle. Chester had stayed behind. In Bernie’s mind, the gulf between them grew larger, invisible but deep. And the bottom filled with jagged rocks.

  Chapter 9

  Chester stalked back to his father’s study. Mr. Rupert had been revived and helped to his room. Chester closed the door and pinned his father with a glare. The man had the temerity to look amused.

  “Quite the stir up, is it not?”

  “I beg to differ.” Chester paced before his father’s desk. “I fail to see what is so amusing about the treatment you have shown guests, not only of the duchess, but our very own neighbors, Father. What right have we to proclaim ourselves their betters whilst acting like arrogant swine?”