“Here, I have your robe,” Mary said, her voice drawing closer the moment before the satin was slipped over her underclothes.
Rosa tied the sash, sat on the stool by her vanity, and pulled the curls that fell down the center of her back over one shoulder.
“Lord de Burgh, what brings you here?” Mary said.
“Your mistress.” His voice was rushed, perturbed as though he’d taken the stairs two at a time. “You’re needed in the dining hall, Mary.”
Her maid harrumphed and left without another word.
No one should dismiss her maid but Rosa. While she was ready to face the duke, Rosa was not prepared to confront Teddy. Not while she was at a disadvantage.
She curled her fingers together in her lap and waited for Teddy to say what he came to say. Fingers squeezing tighter together, she swiveled her chair in the direction of his footfall. He took her hands and pulled her to her feet. Now she wished she’d opted to be dressed instead of donning only a robe. Far too few clothes separated them and a part of her had ached for his company since their arrival but she’d known that it would be a mistake to allow any more intimacy.
He touched the sides of her face and held her with a reverence that had her breath catching in her throat. What was it about this man that melted the ice she’d always used as a shield around her heart?
He pressed their bodies together from thigh to chest. His breath was a whisper of warm air caressing her lips. “I needed to see you before the guests arrived.”
She grasped his sleeve, fingers feebly clutching at him so he couldn’t escape her. Without thinking about her actions, she stood on the tips of her toes, closed her eyes, and brushed her lips over his.
He didn’t pull away. Not that she expected him to. Why was it she could never get enough of him? He was the kindle to her flame, she the bowstring to his violin. They were worlds apart, yet shared the same spirit and love for life. Could he be right? Could they be meant for each other? Her inability to hold back from kissing him told her that might be the case. That or it was nerves about what would come of tonight’s dinner soiree.
“Rosa,” he said, his voice hoarse. “We should talk.”
“Can we can talk about this after dinner?”
Rosa pressed her forehead against his chest. Whenever she was in his arms she felt like this was the only place she ever needed to be. If they never had to exist beyond this point, life would be simpler. But life wasn’t simple. And with the will of a stubborn bull, she forced her feet back to the ground and pulled away from their impromptu embrace.
“Don’t pull away from me, Rosa. Not now.”
“You know this is a bad idea. We cannot continue in this fashion. You have a life outside of me, Teddy, and plans that cannot be interfered with if you are to be the great composer I know you will one day be. With me at your side, people won’t take you seriously.”
“I don’t care what others think. Not where you’re concerned. Surely, you know this.”
“I care enough to say we can’t do this, even though it hurts to admit it. There is nothing beyond us here and now. Mistress and master. Lovers and consorts. Whatever you wish to call it. That is all it is.”
“You want me to just leave—to forget you? To sever our ties without a backward glance? I’m not asking for forever because I know you won’t commit to that. I don’t know how else to ask you to try a life with me, taking it one day at a time.” He pulled her into the circle of his arms again, his hands resting over her lower back. “We’re a good team, you and I. And in my heart I know we are meant to be. On some level I know you believe that, too.”
“I have thought on it. You have a life ahead of you, far grander than you realize. I’ll only hamper your future successes.”
“You’re wrong. And after tonight, I’ll find a way to prove that to you.”
“Do you want it brandished about that you spend your days with your mistress? That you include your mistress in the process of creating your music?”
“Many a man does it. So shall I.”
She shook her head and tried to back away from him, but he held her arms more tightly. Because he wouldn’t listen to reason, she spoke instead from the heart. “You think you want this now, Teddy. But history always repeats itself and it’ll be a matter of time before you tire of me. Where would that leave me?”
“You aren’t even giving me a fighting chance here. Why can’t you let go of the reins just once and feel the wind on your face?”
“I’ve had enough experiences of that nature to last me a lifetime. I care not to experience it anymore—”
He silenced her with a kiss.
She should have pulled away. Did he think his conviction alone would sway her decision? Her thoughts didn’t get much further than that when he pressed his mouth to hers again, and she was lost in their embrace.
Just once more, she told herself. She needed this. Wanted this with everything in her heart.
It was a sweet kiss. Tender. The meeting of warm lips, the gentle seeking of two tongues too shy to take the first forbidden taste. He tasted of mint and coffee, a rich, strong flavor imploring her to taste deeper.
Oh, it would not end so simply, either. No longer caring how much this would hurt them both, she pushed his evening tails from his shoulders and off him before stretching her hands over his chest, working the buttons free on his vest.
“You should not be wearing,” she mumbled as he nibbled his way down her neck and back up, “so many clothes.”
His larger hands wrapped around hers to still her motions. “Be still, Rosa. I will do this only if you will consider coming back to London with me, even if it’s only for a short time.”
She shook her head and pulled her hands from beneath his. “All I can offer you is now.”
He let out a frustrated air. “I’ll leave you to dress for dinner, then.”
She reached out to pull him back to her, but he moved out of her reach and she came up empty-handed. “Is that how it’s to be? You want nothing from me if I can’t promise you a future?”
“As much as I want this ... It doesn’t make it any easier on me, Rosa. It’s better this way.”
“I’ll not beg.”
“No, you won’t, but it’s what I’ve been doing. What you seem to expect of me after every refusal you throw my way.” Silence remained after his hurtful but true words. “I’ll leave tomorrow since that’s what you so desperately want. Promise me that you’ll at least come to the opening performance. Without you, I wouldn’t have been able to do it.”
“I would be thrilled and honored to be at your grand opening.”
The back of his hand caressed her cheek. “Shall I call your maid up to finish readying you?”
“Thank you.”
“Don’t thank me. This is not an arrangement I will agree to for long.”
THIS WAS NOT THE TYPE of dinner party Teddy had anticipated. All the guests were either Cyprians or gentlemen who spent the better part of their time in debauchery than actually doing something useful. Nathan sat at the head of the table next to his former mistress, Anna, who had been coaxed into attending on the grounds that he didn’t want Rosa to feel uncomfortable without a friend present.
When he’d asked Nathan if he and Anna had worked out their differences, his brother had shrugged and changed the topic. Teddy hadn’t pressed, but surely her being here tonight must mean they’d resolved some of their issues.
Daniel sat next to Anna, his body hunched slightly in pain. Rosa’s brother had insisted on being up and about now that the doctor had told him it was all right to be out of bed.
Teddy wasn’t lucky enough to be seated beside Rosa, but he watched her every move from across the table. Why had he agreed to go back to London without her? While it felt necessary when he’d suggested it, it hurt to make that choice.
Benedict Johnson sat on the left of Rosa. He hadn’t acted oddly on seeing Daniel as one of the guests, which made Teddy think the man had nothing to
do with Daniel’s disappearance. But again, Daniel’s memory remained foggy.
Creve and his mistress sat two seats down from Rosa and Johnson. Creve was known to live for the next gamble, and it was likely he’d bet against Daniel at some point. Though they knew each other, nothing more than pleasantries were exchanged.
Beside Daniel were two women Teddy did not know, but they made it a point to laugh far too often, as though that sound alone could seduce a man.
The one beside him was maybe thirty, decked out in jewels from the pins and clips in her hair right down to the rings adorning every one of her fingers. At least she kept those hands to herself.
“I’m glad to have you all here tonight. And to think, even my brother was able to join us at the last minute.”
“Couldn’t resist the opportunity to attend a house party when London is clearing out for the holidays,” Creve said.
“Not with the delectable company you like to keep.” That swine Johnson was staring at Rosa as he said that. The man sat too close to her, their arms nearly touching as he slid his chair closer to hers. Teddy had not forgotten the man’s desire to land Rosa as his mistress. And that simply would not happen. But all this was necessary if they were to try and learn anything about Daniel’s disappearance.
“I regret that I won’t be able to stay on for the whole party,” Teddy said.
His brother shrugged. “All you’ll miss is good food, wine, and friends to share the cold winter nights, if you catch my drift. What more could we ask for?”
More than one guffaw sounded as the table toasted to that. Teddy took a small sip of the champagne and put it down. He watched Rosa, noting that the glass was cleverly placed against her lips, but she swallowed none. She must be too nervous to let herself be impaired by anything. She flirted incessantly with Johnson, laughing at everyone’s jokes. She did something to Teddy when she laughed, something the other two women at the table could never do.
Teddy scarcely recalled eating any of the four courses served. All he knew was that his patience grew thinner and thinner the more outrageously she flirted with Johnson. Daniel didn’t seem to mind the display, either, which only enraged Teddy further. They seemed to have some past together, all three of them.
Once dinner concluded and they all stood, Teddy was at Rosa’s side before Johnson could take her arm and lead her into the parlor. He couldn’t watch her spend another moment with that man.
Rosa turned her head in his direction and raised one brow in question. But she acquiesced with a nod and threaded her arm through his.
“Shall we adjourn to a more comfortable setting?” he asked Rosa before he turned to Johnson. “You should take Miss Sarah’s arm, as she’s without a partner.”
It was hard to miss the murderous glare Johnson shot him, but he led Rosa to the next room with a smile on his face.
“What do you think you are doing?” she hissed almost inaudibly.
“Taking you into the parlor.”
“You know that’s not what I meant. I wanted to talk to Johnson to see if I could learn anything of the rumors where my brother is concerned.”
“If you learned nothing over dinner, what do you expect to learn now? I could call him out for the way he stared at you through dinner. It was insulting and demeaning.”
Lips pursed together, she took in an irritated breath then puffed it out hard. “You’ll do no such thing. You’d be arrested.”
“Who’s to arrest me when I’ve killed the man?”
She yanked her arm from his. He pulled it back and gripped her hand firmly enough that the next tug did nothing but bring them closer. “Now, now, Rosa. You wouldn’t want to make a scene.”
“You were a perfect gentleman earlier. What in the name of Hades happened?”
“I came to my senses when I saw exactly how you planned to get information from Johnson. Flirting with danger is a bad idea, especially with a man like him. He’s unpredictable, and I don’t trust him.”
“I’m not new at this.” She actually seemed insulted.
“You seem to think you have a choice in the matter. I’ve agreed to go back to London, but if I have to stay to protect you from your own folly, all so you can solve your brother’s problems, I will stay.” He walked her around to the bench in front of the Broadwood. “Now that we’ve arrived in the parlor, why don’t you play us a tune?”
“You go too far, to assume I’d play for a crowd.”
“Come now, it’s an intimate crowd, surely a tune can be conjured from memory.”
“Why are you treating me like I’m no more than your whore?” Her voice was low enough that no one else heard what she said to him.
“Funny. Considering the way you’re flaunting yourself to Johnson. I’m not your consort by any means, I’m your past lover. I might as well play the part of someone jilted by the object of his affections. It’s a plan I far prefer over yours.”
“I see why the majority of my acquaintances call you a volatile cad.”
It was his turn to chuckle. She had no idea what he was like to those around him. Perhaps it was time to show her the type of man he could be when he was surrounded by buffoons and people he disliked.
“Do tell us what joke we’ve missed out on, Thaddeus.” The query came from his brother.
He turned away from Rosa and smiled at the crowd gathering around the piano. “I’ve asked Rosa to play for us, but she’s too shy. Imagine that, too shy to perform for such an intimate group.”
“Do play for us, my dear,” Nathan insisted.
Teddy’s head jerked around to the endearment falling from his brother’s lips, giving him a scowl swifter, perhaps even deadlier, than any rapier. It wasn’t hard to play the jealous lover when he didn’t want any of the men in here entertaining ideas of Rosa as their mistress.
“I couldn’t,” she demurred. “Dinner was such an extravagant affair, and the wine flowed so freely that I’m afraid I’d accomplish no more than making a fool of myself.”
Teddy leaned in close to her, his lips but a hairbreadth from her ear. “You drank not a drop, I watched you through every course of that meal. Play for the crowd, my dear.”
Her lips pursed again. With a pretty curtsy, she reluctantly took her seat at the bench.
“Brava, darling, taking on a dare from Teddy.” Creve and his loud mouth couldn’t seem to stop there, either. “Perhaps she needs something to fill that pretty mouth of hers, de Burgh.”
The woman on Creve’s arm tittered at the suggestion. “And what of me, my lord?”
“I’ve got plenty of ideas for you, dove.”
Teddy turned away as Creve pressed his hand under the woman’s gown to grope at her breast. His mistress had enough sense to push him away with another obnoxious snigger. “You should save that for later.”
A footman came around with fresh glasses of champagne. When Nathan handed Teddy a glass for Rosa, he handed it off to Johnson, who stood on her other side. “Go take a seat, Johnson. I’m sure I can manage the bench for her.”
“Rosie, are you all right with this devil hovering over you?”
“I’m fine, Johnson, though I feel I must apologize for his brash rudeness.”
Johnson seemed to take that for some grand joke if that ruckus he considered laughter was anything to go by. Finally, he moved away from her and took his seat next to the Cyprian who’d unsuccessfully tried to engage Teddy in conversation over supper.
“What will you play for us?”
“Hmm ... I’m not sure.” Her finger tapped at her lip thoughtfully. “Maybe a funeral march to show my appreciation of your effervescent presence tonight.”
He ignored the rib and sat next to her on the bench. He ran his hand over the expanse of skin between her shoulder blades. She stilled next to him as he lowered his nose in her curls and inhaled her scent of lilacs.
“Stop that this instant.”
“What if I said I couldn’t help myself?” It was said softly enough to be for her ears alone.
Pulling back from the warmth of her smaller body, he felt the lithe path of her upper arm all the way to her exposed nape. He knew he shouldn’t press for more, but couldn’t help himself with Johnson watching his every move. Teddy would leave no doubt that the blighter didn’t have a chance in hell with Rosa. He firmly caressed her nape, then covered the jewels of her choker possessively before dropping his hand away and smiling darkly at Johnson.
Tucking his hands behind his back so he didn’t take any more public liberties, he decided he might as well ask for exactly what he wanted. “Lift your skirts so I can see your ankles working the pedals.”
She turned her head enough that their noses were level, almost touching. “I think not.” The enunciation of her words were clipped, angered. Could it be that he evoked some emotion in her when he demanded she do his bidding? What would happen if he continued down this path? There was one way to find out.
He lifted her skirts for her.
Hand whipping out, she squeezed his wrist to stop any further liberties. “What do you think you’re doing?”
“Showing Johnson what he can never have.”
She elbowed him hard in the ribs, making him grunt. The whole while he was aware that Johnson had taken a step closer to see what transpired between Teddy and Rosa. “Leave me be, de Burgh. If your intention is to anger me, you’ve accomplished it.”
He took a deep breath. “Play something, Rosa. The guests are waiting and looking far too interested in our interaction.”
“It’s your own doing.” She whipped a bit violently around on the seat and set her fingers to something quick and angry. He smiled before he turned to his brother and the other guests.
“She plays so flawlessly. So full of life. Just listen to the pure passion of the notes her fingers sing as she hits the keys. Herr von Beethoven would approve of your rendition,” Teddy said.
“You mock me, de Burgh. I’d like to see you do better.” She turned her head to the side when she addressed him, as though she were looking directly at him. There would be hell to pay for his actions, but he didn’t care so long as Johnson got the picture and left her alone.
Tempted by You Page 14