Scandalous
Page 3
He gathered her in his arms, whispering comfort and of how he was sorry, he was so damned sorry. “I should have come after you. I should have followed you to the Continent and made you listen. I should have done it any time these last ten years. I’m sorry I didn’t. Sof, you’ve not notion of how sorry I am.”
“Fat lot of good sorry does me,” she hiccupped, attempting a scowl but certain she failed miserably.
A smile. Finally. “Ah, Sof. How can I resist you when you say things like that?”
Hiding against his chest, she shook her head.
A gentle finger under her chin forced her gaze to his, and her breath caught at what she saw in his gray eyes. “Sof. You know I love you, don’t you?”
She bit her lip.
“I do.” He brushed her lips with his. “I love you.” He kissed her cheekbone. “I love you.” The hollow of her throat. “I love you.”
She closed her eyes. She wanted to believe him. She did. “How can we feel this way? We’ve been.... It’s been ten years, Michael.”
His lips feathered over her right brow. “Sof. You need time. We need time. Tomorrow, I will call upon you, and then I’ll pay my address to your brother. I’ll ask his permission to court you. No decision needs to be made. We’ll take it as it comes.”
“I don’t know if—”
Pulling back, he took her by the shoulders. Jaw tense, he said, “Tomorrow, Sofie.”
Words deserted her at his intensity, at her own foolish hope. She wanted that, so badly.
“Believe me, Sof. Believe us.”
There was so much against them, so much— “Stephen will thrash you. He’ll keep you from me.”
Michael set his jaw. “He’ll try.”
A sudden, blinding happiness took her, surely too bright to last, but she would grab it while it burned. She brought his hand to her cheek, kissed the long, sensitive fingers. “Tomorrow.”
Chapter Five
Three months later
The breeze wrapped around Sofie, warm in the darkness of the garden. Faint strains of music sounded from Diana’s ball, and she could hear the laughter of others who had sought respite from the crush of the ballroom.
Strong arms snaked about her waist, pulling her back into a hard chest while soft lips brushed the spot beneath her ear. A deliciously deep voice said, “You always did like a garden.”
Wickedness rushed through her as she turned in Michael’s embrace. “They provide so much opportunity for mischief.”
He raised a brow. “The Countess of Edgington has too much dignity to get into mischief.”
Laughter bubbled in her, though she did her best to keep her expression solemn. “Well, it’s a good thing I’m not yet the countess.”
“Only for twelve more hours.”
She lifted a shoulder. “It still counts.”
As if he could no longer contain himself, a smile broke across his face, his eyes alight. “I won’t win, will I?”
“No,” she said, loving that he shared his humor with her. Loving him.
“Well,” he said. “I shall just have to cheat.” And then he set his lips to hers.
His tongue danced along the seam of her lips, seeking entrance, and she opened to him, welcoming him into her as she dug her fingers into his back. He made a sound of pleasure, filling her, making her heated and empty and…. Soon. Soon.
“Miss Hargrove!”
Slowly, the shrill voice penetrated the haze he always created. Michael tensed against her, lifting his head to stare straight ahead as a tick started in his jaw.
Cautiously, Sofie peeped past his shoulder. Lady Darbyon stood before them, a horrified expression twisting her features.
Leaning her forehead against him, Sofie groaned. Dear God, not again.
“Miss Hargrove! I cannot believe this! And with the Earl of Edgington! Did you not learn your lesson the first time?”
Extracting herself from Michael’s embrace, she squared her shoulders and entered the fray. “The earl is my fiancée. Surely we are allowed some leeway?”
“You still have a reputation to uphold. Come.” With that imperious command, Lady Darbyon held out her hand.
“You saw nothing.”
At the cold, hard words, Sofie glanced at Michael. He’d turned to face Lady Darbyon, and his expression…his expression was terrifying.
Clearly uncowed, Lady Darbyon tutted. “My lord, I saw—”
“Nothing. You will not speak of my countess. You will return to the ballroom and you will forget you ever saw us.”
“I hardly think—”
“Lady Darbyon,” Michael said. “Do not test me.”
The lady blanched, her eyes wide, then she hurried away.
Sofie watched Lady Darbyon’s retreating back until she couldn’t see her anymore. “The sky is green.”
Obviously distracted, Michael glanced at her. “Pardon?”
“You said you could convince people the sky is green.”
His expression changed, becoming heavy lidded. “I’d rather convince you to come deeper in the garden.”
“Why, Michael,” she said mildly, her heart racing. “How scandalous.”
A smile lit his face. “We’ve only got twelve more hours. Come, Sof.” He held out his hand. “Let’s cause a scandal.”
Acknowledgments
SCANDALOUS first appeared in Second Chances: A RWA Anthology. Many thanks to Romance Writers of America for choosing SCANDALOUS to be part of their compilation.
That wasn’t the first iteration of the story, though. Scandalous started as ‘The Confession’, a short story I wrote years ago that is available on my website. You can check ‘The Confession’ out here.
Thank you as always to my family for their love and support.
Thank you to my F4E, A.L.Clark, for being the bestest critique partner and super awesome friend.
Thank you to Tamara Gill for being my sounding board in this self-publishing caper.
Thank you to TP, to Kylie, and to Kel, for being my bestest ladies ever.
And to you, the reader, thank you. I hope you enjoyed Sofie and Michael’s tale. I also hope you will consider leaving a review at your favourite e-retailer and I invite you to check out my other books, available now at all good e-retailers.
About Cassandra Dean
Cassandra Dean is an award-winning author of historical and fantasy romance. She grew up daydreaming, inventing fantastical worlds and marvelous adventures. Once she learned to read (first phrase: To The Beach. True story), she was never without a book, and when she realized she could write her own, she never looked back.
Cassandra is proud to call South Australia her home, where she regularly cheers on her AFL football team and creates her next tale.
Liked Scandalous?
Why not try the Lost Lords Series, starting with Book 1
FINDING LORD FARLISLE
The girl he finally remembers
Eleven years ago, a shipwreck robbed Lord Maxim Farlisle of his memory. Recovering himself, he journeys to his childhood home to find Waithe Hall shut and deserted. Unwilling to face what remains of his family, Maxim makes his home in the abandoned hall…only to have a determined ghost hunter invade his uneasy peace.
The boy she never forgot
Fascinated by spirits, Lady Alexandra Torrence cannot disregard the opportunity to investigate the estate she knew so well. She arrives at the shuttered hall to discover a ghost of a different kind—the boy she thought to never see again. Maxim had been the boy next door, her best friend, her soul mate…and then he’d vanished.
As the two rediscover their connection, the promise of young love burns into an overwhelming passion. But the time apart has scarred them both—will they discover a love that will draw them together or will the past tear them apart forever?
Find FINDING LORD FARLISLE here
And then discover Book 2
RESCUING LORD ROXWAITHE
The girl he’s always loved
Oliver, Earl of Roxwaithe, ha
s always regarded Lady Lydia Torrence as a sibling even as she’d declared one day they would wed. Fourteen years her elder, Oliver was convinced Lydia felt only a crush and when she inevitably declared her love, he had to refuse. After she left for the Continent, he told himself he didn’t miss her, that she had always been too young, and if perhaps he’d noticed she had become a woman, that was best left unsaid.
The man she’s always adored
Lydia had always known she loved Oliver and he loved her. Furious he would claim she was too young, she determined to take the Continent by storm, to hone her skills and become an expert in flirtation. Upon her return to London, she’d show him she was a fully-grown woman who knew what she wanted—and she wanted him.
Oliver is stubborn in his resolve until a new suitor for Lydia puts Oliver’s resolve to the test. Will he discover the girl he’s always loved has become the woman he will forever adore?
Find RESCUING LORD ROXWAIHE here
Or if you’re in the mood for something spicy,
why not try
TEACH ME
Ever curious, Elizabeth, Viscountess Rocksley, has turned her curiosity to erotic pleasure. Three years a widow, she boldly employs the madam of a brothel for guidance but never had she expected her education to be conducted by a coldly handsome peer of the realm.
To the Earl of Malvern, the erotic tutelage of a skittish widow is little more than sport, however the woman he teaches is far from the mouse he expects. With her sly humor and insistent joy, Elizabeth obliterates all his expectations and he, unwillingly fascinated, can’t prevent his fall.
Each more intrigued than they are willing to admit, Elizabeth and Malvern embark upon a tutelage that will challenge them, change them, come to mean everything to them…until a heartbreaking betrayal threatens to tear them apart forever.
Find TEACH ME here
Other books by Cassandra Dean
Stand Alones
Enslaved
Teach Me
Scandalous
The Diamond Series
Rough Diamond
Fool’s Gold
Emerald Sea
The Silk Series
Silk & Scandal
Silk & Scorn
Silk & Scars
Silk & Scholar
Silk & Scarlet
Tales of Dormiraa
Slumber
Awaken
Lost Lords
Finding Lord Farlisle
Rescuing Lord Roxwaithe
Stealing Lord Stephen
Anthologies
Second Chances
The Mammoth Book of ER Romance
Smut in the City
Smut by the Sea
Box Sets
The Diamond Series Box Set
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