It was meant to offer comfort, but the possessive tone of his voice made him frown a bit. As he pulled her across his lap to nestle her against his chest, he noted that the promising view of his damsel’s legs and bottom was amply matched by the rest of her. She was young and impossibly pretty, her face flushed and her bonnet askew over golden curls that tumbled down her back. The cut of her dress and coat was hardly provocative, giving him his first misgivings that chaperoned or not, she probably wasn’t the easy gel he’d assumed. Still…a man could hope.
“Is there another passenger to look after?” he inquired without moving his mount. If he was drawing out the experience, Leland wasn’t going to admit to a shred of guilt. It wasn’t as if the gods were usually this generous and, in his opinion, only a fool would fail to enjoy the moment. “I could have sworn I overheard you addressing someone else inside. A Mrs. Harris?”
“No!” she corrected him quickly, her color deepening to a sweet pink that made him wonder how much of her body was susceptible to the fascinating change.
Where is your chaperone? For if ever a girl needed one, I think it’s you, miss.
“Sir, this is…improper,” she managed, her gloved hands clutching at his coat lapels for balance.
“I can put you down here,” he offered nonchalantly. “But I’m afraid the water’s colder than it looks.”
She eyed him warily before replying, humor making her beautiful blue eyes sparkle. “Perhaps the shore would make for a better landing?”
“If you insist,” he played along, urging the horse to return to the embankment. Reaching dry ground, he gingerly lowered her and then dismounted carefully to keep his coat closed to hide just how “improper” the situation had become. “I take it you are unharmed?”
“I’m…fine.” She straightened her bonnet, and then rewarded him with a heart-stopping smile. “Well,that was an adventure.”
“At the very least,” he agreed.
She extended a gloved hand. “Thank you for rescuing me from my carriage.”
He smiled at the formal gesture, taking her hand and bowing over it. “Allow me to introduce myself. I am—”
“Oh, no! Please…” She took back her hand, coloring a bit. “I’m not a rude person, really! It’s just that…Well, if you introduce yourself then I shall have to introduce myself, and you will always associate my name with this embarrassing incident. It doesn’t seem fair.”
“Fair?”
“In the retelling, you will be the hero and I will forever be the dolt who got stuck in a carriage window,” she explained with a sigh, then gave him another bone-melting smile. “It encourages a lady to lie to protect her reputation.”
Leland wasn’t sure how to respond. A lifetime of relying on his wits evaporated in the aftermath of her speech. He scrambled for an appropriate reply. Stranger still, instead of being insulted at her refusal to accept his introduction, he was amused. “But then you’ll have a reputation for falsehoods. Is that not worse?”
She squared her shoulders, as if bracing herself for the firing line. “You’re right. I’ll simply have to admit to everything. Unless…”
“Unless?”
“Unless you would be kind enough to swear never to tell anyone what’s happened here today. Then I wouldn’t have to lie.”
Leland shook his head. Whoever she was, she had an incredible talent for making a man’s head swim. “I could, but it’s not every day a man forgoes being proclaimed a hero.”
She laughed. “Nonsense! Men can always invent opportunities to boast.”
He struggled to keep a straight face at the “innocent wisdom of babes.” “I’ll have to suppress my instincts then. You have my personal oath not to disclose your predicament.”
She nodded, the matter happily settled, and made a lovely curtsy. “Well, thank you for your discretion. Now if you’ll excuse me, I really should be off.”
“Wait.” He refused to believe she was going to curtsy and simply walk away. “Where are you going? It’s miles to the village and—”
“The weather should hold for a while, and I’m perfectly capable of walking the rest of the way.” Her chin rose in determination. “Exercise can be very beneficial.”
“As a gentleman, I can hardly ride away and leave you to walk, miss. At least take my horse.” Frustration crept into his countenance. It was one thing to parry verbally with a member of the weaker sex. It was another matter to be completely disregarded.
She tilted her head, contemplating the reins he held out to her, and then crossed her arms. “I’m sorry if I’ve insulted you, as it wasn’t my intention. I’m afraid that…” She took a deep breath before continuing, “Sir, I’ve promised not to cause any trouble over the holidays and I’m afraid that taking your horse will somehow make things worse.”
It was the last thing in the world he’d expected her to say. “Worse?”
“I confess I’m not much of a rider. And since I’ve already embarrassed myself with one mishap and invisibility is, as you pointed out, not an option—I’d rather not tempt fate. And how would I return a horse to a stranger? I’ll look like a horse thief to my family. So I’ll just walk home and recover what tiny sliver of dignity I can muster before explaining to my father where my luggage is.”
“But—”
“I won’t tell anyone, if you won’t.”
“This is insane.”
She sighed and smiled, her eyes flashing with humor. “I’m sure you’ll thank me later for the reprieve.”
“Miss!” Leland was not a man to be commanded by nonsensical directives. “There is a compromise to be made, which will no doubt protect your oathand your sliver of dignity.”
She uncrossed her arms. “A compromise?”
“We can both ride until we get close to your home. Then if you wish, you can walk the remainder of the distance and arrive on foot with no one the wiser that you avoided an unnecessary hike.”
“I—it is probably out of your way.”
“That’s irrelevant.” He wasn’t giving in. Whoever she was, she wasn’t walking miles in the cold on her own. “I will know that you have been delivered safely without any further ‘incidents.’ And since you haven’t supplied your name, and neither of us will mention the morning’s events, I believe you have run out of excuses, miss.”
Her lips parted, but she didn’t offer a counterargument. Instead she tucked a stray curl back into her bonnet, a gesture that distracted him for a split second, before she finally answered. “As you wish.”
She had no one to blame but herself. The ride was wreaking havoc on her senses. It was one thing to experience the shock of a strange man’s hands extracting her person from a carriage window, spanning her hips and holding her waist in a way that made her head spin. Even ending up in his lap briefly had brought on an overwhelming rush of new sensations, butthis ! This was no brief storm. This was endless minutes, tucked between his thighs, the heat of his broad chest at her back, his arms around her waist keeping her snug against him. She’d been warned about men for so long, Alyssa was sure that this was Fate’s merry way of driving the lesson home. He was too handsome to be roaming about the countryside rescuing women and chivalrously insisting on seeing them home. Why wasn’t he escorting his wife, or his fiancée, or his lady friend? Her first impression of his dark and dashing looks refused to fade as she stole a few backward glances at him and sighed.
Beneath a plain riding hat, his hair was almost coal black and unfashionably reached his collar in the back. Nothing about his features seemed too sharp or too blunt, but instead he was a study in masculine lines and strength. His dark brown eyes were framed by elegant brows that gave him an aristocratic air, but there was nothing of the dandy in his clothing or manners, and Alyssa was left with a puzzle of a gentleman who could be anything from pauper to prince.
It had begun to snow and she didn’t doubt that her plan to walk the remaining distance would have resulted in a miserable plight. Still, she thought, better to be
numb with cold than overly aware of every inch of her body that was in contact with his. Layers of cloth offered a thin buffer, and she couldn’t believe the betrayal of her own senses. She’d imagined a man’s embrace as a vague and potentially cumbersome experience, but this! Each breath he expelled trailed along the back of her neck and beckoned her to lean back against him, to melt into a sinful and unfamiliar surrender. The humiliation of being found in the worst position imaginable had faded to a vague alarm that Mrs. Harris must have omitted some vital information in her warnings regarding the opposite sex.
Not that this man was any sort of rogue, nor would she ever see him again once she was released in the old grove near her father’s estate, but she dearly hoped she was having an unusual reaction to him. If all men held such sway over a girl’s heartbeat it was no wonder women had been dubbed the weaker sex. This was impossible!
She stiffened her back, wriggling to break his spell, to no avail. The movement made it worse. The friction of her petticoats and undergarments against her thighs was alien, as if her flesh had never before felt their touch. Damp heat seemed to be steaming from her body, and Alyssa’s lips pursed at the desire to press harder against him and let this delicious sensation overtake all reason.
She bit the inside of her cheek to force her thoughts back into the realm of sanity.Hanging upside down in carriage windows must affect a person’s mind. Next time, I should insist on sitting still for a few minutes before climbing on a horse.
A distraction would be helpful. The most obvious choice was conversation, but that was a challenge. She’d been such a brat to refuse to give him her name. She’d behaved unforgivably. Consoling herself with the certainty that she’d never encounter him again, she sighed and attempted to make amends. “I am very sorry to cause you all this trouble.”
“It is hardly trouble, though I confess, you seem to have a talent for it.” His voice was a surly rumble that vibrated through her, giving her goose bumps and setting off another delicious shiver down her spine.
There was no sense in denying the truth of his words. “You have no idea, sir.”
“Are you warm enough?” he asked.
Warm enough? I cannot recall an August when I felt this warm.“Yes, thank you,” she managed with only a small betraying wobble in her voice. Alyssa shifted again, and heard his sharp intake of breath. “Oh! Have I injured you, sir?”
“No!” His denial was instantaneous and firm, but one of his hands dropped from the reins to reach around her waist as if to hold her in place. “Just…be still for a moment.”
She froze at the intimate touch of his hand against her stomach, but also at the revelation that his strange tone meant she might not be alone in her current plight. She stole another peek at his face and was instantly captured by his direct gaze. His look was intense and possessive and Alyssa lost the will to ward away the chaos her body clamored for. The expression in his dark brown eyes robbed her of speech and she held her breath.
He shook his head. “I may have underestimated your talent for trouble.”
She turned her head forward and smiled. “In all fairness, you were honestly warned, sir.” Alyssa spotted the first curve of the old grove and decided it was time to part ways with her benefactor. “I can walk from here.”
“Here?” The question conveyed a bit of surprise, but she allowed that the man had every right to think her daft and ill-mannered.
“My home is not far at all,” she assured him as he dismounted and then helped her down. “I hope I haven’t caused you to lose your way to your own destination. That path will take you back to the main road, and from there, the village is just a few miles.”
He gave her a strange enigmatic smile. “I’m sure I’ll find it from here.”
“Well, thank you again,” she said, brushing out her coat, wishing she didn’t miss his warmth at her back. She extended her hand. “I hope to meet you again one day under better circumstances.”
He didn’t look convinced at her sincerity, but took her hand graciously nonetheless. “I’m looking forward to it.” He bowed briefly over her hand and released her as custom dictated.
She pulled her muffler tighter and turned to begin her brisk march home on unsteady legs. The aftereffects of his embrace lingered along with the faint scent of him. After several steps, she risked looking back and was a little surprised that he had already mounted and disappeared.
Well!She adjusted her bonnet. She could hardly blame him. What else had she expected? Another protest from him that a lady shouldn’t walk alone in this weather? It wasn’t as if she wanted him to follow her. Explaining her arrival on foot to her father and the servants was one thing, but to bring home a man? There wasn’t a holiday assignment on earth that could have excused it!
No, this was better. She would be able to make a quiet approach to the house, and if her luck improved, the fuss over retrieving her luggage and the carriage would fade quickly and no one would ask how she’d gotten out of a creek by herself without soaking her skirts.
Several minutes later, the house came into view, and her steps quickened.
The worst of my holiday mishaps is officially behind me.
Two
Women were trouble.
Leland had prided himself on keeping a safe distance from their scheming clutches. He’d spent long years focused on gaining his footing and personal fortune, determined to prove himself apart from his family’s connections. A good marriage was the only socially approved means of acquiring wealth for a man in his position, but something in him had balked at the prospect. He’d seen other men, including his father, squander their fortunes and reputations over women who had rewarded them with only misery. Leland had long congratulated himself on not being as blind to the dangers as his peers.
At least, he had until today.
Clearly, this girl was trouble and any man with a shred of sense would know exactly what his course of action should be. But damned if he wasn’t in a fog at the moment. She had asked him to release her at the edge of his host’s property. Since his arrival a few days ago, he’d had ample time to familiarize himself with the property and he’d recognized the grove instantly. It was too much of a coincidence. She was evidently another holiday guest of Martin’s.
There was no escaping her.
His damsel in distress would be arriving on foot and he acknowledged a small curl of anticipation at seeing the shock on her face when they were formally introduced. She’d sworn him to secrecy, but he wondered if she would confess to the mishap with the carriage at the mere sight of him.
Leland frowned as a stable boy approached to take the reins so that he could dismount. Her reaction shouldn’t matter to him, he reminded himself. But instead of looking forward to reacquainting himself with the classics in Mr. Martin’s library, he was caught up in foolish daydreams about his host’s mystery guest and how this afternoon’s odd game would play out in the days to come. His thoughts turned to less innocent images of her round bottom nestled against him, of how light and warm she’d been in his arms, how her curves were firm and luscious. She’d fit against him so perfectly. It was hard to believe she’d been unaware of her power. Each prim little wriggle had pushed her bottom tighter against his arousal; he hadn’t been able to decide if she were deliberately tormenting him or innocently adjusting her seat on the horse. In either case, it had been a torment he would happily have undergone for another thirty miles.
“Damn it,” he growled as he walked toward the house. He was here for a simple holiday, a Christmas away from the gray soot and dreariness of London—not for a potentially dangerous liaison. She’d refused to give him her name, which meant she could be anyone with any number of connections that would squash this first inkling of interest.
Not that he planned to express interest! The last thing he needed was to find himself in a tangle with a woman who might even turn out to be his host’s mistress.
No, she’d told him she’d sworn not to cause trouble over the h
olidays and he was the last man on earth who was going to challenge her vow. The wrinkle in his country holiday was officially behind him.
“My dearest! There you are.” Reid Martin held out his hands to his only child as she descended the stairs. “They said you’d arrived on foot and I could hardly believe it. Tell me you didn’t walk all the way from London!”
Alyssa rushed to him, blushing at his jest. “Father, don’t be silly.” She kissed him on his cheek and felt instantly warmed by his embrace. “The carriage broke down on the drive and I wasn’t about to spend any part of my Christmas holiday sitting by the side of the lane.”
“And where is Gilbert, your driver?” he asked, scowling. “If he left you unprotected by the side of the road, I shall see to him personally!”
She reached up to put a soothing hand on his cheek. “I insisted he go to the village for help, but then realized I was too close to home and to my dear father to wait. Don’t be harsh with him. I was impatient and the walk was ever so short.”
He released her, beaming with pride and affection. “Well, let’s have a look at you then. What a beautiful lady you’ve become! I should hardly recognize you.”
It was the same comment he made each time she returned from school, but it never failed to please her. Her mother had died when she was very young, and with her father’s attention diverted to commerce, Alyssa had always done her best to prove that even without a mother’s influence, she could become a lady. If her doting father heard reports of her mishaps at school, he never condemned her for them. Instead, he praised her spirited progress and cemented her determination not to disappoint him.
“I am taller,” she conceded shyly.
“You are a vision of your dear mother”—he squeezed her hands—“and now I shall cease prattling for fear of turning maudlin. Are you refreshed enough to meet our guests?”
The School for Heiresses Page 27