Fingers reaching out, she found his chest and slipped her hand higher, above his necktie, and wrapped it around the bare portion of his neck. Her palm was warm, and her touch made him more desperate than ever to whisk her away from the prying eyes around them. Steal her away so he could have her all to himself.
“Kiss me, Genny.”
She shook her head. “I can’t do this with you.”
“You wish to do this with another?” Even though he said this in jest, the very idea sickened him. He would never allow another man to lay a finger upon her.
“You know precisely what I mean.”
“Then you leave me no choice but to make the first move.”
With his hand still at the small of her back, he pulled her solidly along the length of his body. When she gave in and stopped fighting the natural press of their bodies, a low sigh escaped her parted lips. He traced the seam of her mouth with his finger, building the anticipation of what was to come.
The scent of her perfume was an aphrodisiac in and of itself. Loose tendrils of her hair teased at his nose. One touch, even one taste would be stepping into dangerous territory.
* * *
What had happened to her resolve to remain distant with Barrington? No good would come of spending any time with him … alone.
And why was she practically throwing herself into his arms, enticing him in a way she had no right to do?
“You are making a spectacle of yourself,” she said.
“We are cocooned in our own private sanctuary. Only the two of us will know that I am a fool for you.”
Without warning his free hand threaded through the back of her hair to cup her head and better angle her face. The warmth of him enveloped their fused forms, making her skin feel overheated.
His lips found the heavily beating pulse at her neck instead of her lips, which she had parted in anticipation. She had wanted to feel the press of his mouth upon hers, wanted to taste his passion upon her tongue.
Something akin to disappointment filled her heart that he did not lay claim to her mouth. But what right did she have to that feeling? She should be picking her skirts up and running as fast and as far as she could.
His mouth was firm but soft against the vein pulsing heavily at her neck. His teeth pulled lightly, teasingly. The tickle of his nose drew a line from the base of her neck to the sensitive spot behind her ear.
Why was she failing to keep a cool distance from him? Why couldn’t she detach herself from her feelings of old? Opening herself up to this man would lead to heartache once he was done with her and gone again.
His teeth pulled at her earlobe, sucking it into the recess of his hot mouth. Her traitorous body molded impossibly tighter to his.
It had been so long since he had held her. She wanted more. Even if that desire was complete madness.
Drawing in a deep breath, she forced her hands between their bodies and gave a small shove against his chest. This intimacy, this need to touch each other couldn’t continue. She had to take herself as far away from this man as possible.
Obligingly, he lifted his head from the sweet torture he was inflicting on her skin and senses and took a step back. It wasn’t that she wanted to leave his arms. She wished she could relish in the feel of his strong body surrounding her and reigniting passions long vanquished by his leaving four years ago. To feel so utterly feminine and protected in his arms, even for an unguarded moment, made her yearn for what could never be and had never been because he hadn’t wanted to marry her.
She pressed her fingers to her neck, sliding the tips over the sensitive spot he’d nibbled at. Palms flattened over his chest, she had to fight against the craving to bask in the touch of every solid warm inch beneath. She would prefer to pull him back and have his lips descend upon hers, instead of pushing him back another step.
Allowing this concession of a second kiss had been a grave mistake.
Closing her eyes, she took in a deep breath hoping to find her equilibrium again. What had she just allowed to happen? A cool caress of air brushed her skin as the curtain was pulled aside. Leo grabbed her hand and led her out into the corridor.
“Come, before we are truly missed.”
The bright lights stung her eyes for a moment but they adjusted quickly, and she could see her cousin and Lady Carleton ahead of the rush as they made their way downstairs to the refreshment table. Even though it felt as though she and Leo had delayed for a lengthy period of time, they’d only been behind the curtain for a few minutes.
Leo took her arm in his and strolled down the hall at an unhurried pace. There were enough witnesses to see them acting above reproach. But would any of them guess why her cheeks were flushed and her neck probably reddened from Leo’s ministrations?
Would any of them wonder if Barrington and she were merely friends? Or would they think Leo was courting her? Genny wondered if they thought his intentions pure or devilish. Definitely the latter.
“You’re a daring man,” she mused aloud.
“Life wouldn’t be nearly as fun if I didn’t step outside society’s strictures every now and again. I do have a reputation to uphold.”
Only a man could say such a bold thing. Though she’d done just that once upon a time, she knew she’d spend the rest of her days trying to hide it from the world. “I still stand by what I said earlier, Lord Barrington.”
“I seem to have forgotten what that was.”
When she peered up at him, he gave her a knowing and pleased grin.
“You must find yourself another woman to toy with.”
“Toy with?” He tsked and gave a slight shake of his head. “Such harsh words, Miss Camden. You wound me.”
“I doubt that.”
“Surely you’ll understand my predicament better when I explain that I just can’t seem to stay away.”
“I’ll not buy into your charm as so many others do. I know exactly what type of person you are. Now if you’ll excuse me, I would like to discuss the opera with my cousin.”
With that she quit his company. But not before he whispered something altogether improper, along the lines of rekindling old passions, in her ear.
Damn that man. He’d ruin her before the season was out if she didn’t learn quickly how to better guard herself. She was no young debutante, easy to disarm and take advantage of. She was a grown woman with far too much experience in dealing with the opposite sex. So why couldn’t she fend off Barrington? Was it because he had intimate knowledge of her? Or was it because she secretly craved his touch?
As she saw it, her main problem was that he kept showing up at every event she attended. She almost wondered if he had orchestrated their meeting at the jewelry shop.
If she couldn’t find a way to avoid him, she’d have to learn to ignore him when they attended the same functions. And if she failed at doing that …
Well, she could only hope that she would never find out.
* * *
Leo watched Genny as she weaved her way through the crowds to make it to her cousin’s side. Genny whispered something in her cousin’s ear, causing the young woman to laugh. Then they turned down the wide entry stairs at the front of the opera house and headed toward the lobby.
He followed them as far as the top landing of the stairs, though he kept an eye on her from his vantage point.
Ponsley was a cheap bastard where his servants were concerned. Maybe the old man had dressed Genny in drab ensembles intentionally so she wouldn’t draw eyes away from his daughter, who was adorned in the finest that the seamstresses in London offered. It couldn’t be argued that both women were lovely in their own way but only one had managed to catch Leo’s eye.
Chapter 9
Would you believe that none other than the infamous Dowager F___ has gone into a long overdue seclusion? She has not been seen for three days, not even at her usual gaming hells. Though the rumor cannot be proved as of yet, it is thought that a Mr. W___ may take his seat with the Lords sooner than anticipated
.
The Mayfair Chronicles, June 3, 1846
No one answered the door after Leo’s second knock. And that wasn’t necessarily the most unsettling part.
If the footman or butler were not available, then the housekeeper or even a maid should have come at his knock.
What in bloody hell was going on?
The gargoyle-shaped knocker was firmly in place, so he knew Jezebel was in residence and hadn’t in fact up and left for the country in the middle of the night. Besides, Hayden would have sent him a note had he successfully managed to remove Jez from London at the height of the season.
Leo rapped the heavy brass knocker against the ebony-painted door once again, and stepped away from the townhouse to glance up to the tall-paned second-story windows. As tempting as it was to shout out for Jez in the middle of Mayfair, the curtains were all closed and he didn’t wish to wake her if she was indeed in residence. He also had no intention of drawing unwanted attention from Jez’s neighbors. Regardless, someone should have answered his summons already.
Not wishing to stand in the street all night, he tested the latch on the door. It clicked up easily and he pushed it open.
All the lamps were snuffed in the anteroom and not a sound could be heard from any direction. If Mr. Warren had so much as put a hair out of place on Jezebel’s head, he’d murder the blighter on sight.
Catching up his cane, he pressed in the tiny silver nob that would release the blade hidden within.
“Jezebel,” he called out, his voice echoing around the marble foyer.
Impatiently, he waited for a response. Not necessarily from Jez, but from one of the multitude of servants she kept on hand at all times.
So why was no one answering?
“Jez,” he called out again, taking the stairs two at a time, making his way to the double doors at the far end of the hall. He’d been here many times and had attended to her in her boudoir when they planned their evenings, her maids readying her for whatever event they chose to crash.
He didn’t bother knocking when he reached the heavy oak door of her private chamber but threw it open so hard that it only stopped when the latch lodged into the wall.
He stormed through the sitting room and into her bedroom where four startled sets of eyes jolted up and stared at him in openmouthed astonishment. The housekeeper’s mouth flapped like a landed fish, the butler—an aged and frail man—was hunched over, attempting to help his mistress up from the floor where she lay rumpled and twisted in her bedding. Two maids stood by, one twisting and wringing a wet towel between nervous hands, the other kneeling on the floor with Jez resting her feverish-looking head in her lap.
Leo rushed to Jez’s side and lifted her in his arms to place her back atop the bed. He froze at the sight of the dark stain that covered her bedding.
What in hell?
Goddamn it.
Was it possible she carried the next Earl of Fallon in her womb? Hell yes, it was possible. The blighter had only died a week ago.
“I’ll send for the surgeon.”
How had he been so bloody daft as to not realize she’d been with child sooner?
“Please don’t.” She pressed her cold, feverish palm to his face. “He can’t be here.” Her voice was cracked and dry.
Her frame felt slight and delicate as he lifted her easily from the floor. Why hadn’t he noticed her evident weight loss before now?
“You are unwell, Jez. A medical professional needs to have a look at you.”
“They’ll bleed me.” Her eyes slid shut as he took her into her sitting room and settled her on the red velvet divan she used for mid-afternoon naps. A place where he had lain down so many times while her maids dressed her behind the Chinese screen set in the farthest corner of the room. He grabbed the yellow bolstered pillow at the end of the divan and stuck it behind her back when she rolled onto her side.
A hiss of what could only be described as painful agony pressed out from between her parted lips. Her brow was beaded in a cold sweat, her teeth chattered as she sucked in another pained breath.
“Bleeding might be your best option,” he said. The only certainty he had about the situation was that anything was better than nothing.
“I’ve bled enough today,” she grunted out and then pinched her lips together before sobbing out her pain. She grasped his arm; her hold was painfully firm. “You can’t fix this. Call on Hayden if you want to send for someone.”
What did Hayden know that he did not?
Leo turned to the maid who had been nervously standing by. “You.” He pointed at her. “My house is four doors down, knock on the front door and ask for Frederick. Tell him to take you straight to the Duke of Alsborough’s.”
She nodded and ran out of the room with all due haste.
He flicked a coin at the butler and the man caught it surprisingly quick. “Rouse the surgeon and get him here without delay.”
Jez pulled at his arm that she still held on to. “No, Leo.”
“I’m not giving you a choice in the matter. We’ll wait for Hayden to arrive before we decide anything, all right? But the surgeon will be standing by if he’s needed.”
Jez nodded her head and furrowed her brows together as another wave of pain visibly hit her. She brought her knees up to her chest, curling into fetal position. Leo scratched at the side of his prickly face in thought. There had to be something he could do to make this better.
“I’m so tired, Leo. I just want it all to end.”
“Stop with that nonsense. Do you really want your dead husband to win?” He held out his hand for a cloth to wipe her sweat-dampened brow. The housekeeper handed him a cool cloth. “Carry on, Jez. Be bold and strong as you always have been.”
“I don’t feel very strong at the moment,” was her weak response.
“We’ll get you healthy again. Now tell me why you were resting on the floor as opposed to your comfortable bed?”
“I—I fell,” she responded.
Sobs overtook her for a moment and she couldn’t seem to say more. She bit her bottom lip so fiercely he thought she’d pierce it if she didn’t let up.
“You should have sent for someone to assist you.”
“Isn’t it obvious that I don’t want anyone to see me at present?”
Yes, it was. And he was a cad for saying otherwise. God, he could be such an insensitive ass at the oddest of times.
The housekeeper stepped close to the head of the divan and leaned over the arm to whisper something in Jez’s ear. Leo held his friend’s hand in his as the maid wrung out the towel and mopped Jez’s forehead again. What should he do? What could he even say?
When Hayden came running through the door like a barreling bull, Leo stood and moved away from Jez to perch himself on the back of an upholstered chair.
Hayden’s expression was grim. He only nodded to Leo before making his way to Jez’s side. Taking her outstretched hand, he leaned over her and whispered something privately in her ear.
Despite the urgency of the situation, it seemed Leo was the only one not to be informed of Jez’s condition.
Hayden gave directions to the maid to ready her ladyship’s bed. The young woman was off before Hayden completed his request, as though she knew exactly what needed to be done.
Leo stepped closer to Jez and Hayden. “I’ll do whatever is needed. Just tell me what to do.”
Hayden turned to him, an oddly saddened expression clouding his eyes. “I can handle this.”
“Tell me she will fare well, Hayden.” He roughly put his hands through his hair, which he was sure stood on end from doing that repeatedly over the past half hour.
“Let me settle her in her room.” Without further explanation Hayden leaned directly over Jez and asked her to put her arms around his shoulders. She weakly complied and her arms shook as she raised them.
Carefully, Hayden lifted her in his arms and made his way to the adjacent room. Leo spied the maid stripping the bedding and putting down wide pieces
of linen with the help of the housekeeper.
There was nothing left for him to do here, so he made his way downstairs.
His open palm slammed against the wall when he hit the bottom landing. Hayden didn’t need to tell him what was going on. It suddenly came to him why the surgeon couldn’t see Jez; the reason was like a bloody banshee screaming in his ear till he was going deaf from the truth.
If the surgeon knew or so much as guessed that she had miscarried the last issue for the previous Earl of Fallon then everyone else would find out. If it was known that the babe hadn’t lasted in her womb, then Mr. Warren would move faster on securing the title and remove Jez from the house.
Son of a bitch.
After Leo sent the doctor away with a purse full of coins, explaining that everything was fine since it was a bad dish at dinner that had bothered Jezebel, the man had left in a sour mood.
An hour later Leo made his way back upstairs, still digesting the truth. How could he mention anything about their friendly wager to court the Ponsley girl now? Quite simply he couldn’t. What a bloody mess everything had turned out to be.
Hayden looked up from Jez’s prone, sleeping form when Leo entered the bedchamber. He came out of the room Jez rested in and shut the door behind him.
“She finally sleeps,” he said.
Leo nodded, understanding he would have to let his anger simmer over not knowing the truth sooner. He did not wish to wake his ailing friend.
Hayden was down to his shirtsleeves, which were rolled up to his elbows and damp at the edges. He must have helped with washing the sweat from Jez’s brow.
“How long have you known?” Leo felt betrayed that no one had confided the truth to him before now.
“I only found out.”
“You told me it was impossible.”
“I did not misguide you. Her husband knew of her condition and took it upon himself to lace her food and tea with blue cohosh.”
Leo crossed his arms and leaned against the wall. “Blue cohosh?”
“An herb to purge the babe from her body. He made a point of telling her before he passed.”
Leo swore red filled his vision. He’d never been so infuriated in his whole life. Never had he wanted to seek retribution on behalf of his friend so much. Nothing but sinking the pointed end of his rapier into the heart of his foe would make this marginally better. But this particular enemy was already dead.
Wicked Nights With a Proper Lady Page 10