Amanda Scott - [Dangerous 02]

by Dangerous Angels

  “With pleasure, my dear Miss Tarrant,” he responded instantly. “How well that carriage dress becomes you, ma’am. I protest, I have never seen a gown of just that shade of gray before.”

  “Gray is gray,” Rockland muttered. “Not that she don’t look dashed well in that rig.” He glanced uncertainly at Antony. “Do you walk out with us?”

  “I think not,” Antony said, ringing for the footman to show them out.

  “I say,” Rockland said awkwardly, pushing a hand through his hair, “I hope you don’t think I meant any—”

  “I think nothing at all,” Antony said blandly. “That is my greatest virtue, Rockland. I never judge by words, you see, only by actions.”

  Rockland looked confused, but he said valiantly, “I don’t envy you the next thirty minutes, Foxearth, and that’s the truth plain and simple.”

  “Therein lies another difference between us, my dear chap. I look forward to the next thirty minutes very much.”

  When they had gone, Antony remained right where he was. He did not think he would have to wait long.

  Chapter Fifteen

  CHARLEY WAITED ONLY UNTIL the front door had closed before she swept back down to the gallery level, flung open the drawing-room doors, and stormed in. “How dare you send me away like that?” she demanded as one door banged back against the wall.

  “It is more ladylike to allow the footman to open doors for you,” Sir Antony said. “That also prevents doorknobs from crashing into the wainscoting and making holes in it. Please shut the doors properly now.”

  She kicked them shut. Then, grabbing the first thing that came to hand, which fortunately for him was a pillow from the nearest sofa, she threw it at him, shouting, “By heaven, Antony, don’t trifle with me. Did you or did you not know before that sham wedding that Rockland had arranged for me to marry you instead of himself?”

  “I did. Now it is my turn to ask a question. Did I or did I not warn you never to throw things at me again?”

  “I didn’t throw the damned oatmeal. I’ll show you throwing.” She snatched up a book from a nearby table and hurled it at him.

  He did not duck, but the book sailed harmlessly past him. “Don’t swear at me,” he said. “I don’t like it. I am perfectly willing to discuss this if you can do so in a civil manner.” He added in quite a different tone when she picked up a six-inch-high marble figure of Poseidon from the same table, “Don’t you dare throw that statue.”

  She threw it as hard as she could.

  Catching it easily, Antony stepped toward her.

  Charley leapt hastily back, putting the sofa between them. “Don’t come near me,” she snapped. “I’ve every right to know the truth, for you tricked me, the pair of you, and most likely you’ve been laughing up your sleeves at me ever since.”

  “I am not laughing now.”

  Out of sheer bravado she caught up the silver-framed miniature of a bewigged Seacourt ancestor and held it poised to fling.

  “Put that down.”

  With every fiber of her body she wished she had the nerve to throw it, but she did not. She was horrified, in fact, at having thrown anything at him. Not since she was four and had flung a mug of milk at her nurse in a fit of temper had she thrown anything at anyone. Nurse had put away the mug, wiped up the spilled milk, and told her she would get no more that day. She did not know why she had thrown things at Antony. She had a notion that if he had never warned her against such tactics, she would not have employed them. His warning had seemed like a challenge instead.

  Setting Poseidon on a table, he said, “Put down that picture and come here.”

  “No.” The last thing she wanted was to step within his reach. Remembering his earlier warning and the threat that accompanied it, she felt her sphincter muscle contract. She wondered if Antony ever made idle threats. She suspected that he did not.

  “Put it down. Now.”

  She obeyed this time, watching him warily, paying no heed when the miniature tumbled over onto its face.

  “Now you may come here to me.”

  “I don’t want to.”

  “Nevertheless, you will.”

  She swallowed hard but remained where she was. You and Rockland had no right to trick me.”

  “No, we didn’t. It was a scurrilous thing to do. Now, come here.”

  “You admit it?”

  “Of course, I admit it. It’s plain fact.”

  “Then why did you agree to do it?”

  “At the time, because it seemed expedient.”

  “Expedient! You and Rockland cooked this scheme up between you out of expediency?” She was shaking now.

  He said calmly, “We did not cook it up together, as you so inelegantly phrase it. He had the notion before he went to Truro, but I didn’t know what he’d done till he returned. He told me he believes the notion was reinforced when we met that day, because you took him to task over something and I persuaded you to desist.”

  “Are you saying he decided to marry me off to you right then because he thought you could … could tame me?”

  “Not at that moment, no. He said the impulse actually to do so came later.”

  “He acted out of impulse?”

  “As you did yourself,” he reminded her. “Or do you mean to pretend your decision to marry him was not impulsive?”

  “Go on,” she said through gritted teeth.

  “By the time Rockland explained all this to me, mind you, he had convinced himself that his actions were downright noble. He said you were making a big mistake to marry him but that he could not cry off because a gentleman cannot ever do so.”

  “It is more gentlemanly, I suppose, to trick a lady into marrying someone else.”

  “I didn’t say I agreed with him. I’m merely telling you what he said.”

  “But, surely, he never said that to the bishop!”

  “As a matter of fact, he said the bishop showed him the way.”

  “What?”

  Sir Antony’s lips twitched but he said only, “You may recall that Rockland mentioned difficulties that arise when a person from outside the parish attempts to acquire a special license. Apparently, Halsey demanded references from Rockland’s home parish before he would issue one. Rockland said it was then that he realized he had not actually said he was speaking for himself.”

  “Good mercy, the man is deranged.”

  “He would tell you it was not lunacy but Providence. He swore the only reason he told Halsey he was acting for me was that he feared arousing your temper again if he delayed the wedding. He said you were interested only in marrying quickly, that you did not care a whit who the bridegroom was. In truth, angel, you said the same to me.”

  “I did not want to marry you, however, and you are no more a member of the parish than Rockland is.”

  “Ah, but in my case, that’s debatable, you see, because if I should prove my claim to the earldom I’ll be very much a member. Moreover, Rockland told Halsey that our marriage was being arranged primarily to protect your future. At that point, he said, Halsey apologized for the ‘misunderstanding’ and offered no further objection.”

  “And you simply agreed to go along?” Charley’s voice sounded shrill.

  “Not at once,” he replied calmly. “Rockland next pointed out that you would have two chances to put an end to the scheme. You could scotch it at once if you happened to know that marriage by proxy is illegal in England.”

  “But I didn’t.”

  “Well, I thought there was a good chance that you would know. You are very well read, after all. When you didn’t, I pressed him to end the charade, but he said it had been a sign, and that you could still end it the minute you heard Halsey say the wrong name. He insisted that if you didn’t know the name was wrong, it would only prove you didn’t know him well enough to be marrying him. That’s when I decided to go along. I agreed, you see, that in marrying him you were making a grave mistake.”

  “You should have put an end to the wh
ole thing at the outset.”

  “Perhaps, but the whole tale would have come out if I had. I realized that much when you didn’t tumble to the name. I honestly thought he had been wrong about that, but when you did not stop the ceremony, I knew I could not do so either. Not in front of Alfred and Edythe, or the bishop. I thought we could resolve it more quietly afterward. In fact, at one point, I thought you kept silent for that same reason. It was not until Rockland made his announcement that I knew you truly had been fooled.”

  Bitterly she said, “I assumed that he had fooled you, too.”

  “I know that now, but by then it had occurred to me that marriage to you would relieve some of my more pressing problems. In my determination to convince you not to demand an instant annulment, I overlooked the fact that you had not accused me of being a party to the plot.”

  “But I took Rockland to task for tricking you as well as me!”

  He shook his head. “You accused him of having dragged me into it. He had done just that, so I assumed then that you knew I was in on the scheme. By the time I realized you didn’t know, I had my hands full trying to figure out a way out that would not create the devil of a scandal for all of us.”

  “It never occurred to me that you could be part of such a thing. As for Rockland—”

  “He wanted to pay you out for the way you had been treating him,” Antony reminded her. “You had not been very kind to him, you know.”

  “I know.” She had treated Rockland shamefully, but the temptation to do so had been overwhelming at times. He never stood up for himself. It was as if she had wanted to find out just how far she could push him. Well, she thought, she had certainly found out. She wondered if she had been doing the same thing with Antony. That thought sent another shiver up her spine. Antony was not Rockland.

  “Now will you come here?” His tone was patient, but she knew his patience was limited.

  She shifted from foot to foot. “What will you do if I obey you?”

  “I’m making no more bargains, angel. You will do as I bid. Come here.”

  With a sense of walking to her doom, she moved around the sofa, coming to a halt some four or five feet away from him.

  “Not good enough,” Antony said.

  She gritted her teeth, wishing she were a man. That thought, coming unbidden as it had, nearly made her smile. She did not want to be a man. She liked being a woman, and at the moment, she did not want to be anything else. Beneath her concern about what he might do lay a teeming mass of unfamiliar emotions and sensations. The way he looked at her made her skin tingle. Nerves she had not known she possessed seemed to sizzle just under her skin. Something else deep within her burned like the molten core of a volcano. It was a wonder, she thought, that he did not see the heat rising from her. She was no longer angry with him, but the emotions that threatened to overwhelm her now were easily as hot and as dangerous as her temper.

  She nibbled her lower lip, and as she did, she saw the look in his eyes change. He nearly stepped toward her. She was sure of it. But it was not punishment he had on his mind now. Visibly, he tried to collect himself.

  “I’m waiting,” he said. His voice sounded rougher and came from deep in his throat. Letting her gaze drift lower, she saw his arousal.

  Unafraid now, she moved to stand before him. “Here I am,” she murmured. “What will you do to me?”

  He cleared his throat, and she thought that she had disconcerted him, but then he put both hands on her shoulders and said, “You behaved very badly.”

  “I know,” she said with a sigh. “Of late, my temper just flies away with me, and when I suddenly knew what the pair of you had done …” She spread her hands.

  “You had cause, but still you must not lose your temper when others are about. You nearly revealed what you know about the assassination plot. In view of Gabriel’s desire to bring in the army to deal with the wreckers, you simply must not do that.”

  “I know. I truly don’t know what came over me. First Elizabeth said she was sure Gabriel knew more about the issues than I do, which is nonsense, and then he said what he did about Wellington being sure to take his advice and order in the army. The urge to prove him wrong was utterly overpowering.”

  “Poor angel,” Antony said, looking into her eyes. “You are learning the pitfalls of secrecy. It is quite human to want to puff off one’s knowledge, either to prove one’s point, or to win an argument by hurling an absolute clincher at your opponent. Unfortunately, in my line of work, that can be a deadly flaw in one’s character.”

  “How do you avoid it?” she asked, unusually aware of his warm hands on her shoulders, and wondering wickedly how they would feel on other parts of her body.

  “I rarely discuss politics, and I try never to commit myself to a fact or point of view. It is too difficult to recall if one learned a detail from a newspaper or from secret sources, or because one was entrusted with a military confidence.”

  “I rarely think things through before I speak,” she said, biting her lip.

  “You’re blushing,” he said softly. “You did no harm today, but you must try harder to act like a conformable wife, or folks will begin to wonder why I don’t exercise a husband’s authority. You may force me to act in ways you won’t like.”

  The implacable note was back in his voice, but this time it did not chill her. She knew he had good reason to issue his warning. He could not allow her to jeopardize his mission. Wellington’s safety must always come first.

  She leaned toward him, pressing against the strong hands on her shoulders. “I won’t apologize to Rockland, but must I apologize to Elizabeth again, and to Gabriel?”

  “I think perhaps you should return Elizabeth’s call,” he said. “You’ll want to see your grandmother and Lady Ophelia in any event. I’ll take you there myself, I think. It will do Alfred good to see that I’ve not abandoned my claim to the estate.”

  “I’m going to Lostwithiel tomorrow,” she said, watching for a reaction.

  “So you are,” he said equably. He was still looking into her eyes.

  She moistened her lips.

  “Charlotte, I—” He broke off, and his lips must have been dry, too, for he licked them.

  She pressed closer. “Yes, Antony?”

  “Damn,” he said, and his hands slipped from her shoulders and down her back as he drew her closer and kissed her.

  This time, although it began the same way, with the pressure of his lips hard against hers, his movements were more urgent than before. His lips felt hot against hers. She could smell the citrus water he put on his face after Hodson shaved him, and she could smell the soft woolen scent of his coat. His breath was warm against her cheek. Then she became aware of changes taking place in her body as his lips softened and moved more caressingly, tantalizing her to respond.

  Feeling her lips yield beneath his, she kissed him back hungrily, enjoying the sensation of his hands on her back, one between her shoulder blades now, the other lower, near her waist. He pulled her tight against him. She felt the warmth of his hands and body through the thin material of her frock, and just as ardently, she felt his arousal and comprehended his urgency.

  Having bred horses for years, she understood the male sexual urge very well, and had no reason to think it stirred the human male differently from the way it stirred a stallion. Just as stallions were dangerous when the urge was upon them, so too were men, even gentlemen. For that reason, she had long since learned to keep gentlemen at a proper distance and to dampen their ardor when necessary. Until now, she had not had to contend with a husband, of course. And until now, her passions had not formed any part of the equation, for the simple reason that she had felt none.

  With Sir Antony, at that moment, the equation altered drastically. She wanted him to kiss her. More than that, she wanted to feel his hands on her body. She wanted him to catch her up in his arms and carry her off to some fortress, like a knight of old in a Gothic romance. When his hands moved, pulling her even tig
hter against him, and the lower hand moved lower yet, to the flare of her hip, she pressed her mouth against his, inviting him to continue, to do what he would.

  The touch of his tongue on her lips was a shock but not an unpleasant one. Daringly, she touched her tongue to his, smiling as she did. He was watching her, and his eyes gleamed with a mixture of amusement and raw lust. When he raised his head a moment later, she pouted.

  He chuckled. “This is a dangerous game we play, angel.”

  “I know.” Hoping he would not stop, she licked her lips invitingly. “You are my husband, sir. People will think it odd if we never touch each other and always keep a polite distance. I should at least become accustomed to your touch, I think.”

  She could have sworn she heard him groan. He said, “I can see how you drove Rockland to distraction.”

  “I never said such things to him.”

  “Perhaps not, but I don’t doubt that you enticed him one moment and set him at a distance the next. Nor do I doubt that, like me, he wanted to shake you till your teeth rattled one moment and to make love to you the next.”

  “Which do you want now?” she asked, looking at him from under her lashes.

  In answer, he crushed her against him again and kissed her in such a way that she knew he wanted to possess her. Responding with enthusiasm, she remained certain that she could stop him—and herself—at will.

  When he picked her up and carried her to a sofa, sitting with her in his lap, she sighed with pleasure and relaxed against him. Stroking his face with her hand, she delighted in the prickling sensation of his incipient beard against her palm.

  He tilted her chin up so he could begin kissing her again, and his fingers tickled her throat as his tongue pressed once more against the opening between her lips.

  She parted them willingly, savoring the warmth of him, the tingling shock of invasion. His fingers were warm on her throat, stroking the tender skin there, moving lower to the hollow at its base, then to the topmost ribbon on her bodice. So entranced was she with his tongue’s exploration of her mouth that she scarcely heeded what he was doing until he untied the ribbon, then the chemise ribbon beneath it. Deftly, he laid both garments open.