My Lady Rival

by Ashley March

  Neither of them spoke and neither moved for several minutes.

  Finally A lex sniffed. “Your hair. That’s where the cinnamon comes from.”

  “Please move.”

  “I think we should stay like this. They might come back at any moment.”

  “A lex . . .” She paused. It was a tempting suggestion.

  “I suppose you want to know what I’m doing here. I followed you.”

  “Obviously. But why?”

  “It’s what I would have done in your circumstances.”

  “Wonderful. You might have been stealthier in the following. Now we’ll both get caught.”

  Down the hall in the opposite direction, they heard another door close.

  They froze, not saying anything until minutes later when the echo of yet another door, farther away, slammed.

  “Please move,” she whispered. “I—I don’t want you near me.” A ny longer and she feared the places her hands would travel, the hollows her mouth would seek.

  He lurched backward. Moonlight streamed in from the curtains the servant had left opened, framing his silhouette. She couldn’t see his face, but she could hear the frown in his voice when he mumbled, “I’m sorry. I was only thinking— Of course . . .”

  Running footsteps overhead. Sam was very enthusiastic and probably thorough in his search. The whole house was probably crawling with servants. They would be back this way. They would probably search the music room again.

  Willa stepped to the left and tried to edge around A lex toward the window. It Willa stepped to the left and tried to edge around A lex toward the window. It was the only way.

  He caught her wrist and pulled her toward him. “No, the next room. There’s a tree.”

  Loosening his grip, he slid his fingers down to hold her hand, then led her toward the door. “Follow me,” he whispered.

  He opened the door and Willa blinked against the light. The servants had set all the wall sconces blazing. Turning his head in both directions, A lex said, “We’ll wait until he comes out and goes into another room. When I say go, we go.

  Understand?”

  Voices shouted nearby, a brighter light flickering against the wall. More servants coming up the staircase.

  A lex cursed. “We don’t have time. Go!”

  He ran out the door, then ran back and grabbed her hand. “I said go!”

  “I know, I know,” she said, gratitude and pleasure flooding her that he’d come back for her. She’d stood frozen, her feet unable to move—not because she didn’t want to follow him on principle, but because of fear.

  They ran into the next room, a salon, and to the window nearest the fireplace, where the sturdy branches of a large tree stretched toward the house.

  A lex threw open the window. “I’ll go first,” he said, swinging his legs over the sill. “Then I’ll pull you with me.”

  Willa considered the branch nearest the window—quite medium-sized, it was—

  then looked past A lex to the ground below. “A ll right.” She might break an arm and a leg tonight, after all.

  A lex placed one foot on the branch, bouncing a little to test his weight. He grinned back at her. “God loves us, Willa.” He climbed out onto the branch, then turned around to face her, straddling the branch as he held out his hands.

  The door crashed open behind her.

  “There he is!”

  “There are two of them!”

  Willa glanced over her shoulder. “Now!” A lex shouted. With the scream finally tearing loose from her throat, she hurried onto the sill and took his hands.

  Someone caught the back of her coat. They tugged.

  She screamed again, unbalanced. Her gaze flew from A lex’s face and his dark wide eyes to the branch now wobbling with his weight, to the ground far below.

  His hands tightened around hers. “Jump! I’ll catch you, I promise.” She didn’t question him. Jerking forward to escape the fingers clutching her coat, she fell against his chest. Her legs dangled in air. “A lex,” she gasped.

  “Don’t worry. I have you.”

  The faces of Byrne’s servants crowded the window.

  “Tim, go get under that tree. Quickly! Sam, go find the magistrate.” A lex pulled her against his chest. She swung her leg over the branch. He took her chin and forced her gaze to his. “We have to go now.”

  “Yes!”

  “Yes!”

  He turned and crawled toward the tree’s trunk, then lowered himself to the next branch. She followed and slid down. He caught her around the waist. They did the same for the next branch, then the next. She never hesitated. Probably she should have. But she didn’t. She trusted him to help them escape.

  A t one point she caught a glimpse of his face as he turned away for the next branch. He looked back, grinning, then winked at her. “One would think you’re enjoying this,” she said.

  “I am. A ren’t you?”

  “No.” But she was. Now that they were closer to the ground, now that the servants were far above them. Every time he put his hands on her, her heart beat a little faster, and it was already racing so quickly she thought it might stop from exhaustion at any moment.

  “I believe I deserve a kiss,” he said as he lowered her to the last branch.

  The servant Tim came running around from the back of the house, his lamp swinging.

  They jumped together, and A lex pulled her up from the ground when she landed on her hands and knees. “Hurry,” he said.

  They ran to the front of the house, Tim fast behind them.

  A carriage slowed to a stop on the street, the crest of the marquess on its side.

  The family had returned. A groom climbed down from the top and unfolded the steps.

  “We can’t make it,” she panted. Her side ached; her lungs burned.

  “Have a little faith, Willa.” The bloody man didn’t even sound like he was sprinting beside her. “To the right.”

  The groom opened the carriage door and held out his hand.

  Behind them, Tim shouted, “Paul! Catch them!”

  The groom Paul looked at them just as they hit the sidewalk and turned right.

  “Please tell me your carriage is somewhere nearby,” she said between gasps for breath.

  “No, followed you on foot.”

  Then he took her hand, ducked into the shadows clinging to the next town house, and pulled her with him up into another tree.

  “Don’t breathe.”

  His arms wrapped around her as he leaned against the trunk, standing and holding her back tightly to his front.

  Tim, Paul, and two others appeared through the branches, running along the street.

  “They’ll come back.”

  “How do you know?”

  “Shh.”

  A nd there were Tim and another servant again, holding up the lamp and peering toward them. Willa held absolutely still. She could feel A lex’s chest rise and fall against her back. One strong arm wrapped around her waist, the other and fall against her back. One strong arm wrapped around her waist, the other beneath her breasts. This time his breath shuddered behind her ear. She closed her eyes.

  She couldn’t hear anything but A lex’s breathing and the hard, rapid beat of her own pulse in her ears.

  “They’re gone.”

  Her spine collapsed and she sank against him, opening her eyes again.

  He pressed a quick kiss to her ear. “We’ll wait a little while,” he said in a hushed voice. “Not too long. I’m sure they’ll try to search again. Just a few minutes.” She nodded, afraid to speak lest they somehow hear her.

  His arms relaxed around her. “I still believe I deserve a kiss for that.” Tilting her head up, she turned her neck toward him. He kissed her before she could speak her refusal, a short, warm brush over her lips that liquefied the muscles in her thighs.

  “One more minute,” he said.

  Willa lowered her head. She could feel his heartbeat at her back, nearly as fast as her own.
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  Chapter 14

  T he next evening, Willa spied Alex immediately after entering the Byrne box with Richard. It would have been difficult to miss him since he was sitting in the first row of seats in the box, beside Lady Marianna, who presently laughed at something he said.

  “A re you all right, Willa?” Richard whispered near her ear. “You look rather pale all of a sudden. Shall I take you back to the hotel?”

  Willa smiled brightly up at the earl. “Thank you for your thoughtfulness, but I feel perfectly fine.”

  Richard inclined his head and met her eyes—something lurked there, something deep and meaningful and altogether terrifying. Still smiling, Willa turned and gestured toward the empty seats. “Where shall we sit, my lord?”

  “A nywhere you wish, Miss Stratton.”

  Willa swallowed at the note of disappointment she heard in his voice—

  presumably at her continued formality. Once he escorted her to two seats behind A lex and Lady Marianna, she said, “Did you receive my note for the flowers? They are beautiful.”

  Richard chuckled. “Yes, but you don’t need to send a note every day. I want you to take time to enjoy them, not feel obligated that you have to write me your thanks every time you receive more.”

  A lex looked over his shoulder. “Flowers make her ill,” he said, then returned to his conversation with Lady Marianna.

  Willa stared at the back of his head.

  “Is that true?” Richard asked.

  “Yes. No. That is, yes, I do have a reaction to flowers, but I do not react badly to all of them. I’m sorry. I should have told you.”

  “No, I apologize for sending you something that could have harmed your health.

  How does Mr. Laurie—”

  Willa dismissed A lex with a wave. “I met Mr. Laurie three years ago on a business trip in Italy. I’m certain he remembers from that time.”

  “I see.”

  A lthough his expression never changed from one of content amiability, she could tell Richard wasn’t happy. “But I do keep the roses,” she said cheerfully.

  “Please don’t stop sending those. Even if the others didn’t make me ill, they are still my favorite flower.”

  Richard sent her a seductive smile and lifted her hand to his lips. “Then I will send you a hundred roses,” he murmured low, his voice suggestive and meant send you a hundred roses,” he murmured low, his voice suggestive and meant only for her ears. “Perhaps one day I can surprise you with a thousand, Willa, spread throughout your bedchamber.”

  The lights dimmed and the opera began.

  “My lord,” she replied, her tongue thick. She didn’t need to pretend to blush; she could tell by the way A lex’s shoulders tensed and his head turned slightly toward them that he’d heard every word.

  His shoulders tensed. . . .

  Tightening her fingers around Richard’s, she glanced at him through her lashes.

  “That is a day I look forward to very much, my lord,” she said, a little more loudly than the quiet murmur he had used. “But I hope you would be in my bedchamber also.”

  “Oh, dear,” a woman’s voice said behind them.

  Willa froze. Richard’s mother’s voice—the Marchioness of Byrne.

  “No,” she whispered.

  Richard chuckled against her knuckles and winked at her, then lowered her hand to his arm. “Perhaps we can continue our conversation at a later time, Miss Stratton.”

  “Yes, I think that would be wise.” Her voice came out like a mouse’s squeak. She stared straight ahead, toward the stage over A lex’s head. Of course he made no indication he’d heard her response. He appeared much engrossed in the buxom singer wearing little more than a scrap of sackcloth. Or at least he appeared engrossed in the singer when he wasn’t turning his head to whisper in the buxom Lady Marianna’s ear, his lips grazing her lobe from time to time.

  Willa drank her champagne and alternated between watching the opera, watching A lex continue to whisper in Lady Marianna’s ear, and pretending to pay attention to the sweet little nothings that Richard continued to whisper in her ear.

  By the time the first intermission arrived she was ready to return to Mivart’s, but she allowed Richard to take her arm as they mingled among the crowd in the lobby. She couldn’t remember whom she met or what she said, though.

  “A nd how are you enjoying the opera tonight, Miss Stratton?” A t the sound of her name, Willa jerked to attention. She tried to find the person who’d spoken to her in their current circle, but no hint appeared on anyone’s face.

  She couldn’t even remember if the voice had been male or female. With a great smile, Willa met the gaze of the other four people in their group. “It’s quite wonderful.” She looked up at Richard. “A lthough I must admit the company tonight is even more enjoyable. Lord Uxbridge has been marvelous at translating all of the songs for me from the Italian.”

  A nd, for the most part, translating them incorrectly. She was fairly certain the hero of the opera had not been singing a mourning song about his dog dying.

  But it was nice. There were far worse things a man could do to offend her than speak poor Italian.

  Richard asked a question of someone else, and Willa’s gaze narrowed over the shoulder of one of the guests. A lex stood beside Lady Marianna, and he was shoulder of one of the guests. A lex stood beside Lady Marianna, and he was trying to catch Willa’s attention, motioning her to the far right side of the lobby.

  She shook her head.

  He smiled at an older couple nearby, then nodded in her direction. “Please,” he mouthed, then turned back to respond to something Lady Marianna said.

  Rising to her toes, she made her excuses to Richard regarding an issue with her gown, then turned and threaded her way through the crush of the crowd toward the far right side of the lobby.

  Five minutes later, tapping her toes, Willa pretended not to notice A lex as he finally made his way toward her.

  He took her elbow. “Come.” He tried to lead her away, but she rocked backward and locked her knees.

  “Please say what you must, Mr. Laurie. I wish to return to my host before the intermission ends.”

  A lex turned and searched Willa’s face, noting the sharp little lines at the corners of her eyes, the stubborn cast of her chin. Unfortunately, he wasn’t in a very fine mood at the moment, either. In fact, his mood could have been described as something most foul, a sour disposition that had had time only to deteriorate for the better part of the first act.

  A thousand roses in her bedchamber, indeed.

  “The intermission will be over soon,” he told her, his fingers gripping her elbow and tugging her toward him. “I’d like to speak to you while I escort you back to the box.” He paused, noted the rebellious glint in her eye, then added through clenched teeth, “If you please, Miss Stratton.”

  When he tugged again she hesitated only a moment, then allowed him to lead her up the staircase and down the corridor, which was empty of all except for passing attendants. A fter the fourth attendant they were alone in the corridor. He heard Willa open her mouth with an indrawn breath, but he didn’t give her a chance to speak. Pulling her into a dark alcove opposite the boxes, he turned her against the wall and kissed her.

  God, this was all he’d wanted.

  Her lips were soft and warm, her body pliable with surprise, and she smelled like what he imagined heaven must smell like: cinnamon and Willa. Before she could stiffen and push him away, A lex drew back.

  She blinked at him, lips still parted and dewy, a small indentation lined between her brows. She was adorable.

  “Willa Stratton, speechless?” A lex chuckled and drew a finger down her cheek.

  “Oh, happy day. I never thought it could happen.”

  She tried to shove past him, but he captured her shoulders and pushed her back against the wall, then bent his head to hers. He nuzzled the shell of her ear, then pulled the velvet soft lobe gently between his lips.

 
“I truly wish you wouldn’t do that,” she said, all stiff and icy and lying through her teeth. A lex touched his tongue to her ear. “I d-don’t like it when you touch her teeth. A lex touched his tongue to her ear. “I d-don’t like it when you touch me.”

  “I don’t like it when you touch me, either,” he replied. “You should put your hand on my chest. I would absolutely abhor it.”

  She did, though the first impact was more of a punch. “Like this?” she whispered, a moan edging the end of “this” as he sucked and played with her ear.

  “Exactly so. Oh, that’s horrible. Willa Stratton, touching me. I can’t bear it.” A lex shuddered, then whispered, “It would be much worse if your hand were to go a little lower.”

  Her fingers slid down his waistcoat ever so slowly, then paused in the center of his stomach. “Here?”

  “That’s frighteningly dreadful, but if you truly wish to offend me, I suggest you go even lower.”

  “V-very well.”

  She tilted her head. A lex closed his eyes and sank his lips against her throat, intoxicated by the hot satin of her skin, the delicate pressure of her fingers flattened against him as they skimmed downward over his abdomen.

  Her fingers paused as she reached the tip, and her breath caught on a gasp.

  “There?” It was a wholly flattering sound, as if she’d expected having to go much lower to find him.

  “Yes. There.” A lex rewarded her by catching the delicate tendon of her neck between his teeth, then soothing it with his tongue.

  “Oh, Willa,” he murmured against her throat. “I’ve never been so disgusted in my—”

  She snatched her hand away and gave him a tight smile, her cheeks flaming even in the dim light. “Perhaps you should have asked Lady Marianna to touch you,” she said, then lifted her chin and ducked out of the alcove.

  Chapter 15

  Willa spent the entire second act of the opera thinking about touching Alex.

  Richard kept leaning over to her every few minutes and asking if she was all right, because her cheeks refused to return to their normal color—she could feel their blistering heat just as much as she was aware of the dampness between her thighs.