Collector of Hearts

by Cassandra Samuels

  ‘Go on, you two,’ he urged them after another moment. ‘Miss Arabella owes me a dance, and if she has no objections, we will join you.’

  Isabelle clapped with joy and Quinn nodded his thanks.

  He offered his arm and led her onto the dance floor. Her features were unsure as he took his place.

  ‘That was kind of you, Lord Shelton.’

  ‘What are friends for, my dear?’

  ‘Friends indeed.’

  Ha! She didn’t believe him for a moment. Still, he had a role to play, at least for now. ‘You must be excited about the wedding?’

  They made the first couple of turns before she was able to reply. ‘Yes, Isabelle is going to have the most beautiful wedding, and Quinn is, well, I’m sure I don’t have to tell you all his amiable qualities, nor how happy he has made my sister.’ He was unable to tear his gaze from her lips as they creased slowly into a smile. Those lips were made for kissing and he very much wanted to kiss her, here, right in the middle of this ballroom, in front of everyone. She made him want to be reckless in the one area he never was.

  Dangerous, that is what she was.

  ‘Don’t you think so, Lord Shelton?’

  He looked up from his study of her lips. ‘True, your sister is a very lucky woman to have stolen my friend’s heart so readily, but I think Quinn would argue he is the lucky one.’

  He let his smile broaden into a grin and her eyes widened slightly before she looked away. Was she blushing? Splendid.

  ‘Very nicely put, but I wonder what the Collector of Hearts would have said. More likely it would have been that they were both fools to believe in something as naive as love,’ she replied, her eyes full of mischief.

  Ah, he had wondered how long it would be before she tried to use his words against him. ‘It is dangerous to presume to know what I would say or do, Miss Fleming. Just because I do not believe in love does not mean I would deny others their belief in it.’

  ‘How very noble of you, my lord.’ She was not convinced.

  ‘Why, thank you. I can be noble when I want to be, you know. Although it gives me a headache.’ He gave her hand a squeeze before moving on to the next set.

  ‘Being so against your nature, you mean?’

  He laughed. He liked it when she was feisty. ‘Touché, my dear.’

  ‘I’m going to regret this dance, aren’t I?’

  They linked hands to skip sideways down the row of couples. All he could feel was the heat of her emanating from her body, her hands, and the desire in her eyes. As if she was trying to read his mind, like one of those gypsies at a country fair.

  ‘You are a pessimistic little thing tonight.’

  ‘If I am, it is entirely your fault.’ She raised a brow at him in challenge before he could raise his own. The start of a smirk was on her lips.

  ‘I think I liked it better when you wanted to put an icepick through my heart,’ he said with a laugh.

  ‘I am debating whether I will or not, as I am still trying to figure out who you are, and why you’re pretending to be something you’re not.’

  He leant in close. ‘This is London, everybody is pretending.’

  ‘Not everyone,’ she whispered back.

  Now he had her so close, every nerve in his body had come to life and the wolf within him was howling for just one caress. ‘Do I detect a smidgen of disapproval? Who I am and why, I would have thought obvious, actually.’

  Her look of surprise was charming. ‘Would you care to explain?’

  ‘Certainly, but not here.’ He made a sweeping gesture of the room. ‘Too many ears.’

  ‘Where then? There are ears everywhere.’

  ‘That would have to depend on you. I’ll not have this come back to bite me.’

  She glanced around her. ‘The terrace?’

  Lord, but he wanted to kiss her. ‘The terrace has merit.’ He couldn’t believe she was suggesting it. So far she was playing right into his hands. This was too easy.

  ‘How shall we do it?’ She asked on the next turn. Her innocent expression nearly had him choking, but he managed to cover it with a subtle cough. His mind raced. He could think of a few positions he’d like to try with her, but he doubted very much that was what she meant.

  ‘I’ll go first and you can follow,’ he suggested.

  She frowned. ‘Why must you go first?’

  ‘I don’t have to go first. You can, if it makes you feel better.’

  She looked towards the terrace doors. ‘But it’s dark out there. No, you go first.’

  He successfully stopped himself from rolling his eyes to the ceiling. Women, why could they never make up their mind? ‘Good idea.’ He led her off the dance floor to where Quinn and Isabelle now stood.

  ‘Shacklesbury, I’m going to check on Tremaine.’ He ceremoniously dropped Arabella’s hand in Quinn’s.

  ‘Shall I come with you?

  ‘And leave the ladies on their own? No, you can’t do that. I won’t be long in any case.’

  Quinn tugged at his waistcoat. ‘Oh, yes, yes, of course.’

  Robert nodded and made a circuit of the room before heading for the terrace.

  ***

  He found his way to the terrace and waited. He’d have expected her to show a little caution, but not his Bella. What exactly she was up to he wasn’t sure but he had to trust his instincts. Things couldn’t have worked out better so far. He would have her in his arms by midnight that was for certain, but he had to tread carefully if he wanted to keep her there. She was already suspicious of him.

  Where was she?

  Then he saw her, plastering herself against the wall and sliding across, so as to stay in the darkened area of the terrace. He stifled a laugh and went to save her.

  She was just about to head back towards the doors from which she had entered when he snaked out his arm and pulled her back against his chest. Every part of his body was aware of every part of hers.

  ‘You took your time,’ he whispered in her ear before she could scream.

  ‘Well, I did not have the convenient excuse that you did, my lord.’ She did not move from her position in his arms.

  ‘Did I tell you how beautiful you look tonight?’ His hands stole around her waist and turned her towards him.

  ‘No.’ The word slipped out between her lips on a sigh. He was sure she was blushing to her toes.

  ‘I mean it, Bella. Even when you’re angry with me, which is most of the time, you are beautiful.’ And he meant it. What was it about her that made him so mad with desire?

  ‘I am not always angry with you. Mostly, I just don’t trust you.’ Her tone was defensive. He couldn’t blame her. The game was changing on him too.

  ‘Granted.’

  For her safety of her reputation, and his, he led her to the stone railing of the terrace and placed her hands on top of it. When she turned to look at him over her shoulder, the light falling on her from the high windows above gave her complexion a soft ethereal glow.

  ‘All right, Shelton, what is your explanation?’ She folded her arms over her chest.

  When she did that, her breasts looked like they were about to escape her bodice. If only they would. He ached to touch them. ‘Explanation?’ If only he and Arabella were not here on this terrace so close to a hundred people dancing and gossiping just inside.

  ‘Yes, the one that is so obvious?’ Was she actually tapping her foot? Oh, how he wanted to laugh at her stern expression. She reminded him of one of his governesses, looking at him like she had found a frog in her desk drawer... again.

  ‘Ah, that one,’ he said. ‘Well, it’s Shacklesbury.’

  She frowned. ‘Quinn? What has he to do with it?’

  By the look on her face, he needed to come up with something a little more convincing.

  ‘Why, everything, my dearest Bella. He was, after all, the one who forced me to desist in my pursuit of you. In the name of friendship, you understand. I guess he figured that letting me have you as I planned ma
y have caused irreconcilable differences between him and his intended.’

  Arabella blinked. Lord, she was adorable. ‘That’s the reason?’ She turned back to the railing and looked out over the darkened garden, her brow furrowed in thought.

  Robert laughed. ‘What did you think? That I didn’t want you? Believe me, nothing could be further from the truth, but I promised Quinn I’d behave, and I have been trying very, very hard. Alas, we must be friends. It is in both our interests to comply. You wish to visit your sister often and I wish to stay with Quinn and Isabelle when London bores me.’

  ‘That is why you have been acting so … not you?’ she asked. ‘It is not the answer I had expected, I have to say. A little too chivalrous, I think, for the likes of you, but not totally unbelievable under the current circumstances. After all, Quinn is your best friend.’ She said all this as if he were not beside her, as if thinking aloud. What a strange little creature she was. It only made him want her more.

  He chuckled softly. ‘But you don’t know who I am, remember? Have you decided who it is that you want me to be?’

  She sighed and continued to silently stare at him, as if studying him so intensely might somehow bring forth the answer she sought, the answer she wanted. He didn’t want her thinking too long.

  ‘Your reaction begs the question. Why should you care who I am?’ His words hovered between them in the cold night air.

  She shrugged. ‘I want to know the Robert that Quinn knows, that his mother knows. I need to know that man. I long to know everything about him.’

  His heart sped up considerably, and he seemed to have lost his breath for a moment, so taken aback was he at her words. She wanted to know him? She longed to know him? Nobody, especially a woman, had ever bothered to even contemplate wanting to know him.

  Should he believe her? He wanted to, for he realised that he did not know her either, not really. And wasn’t that much the same thing that had led to them to the conservatory where she used him as a target for throwing practice? He too longed to know the woman in front of him. He longed to know every curve and dimple, every sweet crevice, every inch of her body from her toes to her forehead. And horror of horrors, he wanted to know her mind too. He was fascinated by her and maybe, if he knew her better, he could steel himself against her. Protect himself from these feelings that made his heart squeeze every time he saw her.

  He stepped forward, careful to stay within the boundary of the shadows. ‘That is very brave of you, my dear, but knowing me comes at a price. A price you would not want to pay.’ He wanted to reach out, take one of the small curls at the side of her face and wrap it around his finger just to feel it slide between his fingers. ‘I don’t let just anyone in. You might not like what you find,’ he warned her. ‘Then again, you might, and what will you do then, hmm?’ He gave her a half-smile.

  She stepped towards him, into the shadows. Into the dark.

  ‘I’d like the chance to find out.’ Her tone was soft, like a caress sweeping over him and he found his eyes closing. All the better to take her words in. Her statement confused him. Was he only hearing what he wanted to hear in her declaration or was she playing some vengeful game with him?

  If he knew her better he may have had half a chance to guess, but he didn’t, so he hid behind his jaded facade. ‘So,’ he traced her jaw with his finger, ‘what are you willing to pay for the privilege?’

  ‘You don’t expect me to answer that, do you?’ She appeared amused but she would soon find out how serious he was.

  ‘Of course, I do, but if you are too shy to say...’ He had to pick his words carefully here. He made the mistake of looking down at her. Saw in her eyes her intention. Before he could fortify himself against her, she had risen up on her toes and thrown her arms around his neck, pressing her lips against his. He moved further back, taking her with him. Such a dangerous game she was playing here, one he had no intentions of stopping.

  His arms drew her deep into his embrace as if he had no choice in the matter. As far as his body was concerned this was true. Her fresh floral scent settled around him like his favourite banyan. Her lips were soft but insistent on his, like they belonged there.

  She felt like home.

  It was a strange realisation to have at such a time.

  He felt his heart beating like the drums of war, steady and constant but increasing in intervals, a warning of what was to come. His whole body reacted to her innocent touch. Her fingers curled into his hair and held him prisoner. He had no intention of escaping her, nor did he want to be released. He was her slave and would obey her every whim if only she would keep kissing him.

  His control slipping, he nearly gave in to his desire for her. To give in completely would lead to disaster and the end of any more kisses. He had to take control. Savouring her first innocent reactions to his more intimate style of kissing, he took her sigh into his mouth. The sigh that came with surrender. He inhaled the scent of her heated senses. And the taste of her, oh, the taste of her, like sweet peaches.

  She pressed herself against him as he fought the need to devour her, to rake his fingers through her dark tresses, to hike up her skirt. He had been too long without her. He wanted to strip her bare, to touch her and make her as crazy as she made him. He wanted her arching against him and begging for him to take her.

  He wanted her to surrender the game to him. But not here.

  The darkness of the terrace afforded minimal privacy. He dragged his lips from hers and breathed deep; grasped for control. His wits were scattered like rice at a wedding and he groaned in regret and pleasure. Her questing hands trailed down his chest to his waist where she hugged him closer still and lay her head on his chest.

  This had to stop. Now.

  He knew all about trysts in the out of doors, it was one of his specialities, but Quinn would wonder what was taking him so long, and he had no idea what excuse Arabella had used. With more effort than he expected, he pulled away from her. Recognised the dazed look in her eyes. Desire. He had seen the look many times before, but where normally he would have taken the matter further and worried about the consequences later, now he needed to be careful. The risks were too high.

  ‘This won’t do, you know.’ He hugged her to him, reluctant to let go of her until absolutely necessary.

  ‘Have I done something wrong?’ she asked innocently into his jacket.

  ‘Well, that would depend largely on who you ask.’

  Her face lifted and her eyes searched his. ‘I’m asking you.’

  He disengaged her from his person, turned her around and placed her hands back on the railing. Now she was safe. If anyone came on to the terrace, she would be safe. He slunk back into the shadows. He would be safe too.

  ‘No, you did nothing wrong, in fact, you did entirely too well. We must return to the ballroom.’ She turned slightly towards him but he quickly commanded, ‘No, don’t turn around. Before you go back in, first I must know that you will see me again.’

  ‘I already see you all the time.’ Her voice still sounded a bit breathless.

  ‘I mean alone, Bella.’

  ‘Of course you did,’ she teased. ‘I’m sure that if we told Isabelle—’

  ‘No!’ Panic made his heart stall for a moment and he retreated further into the shadow of the terrace. ‘Isabelle and Quinn must not know. Not yet.’ His lips were desperate to be on her deliciously delicate neck. ‘It has to stay our little secret, for now. Promise me you will say nothing to Isabelle.’

  She might have nodded her agreement but he could not see because she was facing the garden. ‘Bella? Promise me.’

  ‘I’ll see you inside.’

  She left him then with nothing but the scent of her swirling around him and the regret he had not kissed her more.

  Chapter 12

  Robert arrived at Shacklesbury’s townhouse for their usual afternoon visit to find him ready to leave.

  ‘Glad I caught you,’ he said, ushering Robert back into the hackney he had
just alighted from.

  His friend never did anything in a rush; everything was always planned and orderly, never hurried or spontaneous. ‘What’s happened?’

  ‘Nothing.’ Quinn closed the hackney door behind him. ‘I am going to my tailor.’

  ‘Now?’ Robert looked at his watch.

  ‘Well, I have to wear clothes to my wedding, and unless you wish to embarrass me severely, so do you.’

  ‘Shacklesbury, you are in an annoyingly good mood.’ This boded ill. ‘I have never seen you so eager to buy clothes. What’s the hurry?’

  Quinn raised a brow and studied him for a moment. ‘I have an appointment and I like to be punctual. You know me.’

  ‘You would never make an appointment at this time. We always have luncheon together.’ Oh Lord, he could practically see hearts in the man’s eyes.

  ‘That is true, but Isabelle made the appointment for me. She wasn’t to know.’

  ‘Ah, Isabelle made it. Already she controls your activities, I see.’

  ‘She does no such thing. It was simply that she was passing the tailor’s and thought to do it. That is all. I would likely have left it to the last moment, so I am glad to have it out of the way now.’ He paused. ‘What is wrong with you today?’

  ‘I am perfectly fine. And you would never have left it to the last moment. It just seems to me that you are making quite a fuss over some clothes.’

  Robert was not perfectly fine, and what was worse was he knew it and could do nothing about it. He was still unhappy about the state in which Arabella had left him last night. Twice now she had left him in that like that. He couldn’t stop thinking about what she had been able to do to him and how much he wanted her to do it again. It had taken him nearly ten minutes to get his body to calm down enough to go back inside and then he’d had to endure another half hour listening to her father blather on about how close he was to a big win at the tables. About how he couldn’t possibly leave simply to watch his daughters dance.

  ‘They are not just clothes, they are my wedding clothes and it is you who are making the fuss,’ Quinn said.

  He looked out the window. He didn’t want to talk about wedding clothes.