by Gill, Tamara
The young woman chuckled, coming to stand before her on the street, her maid a little way behind. “Oh, my father’s estate is but a mile from here. We’ve been home preparing for my marriage to the earl but will be returning to London tomorrow, in fact. What brings you to Salt Hill?”
Evie furiously thought of what to say. She supposed she could tell the truth. That her sister had run off with a farmer after agreeing to marry a duke, and now she and that said duke were chasing after her. “I too, am returning to London. Today in fact. I have been home visiting family in Wiltshire.”
“How lovely for you. Only yesterday I ran into your sister, I believe. You introduced me to her last Season when she came up to London for several weeks if you remember.” Miss Malcolm frowned, pursing her lips. “However, she did not have a maid, and she was traveling with a man who did not seem her equal if you do not mind my saying. He was not dressed as smart as Miss Lucy was, and seemed distracted, almost as if he was expecting someone to come up behind him or something.”
Evie fought not to clasp Miss Malcolm’s arms and shake more information from her. She’d seen Lucy, and only yesterday! Which would mean they were likely in London today. Perhaps they would halt their travels north a day or so and give Evie and the duke time in catching up to them.
“Ah, yes, Lucy was traveling ahead of me. I shall meet up with her in town tomorrow.”
“Your cousin said as much,” Miss Malcolm said.
“My cousin?” Evie queried.
“Well yes.” Miss Malcolm chuckled, but even Evie could hear the thread of nervousness that entered her tone. “The gentleman with Miss Lucy. He introduced himself as your cousin. A farmer, which I suppose thinking about it, would explain why he looked so poorly dressed.”
Miss Malcolm’s pretty face drained of color. “I do apologize, Miss Milton. I did not mean to be so rude.”
Evie waved her interpretation of Mr. Brown aside, her mind whirring with news of Lucy. She had to return to the inn and tell the duke. This was good news. “I must leave you now, Miss Malcolm, but I wish you safe travels to London tomorrow and do wish you very happy with your upcoming nuptials.”
The young woman beamed, pleasure written across her features. “Thank you, Miss Milton. I’ll be sure to send you an invitation.”
Evie dipped into a curtsy. “It will be a pleasure to attend. Good day to you.” Evie waved goodbye and started back toward the inn at a clipped pace. Of all the towns to run into someone from London, and not just anyone, but a dedicated gossiper was beyond unlucky. And Lucy too. But the news on Lucy was just what Evie needed to hear. At least they had traveled the same way, and they were only a day behind her. A niggling concern of Evie’s had been that Lucy and Mr. Brown had gone to Bath and traveled north from there. The journey was much quicker and smoother on the great north road, but there had been no hint as to which way they would go.
She rounded into the inn-yard, and her steps faltered at the sight of the duke, pacing behind the carriage, his greatcoat flying behind him like a cape. Pleasure replaced all thoughts of her sister a moment, and she just enjoyed the sight of the duke, his tall athleticism on full display for any who were watching him.
“Where did you go?” the duke demanded, coming to a stop and pinning her with his gaze. “I thought something terrible had befallen you.”
Evie came to stand before him, tipping up her chin to meet his gaze. “I went for a walk, and I have news of Lucy.”
“You do?” All annoyance at her stroll disappeared, and he pulled her over to the carriage, helping her inside. The duke joined her, seating himself across from her.
“What are you doing?”
“I’m traveling in the carriage. I do not feel like riding today.”
“What about your horse?” she asked, looking out the window as their coachman walked the duke’s horse past the carriage window.
“He’s being tied to the back of the carriage. He’ll be fine there.”
Evie wasn’t sure what she thought about the duke being in such close confines to her once again, especially after last evening. The carriage was opulent and roomy, but he was overbearing, took up too much room of the space.
The trip to London would be lengthy indeed…
He studied her a moment, and she fought not to fidget with the sleeve of her dress. “Tell me of this news of Miss Lucy. How is it that you found out this information?”
“I wanted to go for a walk, as I said. I knew we were going to have a lengthy carriage ride today, and I wanted to exercise before we departed. I ran into Miss Malcolm. You may have heard she’s recently engaged to the Earl Mcfarlane.”
He nodded, turning to stare out the carriage window just as the equipage dipped as the coachman climbed up onto the box. The duke knocked on the roof, and the carriage lurched forward. “I had not heard that news, no, but tell me more of your sister. She was here in Salt Hill. Recently I presume.”
“Only yesterday. Miss Malcolm ran into her and Mr. Brown, so at least we know that they are together. They were traveling to London and are only a day ahead of us.”
The duke rubbed his jaw in thought. “With any luck, they will halt their progress in town before traveling north. We may not have to go all the way to Gretna, after all, to ensure your sister marries this Mr. Brown.”
“That was my hope too.” Evie didn’t feel like traveling all the way to Gretna, not any longer at least. Days on end in a carriage and nights at inns where not all of them were guaranteed to be comfortable nor clean. It was not ideal. “What is the plan once we arrive in London?” she asked.
“We shall return to my townhouse. I will send out my man of business to try and locate Miss Lucy and Mr. Brown. See if they are still in town or have traveled north.”
“I can return to my home in London if that suits. If we’re to be in London a day or so, I should probably not be staying under your roof.” Not that Evie didn’t want to spend more time with Finn, she did, desperately so, but it wasn’t right, and she didn’t need to bring any more scandal onto her family. Her sister had done enough of that already.
“About last evening, Evie.”
Evie held up her hand, not wanting him to profess how much he regretted their kiss or to chastise her over instigating her lack of decorum. She didn’t want to hear how it was wrong and why it would not happen again. “There is nothing to discuss.”
“I would disagree with that summarization.”
Evie swallowed the nerves that fluttered in her stomach at the near mention of them kissing. She met his gaze, resigned to hear him out. “Very well, you want to discuss our kiss?”
His attention dipped to her lips, and nerves skittered across her skin. The air seemed to evaporate in the carriage, expectation thrumming through her.
He cleared his throat. “Yes, the kiss. I wanted you to know that I hold no ill will toward you over your conduct. I’ve thought about it and have concluded that you were upset over the argument outside our rooms and required comforting.”
Evie’s lips twitched, and she couldn’t hold back a chuckle at his reasoning. “That wasn’t why I kissed you, Finn.” The kiss had a lot more to do with her wanting him than it did about anything else.
He stared at her, his face an unreadable mask. “Why did you kiss me then?”
“I kissed you because I wanted to kiss you. Not because I was scared for my safety. I like you and the way that you were looking at me last night,” Evie said, shrugging. “I thought that you might like to kiss me too.”
A muscle in his jaw clenched, and he turned to look out the window. It was not the response that she wanted to see, but then she’d never thrown herself at a duke before, there was no telling how these aristocratic men would react. “Honor dictates that I ensure Miss Lucy is married before anything can happen with anyone else. I know that my understanding with your sister was at an end the moment she ran off with Mr. Brown, but still, I should not have kissed you. It was wrong, and I apologize.”
Evie pushed away the stab of pain his words caused and settled back into the plush, leather seat. “Had you ever kissed Lucy, Your Grace?” she asked, reverting to titles since his kiss with her was wrong. The fiend. It had not been wrong. It had been wonderful, and if he only could admit that, there may be hope for them after all.
“Of course not.” His words came out a little scandalized and she wondered why. Why would kissing his betrothed seem so undone. “I have not known Miss Lucy for very long and did not feel she was open to such affections,” he said, rubbing a hand over his jaw.
Evie watched his hand slide against his face, marred by only the slightest shadow of impending stubble. The memory of those lips upon hers, her skin abraded by his ardent kiss, bombarded her, and she wiggled on her seat. Perhaps, at her advanced age of seven and twenty, she had long run out of patience and wanted more. Wanted a husband who could kiss her, love her as much and as often, as she wanted.
“I suppose I understand now why Miss Lucy was not interested in kissing me. I was not her choice.”
“I am sorry my sister has done this to you, but I cannot be sorry for her choice. Had you married Lucy, she would not have been happy, and your marriage would have suffered for it. I think any couple who marry must respect and like each other and have a mutual desire if they’re to endure a lifetime. I know that is what I want when I marry. I want to desire my husband, to want to be near him as much and as often as I’d like.”
The muscles on his jaw tightened, and his eyes heated as they watched her. Her words held more meaning than face value. Scandalous talk that the duke did not like, but Evie could not help it. He maddened her no end. “We have many hours ahead of us in this equipage. Did you bring your book today, Evie?”
“I did not, no,” she replied. Now that they were alone, on the road to London, all she could think of doing was kissing him again. Of having his hands on her, his body pushing against hers in the most inappropriate fashion. His disapproval of the action only made her want to do it more. “A game of cards perhaps. Did you bring a pack, Your Grace?”
He cringed. “I did not, no,” he said, mimicking her words.
“Well then,” Evie said, grinning across the space at him. “You’ll just have to kiss me again to pass the time. That will be just as diverting.”
Chapter 11
Finn cleared his throat, wondering if he’d just heard correctly. Had Evie told him to kiss her again after he’d just told her they could not do such things? She was a temptation he could not deny, no matter how many times he told her or himself that he should leave her alone. A small part of him felt that if he dallied with her, it was wrong. He was still to decide if he would pursue her as his future bride, but after last evening the idea of having Evie in his bed for the rest of his life was an idea that made sense to him. Even now, he wanted to wrench her onto his lap and take that sweet mouth with his. Touch her, lose himself in her willing heat.
Finn inwardly groaned. He’d turned into his father—a man with no self-control.
Her wicked, teasing grin that beckoned across from him was not helping him in the slightest, and the minx damn well knew it. He’d hardly slept last evening, having tossed and turned all night. For a time, he’d debated taking himself in hand and releasing his aroused state.
There was something about Evie that drew him in, made him question everything that he thought he’d wanted. A bride some years younger than himself, from a wealthy, noble family. Evie was none of those things, and yet still, it was she that made the blood in his veins pump at a heady beat.
God damn it, he needed to get a grip on himself. He shifted on his seat, his cock coming to attention when her pink tongue slipped out and wet her bottom lip. “Tell me you did not just ask me to kiss you again,” he said in the sternest voice he could manage. “Have you not been listening as to why we cannot kiss again?”
“I have been listening,” she said, no shame in her voice. “I’m not engaged, and after my sister’s decision two days ago, neither are you. We’re not doing anything wrong if we were to pass the time in such a delightful way. No one need ever know, so it is not scandalous to act on our desires.”
Delightful?
He found her kisses just so as well. “Whether kissing was delightful or not, we should refrain from doing so again. For a time, at least.”
Finn stilled when Evie leaned forward, and the sight of her breasts in her traveling gown caught his attention. She was dressed today in a dark-navy gown and cream pelisse, and she was utter perfection.
He forced himself back into the squabs, away from her delectable, tempting self. “You should not throw yourself at gentlemen like you do. You may find one day a gentleman will take you up on your teasing and ask for more than you’re willing to give.”
“If that happens, then he is no gentleman. And I do not throw myself at anyone. Indeed, my friends can attest to the validity of my statement. That is, until now, with you. Why will you not kiss me again? Did you not enjoy yourself?”
Enjoy himself? He’d reveled in the delight of having her in his arms. Of losing himself in her kiss, her little whimpers, and sighs. “It was adequate.”
“Adequate? Oh no, we cannot have that.”
Before Finn knew what was happening, Evie was beside him on the seat, staring up at him, a wicked, teasing grin on her pretty visage. She was a handsome woman, with her long, dark chocolate locks and rose-colored lips. It made him wonder why she’d never been swooped off her feet and carried to the altar. How was it that she had not become someone’s wife a long time ago?
“Why are you not married, Evie?”
“Me?” she asked, taken aback at his question. She sat back a little, and Finn breathed deep once more. Having her so near did odd things to his mind, made it cloudy and thick and not at all like he usually was, thorough and clear of thought.
“Yes, you. You’re a handsome woman, your father is a gentleman, and your friends are highly placed in society. Why is it that you have never married?”
“You’re trying to distract me from kissing you again, are you not, Your Grace?”
He didn’t like being back to titles, but perhaps it was necessary. They should not be kissing and fondling each other. Not yet, at least.
“Have you never been courted?” he asked, refusing to answer her question.
She leaned back in the squabs and glanced out the window a moment before she said, “I was sent away to school in France. I met my friends at Madame Dufour’s Refining School for Girls, before they had married into the ton. I suppose over the many years of watching them all be courted and then married, I have missed my chance at finding love.
“Before Willow inherited Viscountess Vance’s fortune, I had to return to my father’s small estate at the end of each Season. Some years my family could not afford to send me to London to join my friends in the Season, and so I spent that time away from society and opportunities to meet new people. Time went by, and now I am seven and twenty. An old maid to some.”
“I feel we have missed an opportunity with us both being in Wiltshire and having never met there.” He’d been so distracted with trying to distance himself from his father, keeping the estate running while his sire had sewn his seed all over London, creating scandals wherever he went, that he had not looked up to see who was around him. Even in London he’d known of Evie, had danced with her, and still, he’d walked away from her without a backward glance. A foolish mistake. “I have not spent much time in London these past years. And then the death of my father a year ago has kept me busy.”
“I did hear that he passed away. I’m very sorry for your loss.”
“Don’t be,” he said automatically. “He never cared for his family, only his whores. Even now beyond the grave, he is trying to rule my life.”
“How so?” she asked, glancing at him curiously.
Finn started, realizing that he’d said too much. An easy feat when talking to Miss Milton. When she was not trying to kiss him, she was a very
good listener and spoke common sense, no silly debutante who giggled and blushed every time one spoke. He liked her maturity. It suited him and his character better than Miss Lucy ever had. Evie’s younger sister had been a little bit of giggler and smiled a little too often for his liking. Not that he didn’t want a wife who smiled, but he would’ve preferred one who did not grin like a lunatic at everyone she came in contact with.
“I only meant,” he continued, “that his reputation has tarnished my own. No matter what you may have heard about me, Evie, I am nothing like my father. Not in any way other than the title that I inherited from him.”
She reached out and clutched his arm, squeezing it a little before letting him go. “You’re an honorable man, Finn. No matter what, nothing can change my opinion of you.” The moment her hand slipped from his arm, he missed her touch. He liked Evie touching him, and little else occupied his mind of late. He was not like his father, he repeated in his mind. Kissing an unmarried woman did not make him debauched like his sire.
“Thank you,” he said, her words meaning more than any he’d heard from anyone before.
The carriage turned and, glancing out the window, Finn took in the less-pretty landscape of scrubby acreage that was marred by gravel pits. “We’ll luncheon at The Magpies at Uxbridge. The fare is satisfactory there.”
“I stopped there on my way home. Their beef pie is tasty indeed,” Evie said, leaning over him to look out the window even though she had one on her side. “Perhaps we can spend our time occupied in other ways after all, Finn. You may not have to kiss me again if we’re to keep up such lively conversation such as the one we just had.”
Finn chuckled, yet inwardly he could not stop thinking about every which way he could instigate another kiss with the delectable Evie. Lively conversation be dammed.
Evie woke with a start several hours later after a hearty lunch at Uxbridge, as promised. The carriage rolled to an abrupt halt. She sat up, rubbing her neck and realized that she’d been sleeping on Finn. She threw him a small smile and glanced out the window. This was not her house, and from the look of the massive Georgian mansion they’d pulled up before, this was most definitely the duke’s.