Page 52 of Any Rogue Will Do
Somehow, he’d managed to win her hand.Him.Lady Charlotte Wentworth, daughter of the Earl of Brinkley, had agreed to marry a Scottish sheep farmer. Such an odd thing.
They’d written to the earl, but they hadn’t received a response. Not a huge surprise given the distance the letters had to travel. It felt a bit like tempting fate to celebrate so openly without her father’s blessing. While writing their letters, they’d shared their plans with Lady Agatha. The older woman had encouraged them to continue with the engagement ball on the grounds that creating a public spectacle of the match might corner the earl into agreeing to the marriage.
A memory of the earl’s sour face crossed his mind. The years had changed Ethan. Perhaps they’d softened the earl too.
If not, this could be the last time he had Lottie alone. Tomorrow might bring a letter—or even the earl himself—to her door, ending everything. No matter how he spun the possibilities, Ethan didn’t have a plan beyond begging if that happened. Any other action risked separating Lottie from her last family member, and he couldn’t do that to her. Especially not if there was a chance her relationship with her father could be repaired now that he was coming out of mourning.
When Ethan had told her she looked beautiful, he’d understated it. Yes, maneuvering in the gown was a chore, but he heartily approved of the style if it meant acres of skirts and a minuscule bodice.
“You have a habit of cornering me on balconies. Have you noticed?” She was teasing and laughing, andhis.
“They’re the closest thing tae privacy I can find, and I need tae kiss you before I go mad.” She didn’t protest when Ethan pulled her toward the corner farthest from the ballroom lights.
At last, her body pressed against his, and something inside him released on a sigh of relief. “I’ve missed holding you,” he said. The back of her neck warmed his palm through his evening gloves.
“Careful of the wig,” she whispered.
If she couldn’t tilt her head, he’d have to come down to her. Grinning at the ridiculousness of it, he bent so they were on eye level and finally kissed her.
Lottie tasted sweeter when she smiled. That he knew something so intimate about her had him thanking whatever god was so lax as to let Ethan stumble his way into favor. Again, the earl’s face flashed in his mind, intruding on the moment of happiness. The love match between Lottie’s parents was well known in theton. There was a chance the letters could sway her father. Shoving away the worry, Ethan lost himself in the kiss until she pulled away a long moment later.
Her breath feathered against his face on a sigh. “What if he says no, Ethan?”
Their thoughts traveled the same path, then. “I’ve been wondering the same thing. You’re the master planner. Do you have any ideas?”
Beyond the garden walls a night watchman called the hour as one by one gaslights flickered on down the street, filtering light through the trees lining the balcony.
The sight of her worrying her bottom lip with her teeth distracted him from her words for a moment. “Elope? We’d probably forfeit my dowry, though, and he might never forgive me. But I am of age.”
He brushed a thumb over her lip, soothing the skin her teeth had nibbled. “He’s all you have left, lass. I don’ want tae jeopardize that. But as tae the dowry, Woodrest will support us—although not in a lavish lifestyle. At least, not for a few more years. Tae be honest, nearly everything I have is invested in the brewery.”
“He is all I have left. Well, Father and Agatha. I don’t want to lose him. But it’s the principle of the thing, Ethan. That’smydowry. It isn’t right that he could deny me what’s mine.”
Leaning against the balustrade, Ethan interlaced his fingers with hers. “What are you saying, lass?”
“I’m saying, he needs to see reason and let me marry whom I choose.” The frustration in her tone was clear.
Ethan would do everything within his power to make her never regret marrying him. Even so, the future wasn’t set in stone. Nothing had been resolved, and it sounded like she wasn’t going to be moved from her stance. Those last precious pieces of her plan—the dowry, her own estate, having someplace to run away—were hers to cling to. And they might be the deciding factor that kept them apart.
Saying that aloud would make it real. It would mean giving voice to the fear. That in the end, she’d choose her plan, the future she’d envisioned, over him. If she did, it would hurt like hell.
No matter his gloomy thoughts about the future, the balcony remained blessedly empty, and she was in his arms. This might be their last chance to steal a moment together, and the urgency to have her come apart one last time overtook his worries for the future. By God, if the earl shut them down, he’d do his best to give them both warm memories.
Ethan’s focus narrowed to her skin exposed to the nighttime air. “This neckline will be the end of my sanity.”
Her laugh turned into a gasp when his teeth found the sensitive spot on her neck. After their time at Woodrest, he knew she loved that. But only the right side made her breathless, not the left.
If given the chance, he would be a husband who paid attention.
Husband. Ethan grinned against her skin, relishing her light giggle. A very un-Lottie-like sound, made all the more precious because he’d caused such a girlish noise. “I can’t stop thinking about that night in the library with your mouth on my cock. Remember the next day, when I returned the favor?”
The grin she shot him played with every wicked thought in his brain. He set her hands on either side of him, to grasp the stone railing he leaned against. “Keep your hands here. Don’ let go, lass. You’ll be needin’ the support. And try tae keep that wig on.”
“What? Now? Ethan, where are you— Oh mercy!”
The layers of her costume muffled sound when he dived under her skirt, tucking his costume tail behind him so it wouldn’t give away his location should someone pass by. Surely, he wasn’t the only man in history to think of this. These skirts had to be good for something beyond making walking a hazard.
“I didn’t know you meantnow.” The hissed statement reached him loud and clear, cutting through the layers of fabric without a problem. However, she didn’t step away from the edge of the balcony, and she widened her stance to make room for him. The trust she offered and that willingness to explore passion were two things he loved about her.
