Page 43 of Taming Ivy
Suddenly, Ivy believed Sebastian to be the loneliest person in the entire world. An overwhelming sadness flooded her, an irresistible urge to go to him, to envelope him in her arms. He might shove her aside, snarling at the slightest hint of pity, but she felt drawn to him in a manner hard to explain.
She’d taken only a few steps when Sara burst through the horde to wrap her in a fierce embrace.
“Can you believe it?” she exclaimed, laughing and crying at the same time. “Oh, Ivy. It’s a dream come true, a fairytale. Look, I may bruise from pinching myself so many times!”
“I am so happy for you, dearest. So very happy. I knew this would happen.” Ivy hugged her tight, searching out Sebastian over her friend’s shoulder. “Bentley had no choice but to fall in love with you.”
Sebastian’s attention finally shifted to them, those slate colored eyes of his remaining unreadable. A jolting undercurrent passed between them and Ivy shivered. He appeared almost a stranger. When she gave him a tremulous smile, wiping tears from her cheeks while Sara embraced her again, he merely bowed his head, an odd expression crossing his face.
For the next few moments, Ivy was caught up with a group of other women in admiring the engagement ring. Not until Alan pulled Sara away was she able to look for the earl. By then, however, Sebastian was gone.
Where he went, and why he did not return for the remainder of the evening, dominated Ivy’s thoughts. Later that night, as Molly packed away various items into their traveling trunks for the return to London the following afternoon, worry for Sebastian drove away any thought of sleep Ivy possessed.
Clad in a puff of a nightgown, constructed of delicate white lawn and lace with numerous ribbons and full flowing sleeves, Ivy sat at a walnut wood vanity, pulling an ivory backed brush through her hair. She found it difficult to erase the image of Sebastian’s expression as everyone congratulated Alan and Sara. For just an instant, when he looked at her, there was a mix of both wistful and guilty jealousy in his features…
“Such a lovely time you’ve had here, milady,” Molly remarked cheerfully.
“Yes, it’s been wonderful.” With the exception of the last two hours, everything was almost perfect. But the dark air Sebastian wore about him tonight tied her into anxious knots. It was a startling departure from the playful earl who kissed her into submission that very morning.
“Now that Lady Morgan got herself engaged to the earl, you’re sure to visit this place often. All seem right pleased with the match.” The maid finished with her tasks, taking the brush from Ivy’s hands to pull the curls into a loose braid.
“I’m so very happy for her.” A twinge of something stirred within Ivy. Elation for Sara, yes, but a tiny sliver of her heart wished...
“Ooh, and Lord Bentley, he’s a handsome cove, that he is,” Molly sighed, then with a sly grin, she added, “but not as handsome as what your earl is. I must say, I’ve yet to see his match if you don’t mind my boldness in sayin’ so.”
“Molly,” Ivy admonished as the maid chuckled.
“Maybe your earl will have the itch and propose too, milady.”
Before Ivy could comment on such an unlikely scenario, there was a soft tapping at the door.
“It must be Sara,” Ivy murmured. Now that everyone had retired, Sara probably wished to share her joy. It was a scenario reminiscent of their days as schoolgirls, when they would spend hours flung across their narrow beds, sharing secrets and dreams until the wee hours of the morning. Throwing on a robe, Ivy stood behind Molly as she cracked the door open.
Both women gaped in horrified shock. One massive shoulder propped against the doorframe, Sebastian’s grin was cocky, his eyebrow lifting in a slight arc upon seeing Ivy in her flimsy nightclothes. His own shirt lay unbuttoned to the top of his dark breeches, the open edges revealing his naked chest. In the low light cast by the hall scones, his exposed skin gleamed and Ivy’s eyes glued to the burnished expanse before jerking her fascinated gaze away.
“Obviously, I was not expected,” he drawled. A blood red rose dangled from his hand. It was mesmerizing, the way he spun it back and forth in his blunt, elegant fingers.
Molly reacted first. Sputtering in outrage, she drew herself up to the full height of five feet and one inch.
From the relative safety behind Molly’s shoulder, Ivy’s voice shook. “I thought you were Sara. This - this is disgraceful, Ravenswood. You must leave at once!”
He only smirked at that, his height giving him an unfair advantage. “Not an option, Ivy. Shall I tell you why?”
He intends to enter my room!Just as Ivy realized it, Molly attempted to slam the door in a flurry of evasive actions.
Sebastian’s toe blocked the effort. His boot wedged against the frame with the firmness of a boulder and even Molly did not possess the courage required to shove the door on a blooming earl’s toe. It was the only thing keeping the door from crashing shut. Not his shoulder, nor his leg; not even an arm. Just his toe. The power one earl’s toe held was rather astonishing.
With an awful deliberateness, he warned, “We’ve unfinished business, you and I. Now, let me in. Before things get messy.”
He could not possibly mean to force the issue. Not tonight. He was obviously hanging onto civility by a mere thread and that confused Ivy. Sebastian exercised restraint on the banks of that stream today. He gave pleasure when he could have taken everything without a whimper of protest from her. Would hereallytake by force what she denied him now?
He had been drinking. Why? Was he not happy for Alan and Sara? Was he angry with her for some reason? Did he regret their actions that morning? Or was he sorry for not taking more? Was that why he stood at her door now? Impatient and hungry?
Ivy swallowed, gripping the edges of her robe with tight fingers. The faint odor of bourbon and expensive cigars wafted from Sebastian. Mingling with the crisp sweetness of cinnamon and the powdery fragrance of roses, it created an intoxicating blend. Another indefinable air also clung to him, one concocted of sin and pleasure. He was so handsome, shrouded in the darkened doorway, with eyes glittering and mysterious, the rose dangling from his fingertips. Those hands of his caused her to lose all reason. Perhaps hecouldcome in…
“Your services are no longer needed,” Sebastian snapped at Molly. The weakness he sensed in Ivy was as powerful as fresh blood to a wolf.
The maid’s loyalty was too deeply ensconced to abandon her mistress. “Beggin’ pardon, milord. You’re a frightful sight, roaming about, half-dressed. It is indecent for you to call upon milady at this hour. With her feeling poorly, she’s bid me stay close.” Her fiercest frown accompanied a half curtsy just before her heels burrowed into the carpet. “I’ll not be going anywhere without her say-so.”
