Page 42 of The Good Girl's Guide to Rakes
It was a truce, of a sort, but Kieran knew that when it came to his relationship with Celeste, he couldn’t allow himself to simply follow his impulses, as he’d done so often in the past. The cold truth of it was that she might inspire his poetry, yet he could be nothing but a footnote in the story of her life. It wasn’t so much that she couldn’t be his, but that she didn’t belong to herself. And she deserved better than being a pawn in others’ games.
At the least, he could do something only for her. He’d already planned their next nocturnal outing together—but now he had another destination in mind, a place to take her where, if he couldn’t give her all the freedom she desired, she might still have a measure of joy. That would have to be enough.
Chapter 10
Two nights after she’d confessed to Rosalind about her arrangement with Kieran, Celeste sat across from him in a hired carriage that sped through the darkness. They’d met at the same designated spot as they had the night he’d taken her to Jenkins’s, but this evening’s destination was unknown.
“Where are we going tonight?” she excitedly asked him. “You said it was to be a surprise but I can stand the suspense no longer.”
Difficult to know whether her racing pulse was because of where they might be heading, or because of the man seated opposite her. Since her conversation with Rosalind, she had tried to remind herself that she ought to be more careful with her emotions when it came to him. Yet here she was, perfectly happy to spend the entire night in the carriage simply riding around town, so long as it meant being with Kieran.
“A private party.” His smile promised all sorts of wickedness. “Given by Oliver Longbridge. You’re likely already familiar with him.”
“I am.” Longbridge was the son of a Black West Indian father and a white English mother, and had made a fortune through a combination of inheritance and strategic investments. He’d become a fixture in Society as an arbiter of taste and elegance. “But I’ve been to Mr. Longbridge’s assemblies before. They’re hardly the sort of gathering that would attract your notice. Negus and quadrilles, all of it quite respectable.”
Kieran’s smile widened, and her belly leapt in response. “You only know half the story. When the whim takes Longbridge, he hosts fêtes of a very different character.”
She raised her brows. “Pray, go on.”
“That would rob you of the pleasure of surprise and discovery, and I’d hate to do that.”
“What an insufferable tease you are,” she said, pretending to sulk.
“When I tease,” he said, his voice lowering so that she could feel it stroking over her flesh, “you’ll know it.”
Her cloak became quite warm, and she had to open it wider to let in some night air to cool her suddenly feverish skin. But when his appreciative gaze slid along her body, nothing could bring down her temperature.
“A new gown,” he murmured approvingly.
“Funded by my winnings at Jenkins’s.” She smoothed a hand over the bronze silk that, unlike the green gown from the other night, had been specifically made for her nocturnal adventures, and fit her far better. All the clinging fabric was deliberate, the low bodice purposefully showing more of herdécolletage rather than happenstance caused by the changes in her figure. She’d paired the dress with a topaz pendant and earbobs, and Dolly had artfully placed golden brilliants in her hair.
If only she could wear such a garment without having the need to paint her face to disguise her identity. Still, she could tolerate the discrepancy if it meant seeing Kieran gaze at her with barely disguised interest. Tonight, he’d actually darkened his eyes with kohl, so he was all shadow and mystery.
A damned nuisance, this fascination with him. Because it could not and would not lead to anything. It would have been easy to dismiss her growing obsession as merely physical, yet there was distressingly more to her fascination than simply wanting his gorgeous mouth on hers.
Oh, God.Her hand flew to her lips.
She wanted him tokissher. Wanted to know what he would feel like, and how he’d taste. Would he be soft and tender, or rough and commanding? Perhaps a little of both?
Her body warmed even more. Try as she might to will it to some semblance of calm, it flatly refused to obey.
She needed to focus on whatwaspossible, and that was tonight’s escapade.
“Can you at least give me a hint about what awaits us at Mr. Longbridge’s?” she asked.
“I’ll say nothing, but I hope that your maid is a dab hand at cleaning silk, because there’s a high degree of likelihood that your gown will require attention.”
“That could mean anything,” she objected.
By way of reply, he merely smirked.
Yet while he didn’t answer her question, his words made her anticipation for tonight soar even higher. All kinds of delicious possibilities filled her mind... and the fact that Kieran would be beside her, also taking part and never judging her for her choices only made her eagerness sharper.
The cab came to a stop outside Mr. Longbridge’s impressive Mayfair residence, just as a trio of finely dressed people stepped down from a lacquered carriage and made their way to the front door. As with Jenkins’s, the exterior of the mansion appeared perfectly ordinary—if one could consider a mansion ordinary.
After Kieran and Celeste climbed out of the cab, they also headed toward the entrance. The door opened ahead of them to admit the trio of guests, and raucous music pouring out broke the quiet of the night, making Celeste’s heart thud in anticipation. Whatever her future held, however constrained her remaining life was to be, at least she’d have memories of tonight to console her.
The door remained open to permit Kieran and Celeste to go into the entry hall. A stoic footman took her cloak and Kieran’s coat, completely unmoved by the fact that a pair of women’s drawers were draped over a marble bust nearby.
