Page 29 of Earl for the Summer
Daphne scoffed. “I hardly helped you. I regretted agreeing to do so almost immediately and then all your hopes were dashed the next day.”
He tipped his head, looking up into the sapphire stretch of clear night sky above them. When he looked at her again, he seemed overcome with some emotion.
“They weren’t my hopes, Daphne.” A flicker of a grimace tightened his lips. “I haven’t been honest. I wanted to fulfill my brother’s wishes in regard to Lady Selina.”
Daphne tried to make sense of what he was saying. “Your brother wanted you to court Selina?”
“He did, and my desire to do what he asked of me was so great that I failed to foresee the consequences. Though I’m not sure I could have predicted you.” He smiled, but it was quick and fleeting, like the grimace had been.
“Kiss me.” The words whispered out before she could stop them, shocking her. The urge was impulsive, and impulse had gotten her nothing but heartache. She’d learned that lesson, hadn’t she? And yet she had no desire to take them back.
He reached up and traced her check with the backs of his fingers, stroked along her chin and then held his finger there, studying her face as if he was determined to memorize every feature.
“You won’t want me to.”
“I do want you to.” A month or so ago, she’d almost given away her first kiss to a man unworthy of even a moment of her attention. Now, she was in the arms of a man she was drawn to beyond all reason, and even if he was going to leave London, she wanted him to be the first man she ever kissed. “Please.”
The word had barely slipped out before he dipped his head and brushed his lips against hers, softly, gently, as if he was waiting for her to come to her senses and push him away.
She didn’t. Wrapping her fingers around his lapel, Daphne tugged him closer, pulling herself up and kissing him back with all the yearning he’d stoked in her—despite her plan to never hope again.
He groaned as he deepened the kiss, letting her feel his hunger. He took her mouth again and again, his hand stroking up her back to pull her as close as he could get her.
The past didn’t matter. Whatever came next didn’t matter. Only this moment.
Distantly, she heard a sound echoing through the garden. Then footsteps.
Lord Windham immediately lifted his head, though he still held her close. Daphne was grateful for it. She was breathless and her knees felt as firm as warm jelly.
“Dinner,” Ivy whispered from the other side of the hedges.
Daphne stroked up his chest, resting her hand on the center of his chest. She was not alone in these wild, undeniable feelings. His heart thrashed strong and fierce beneath her palm.
“Dinner,” she whispered.
“We should go in.” His voice emerged deliciously rough.
She forced herself to step out from behind the hedges.
Ivy had already gone ahead of them and stood waiting on the paving stones that led back into Edgerton House.
He held her hand as they made their way inside, only releasing her once they stepped over the threshold. As they entered the dining room, Daphne was not at all surprised to note that Lily had seated her next to Julian.
She strode over to take her seat, then realized he was no longer behind her.
Looking back, she found he’d stalled at the dining room threshold, his eyes wide and fixed on a spot across the room. She followed the direction of his gaze and realized he’d noted the arrival of his twin ten-year-old sisters, Marigold and Hyacinth. It shocked many guests that the two were invited to dine with adults during dinner parties, but it was a practice Lily and Griffin had begun shortly after their marriage.
“You have twin sisters.” He sounded dumbstruck.
“I do. It may seem strange that they join these gatherings.”
“No, not at all. Your family is a loving one.”
She led him down the table. The other guests were still gathering, chatting as they took their seats.
“Hyacinth, Marigold.”
The girls weredark-haired and green-eyed, like Daphne’s other younger sister, Ivy. Like Cassian and Julian.
