Page 16 of A Lady's Curves
I stand and offer my arm. Once outside, we walk along the outer path of the small garden. “My grounds in Devonshire are expansive. You will like the gardens if you enjoy walking.”
“I do. We should consider going there when the weather is warmer, as that’s when most of the ton will leave London. Lady Chervil will accompany us, of course.” She drops her hand from the crook of my elbow.
Wanting her touch back, I take her hand in mine. We didn’t stop for gloves, and her skin is soft and warm, sending a tingle through my entire body.
She gasps but doesn’t pull away. “This is very intimate, my lord.”
“Oscar.” I kiss her fingers.
“I fear what I was going to say will be taken the wrong way now.” There’s an uncharacteristic shake to her voice.
“Perhaps you could trust that I will not misconstrue your words.” I wrap her hand around my arm and we continue around the path.
“I thought to indicate that you would be welcome to move back into your home. I can see from the last few weeks that I was hasty in allowing you to leave. You have been very kind to not demand to return. This is your house and you would have been fully within your rights to return at any time. But you didn’t.”
“No. I did not wish to further harm our friendship.” My pulse is hard and fast. It takes all my will to keep from kissing her.
She stops and faces me. She pulls her bottom lip through her teeth, leaving it plump and rosy. “I believe our friendship is secure.”
Unable to resist any longer, I lean down and press my lips to hers. When she doesn’t immediately slap my face, I cradle her cheek in my palm and slide my tongue along the seam of her lips.
Gripping my shoulders, Ann gasps and gives me access to her magnificent mouth. A low moan rumbles inside her.
I deepen the kiss, my body on fire for more of her, all of her. The thought sobers me enough that I pull back with one last chaste kiss. “I probably shouldn’t have done that, but I shall never be sorry for it.”
Chapter Seven
Ann
“He kissed me,” I tell Honoria in her room two days after the event. It felt as if the moment was growing too large inside of me. I had to tell someone.
“He being…?” Honoria’s blue eyes are already quite large and they grow wider with her gaping mouth as she stares at me from the small desk in the guest room.
It’s hard to speak. My body had been on high alert ever since the kiss. Then Oscar moved back into his house the next day. I find myself searching for him and avoiding him at the same time. I should be above all of this. I’m twenty-eight years old. No man wants a woman my age for more than an affair. However, the kiss was sweet and tender. It felt as if there was promise there.Don’t be an idiot.I focus on Honoria. “Oscar. I mean the Earl of Kendall.”
She sucks her lips in as if she might be holding back a grinor laugh. “Was it a brotherly peck on the cheek or something more meaningful?”
“The latter, though I have little to compare the sensation. I’m fairly certain his tongue in my mouth indicates more than brotherly affection.” I want to take it all back and run from her room. Then I want to hide in my room until I can make my escape back to Everton House. Actually, those are just the lies I tell myself. I want more of Oscar’s kisses and to know what he was thinking.
“Indeed. Delicious. I’m not surprised. He looks at you with a great deal of fondness. Perhaps he loves you.” Honoria uses a white puff to put powder on her nose.
“No. Of course, he doesn’t love me. He likely thinks I’m lonely and he is too. A bit of affection is all it was.”
Honoria cocks her head. “And are you—lonely?” One of the things I love most about her is there is no judgment with regard to the morality of kissing a man for the sake of mutual loneliness. It makes me wonder about what kind of past she might have had.
“Sometimes.” I live in a house full of people and have some good friends there and around the city. Still, I find there are times late at night when my heart yearns for something more. “I’m being silly. I have all I need.”
Putting down her powder puff, Honoria turns to face me. “There is nothing silly about wanting companionship or even love. You are still a young woman, Ann. Your father is no longer in control of you and hasn’t been for some years.”
“My father has nothing to do with this. I’m eight and twenty. Men do not marry women long on the shelf and I do not have dalliances.” I draw a breath and it’s shakier than I’d like. “I shouldn’t have spoken of the matter. His lordship likely regrets the impulse as much as I do.”
“Hmm.” She turns back to the glass and sighs. “I am alwaysat your disposal should you need to talk. You know that whatever you tell me, I shall take to the grave.”
I get up and hug her from behind. In the glass, I look into her eyes. “You are a dear friend.”
She pats my hand. “You had better get ready. We have a ball to attend.”
Another ball. I sigh. I’m tired of attending celebrations where I hide in the corner like a thief. I’d much rather stay in and read a book. No. That’s not true. I like balls, but without taking to the floor, it is rather a bore. However, this one is unavoidable as it is being held by Louisa’s parents. “I’ll go and dress. Miss Louisa has requested we arrive early so she can speak to her father.”
