Page 83 of The Viscount's Promise
“Shh.” Malcolm placed a finger against her lips. Emily’s cheeks grew warm as he continued to take her in. She wished she could cover herself, could hide from his too-intense gaze.
Then his hands came up to cup her breasts. And Emily forgot her embarrassment.
“I have never hated Lydia more than I do now.”
“What are you talking about?” she blurted.
His eyes met hers, and she felt her soul was branded by the fiery possession in them. “She prevented me from seeing you thus in the light of a thousand candles, from asking you to dance, from taking you in my arms in front of all of Society and showing them that the most stunning creature there at that damnable ball was mine and mine alone.”
Emily leaped across the small space separating them, her mouth finding his, her hands pulling ineffectively at his evening clothes. His hands were much more skilled, making short work of his cravat, removing his coat and waistcoat. As they moved to her clothing, however, the coach slowed to a gentle stop.
He raised his head, peering down at her in the gloom. “It appears we’re home.”
Just then the door to the carriage began to open. Quick as a shot Malcolm’s hand gripped tight to the handle. “A moment more, if you please, Daniel,” he called through the door.
“Very good, my lord,” the driver’s voice answered.
Malcolm looked at her with unfathomable eyes. “I will have him turn the coach around, will have you back in your brother’s house shortly.”
Regret speared through her. “I would that we had more time.”
“Yes,” he said, and that one word held a world of meaning, all of it reflected in her heart. “Though,” he continued, “I must say I should be glad for it. I would not want to make love for the first time to my future wife in a carriage.”
“Your future wife,” she said, dazed.
He smiled gently, cupping her cheek in his palm. “Did you think I would declare myself heart and soul to you and not want to spend the rest of my life with you? But I should ask you first. I would not take away that choice from you, Emily. I want you to be happy.”
She blinked up at him, overcome. “So ask me,” she whispered.
His smile widened. Pushing her back in her seat, he knelt properly in front of her on one knee—as well as he could manage in the cramped confines of the coach—and said clearly and steadily, “Lady Emily Masters, I love you with all of my heart. Will you do me the very great honor of marrying me—”
“Yes!” she squealed, launching herself into his arms.
He chuckled into her shoulder. Soon, however, the chuckles subsided and his lips began to do wonderful things to the side of her neck.
“I don’t suppose,” she managed unsteadily, “that you would mind showing me your home? I have only seen the inside from the doorway, after all.”
He stilled. “You wish to come inside?”
“More than anything,” she breathed.
Malcolm pulled back to look at her. Love and longing, all tempered by that stubborn will of his, filled his face. “You know what will happen if you do, Emily.”
She didn’t hesitate. “I know, Malcolm.”
He gripped her hand in his, bringing it to his mouth for a hard kiss before he flung the door to the carriage wide. “You see nothing,” he ordered before, taking her hand in his, he pulled Emily from the carriage and up the front steps. She had a quick view of the startled face of the driver before Malcolm unlocked the door and hauled her inside.
Emily let loose a startled laugh. “He’ll think you’re a magician, pulling unexpected women from carriages like that...”
Her words trailed off as he dragged her into his arms. “Only one woman,” he declared hotly. “Only ever you.”
With that he lifted her in his arms and strode through the house. There was not a light to be seen, the only illumination the pale moonlight bleaching everything of color. Yet his steps were sure and swift as he climbed the staircase, even more certain as he made his way down a hallway that no doubt led to private apartments. He flung open one particular door, slamming it closed behind him. Emily’s feet found purchase on the floor, though her world went spinning as Malcolm dragged her body to his.
There was no one to stop them, no reason to leave the pleasure of one another’s arms. That knowledge, along with the promise of their future together, should have slowed their hands. Instead, a frenzy took over them. Emily could not get him undressed fast enough, could not wait to feel him over her, in her.
Malcolm must have felt the same. Her dress quickly found its way to the floor, her undergarments soon after. He stepped back several feet, his eyes raking her nude body. Emily thought vaguely that she should cover herself. She had never been thus before a man, never so exposed.
Yet the molten fire in his eyes had her feeling like one of the sirens of old.
