Page 42 of Romancing the Rifleman
Her heart was tripping over itself, and her limbs felt heavy.Some mad impulse had her reaching for his face.She felt a jolt go through her as her curious fingers found the stubble of his jaw.It was so different from her own delicate skin, rough and smooth at the same time.It was fascinating.Masculine.
“Diana,” he breathed.
In the dark, she could not have said if she was the one to lean forward, or if it was him.Most probably it was both.But suddenly, they were kissing.
Diana had never kissed a man before.Frankly, she had never met a man she wanted to kiss.This was not to say that any number of fortune-hunting fools had not attempted to compromise her.But the few who were not deterred by her icy glare quickly learned that she was not the sort of girl to flutter and fret and fly into a panic.No, she was the sort of girl to calmly stab a man in the thigh with her diamond-encrusted hairpin if he grew too free with his hands.
But she had no desire to make Harrington stop.His lips were surprisingly soft, a dizzying contrast with the hard lines of his jaw.Even this gentle contact had her pulse tripping over itself and her body trembling.
Then, he slid his hands up her spine and pressed her body against his chest.He groaned at the contact, and she was glad to know she wasn’t the only one who was so affected.His hands continued their leisurely journey north, then his fingers threaded into her hair.
Gently, he tilted her head, positioning her where he wanted her.Then, his tongue traced the seam of her lips, and she opened for him on a gasp.
So,thiswas what the fuss was all about, this dizzying, delicious pleasure.Diana had no idea what she was doing, but it felt natural to tangle her tongue with his, so she did.Harrington responded with a groan, so she took it she wasn’t doing too badly.
It wasn’t merely the pleasure of his mouth on hers.His hands, so big and strong, were touching her with an intoxicating combination of eagerness and reverence, as if he had dreamed of this moment for years and could not believe his dream was actually coming true.He traced her jawline and the column of her neck, then took a moment to appreciate the sweep of her collarbone.His fingertips inched lower but then paused, as if he were unsure if he should continue.
Diana answered his unspoken question, stretching up and pressing her breast into his palm.He moaned as if in agony and brought his other hand up so he could cradle both of her breasts.Her bosom was not what you would call ample but based on the thundering of his pulse beneath her fingertips, he did not seem displeased by what he had found.
He wasn’t the only one who was curious.Up until this point, Diana had been clinging to his neck, but she allowed her left hand to drift across the width of his shoulders.Gracious—Harrington had always tended to be more lean than hulking.But there wasn’t an ounce of fat on him, and she could feel well-defined muscles even through the thick wool of his coat.
She traced her fingertips down his chest and felt his stomach turn to iron.She couldn’t deny that she was exquisitely curious about the bulge pressing insistently against her thigh.
Harrington tore his mouth from hers, his breath coming in pants.“Diana,” he gasped.“Please.”
She inched her hand lower, and lower still, until her fingers were just on the edge of that fascinating bulge.She summoned her courage, and?—
Light flooded the closet as someone wrenched the door open.“What thehellare you two doing?”Marcus snapped, grabbing Diana by the arm and pulling her off Harrington’s lap and out into the corridor.
She yanked her arm free.“Nothing you and Ceci didn’t do prior to your wedding, I daresay.”
Marcus opened his mouth to argue, then seemed to recall that he didn’t have a leg to stand on.Diana should know—her bedroom was just down the hall from Marcus’s, and he and Ceci had not been particularly quiet about it.
Having nothing he could say in his defense, he directed his glower toward Harrington.“Stand up.”
Harrington cast a significant look down at his own lap.“I’d recommend giving it a minute or two.Some things a man doesn’t wish to see from the fellow who’s about to marry his sister.”
Marcus ran a hand across his face.“This is one of the worst days of my life.Fine.Meet me in Lord Morsley’s study in three minutes.”He turned his attention on Diana.“Youare coming with me.”
Diana expected a lecture.But Marcus was silent as he marched her to a parlor at the front of the house and left her in the care of Lady Cheltenham and the rest of the Astley clan.At leasttheywere excited about her impending wedding.
Chapter22
There was nothing to cool a man’s ardor like Marcus Latimer levelling a speaking glare your way, especially when the message contained within said glare was,I am going to disembowel you with a rusty blade.And so, Harrington was ready and waiting for the duke when he returned to the study.
Trevissick didn’t waste time with pleasantries.“Aunt Griselda is correct.She is Diana’s legal guardian, and she has made it clear that she will not refuse her permission.I therefore cannot stop the two of you from marrying.”
Harrington’s head swam.He couldn’t believe any of this was happening.Kissing her in that closet had felt like a fever dream.Surely, he must have imagined the eagerness with which she’d kissed him back, the greedy touch of her hand on his body, the way she had pressed her breast into his hand.
And the notion thathewas going to marryDiana Latimerseemed so obviously impossible that he wondered if someone had slipped something nefarious into the lemonade.He felt unbearably happy and as if he might cast his accounts, simultaneously and in equal measures.
The duke was still speaking.“We have never got along.”
“Which is my fault,” Harrington said quickly.“And I would like to apologize.I was ghastly.”
Trevissick responded by rolling his eyes.“Rest assured, even had you not pulled a litany of childish pranks, I would not have liked you, regardless.”
That brought Harrington up rather short, but really, how could he argue?What was there to like?Edward was the clever one, the responsible one, the one who never let his family down.Harrington, on the other hand, was nothing but a wastrel.A waste of good linen, that was him.Good for nothing but cannon fodder.
