Page 34 of Lord Trafford's Folly
Still, her thoughts drifted back to the kiss. What she wanted was to ignore the voice in her head that kept shouting that she was ruined. Lady Astley must be having a fit over her continued disappearance, but Audrey had no specific plans for dealing with the scandal beyond leaving London expediently with the earl’s help. What she wanted was to continue this adventure. To take each day one step at a time, to eke out every second of the experience, before she had to return home.
Staring down the street, woolgathering like a fool, Audrey noticed a movement near the next corner. She narrowed her eyes, her senses finally on high alert.
Julius came out of the club, heading toward her. She turned and sauntered away, allowing Julius to catch up with her.
“I think we are being followed,” she whispered.
Julius hissed. “We shall turn the corner up ahead so you can tell me what you think you saw,” he responded in a low voice.
They continued side by side. When they reached the next corner, they turned and pressed up against the wall.
“I saw a man wearing an overcoat that is too heavy for the weather.”
“Like the ones we are wearing?” Julius asked, the irony in his voice evident.
“Precisely.”
Julius considered their attire. “You make an excellent point.”
Edging up to the corner, he removed his hat to peek back to where they had been.
“You may be right.”
“What do we do?”
“We will head to Covent Garden and lose him amongst the stalls. I have a tailor nearby where we can switch our overcoats and beavers.”
Audrey nodded.
They strode down the block, turning down many streets until stopping to look back from their new vantage point. After several more turns, they did not spot the man again until, finally, Julius pulled them into the doorway of a boarded-up shop on a deserted street.
“There is no one.”
“Was I wrong? About being followed?”
Julius rubbed his chin. “It is hard to say. It was odd, but I have not seen him since St. James’s Street, so … perhaps it was nothing.”
Audrey bit her lip. “I apologize for wasting our day.”
He shook his head. “Not at all. It is better to be cautious, but I admit I am growing frustrated with this strategy. I wish either of us had seen more of the riffraff who attacked me. Following these three men about is not producing any results. I would prefer to focus on the attacker, but neither of us saw him well enough to identify him, or I would watch the comings and goingsof the servants at the back, rather than saunter after the master of the house.”
“I wish I could help, but it was so dark that morning, and he was covered from head to toe. A generic overcoat, hat, and boots are all I saw.”
Julius extended a gloved hand, chucking her under the chin to stare deep into her eyes. “You have been a wonderful asset. I may have died without your assistance. We shall figure this out.”
Audrey smiled back, riveted by the unique blend of colors in his irises and the heat that flared in their depths when his gaze dropped to her lips. She knew he was thinking about their kiss, but he dropped his hand and stepped back into the street.
Julius was fighting backhis sexual frustration. He needed to get them home, where he could pull her into an embrace. They could hardly maul each other in the street where they might be arrested for deviant acts, considering she was disguised as a man. An arrest which would raise inevitable questions about why she was dressed in men’s garments.
So he hurried her to Aunty Gertrude’s, pausing frequently to ensure they were not followed. The journey was endless, and the moment he had the door to the mews locked behind them, he turned to face her.
Audrey was staring at him, her silver eyes ablaze. She hesitated for a second before rushing forward into his arms. Their lips met in a hungry crush of desire. Julius growled as she parted her lips, eager to find his tongue with hers. She tasted of the strawberries she had eaten, the ones that had driven him demented with lust.
Her hands worked inside his overcoat to spread over his chest, even as their kiss deepened. She moaned in the back of her throat as he caressed his hands up and down her back, wishing he could tear the coat from her body to lay her down on it.
If they were to marry, surely there was no reason to deny themselves pleasure? She was just too damn ravishing to ignore any longer. Was this how Aidan Abbott had wound up in his scandalous embrace that had forced him to wed? At the time, Julius could scarcely believe that passion for an innocent miss could overtake a bachelor to such a degree that he was compromised by his own lust. The more time Julius spent in Audrey’s company, however, the more compelling the notion became.
They could enjoy passion between the sheets, and then, once their adventure was over and they returned home, he would say his vows and help her pack her trunks. Hell, he might even accompany her to Stirling and help her settle into the family estate before he left for London, just to be sure she was taken care of in her new situation.
