Page 47 of Beyond Scandal and Desire
Moving away from the wall and peering around the corner, she called up to the porter, “Where might I find a hansom?”
“I don’t rightly know, miss.” The door opened, and he hopped aside as Mick charged through it—properly done up with a knotted neck cloth, waistcoat and jacket—and started down the steps. “Would you like me to go search for one for you?”
“No need, Jones,” Mick called back to the servant. “I’ll see the lady home.”
She retreated three steps as he neared. “That’s not necessary. I can see myself home. I just need to locate a hansom.”
“My carriage will be here in a thrice. I’ve already sent for it.”
“I don’t think that’s wise, considering.” The thought of being in a cramped conveyance with him where she could smell his marvelously masculine scent was unnerving.
Seemingly oblivious to the mist drifting down from the heavens, he leaned a shoulder against the wall. “I’m fairly certain you wish me to apologize, but an apology would imply I was sorry. I’m not. I’ve wanted to kiss you from the moment I met you.”
She felt as though he’d slammed his mouth back against hers. Warmth infused her, her lungs deserted her, and her ability to respond had gone on holiday.
“It’s the reason I made the wager with Kipwick in order to have you attend my affair,” he continued.
The words were a jolt, knocking her out of her stunned state even as they carried her further into it. “What wager?”
“He didn’t tell you?”
He did not.Her anger with him continued to grow. She was going to smack him the next time she saw him—for so many reasons. “He said you invited us to your affair.”
His shoulder lifted, dropped. “I suppose those words contain some truth.”
But not the entire truth. She heard it in his tone. “What is the whole truth, Mr. Trewlove?”
“I do wish you’d call me Mick, especially after the intimacy we shared, the scorching kiss you delivered.”
“I delivered?”
“I can still taste you.”
Was it because of his lowborn status that he spoke of things that shouldn’t be voiced aloud? “You shouldn’t say such things.”
“They embarrass you.”
“Of course they do. They’re improper.”
“Not between two people with feelings for each other.”
Jerking her head to the side, she gazed down the dark street. Lamps had yet to be installed. There was naught but construction, and she couldn’t make out any of the details. She wanted to deny she had feelings for him, but she couldn’t when she felt something, yet couldn’t identify exactly what it was she was experiencing. The kiss had made her aware of things she’d never before felt, had made her want to follow wherever it might have led—even as she had a very strong understanding that it might have led to a bedchamber. She’d never felt that way with Kip, had never envisioned tangled bodies among tangled sheets, but then he’d never kissed her as though his life depended on tasting every aspect of her.
Her thoughts were brought back to the problem at hand as a carriage pulled by four horses came around the corner and drew to a halt in front of the hotel. He shoved himself away from the wall. “Let me take you home.”
“No, I’ll find a hansom.”
He sighed. “I won’t touch you. I give you my word.”
As though that was her worry. Her concern was that she might not be able to resist touching him. He was sin and danger and desire, liberating urges within her that had never known freedom, urges she feared wouldn’t be content to be locked away without experiencing fully what he’d offered. “You shouldn’t have to go to all that bother.”
“It’s no bother. I have some appointments I need to keep.” A corner of his mouth hitched up. “Dark pleasures and all that. They’re best seen to at night.”
Was he headed to a brothel or a mistress after delivering that blistering kiss to her? What did it matter? He was not for her, nor was she for him. Not when all was said and done. “No, thank you. I’ll find a hansom. There has to be one around here somewhere.”
Another sigh, this one riffed with impatience, maybe a bit of disappointment. “Take the carriage, then. I won’t go with you.”
“No, I won’t inconvenience you, keep you from your appointments.” Even as she loathed the thought that they very likely did involve another woman.
