Page 29 of The Trouble with Anna

“Oh.” Anna opened her mouth to say something but shut it abruptly, thoroughly confused. “I suppose I have to accept, then.”

My god, she’s adorable.

His urge to laugh died. Damn it, where did that thought come from?

Anna flapped her arms awkwardly, as if she wasn’t quite sure what to do with them. “I don’t think I’ve been apologized to this much in my whole life.”

“Am I meant to beg pardon for that as well?”

“No!” she said, and they began to walk again.

Julian couldn’t resist. He gave in to the temptation to take up her hand, raise it slowly to his mouth, and press a kiss to the inside of her wrist. Her pulse fluttered against his lips.

A lick of anger still flared within him and he wasn’t sure what to do with it, except press Anna against a tree. Taste her fierceness with his mouth.

Lashes veiled her eyes, but nothing could conceal the heat in her cheeks. “Are you done trying to agitate me?”

“Quite the opposite,” he said softly. “I’m just getting started.”

Julian tugged at her hand and pulled her off the path into a little copse of ash trees, hidden from the house. She looked up at him and her lips parted on a breathy inhale, even as she prickled up in defense.

He lowered his head, let his jaw rasp across her cheek until his lips hovered a feather’s width above hers, but despite the growing urgency between them he refused to hurry. There was something about kissing Anna that felt too large. It divided his life into before and after, and left him teetering on the brink.

Julian gave a groaning laugh and hoisted her arms around his neck where he needed them. She gave a hum and pressed nearer, his own streak of lightning, always chasing speed. Then his thoughts scattered under the heat of their mouths and his blood pounded as his hands curled around the sweet curve of her ass, lifting her up until she was half-splayed against him and half-pinned against the trunk of a tree.

Anna made a little sound and leaned her neck back, and he was gone. Her jacket had to go too. He pushed the wool aside, and the thin cotton of her shirt. His hand slipped down into her bodice for her breast, oh god, so impossibly soft beneath his palm. They both shivered as he found her nipple and rolled it.

“Oh!” Anna’s eyes fluttered and she went boneless, for just a moment, before her eyes flew open and she pushed away, scrambling to the ground.

“God!” Anna buried her face in the folds of his cravat.

My god, thought Julian, and clutched her to him.

They stayed that way, breathing for a moment.

“Anna?” He spoke her name softly, his breath soft against her ear.

She burrowed her face deeper into his chest.

“Hmm. Cozy.” He rubbed his cheek against the crown of her head. “Stay there if you like.”

She squeaked.

He cupped her neck, stroking her hair. “Plotting my death again?”

A tiny nod.

“Easier to marry me, don’t you think?”

She shook her head in violent disagreement.

A laugh rumbled through him and he pulled her closer. “Keep your estate, keep your horses. But give me your hand, Countess. You’re mine now.”

CHAPTER13

CHARLOTTE WAS IN A MUDDLE. She would have accepted a problem, a fight, or—yes, please!—a scandal. But not something as helpless as a muddle. And yet, as the days went by and no course of action stood up and yelled,Pick me!, she had to admit that “muddle” was just the right word for her predicament. She felt like a puppy left out in the rain.

Charlotte stamped down the stairs through a pool of early afternoon sunshine. The strangest part was she didn’t know quite what to do. The idea of Julian and Anna together thrilled her, of course. But could they be happy?

---