Page 28 of The Pureblood Daughter
She and Octavia move down the road at an easy clip. The breeze smells of honeysuckle, and the fresh air makes Adelina tip her head back and breathe it in. It’s easy to get cooped up in that big house, especially now that her father insists she stay home to “rest.” As if that’s not what she already does day in and day out. The thought makes her lips press into a sour line.
Octavia turns off the cobbled road onto the dirt path that will lead to the lake, and Adelina urges her on. The mare is happy to oblige, and she transitions into a smooth canter, her hooves making a pleasant sound as they strike the soft earth. Adelina’s cloak billows behind her as they ride, and she grips Octavia’s barrel with her thighs before holding her arms out wide and turning her face to the sky. At night, with Octavia beneath her and the moon shining brightly overhead, she almost feels... free.
Free of expectation. Free of obligation. Free of society and its many rules. If only for a moment, she’s nothing and no one, and the sensation sends a rush of joy through her veins.
Leaning forward once more, she grasps the lead in her gloved hands and guides Octavia onto a secluded wooded path that serpentines around the far side of the lake. There are no streetlamps here, and so Adelina sees only by the light of the moon.
She keeps an eye out as Octavia canters through the trees. The shadows are deep and dark, and more than once Adelina thinks she sees a figure only to realize it’s her eyes playing tricks on her.
I’m here, says the voice in her head, causing her to start. In response, Octavia flinches beneath her, aware of every emotion that passes through Adelina’s body.
“It’s all right, girl,” Adelina whispers soothingly.
She follows the voice’s directions and soon finds herself at the far end of the lake, surrounded entirely by trees that sway gently in the soft breeze. It’s quiet, dark, and dangerously secluded.
From the shadows steps a dark figure, and Adelina eases Octavia to a stop. The mare prances in place, huffing at having had her frolic interrupted. It seems even she feels the confines of domesticity, the lack of freedom to do as she pleases.
“Lord Rosetti?” Adelina calls tentatively, a chill creeping over her skin. “Is that you?”
The figure shifts into the moonlight, and his green eyes are unmistakable. Immediately, Adelina lets out a relieved sigh.
“It’s me,” he says.
He moves toward Adelina and holds out a hand. She regards him for a moment, then places a gloved hand carefully in his. His fingers wrap around hers, and she slips from Octavia’s back and almost perfectly into the viscount’s arms. This close to him, even in the silver light, she can see the dark ring around his irises, can see each individual eyelash and how they tangle ever so slightly in the corners.
“You came,” Lord Rosetti says, stepping back and releasing her hand from his.
She feels colder without him near.
Adelina clears her throat and lowers the hood from her hair. “I did. Fancied an evening out rather than one spent in a stuffy theater.”
“Ah, I see. So, you’re not here for the company, I take it?” He smiles, and Adelina’s stomach flutters.
“Certainly not. I barely know you, and it wouldn’t be proper.” She casts him a coy smile before stepping around him and feasting her eyes upon the lake.
The water ripples, sparkling beneath the cold light of the moon. At this time of night, and on such a secluded path, there’s no one around with which to share the view. No one but the viscount.
He moves to stand beside her, nearly a head taller than her, and clasps his hands behind his back.
Adelina doesn’t turn from the lake as she says, “I’ll admit, I appreciate how clever your plan was—to ask me to the opera only to invite me to a clandestine lakeside rendezvous. My mama was much convinced I’d be staying home to avoid the unpleasantness.” She laughs lightly, and that feeling of freedom tingles in her veins. Even here, beside Lord Rosetti, she can still feel it.
“Thank you for meeting me,” he says. Turning, he looks down at her, his playful smile morphing into something she doesn’t recognize. “I needed to see you, needed—” He clenches his teeth, and the muscles in his jaw go taut beneath his olive skin.
“Needed to what?” Adelina shifts toward him, tipping her head back ever so slightly to look into his eyes.
“You’ve not resumed the tonic?”
The sudden change in topic causes Adelina to bristle and turn away. “No. But I very well might if you don’t tell me what this is all about. I’ve been unnecessarily prickly, and I’m ravenous; I can’t eat enough. And Ihurt.” She casts a sideways glance at him. “My head hurts, my gums hurt, my everything hurts. Still, no one seems to know what’s in the tonic or why I take it.” She whirls to face him, her blue riding skirt swishing about her boots.“You, though, Viscount Rosetti, seem to know much more than you’re letting on. I demand you tell me this moment what’s in the tonic and how you know so much about it.”
Lord Rosetti regards her a moment. His green eyes shift almost imperceptibly, and she feels his gaze as it travels between her eyes, down her nose, and to her mouth. It settles there, and her tongue slips out to wet her lips. At the movement, the viscount’s eyes shift to hers, and something in them has changed. They’re narrowed slightly, and there’s a hunger in them now, one she could almost certainly swear is ready to devour her.
“Miss Gray,” he whispers, one hand coming up to brush a loose tendril of hair from her cheek. His fingertips caress her skin, and the touch makes her breath catch in her throat. Her eyes flutter closed, and the viscount moves closer to her in the dark.
His fingers slide across her jaw and down her neck, and she tips her head back just so. He removes the cravat from where it’s bunched beneath her chin, and the breeze tickles her exposed throat. Combined with his touch, it sends a shiver down her spine and warms the area between her legs.
“M-my lord,” she whispers, opening her eyes.
His face is inches from hers, that same wolfish look darkening his emerald gaze. His fingers move from her neck to the hair at her nape, and he pulls just hard enough to make her gasp. He moves closer, stooping to bring his lips to her ear.
