Page 89 of Rakes & Reticules
She sighed. “Your kiss was exquisite.”
“It was, wasn’t it? Now you will think I am full of myself. What made it exquisite was the way we responded to each other.”
“Heavens, I am still responding.” She looked up at him and gave a lilting laugh. “May we stay out here a moment longer? I am not yet recovered.”
He felt her soft breaths against his chest. “As long as you wish, Amelia.”
He had his arms wrapped around her and was in no hurry to ever let her go. But he knew they could not remain out here beyond another minute or two. Rosie may have been keen to see her shy niece experience a splendid kiss, but she would never allow him to take a step beyond or she would come down on him like a reign of fire. “Come along, my lovely one,” he said after a moment. “Your aunt will gut me if I do not return you to her now.”
“All right.” She eased out of his arms, and laughed softly. “You have now ruined me forever for the game of whist. I shall never be able to keep a straight face as the cards are dealt. Nor shall I ever stop thinking of your wager with your uncle. My mind will always wander to this moment and I will botch every trick.”
“I’m glad. The kiss affected me, too.” He led her back to the terrace, easily guiding her by the gleam of a full moon. The wind was cooling, a sign of the colder weather to come. The days were still warm enough, but the air turned quickly once the sun went down, which it did earlier now that summer was over.
Amelia held back as they were about to return indoors. “You go in. I dare not walk in just yet. My face is still in flames.”
“I’ll stay with you.”
“You needn’t. I will remain in sight of the cards room. I just need another moment to compose myself. I never knew a kiss could be like this. I am completely...unsettled. In a good way, of course.”
He removed his jacket and wrapped it around her shoulders. “I’ll keep my distance. Anyone who peers out will just see us talking. Perfectly harmless and proper since we will be in full sight of everyone.”
“This is going to set Dorothea off again.”
“There is nothing she can do to you that would have me doubt you, Amelia. If she has a lick of sense, she has likely realized it by now. Besides, I am staying close to you for the duration of this house party because I enjoy your company and see no reason to deprive myself.”
“The other young ladies will be bereft.”
“They’ll turn their attention to the other bachelors, as well they should. Unlike you, these young ladies are fully aware they are on a battlefield with limited time and resources to gain their objective. They will not bother laying siege to an impenetrable fortress when easier spoils are available to them.”
“I suppose you are right. It is such an unpleasant way of looking at this marriage game. But it really is not a game for us, the fairer sex. And yet, I hope that any proposals arising from this weekend also involve some feelings of love.”
He nodded. “For most, the primary consideration will be forging advantageous alliances. But I am sure there will also be some who find both love and good advantage.”
“Shall we go inside now? I think I am better.” She handed him back his jacket that now carried the light lavender scent of her skin. “Besides, Dorothea will come after you to claim her two dances any moment now.”
He donned his jacket. “I suppose. Will you come into the music room with me?”
“No,” she said with a wincing laugh. “Perhaps for a little while later on. If I do come in, you must not ask me to dance.”
“Why not? Dorothea–”
“It has nothing to do with her. I am an atrocious dancer. It is me I am concerned about. Why do you think I try to stay pasted to the walls at any ball? I cannot dance. It is my Achilles heel and does me in every time.”
“You simply haven’t had the right partner.”
“Oh, so now you think you can turn me into a graceful gazelle in your arms? You may have melted me with your kisses, but dancing with me is a futile endeavor. Your shins might never recover from the ordeal. Truly, I am that bad.”
“Well, that tears it. I can never have you as my duchess if you cannot dance. Gad, I am jesting, Amelia,” he said with a laugh when he noticed her look of dismay. “Do you think I care whether you can twirl about a ballroom? That is the least of my concerns in selecting a wife.”
He escorted her back to Rosie, and then left them to claim his dances with Dorothea, eager to attend to that chore and be done with it.
Dorothea was an excellent dancer, but there was nothing sweet about her features or her gloating smile. She was not dancing with him for the pleasure of it, but to poke her thumb in the eye of every other young lady present.
To add to his irritation, she took every opportunity to rub her body against him, as though that would ever tempt him. He was well beyond his days of youthful misadventure when all he cared about was conquest.
He claimed his two dances one after the other, hoping to get over the misery all at once. Then he shared dances with several other young ladies, something Dorothea was not too pleased about. Did the girl think she had some claim to him?
If so, he intended to dispel that notion.
