Page 39 of When the Viscount Seduces
Gwen turned her head slightly and brushed her lips against his palm. “You tempt me. I’m only asking for one kiss. Please?”
His eyes darkened to a turbulent storm. “This is not part of our agreement.” He brushed his thumb over her lower lip, and Gwen wanted to lean into him. Her body trembled with desire.
She wanted his kiss so badly, but recognized she’d put him in a terrible position. He was trying very hard not to be a rogue, and here she was begging him to be. “I am asking too much.”
“Ask me one more time, and I will grant your wish.”
Without hesitation, she said, “Please, Somerton, kiss me.”
“Lazarus,” he rasped. “My name is Lazarus.”
His lips swept over hers as his hands moved back to cup her head. Gwen sparked to life, as if she’d been lying dormant over winter and the sun had awakened her once more.
She put her hands on his shoulders, one of them still grasping the hairpins, as his mouth whispered against hers. Eager to feel him, Gwen pressed her body closer to his.
Lazarus licked her lip and slipped his tongue inside her mouth. Gasping with delight, Gwen clutched at him more tightly as he deepened the kiss, his head angling as their lips moved together.
He lifted his head briefly, but only for the barest respite, as he claimed her mouth once more. He kissed her with a passion that surpassed any flowery words she’d ever read in a love poem. Indeed, she wasn’t sure she could find words to describe what was happening.
“Oh, good God, what are youdoing?”
Lazarus stepped back from Gwen, and she brought her hand to her mouth, both because her lips were quivering from his kiss and because she was horrified they’d been caught. She’d brokenseveral rogue rules, and she was most certainly going to have to pay the price.
Gwen saw that it was Miss Harker who’d seen them. She cast an accusatory glare at Lazarus. “Somerton, you are an absolute scoundrel. You know better!”
His gaze dipped, and he appeared more than sufficiently reprimanded. Gwen sent Miss Harker a worried look. “It wasn’t entirely his fault.” Gwen had practically begged him to kiss her. That had to make her a roguess. Or something.
“He is wholly to blame,” Miss Harker insisted. “Although you should know better also. But then, you came to this event in a disguise in his company without supervision.”
Put like that, she made Gwen sound utterly devoid of intelligence—or propriety. Gwen wondered if she might be right. At least when it came to the viscount. He made her want to risk things she oughtn’t. Because he made her feel beautiful and desirable. No one had ever made her feel that way.
Gwen mounted the only defense she had. “The viscount was kind enough to organize this invitation for me because he knew I would enjoy attending a literary salon.”
“Iorganized it for you,” Miss Harker said. She sent Lazarus another scolding look and clucked her tongue. “You’re lucky it was me who found you. I wanted to see if all was well or if Miss Price needed to leave.”
“You knew it was me under the veil?” Gwen asked. How did she even know who Gwen was when Gwen hadn’t ever met her before?
“I did, because Somerton asked me to obtain an invitation for him and for you.”
“I never said it was for her,” Lazarus mumbled. “You assumed.”
Why had she assumed? Unfortunately, Gwen did not have time to chase that thought at the moment. “I was just goingto repin my veil so I could return to the drawing room,” Gwen explained. “Somerton was, er, helping me rotate the veil so the hole caused by the candle is at the back of my head.”
“I’ll help you get it secured,” Miss Harker offered, though it sounded more like a command. She glanced toward Lazarus. “You can wait outside or in the drawing room.”
“She’ll need help to get back. She can’t see well with the veil.”
“And I’m clumsy even without it,” Gwen added. “With it, I’m a walking disaster, as evidenced by my scorched headwear.” She was fortunate nothing else had caught on fire, such as her hair.
“I’ll be in the drawing room.” Lazarus met Gwen’s gaze, and she saw a flash of regret. It made her heart twist with disappointment. “We should leave soon.”
Gwen nodded as he departed, her earlier joy replaced by a pang of sadness. What had been a thrilling adventure had devolved into a catastrophe. “I suppose I’m ruined now.” There had been no discussion of marriage, which would be required since they’d been caught in a compromising position.
“You are not ruined,” Miss Harker said firmly. “Sit.” She gestured to a chair set at a small dressing table with a mirror.
“You don’t plan to tell anyone what you saw?” Gwen handed her one of the pins.
“Why would I? If I wanted to be a horrible gossip, I would have already told all and sundry who you really were under the veil.”
