Page 36 of Lady Controversial
‘We have not decided what to do about Brooke,’ he replied, nowhere near ready to let her go and searching his mind for reasons to detain her for just a little longer.
‘He will have run to…argh!’
A whirling dervish exploded from the trees behind Isolda, startling her and sending her tumbling into Ellery’s arms. He closed them around her as her body collided with his, clearly knocking the air from her lungs. In hot pursuit of a squirrel and oblivious to the mayhem he had caused, Brutus continued with his chase, barking in the futile expectation of slowing the squirrel down.
‘Oh, sorry!’
Isolda tried to pull out of his arms but Ellery tightened his hold on her, revelling in the feel of her enticing curves beneath his questing hands. That shirt had left little to the imagination, distracting Ellery the entire time they had been in conversation. The graphic evidence displayed by her tight breeches had been even harder to ignore. He now knew for a fact that her body was every bit as tantalising as the evidence had suggested and the effect it had upon him was as predictable as it was inappropriate.
‘Don’t be.’ Ellery’s voice had turned gravelly with passion. ‘I will always be there to prevent you from falling.’
She looked up at him through those wretchedly enticing wide eyes, her expression bewildered and yet trusting, or so he chose to believe. ‘You will?’
‘Always.’
Ellery lowered his head, closing the distance that separated their mouths, and covered her sweet, tempting lips with his own, fleetingly.
Far too fleetingly.
But for long enough to satisfy himself that she tasted of the outdoors and carnal curiosity. He forced himself to release her before he lost all sense of propriety, holding her by one elbow until he was sure that her legs would support her.
‘What…what was that for?’ she asked.
Ellery wanted to smile. She was the only woman he knew who would feel the need to ask, who would not recognise the indefinable something that had sprung up between them for what it was—mutual passion. A mutual passion that was in danger of running out of control, at least insofar as Ellery was concerned, which ought to have…well, concerned him. But how could something that felt so natural and right possibly be wrong, he wondered?
His mind briefly drifted to Miss Teddington, so pretty, so perfectly turned out, so subservient, so suitable and yet so utterly predictable. His mother, he knew, would have apoplexy if she even suspected his growing awareness of Isolda’s unique charms, but frankly Ellery didn’t give a damn about his mother’s finer feelings. Dressed in silk, Isolda would be more than a match for all the silly misses his mother had attempted to foist upon him over the years, and infinitely more challenging.
‘Excuse me, but I forgot myself for a moment.’ The disappointment that veiled her eyes was almost his undoing. ‘Actually, I did not, so I can hardly offer you an apology that is sincere.’ He placed a finger beneath her chin and tilted her head backwards until she was forced to meet his gaze. Her cheeks were again flaming. ‘I have been resisting the urge to do that since I first made your acquaintance.’
‘When I tumbled from the gig?’ She managed a taut smile. ‘You were furious with me and blamed me for the incident.’
He raised a provocative brow. ‘Was I?’ Ellery sighed and turned her in the direction of Rose Cottage. Brutus, unaware of the service he had obligingly provided for Ellery, scampered up to them, his tongue lolling from the side of his mouth. ‘Well anyway, as to Brooke, I suspect that he will run to your aunt looking for help with his cause.’
Isolda nodded, apparently more in control of herself again. ‘I dare say you are in the right of it and we will enjoy the dubious pleasure of a visit from her in the not too distant future. But in the meantime I must return and supervise the repairs to the parlour roof. The chimney sweep is due today as well, and I am hoping to persuade the roof man to patch up the worst of the damp on the parlour walls while he is here.’
Ellery tutted and wanted to tell her that he would arrange for the repairs to be carried out more efficiently, but knew his offer would be rejected. Isolda would not accept his charity.
‘Let me know if there is anything I can do to make your cottage more comfortable,’ he allowed a significant pause, ‘to makeyoumore comfortable.’
By the time they had returned to the barn, Ellery’s footman had chopped all the logs and piled them neatly in the log store. Ellery was surprised that he hadn’t been seen from the cottage by Jane, who would have come to investigate. Surprised but relieved.
‘I will leave you now.’ Ellery took Isolda’s hand, raised it to his lips and kissed the back of it. ‘Just remember, we are in this together. Send word the moment you hear anything from your aunt or Brooke.’
Isolda glanced towards the kitchen window and muttered something unladylike beneath her breath. Ellery followed her gaze and noticed Jane at the window, her nose pressed against the glass and her mouth hanging open. Clearly she had seen Ellery kiss her sister’s hand, and he was glad that for once Isolda would be the one to be envied.
‘Ah,’ he said, grinning at Isolda, who smiled back at him.
‘I shall have questions to answer now,’ she said, sighing.
‘If you want my advice, I would refrain from offering her any sort of explanation.’ He squeezed the hand that he still held in his. ‘Keep her guessing. It will do her the world of good not to be the centre of attention for once.’
‘Very likely,’ Isolda replied, tilting her head in a considering fashion and fixing him with a probing look. ‘I wish I knew what game it is that you are playing, Lord Finchdean,’ she said, retrieving her hand, ‘but I know better than to waste my breath by demanding an explanation, since I am sure you will not tell me. Good day to you.’
‘Call me Ellery,’ he said, swinging into Legacy’s saddle and raising a hand in farewell as he turned his stallion on the path towards home. He looked back just before he turned the corner that would hide her from his view and saw that she was still standing where he had left her, watching him.
Chapter Twelve
By the following day, Isolda still hadn’t managed to decide what had made Lord Finchdean—Ellery—kiss her. Jane had sulked the entire evening, convinced that his lordship had made an excuse to call with the express purpose of seeing her and that Isolda had selfishly monopolised his company instead. Isolda gave up on her efforts to convince her sister otherwise and left her to her pouting.
