Page 158 of Oddity of the Ton
“Why, Miss Howard, do you intend to have your wicked way with me?”
Her cheeks warmed, and she lowered her gaze. He caught her chin and tilted her head up.
“No, my love,” he said. “You must never hide from me again. I want nothing more than to make love to you all day.”
“Montague!”
“Oh yes,” he growled. “I’ve missed hearing my name on your lips. I intend to make up for lost time this afternoon, and hear you cry my name as you come apart at my touch. Oh, Eleanor—you cannot even begin to imagine how much I love you. But, for the remainder of this day, I shall refrain from telling you how much.”
“Oh?”
“Instead, my love, I’ll show you. Thoroughly, wantonly, and completely.”
He took her hand, and she led him into the cottage. Almost as soon as she closed the door, she found herself swept up into his arms.
“Montague, shouldn’t we wait until we’re married?”
“Woman—do you seek to prolong my torment?”
“N-no—I just thought…”
“A man in love doesn’tthink,” he said. “Hedoes.”
“Then what are you waiting for?”
“Hmmm,” he said. “I like this bold, independent Eleanor. Is she as bold in the bedchamber, I wonder?”
In answer, she gave him a saucy smile and flicked her tongue out, running it along her top lip. His eyes flared with raw, primal need, and he gave a low growl—the call of a savage beast, ready to claim his mate.
Then he carried her upstairs, where pleasure awaited.
Epilogue
Four months later
London, July 1816
The wall wasfilled with paintings—brightly colored landscapes and portraits of distinguished gentlemen bedecked in finery—and in the far corner, near the doorway, a line drawing, with a plain wooden frame.
Monty glanced at the booklet in his hands and read the inscription.
THE
EXHIBITION
OF THE
ROYAL ACADEMY,
M.DCCCXVI.
THE FORTY-EIGHTH
He approached the drawing and smiled. Elegant in its simplicity—yet that very simplicity spoke of the complexity and insight of the artist, who, through a few pencil strokes, was able to capture the essence of the subject.
The likeness was astonishing—it was as if his sister was smiling out from the picture at him. What would she think of being immortalized on the Royal Academy’s walls?
Monty flicked through the booklet in his hands, stopped at one of the pages, and ran his thumb down the list, until he found the item he sought.
