A broken pink flower head lay below the bloom it looked to have been accidentally torn from. He picked it up and ran it down the side of her face. She stopped walking and faced him, bringing them both to a standstill.
Water misted down on the cocooned world they created in their orchid realm. She gave a cheerful laugh and tilted her head back to catch the mist full on her face as it fell. Her tongue reached for the water that lightly sprayed them both. Glancing up to the piping that ran the length of the ceiling he, too, tasted the fresh water on his tongue.
“What a glorious surprise tonight has been. I can’t thank you enough for bringing me here.” She dropped her shawl, obviously uncaring that it landed in a heap in the dirt-trodden path as she stretched out her arms, catching the cool water on the tips of her fingers as it sprayed down on them.
All the beauty in the world didn’t compare to the expression on her face in that moment. He wanted to taste the liquid building on her eyelids, her lips, her pale dew-covered skin. He wanted to lick at her neck and dip his tongue into the swell of her breasts above the tight-laced corset.
But he would not allow temptation to overwhelm his better judgment. He settled for taking only the slightest of liberties, and lowered his knuckles to skim the damp exposed skin at her collar. She turned her head to the side in invitation, but because the words to invite him closer did not fall from her lips he released her instead of curling his hand around her delicate neck to pull her to him.
The mist stopped just as suddenly as it had started, piercing the privately shared fantasy they’d indulged too briefly in. He pulled away reluctantly, pushed the orchid low between her breasts, and picked the shawl up to drape it back around her shoulders. She said nothing, just pressed her fingers to her heart, though the smile on her face told him exactly how she felt.
She wanted more, and she had enjoyed the moment just as much as he had.
He tucked her arm through his and they walked on. He clenched his jaw and focused on breathing deeply. Focused on the blooms, beauty, and the sights around them. He tried unsuccessfully to shift his thoughts away from only her.
He brought her outside and down the path that led toward the rose room. He’d lost his control and his sanity back in the orchid house and hoped to gain some of it back before they found themselves in a similar situation.
When they reached the door for the rose arboretum, and pushed it open, her expression lightened as the scent of the flowers tenderly surrounded them.
She took a step away from him, closed her eyes, and breathed deeply.
When she opened them again, she turned to him and said, “It’s spectacular.”
She reached her hand out to touch one of the multitudes of soft-petaled flowers surrounding them. Clasping his hand tightly around her wrist, he pulled her hand back too late; a thorn caught the side of her finger. She hissed in a sharp breath and jerked away from the smarting.
A small well of blood beaded where the thorn had stuck her. “Damn,” she muttered.
He took his necktie from his pocket and blotted away the evidence of her injury without a word.
“Thank you,” she whispered, as though afraid of being heard by anyone who might be nearby.
“Don’t thank me.” His voice didn’t come easy and he was sure she’d be able to tell just how aroused he was by the rusty quality. “Here…” He plucked a pink rose by pinching the bottom of its head at the stem, and pressed it into her hand. “I have a feeling these are your favorite flower.”
“Hard not to guess when my first inclination was to ask if you kept roses. My mum used to call me her little rose because the slightest exertion would turn my face pink. They are like a namesake to me.”
She spun in a small circle, head back, as she breathed in the scent of the gardens and took in the sight of the rosebushes from the stone-cobbled dirt floor to the glass-covered ceiling. That damned smile she wore so naturally was doing something to him. He wanted to always see that expression on her face—day and night … for an eternity if he could.
When she turned back to him she reached for his hand this time. He didn’t hesitate to clasp her hands in return and pull her nearer; knowing he was going against his word but unable to stop himself. Only a few inches separated them and it wouldn’t be hard to pull her in the remaining distance.
He threaded his fingers through her hair and clasped the back of her head lightly to draw her face closer as he lowered his mouth. He gave her all the time in the world to object, but the only thing to fall past her lips was a soft sigh.
She relaxed into him when their mouths fused and he took her lips between his in a gentle persuading kiss. Her head angled back to give him better access to her open mouth and he licked his tongue inside, sucking on her upper lip as he pulled back. When she still didn’t protest his taking advantage of her, he did it again. This time, her tongue met his in the middle and danced around his as she went up on the tips of her toes and wrapped her arms around his shoulders.
One of his hands lowered to the top of her buttocks and rested at the small of her back. He edged her closer, pressing her belly against his arousal, letting her feel just how much he wanted her.
She moaned into his mouth and rubbed the front of her body tightly against his before she slowly pulled away, inching back a step but looking reluctant as she did so.
“We should go,” she said.
“Stay a while longer. I’ll do no more or less than you ask.”
“We can’t.”
The enthusiastic smile slipped from her face. In its place was something more alluring and seductive. There was dew left on her cheeks and lips from the mist that had showered down on them. It was hard to suppress his desire to lick it all away.
“You’ve barely gone around the room.”
“I think it wise we stop everything that we are doing, Barrington. My reputation cannot withstand whatever it is you have in mind.”
He spread his arms wide. “Look around you, Genny. It’s only the two of us here. There is no one to offer censure or tell you what you can or cannot do—least of all me.”
“I can’t do these outings with you and not involve my feelings.”
Her words stung. “Do you think I’m so coldhearted that I feel nothing? So carefree that I don’t feel some of the same things you do?”
“No … I didn’t mean it in that sense.”
“Then what did you mean? Aside from telling me repeatedly that I am a bad sort and not worthy of your company, you insist that I have every intention of ruining you. Why won’t you let me prove myself otherwise?”
“And why should I believe you when you have yet to tell me why you sought out my cousin all those weeks ago? I know you have no prior association with her. What was it you planned?”
That he couldn’t tell her. Not yet. Not when he was trying to convince her that he was a decent man. But, really, was he decent when he was lying to her about his original purpose in pursuing, however briefly, Lady Charlotte that first evening they had run into each other?
Eventually he would tell her the truth but that time was not now. Not when she didn’t completely trust him. Not when she would turn her back on him and not think to give him another chance. He knew he was being selfish, but he wanted it to be harder for her to walk away from him.
“Let us get back to the main house.” He tugged her down the cobbled path, intent on going back the same way they’d entered since it was the shortest way back to the Carleton Estate.
“Don’t think I haven’t noticed your desire to keep your secrets.”
“For now, they must and will remain my secrets, Genny.”
Before they exited the indoor rose garden, he picked up the gardening shears and cut two pink roses high on the stem and scraped off the thorns before he pressed them into Genny’s hands.
She looked down to the flowers that were half in bloom and brought them up to her nose to smell their intoxicating scent. “Thank you for tonight.”
“You can come here any time you so wish it. Let it be my gift to you.”
“It’s very kind of you.”
“I mean it. The flowers are meant to be enjoyed, not to languish here without someone to admire them. Feel free to wander over here any time of the day … or night. I’ll alert my staff that a young woman may be around to take in the beauty of the gardens.”
“You know I can do no such thing.”
“Yes you can. You just don’t want to live dangerously at the moment. If the urge should ever take you, my offer is open-ended.” He gave her a gallant bow before offering her his arm. “Now, let us get you tucked into the relative safety of your room.”
“Thank you for making good on your word.”
“Why you thought I wouldn’t baffles me.” He gave her a smile and simply enjoyed their proximity on the walk back to the Carleton Estate.
Chapter 15
It has come to this writer’s attention that the soon-to-be-appointed Earl of F___ was seen shopping at a jeweler’s known to provide the most delicate and precious of gems for those with deep enough pockets for such lavish finery. Though he did not leave with a box in hand, he did spend a great deal of time inside conversing with the proprietor.
Being the type of gentleman he is, and setting aside his most recent accounts of courting, who’s to say this gift isn’t yet another bauble for the plethora of women it is rumored he keeps on hand in Town like a harem for a Turkish Bey?