“I didn’t want to leave you the first time,” he said. “But was convinced otherwise.”
“By whom?”
“I asked my father’s advice on marriage … his suggestion proved to be unhelpful and not at all what I wanted for us.”
“I would like to think we are smarter now than we were then.” She took another sip from her refilled glass. What was she supposed to say? Ask him if this was a proposal? If it was, it certainly was the oddest proposal she had ever received.
“All I’m saying is that it doesn’t necessarily end here, Genny.”
She felt her hopes drop with the suggestion. “So we should carry on our affair in London?”
“That’s not precisely what I mean.”
She cocked her eyebrow and looked at him questioningly. She’d not play guessing games all evening. And really, he was killing the intimate mood they had shared. She felt silly sitting in the secluded garden maze half-dressed, so she put down her fluted glass and pulled the loose ties together on her night robe.
Leo came forward and grasped both her hands in one of his, effectively preventing her from dressing herself.
“Don’t,” he said. “I only want to say that perhaps we should have a real go at courting when we are back in London. While the passion between us is very real, I think there is a lot more to be had. You make me want to be a better man. What exactly better means I can’t say, but I’m willing to explore it with you.”
It was the most utterly romantic thing anyone had ever said to her. And she wanted to believe she could so easily give herself over to her wants, but life was never so simple, especially with the current position she was in.
She laughed bitterly even though the situation didn’t warrant any such reaction. She couldn’t help it since it was derived from sadness. Yes, she’d hoped for more from him four years ago, but everything was different now. She wasn’t in a position to be courted. Lord Ponsley would certainly object, not only because she would become a spectacle if things turned sour between her and Leo but because he’d already warned her about any association with him.
“My circumstances don’t allow for more than what we share now.”
He sat next to her on the bench again. “I think that’s a poor excuse, Genny.”
“I assure you, it is not. Lord Ponsley will never allow it. I’m to be here for his daughter until she is wed.”
“And after?”
“Are you suggesting you will wait?”
He paused, obviously mulling over his answer. “No, I refuse to wait. This will happen. Run away with me now, we’ll obtain a license to marry without delay.”
Genny placed her palm along his cheek. Life had never been more unfair than it was now. “I’ve been given very specific instructions to avoid contact with you. You cannot go against my benefactor’s wishes. To do so would certainly ruin my livelihood. I also cannot leave Charlotte in the middle of the season, for it would taint her reputation as well.”
“I will not let the bastard have the last say in this.”
“For now, it has to be.” Genny pressed her forehead to his.
“Trust me to find a way around this.”
“Why not wait until Charlotte is married?” Maybe they could run away together.
“Why should we wait at all?” He kissed her cheek.
She leaned in and kissed him tenderly on the lips, lingering for some moments in the warm closeness of their bodies. She had never felt more right than when she was in his arms. That had been the reason she’d turned down two offers of marriage from other suitors. How could she betray her heart when she certainly couldn’t betray the kind men who had offered for her when they deserved someone who could return their affections wholly and completely?
Could she trust Leo after everything they’d already been through? She had no answer to that.
She pulled back from his lips and whispered, “Make love to me, Leo.”
“As the lady wishes.”
* * *
So many thoughts went through Leo’s mind when he should be focused on the one thing he could give Genny at the moment.
A night never to be forgotten.
He’d make her crave his touch so thoroughly that it would be impossible for her to go back to London and forget their time here together. Ponsley was another matter entirely. The old man hated him for so many reasons already that a courtship with Genny could be nigh impossible. He’d figure it out regardless because he knew without doubt that he’d not be able to walk away from Genny a second time. In fact, he refused to do so.
Pulling the ribbon ties loose at the front of her nightgown, Leo brushed the material aside, giving him his first glimpse tonight of the soft swell of her breasts.
He exhaled a long breath and brushed his knuckles over the plumpness while his gaze devoured every morsel of flesh revealed. Slowly raising his gaze back to Genny’s eyes, he could see that her pupils ate up the whiskey-colored irises. Her cheeks were infused with the slightest hint of pink and her lower lip was damp where she’d licked at it.
Sliding his hand over her shoulders and under her loosened robe, he removed the first layer. Her night rail was nothing spectacular, simple white with ruched shoulder caps. An evening corset cinched her waist and the strings wrapped around the front before circling to the back where they knotted. There was something provocative about seeing her breasts bared above her stays, and he was almost tempted to leave it just as it was. Almost.
“It’s only fair that you remove an article of clothing, since I have,” she said suggestively. The wanton sound lacing her voice had his cock throbbing painfully in his trousers.
“You are wearing significantly more layers than I.”
She raised one brow. “And whose fault is that?”
He chuckled as he reached behind his neck and pulled his shirt over his head. Genny’s fingers grasped the neckline of the garment to aid him in tugging it off. When he tossed the shirt to the ground, her fingers threaded through his hair, the tips of her nails gently scoring his scalp.
“I always did prefer your hair without the stiffening product you put in it.”
Leo closed his eyes and was glad that he had thought to wash it before gathering up all the items they’d need for an evening outdoors. Her fingers worked their magic as they smoothed over the back of his head and then skimmed lower to mold to his shoulders and back.
Leaning closer to her, he pulled her lips between his. He was rewarded with a moan and the thrust of her tongue in his mouth.
“You’ve missed me, have you?” he said.
“I’ve forgotten how good it feels to be in your arms night after night.”
“Should I feel insulted that I’m not more memorable?”
She playfully shoved his shoulder. “Stop teasing me, you rogue.”
“We should get back to removing more of these pesky layers still separating us.” He pulled away from their kiss and waggled his eyebrows at her before catching her around the waist and tugging at the strings that held her stays firmly in place. “This should be the first thing to go.”
Spanning his hands over the boneless contraption cinching her waist, he slowly worked his fingers over the taut strings at the back, plucking each until he found the knotted ball at the middle of her back and pulling the looped strings to undo the corset.
Running his fingers under the top seam of the garment, he pressed against the heated cambric chemise that covered her from the ribs down. Her breath caught with the intimate touch. He wanted to bury his face between their softness and gently bite the undersides as he teased her nipples between his fingers.
Never had simply touching someone felt so good or made his cock throb so desperately.
Hooking his thumbs behind the edge of the material, he pulled each side of the corset toward her center and released the clasps that held it in place. When the corset fell around her hips, he yanked it away and threw it atop his discarded shirt.
“It’s your turn, now,” she said. Her mouth was parted, and her breathing came a little faster.
“I feel the odds are in your favor for this game.”
“As they should be.”
This was the Genny he remembered—playful and daring, not prim and proper.
He cupped her breast through her chemise, taking the whole weight in his hand and then gently plucking the firm tip between his fore and middle fingers before standing.
Resting one foot atop the bench, he loosened the laces on his shoe. “Hmmm, I don’t seem to have my valet on hand to help me undress properly.”
“Sit down, Leo.”
He complied with a smile. “I aim to please, madam.”
“Yourself, you mean.” She stood and made her way around to face him. When she knelt to the ground and grasped his shoe with both hands, he could see the two perfect swells of her breasts down the front of her gaping chemise. She pulled hard on his shoe and would have fallen solidly on her bottom had he not grabbed hold of her arms to steady her.
“There, now the other one.” She seemed pleased with her result.
“I think not, my lady. That would be two articles of clothing to your one. Wholly unfair considering the rules of this game.”
He took both her hands in his and bid her stand before him. She placed her hands on his shoulders and looked down at him.