“It is hard to imagine you in a place where you can’t hold court among all your friends and be the life of the party.”
“Oh, I was still the life of the party,” Dorian said, grinning mischievously at her--and making her blush, he was delighted to see. “But no one could understand a thing I was saying--and vice versa. It got a bit…” He wanted to say lonesome, but something held him back from doing so; he didn’t want Lady Leah to think of him that way. “Dull,” he finished instead. “So I came home. And I am very glad I did! It seems that in my absence Lucien has become a besotted fool!”
“Yes,” Lady Leah said, laughing. “But he is much less rigid now, so we allow him to be besotted. And Emery--the Duchess, I mean--is absolutely wonderful. The best older sister I could ever ask for.”
“And you are out now?” Dorian asked, indicating the ball behind them with a flourish of his hand. “A marriageable young lady already?”
Lady Leah smiled, but the curve of her lips took on a rigid set. “Yes, I am a marriageable young lady.” A dark expression passed over her face, but she didn’t elaborate more. Dorian hesitated. Should he ask her what was wrong?
In most cases, he wouldn’t. He liked to cheer young ladies up, not make them cry more. But Lady Leah was an old friend, and he felt a softness in his heart when it came to her. And she looked so beautiful but fragile tonight, so vulnerable and in need of protecting…
Then you’re the last person she needs,a voice in his head whispered maliciously.You can’t protect anyone, least of all fragile young ladies.
Despite the warmth, he shivered, and Lady Leah gave him a sympathetic look. “Are you cold? Should we go inside?”
“We probably should– ” he began, but before he could finish, he heard Lucien calling his voice.
“Is that my brother?” Lady Leah said, turning in the direction of the library.
“Yes, we were about to share a brandy when he had to go,” Dorian said. “But he’s back now, and I should really bring you inside before he begins to worry about you.”
“Dorian? Where did you go?” Lucien’s voice was closer, as if he were out through the French doors and onto the balcony. “Are you out in the garden?”
Dorian had just turned to call back to his friend, to let him know that yes, he was in the garden, but before he could, Lady Leah grabbed his hand.
Dorian froze.
For one thing, Lady Leah had removed her gloves. She was now touching him with her bare hands. Such things were not done.
And for another, when he looked up into her eyes, she was gazing at him with the most intense look he had ever seen in a young lady. It was equal parts desperation and guilt. Her pale skin had gone even paler.
“Lady Leah?” he asked uncertainly. “Are you alright?”
“I really am very sorry about this,” she said, her voice a low, gravelly murmur.
“What do you--” But he never got to finish his sentence. Because before he could, Leah had kissed him.
Dorian was so shocked that for several heartbeats, he did nothing; he simply allowed the girl to press her lips against his. It was an inelegant kiss, but there was a fiery, desperate need to it that he had to admire--more than admire.
Because as the fractions of seconds ticked past, Dorian realized that he was enjoying the kiss. She didn’t have technique, perhaps, but she had something more: passion. She kissed as if this were the most important thing she was ever going to do--as if her life depended on it. And he very much liked to be kissed like that.
Without thinking, Dorian’s hands came to Lady Leah’s waist, and he pulled her roughly against him. She let out a small gasp of surprise, which allowed him to take control of the kiss, deepening it. To his immense satisfaction, she momentarily melted into it.
This was the kind of kiss he could completely forget himself in. His hand went from her waist to her hair, and he curled his fingers into it. His fingers found the pins that kept her hair locked up, and he began to pull them out, his movements suddenly becoming urgent, purposeful . He had to get her hair down, to see how she would look with it cascading around her. He had to–
“What in God’s name is going on here?!”
The shout wrenched Dorian back into reality, and he sprang away from Lady Leah as if he had been electrocuted. Dorian whipped around to see Lucien standing by the cherry tree, a furious look on his face.
“How dare you?” Lucien roared, taking a threatening step toward them. “I thought you were my friend! My best friend! How could you do this to me, Dorian? To our Leah? To our family?”
“Lucien– ” Dorian began, but his friend cut him off.
“I know that you have no respect for women, but I had hoped that you might have some respect for my sister!”
“Lucien, don’t be like that,” Dorian said, his tendency to make light of situations kicking in. “Of course I respect women— and Lady Leah most of all.”
“And yet, you just compromised her!”
