She broke the kiss and traveled instead down the svelte column of Tommy’s neck toward her small breasts, tasting as she went. The slight salt of sweat, the citrusy bergamot of Tommy’s perfume, the heat of her flesh.
Experimentally, Philippa licked one of Tommy’s dark, erect nipples. She was immediately rewarded by the muscles of Tommy’s vulva clamping briefly about her fingers. Philippa took the breast into her mouth, swirling her tongue the way Tommy had shown her, while stroking with her fingers the way she now knew drove Tommy to the edge.
“I…” Tommy gasped. Her slender hips bucked and she ground faster until her inner muscles spasmed rhythmically about Philippa’s fingers.
Tommy collapsed and pulled Philippa into her embrace with an exhausted, but contented, sigh. Philippa wrapped her arms about Tommy and held on tight.
“To be clear,” Tommy said drowsily. “We can do that all night long if you want.”
Philippa’s heart lurched as though it, too, wished to get closer to Tommy with every fluttering beat. Her lips curved. Neither her heart nor her body was cold or dead or broken. Philippa’s heart was inlove. With the person whose arms she was in, whose bed she was sharing.
Lovemaking had been more than she’d dreamed. She wanted to do this with Tommy every day. Not just the marvelous sensual parts, butthis. The snuggling, after.
It was a miracle…and a disaster. How was she supposed to continue on with an ordinary life, after experiencingthis?
31
With her wig and wrinkles in place and a wicker basket clutched in one liver-spotted hand, Tommy accepted the Duke of Faircliffe’s assistance from his carriage.
“Can Northrup’s town house hold this many people?” Chloe gestured at the queue of coaches behind them. “Wouldn’t guests have been more comfortable if he held a smaller fête?”
“And detract from his glory?” the Duke of Faircliffe asked dryly as he held out an elbow to each lady. “With Northrup’s ballroom full to bursting, gossips will label it a major ‘crush of the season’ even before the season has properly begun.”
“I cannot wait to give the gossips something even bigger to talk about,” Tommy said. “The ‘scandal of the season,’ starring the soon-to-be-disgraced Captain Northrup. Tonight, we put the final gear in motion. Are you ready?”
“Of course I’m ready,” Chloe answered. “Is Philippa ready?”
“Philippa needn’t do anything,” Tommy said firmly. “She has a reputation to mind and will serve as a distraction whilst we dabble in a little light burglary.”
The Duke of Faircliffe slanted his wife a look of exaggerated shock. “Does not aduchessalso have a reputation to mind?”
“Pah,” said Tommy. “Notyourduchess. Besides, Chloe’s been nicking things since she was five years old. She can do it in her sleep. Of course she can do it in a crowded ballroom. You look after Philippa and leave the thievery to the experts.”
“I’ll look after all of my ladies.” He gave his wife a look of such heat and tenderness, Tommy rather doubted Faircliffe capable of noticing anyone else.
“And another thing,” she quavered at full volume, once they were within earshot of the door. “Young bucks like you, Faircliffe—”
“Why, look, Aunt,” Chloe said soothingly. “We’ve arrived at Captain Northrup’s residence. Isn’t it lovely? This fine man must be the butler. Here are our cards, good sir. These are gifts for Miss Damaris Urqhart. We’ll present them to her ourselves. I am anxious to be rid of my coat and bonnet. Aunt, may we assist you with yours?”
“I’ll help her,” Faircliffe said.
Tommy cackled and sent a salacious look at the butler. “Any excuse to be manhandled by a duke, I always say. Don’t you agree?”
The butler’s startled eyes flared wide. “I…what…”
“Come along, Aunt,” Chloe coaxed. “They’ll read our names, and then we can greet our hosts.”
Tommy tottered next to Faircliffe and Chloe, being sure to peer about myopically and bump into anyone who passed within arm’s length of her.
The most effective part of the Great-Aunt Wynchester disguise was not her wig or her cosmetics, but the impression of helpless senility. One look, and she was immediately discounted as harmless.
…And more than a touch embarrassing. The sort of person one would be relieved to see disappear from a fancy soirée.
There would be no search party, nor any particular surprise, if an old lady were to be discovered roaming the halls in confusion. The trick was not to be caught untilaftershe’d found the manuscript. Only then would she be ready to make her grand re-entrance to the ball.
“A captain, you say?” she blustered when they reached Northrup. “You remind me of an insolent pup who once barged into a ladies’ private reading circle without an invitation. I should hope that cad was no relative of yours.”
“Come along, Aunt,” said Chloe. “Give your basket to Damaris, and let’s greet the other guests, shall we? Look, there are Mr. and Mrs. York and their daughter, Philippa. Doesn’t she look charming tonight?”
