She closed her eyes and prepared for his lips to brush hers.
“Marina,” Evan called to her. “Your father sent me to fetch you.”
The man was a menace. Marina spun and shot daggers with the expression she cast at Evan. There was no chance her father sent him, and Evan was merely interfering. She would appear churlish if she accused him of lying. She returned her attention to Weatherby. “Please excuse me, my lord. I must see to Papa, but I look forward to seeing you tomorrow.”
“Indeed. I will be there, my lady.” He kissed her hand. She noted Evan’s clenched jaw in the moonlight and laughed to herself. At least there was some victory in the exchange for her.
Once they were out of earshot from Weatherby, she spoke where only he could hear. “What are you playing at?”
“Just meet me in the salon down from the retiring room. Please.” He stepped away from her and sauntered across the room in that direction.
Did she even wish to speak with him? She knew she did, even if she would have denied the truth to his face. He still vexed her, but she needed to know what he was after.
If her curiosity wasn’t enough, she saw her father and Mintoscanning the ballroom floor, knowing they were looking for her. She looked away and took off in the direction Evan had departed.
She reached the room he directed her to and closed the door. Her breath caught seeing him, and she hated she still had such a vehement reaction to the man. It was inconvenient when she needed a solution to her Minto problem, and it wouldn’t involve Evan.
“I wasn’t sure if you would come,” he said softly.
“I wasn’t sure if I would, either.”
He took a few steps closer to her. “Why did you?”
She shrugged one shoulder. “Better than speaking with Minto. Why did you wish for me to join you here?”
“Weatherby isn’t for you, Marina.”
Rolling her eyes, she planted her hands on her hips. This man was too much. “You seem to think you have any say in my life.”
“He will never be faithful,” he said. “His mistress will warm his bed tonight.”
“Perhaps I don’t require a faithful husband. Married to the right man, I would be awarded more freedom than I have with my father. My freedom is far more important to me than the illusion of anything more,” she lied. It would irritate her to no end to deal with an unfaithful husband, but she was short on options. She once believed she wanted more with Evan, but perhaps what she felt then and when she looked at him now were just moments of passion and nothing more. The pounding of her heart told her otherwise.
“I don’t think that is true,” he challenged. “I think you desire much more than that. The life you thought you and I might have together.”
“You forget you treated me cruelly and called me temporary.”
He closed the distance between them with slow, intentional steps. “Marina, I didn’t mean that.”
She crossed her arms. “Then how exactly am I supposed to ascertain between what are lies and what are truths?”
“You were going to let Weatherby kiss you, weren’t you?” He wasstanding before her, with only the slightest gap between them. There was a tinge of hurt in his tone when he asked the question.
Marina didn’t move away from him, only raised her chin. “I was,” she stated. “He will call on me tomorrow, and I’ll have a chance again without your interference.”
“Marina.” He closed his eyes, wincing as if she had slapped him. “Will you please allow me to kiss you? If you still want to kiss Weatherby afterward, I shan’t interfere again.”
She pondered his question. Her hatred for him felt lighter and further from her thoughts, but she didn’t trust him. She would be lying to herself if she said she didn’t want to kiss him, but she didn’t want to risk letting him in again, only for him to cast her aside.
Then her body spoke for her, leaning closer to him until her chest pressed against his.
“Is that a yes?” he asked, his voice a whisper.
She nodded.
That was the only invitation he needed, and he wrapped his arms around her. Brushing his lips against hers, he urged her to open to him. She met his kiss and took control, massaging her tongue against his. His groan grew louder, and she intensified her actions, relishing in the power she had to elicit such a response from him. His hand cupped her bottom and pulled her against his cock, and she recalled the hard, velvety feel of it when she’d stroked him. The recollection of their time together sent heat coursing through her veins, and she undulated against him.
He growled and swept her off her feet, carrying her to the nearby settee, not breaking their kiss. Setting her down, he hovered over her. He slid his hand under the hem of her gown until he reached her core, brushing his finger across her sensitive pearl. “Do you want me to kiss you here?”
