Page 49 of A Daring Desire

Kilbane, so surefooted and masterful up until this point, stumbled slightly, and it took him a moment to recover. When he did, he glared down at her, a look in his eyes that made her heart skip.

“I am trying to be a gentleman,” he said through gritted teeth.

She smiled, delighted with him. “I know, and I’m so very proud of you. You can have no notion of how I felt upon seeing you walk down those steps. How I stopped myself from running into your arms, I simply do not know.”

He let out a harsh breath, muttering furiously before he turned back to her. “Do you not have the slightest notion of self-preservation?” he demanded. “I was foolish enough to believe you would make me work for my redemption, not fall into my arms without a word of protest.”

Cat laughed, amused by his indignation. “Oh, my lord, you never did understand me, I’m afraid. What is the point in denying how much I want you? We both know the truth. That does not, however, mean that I am a sweet little creature who will let you walk over me, or that I will accept anything less from you than your heart and soul laid at my feet. I will have all of you, my lord, or none, but I will not deny myself the pleasure of your touch after so many lonely years. I am only flesh and blood, after all.”

“Christ, Catherine, you cannot speak so to me, here of all places,” he said angrily. “I am doing my best to behave and you—”

“I know what I’m doing, tempting you into wickedness. You always saw me as such a little innocent, didn’t you, and I suppose I was, but I am tired of being good. Show me what I have been missing.”

“No,” he said fiercely, a hectic flush of colour at his cheeks. “If you think I am going to take you off and debauch you at an event like this—”

“Well, and why not? It’s not like you can ruin me again,” she added mischievously.

“I didn’t ruin you the first time,” he snapped back, and she could not help but smile at his annoyance.

“I want to kiss you,” she whispered, brushing her lips against his jaw. “I want to feel your hands upon me.”

She felt his muscles tighten in response to her words, looked up to see how dark his gaze had grown, those beautiful violet eyes engulfed by his pupil blown wide with desire, with wanting her.

“Damn you, Catherine. I came here for you, because I must prove myself and I am trying to. What else do you want from me?” he demanded in frustration.

She stared up at him, smiling at him with her heart in her eyes. “Everything,” she said simply.

Kilbane stared down at the woman in his arms, his heart doing an erratic dance in his chest at her words. Everything, she said, and he did not doubt her meaning. Catherine intended to have him on his knees before her, one way or another, and as much as the idea terrified him, he suspected she would get her way. He was already in too deep, already so tangled up in the way she had cared for him, he felt as though she had spun a silken web about him, soft and oh so gentle, but strong as steel and inescapable. Not content with making him love her, she would have her revenge by bending him to her will, beginning by plunging him into a world of torment. This was to be her exquisite punishment for his behaviour. His beautiful wife was in his arms, her sweet body tantalisingly close to his, and she was doing her utmost to drive him insane. If she kept this up, he was really going to shock polite society because his trousers were too tight to disguise what she was doing to him.

“I cannot drag you from the ballroom into a dark corner,” he protested, though his mind was already working, considering and dismissing a dozen ways of getting her out of the room and into a compromising position. It was something he excelled at in usual circumstances, but he’d never cared so much for his lover’s reputation before. She had survived her marriage to him with hers intact and he was not about to cause a scandal. It would not matter that they were married now. He might be beyond saving, but he would not have people say he had corrupted her.

“I don’t see why not,” she replied, her candid gaze upon his face so calm he had the urgent desire to ruffle her. “I know this house very well. I ran tame here as a child and know all the nooks and crannies.”

“You think we can leave this room unnoticed when every eye rests upon us?”

“Not easily, perhaps, but with a little ingenuity we may contrive something.”

He clenched his jaw, shaking his head. “I shan’t enact our abortive wedding night by taking you against a wall with your skirts about your waist,” he said, deliberately crude, hoping to shock her out of such madness. He was to be disappointed.

“I did not imagine, nor hope, that you would. Indeed, I should not allow you to do so,” she replied, apparently quite undisturbed by his harsh words. “But we shall be here for hours, and I have wanted to kiss you for… oh, years and years. For you, it is a new desire, but I have spent too many nights alone in an empty bed, dreaming of your kisses, your touch upon my skin. I only ask for an embrace, for a kiss like the one you gave me at Christmas. That was unbearably sweet, before you ruined it,” she added, though without rancour.

“You will kill me,” he gritted out furiously. “Did you mother never teach you to mind your tongue? How can you speak to me so—”

“Honestly?” she suggested, and he could feel her gaze upon his face, but refused to meet her eyes. She was going to drive him mad, or at least into acting like the devil he was.

At last, the dance ended, and Kilbane grabbed her hand, towing her from the dancefloor. He glanced back, irritated to see the hopeful gleam in her eyes.

“Stop looking so pleased with yourself. We are going to speak with your mother.”

She looked so dreadfully disappointed it was comical and his lips twitched despite himself. “Oh, abominable girl,” he said, torn between laughter and frustration. “I shall teach you a lesson you shan’t forget one of these days.”

“Well, you need not sound so exasperated when I am encouraging you to do just that,” she retorted indignantly.

He gave a bark of laughter as he pressed through the crowd and then ground to a sudden halt.

Damn.

Chapter 15