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Then she was still and limp, and Jude fell one awful step away from madness. Her breath shuddered over his jaw. "Jude?"
"Marissa" he rasped. "Do you finally feel better?"
Her gasp of laughter eased him back from his ravenous lust.
"That was ... I've waited so long for that. Thank you." She pressed chaste kisses to his cheek and jaw. "Thank you. You're a miracle."
"I'd say the miracle is you."
"You'd be wrong. I've tried it myself and... um ..."
He could not ponder that now. He could not tell himself what that meant and what Miss Marissa York had been doing in her bed at night. Not now. Later though.
He didn't d
are mess her hair, so he stroked her back instead, and when his body had inched from madness to mere pain, he eased her back. "We've been gone a long while. We'd better—"
"Marissa!" a voice hissed from somewhere across the lawn.
Blast and damn.
"Oh, no!" Her eyes went wide with panic.
"Get up. Here, let me." He patted her skirts down and set her back a foot. "You look perfect." And she did, aside from the slight sway of her body as she fought for strength. "I, on the other hand .. ."
He snatched his shirt and tugged it on, stuffing it into his waistband as quickly as he could. As he fastened the buttons, Marissa found his coat and brought it to him as well.
"Shit," he muttered as he wound the damned cravat around and tried to tie it. The knot seemed to take forever to create. "How does it look?"
"I can't see. Let me—"
"There's no time. I suppose as long as I am not half-nude we must call it a victory. Come." He looked carefully back and forth, and saw no one, but once they'd both tiptoed down to the grass, the voice called again, louder this time.
"Marissa! Where are you? If you don't answer, I'm going to call for torches and guns!"
"Oh, blast!" she whispered.
"There's no hope for it." Jude gave her one last glance, and found that she looked entirely normal. He'd have to feel outraged about that later. Right now he had a furious brother to face.
"Edward," he called, tugging Marissa along. "We're here."
"What the hell?" her brother cursed. "I was worried sick!"
Jude was taking a breath, prepared to accept full responsibility, when he noticed that Edward was waving a letter about.
"When I couldn't find you, I went to your room," he said as he advanced on Marissa. "And I found this!"
"How dare you look through my things!"
"I thought he'd taken you, damn it! You weren't idiot enough to steal out here and meet him, were you?
Jude pulled her to his side. "She asked me to escort her so that she wouldn't be in any danger."
Edward rounded on him. "How could you do this without my support? You had no right!"
"There was no time. We met with him, and that was that. I can assure you he'll think twice about approaching her again."
"You shouldn't have let him go. I warned him not to set foot here again."
