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Her dark eyes had glittered with amusement, and her body moved sensually when she turned away from the reverend. Everything about her made desire burn through his blood.
“Well then, gentlemen,” she said brightly. “I shall just go up and change into a riding habit and—”
“Not necessary,” his lordship found himself saying. Here was his chance.
“And why not?” she answe
red quizzically.
“I came in a hired open curricle in the hopes that you might ride out with me and enjoy some sun in relative comfort. Perhaps you will keep me company on the drive to the kennels while your … er … assembled group—men in waiting, shall we call them—serve as outriders?”
She laughed, and he found that he liked the sound more than he should. “Very well,” she answered. “I shall just go fetch my bonnet and Spencer and return momentarily.” She then went to her uncle and said something softly to him. The squire laughed and waved her off.
“Serena … wait,” Freddy said as she crossed the room. “Why don’t you change into your habit and ride. I know you would like that.”
“Nonsense,” his uncle returned with authority. “There is no need. Miss Moorely doesn’t have to go to the trouble of changing her clothes when she can ride at ease with me, Freddy, and it will give us a chance to get to know one another.”
Serena looked directly into his eyes, and for a moment, time and thought were suspended. He felt as though he had to shake himself free of the dangerous tentacles weaving themselves around him. Everything about her was like magic. What was wrong with him? He had not ever been so distracted by a woman.
He watched as Warren walked with her towards the hallway and his lordship was hit with a charge of jealousy that sent a wave of irritation through him. Madness … this was madness!
* * *
Serena knew in that one moment, when their gazes locked, what it was she was experiencing. She had inexplicably, and completely, fallen in love! La, but this could break her heart. She knew it and could do nothing about it. This huge man, this sophisticated, wildly masculine man looked at her, and something happened to her mind and body. Her body? She felt it twitch when he gazed her way. Her mind did much the same.
He, no doubt, thought little more of her than he did any other woman. He certainly must be chased by every debutante in London. He was the catch of a lifetime and must have beautiful women forever flirting with him. Who was she but a country miss with absolutely nothing to offer … but love.
Why should he even look at her twice? He probably would not have done so had not Freddy put him to the trouble of coming to the New Forest to fetch him to school. Oh, but she was headed for a great deal of hurting.
How had this happened? She could not say when or how she had actually fallen, only that she had. Perhaps it had been from the first moment she had seen him? She scarcely knew Lord Daniel Pendleton at all—his true self was still a mystery—yet she had this absurd need to be with him every minute of the day. He certainly filled her dreams and her imagination.
She had to force herself to stand apart from him and talk to the others. She should run and never look back, yet her heart was frozen in place and beating out his name.
Warren was at her side suddenly, and he touched her elbow and brought her back to her surroundings. With a fleeting smile she walked towards the hallway door and stiffened when he bent and whispered in her ear, “You have us all dancing, much like puppets, my sweet love. Which one will you choose?”
Serena restrained her sudden flash of temper. She gave him an amused look and said, “Why, Warren … have you not realized? I mean to have you all.”
She turned and hurried out, but she heard him chuckling at her back as he said, “You are the exception to every rule, my dear.”
She couldn’t think about Warren, or Eustace, or Freddy, or anyone other than his lordship. And his lordship? Well, he thought her a heartless wench determined to seduce a youth to marriage. Outrageous. Where did he get such a notion of her? She sighed because even at that moment she could hear him in her head. Her head? It seemed to belong to Daniel Pendleton. His voice, so very seductive, always full with an undercurrent that sent shivers through her. She had this absurd need to hear him speak on and on. She had a wanton desire to touch him … run her hands over those muscular thighs … oh, what was she thinking! She couldn’t stop herself because his image stalked her thoughts. She wanted to just close her eyes and dream of him—go to a place where he and she were one.
This thought almost made her gasp out loud. What was wrong with her? She wasn’t some ‘bit of muslin’ determined to throw moral convention to the winds—was she? She was a level-headed, clear-sighted woman who understood which rules she could break and which she could not.
She knew better than to give her heart and body to a man who would be gone in a few days … didn’t she? No, apparently she did not, because she had given him her heart without realizing it, and now all she could think of was giving him her body. She wanted his arms around her. She could only imagine what it would be like to satisfy the yearning he had built up in her.
She tried to excuse herself on this score. Indeed, she might be getting past the age of finding a husband—a true love that would love her in return—but she was still young enough to feel all the desires any normal young woman felt. With a heavy sigh, she set these thoughts aside as she hurried to collect her gloves, hat, and Spencer.
* * *
It was nearly twenty minutes later that the young people were on the road to Sir Newton’s kennels. As it happened, they made a lively and jovial group. Sir Jasper and Warren found themselves pleased enough in one another’s company and in accord on nearly every subject that cropped up between them. Freddy rode behind them, the only one seriously dissatisfied. Serena could not help but notice that he was not in the least bit interested in trying to keep up with Warren and Jasper’s dialogue, and the road was too narrow for him to ride beside the curricle. She restrained the giggle that crept up her throat from escaping.
As his lordship worked the driving reins in easy fashion he kept up a stream of delightful conversation.
He was obviously trying to set her at ease. He couldn’t. He was the reason for the tremors scurrying up her spine and her heartbeat’s increased rhythm.
Serena was all too aware of these things and the fact that sitting beside him raised her temperature beyond, so beyond warm.
She was more than thankful when he began a lengthy anecdote about an adventure Freddy and his schoolmates had embarked upon not so very long ago, for laughter seemed to help her nerves.
