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“The gossips were putting the news about that you are to be married to Barbarella,” she told him for want of anything else to say that didn’t make her want to cry.
Trenton nodded in understanding. “One thing I have learned whilst moving within the ton is that once the gossips get wind of something they spread it far and wide. You can shout the truth from the rooftops but your denials will often be seen as too vocal a protest to be truthful. It is best to wait until they move on to a new subject. The truth will come about in its own good time.”
She nodded and could see the wisdom behind his reasoning. During her walks with her Aunt, and indeed throughout many of the social events she had attended during the last month, she had heard all sorts of outrageous snippets about people’s lives that should never be discussed in a public place. It was evident that once the gossips had a piece of news they discussed it openly on a regular basis. It would be an extremely difficult task to stop them, or attempt to tell the truth, and it would indeed be wiser to let the gossip die down of its own accord.
“So are you engaged or not?” she asked with her heart in her eyes.
“No, I am not. Not yet,” he replied but again, didn’t expand. “I am an honourable man, Ursula. I am not the kind of person who would kiss one woman while engaged to another. Once I chose my bride, I shall remain faithful to her until the day death parts us, and shall expect nothing less from her in return.”
“But I thought you had chosen a bride,” she said. “I mean, if you plan to wed next year, surely you have some idea who you are going to offer for?”
Ursula felt her heart blossom to life within her chest to the point that she was positive it was going to burst. It was as though he had just handed her the world only she wasn’t quite sure what to do about it. She wanted to jump up and shout for joy, but daren’t move for fear of destroying the precious moment. Everything teetered on his reply.
Had he already got someone in mind? Could that someone possibly be her? She waited in hope; and gasped when he began to speak.
“I should like to ask you one question, if I may?” he murmured huskily.
Her heart jumped nervously in her chest. Logic warned her that he wasn’t going to ask her the question, but hope remained unconfined.
“Why are you so averse to marriage?”
She stared at him for a moment as her hope died. She couldn’t tell him that he was the reason she found it impossible to even consider any other man attractive. How could she answer without lying to him?
“I am not averse to marriage at all. I have just never found anyone I wish to spend the rest of my life with.” She chose her words carefully. “You are looking at someone whose admirers are a rogue, and a strange creature who stares a lot and appears to be ruled by his mother.”
Trenton smiled. “You forgot someone.”
“Oh?” She was flustered when she realised he had started to lean toward her.
“Me,” he whispered.
He caught her gasp in the most effective way. Immediately all the yearning within her surged to the surface and refused to be ignored. He hauled her against him with a moan and tipped his head so he could deepen the kiss in the way he had when they had been in the conservatory. It seemed like only yesterday that he had held her in this same hold, yet it also felt as though a lifetime had passed.
Thirsty for more, she began to copy the gentle movements of his mouth. Curiosity and a strange ache deep within drove her on, even when a small voice of caution warned her that this was too much far too soon. Although she had known of Trenton all of her life, she didn’t really know him; the man. Simple day-to-day things like his favourite foods, whether he liked the theatre or dining out, preferred the country to city life; all of it was a total mystery to her. Here, though, wrapped in his strong arms, none of that seemed to matter. Nothing else was as important as the desire that flared to life between them and drew them as close as their clothing would allow.
She gasped when he led her toward the chaise and sat down beside her, then pulled her back into his arms. She couldn’t stop him; didn’t want to stop him, especially given he had just handed her the stars. She wasn’t going to waste a precious moment of the wondrous sensations he was creating within her with such mastery. Not now that they were alone at last, and away from prying eyes.
When her senses began to whirl, she clung to his shoulders and gasped aloud when his lips slid down her neck and stopped to pepper kisses in the hollow at the base of it. Her sigh of longing welcomed him back again when his lips returned to hers. Hands searched and tugged fiercely at clothing in a desperate need to know more. She should stop it; she knew it was folly to enter into anything more right now, especially when there were so many uncertainties around them, but she just couldn’t find the strength or the will to deny either of them. He was answering the call of something deep within her and she knew that whatever the future held, she would never be the same after this afternoon.
“Ursula,” Trenton growled in disbelief. Nobody had ever driven him to the point that he had forgotten everything before, especially where they were. They were sitting in Adelaide’s house where anybody could walk in, including Adelaide. He tried to pull back but each time he tried, the lure of her moistened lips and the slumberous look of desire in her eyes made it impossible. In an attempt to restore some sanity to the situation, he rested his forehead against hers, but the gentle sweep of her breath against his lips just teased him back down to her again.
“God have mercy,” he murmured gently. His body was already achingly hard. He knew he had pushed his self-control as far as possible. If they didn’t stop soon, denial would be impossible.
r /> Ursula just couldn’t stop though. She had spent her entire life yearning for this moment. Now that he was here, she didn’t want it to end. She wanted more of it; him; and a future together. The relief at the realisation he wasn’t engaged bolstered her courage to take matters into her own hands, especially now that he was a free man. With startling boldness, she gently cupped his face and drew him toward her. Before he could speak, she pressed a tender kiss to his lips and, in doing so, elicited a groan from him that reverberated through them both.
“Let me stay,” he whispered, when he finally found the strength to pull away from her long enough to look down into her eyes. “Adelaide is here, although in bed. I should consider myself honoured if you should allow me to remain with you for the rest of the evening.”
“Only if you agree to dine with me,” she replied softly.
He smiled at her. “I can think of nothing I should like better.”
“That’s settled then,” she whispered moments before his lips lay siege to hers once more.
The following morning she was still smiling. She had spent many hours yesterday wrapped in Trenton’s arms on the chaise in the private sitting room. The desire had only been interrupted by the staff who had arrived to collect and deliver tea trays and, of course, dinner. Apart from that, they had been blissfully alone. They had spent much of the time exchanging childhood memories and discussing Agglethorpe, and whether they should stay in London or return to Yorkshire for Christmas.
She smiled as she remembered their conversation over their intimate dinner for two bathed only in the gentle haze of a solitary candle. The romantic way the meagre light had bathed him in a golden glow had only highlighted the sheer masculinity of his handsomeness. She had been unable to tear her gaze away from him all evening, and had been equally thrilled to note that he appeared to feel the same magnetic pull of attraction neither of them could deny.
By the end of the meal, neither of them had any idea what they had just eaten, but it didn’t really matter. They had resumed their seats on the chaise and sat patiently while the table was cleared before Trenton had set about stealing her senses once more with numerous very thorough kisses.
