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Chapter Five
Nora glanced out the carriage window at Whitwell House as Mason’s carriage brought them back from the picnic. The sun had set when they’d reached the outskirts of London, and now Mayfair was lit by a beautiful full moon and rows of gas lamps framing the streets and illuminating the houses. Emmeline lay in her arms, worn out from the day’s excitement, fresh air, and play. With a smile, Nora placed a kiss to the top of her head. Her daughter would fall asleep as soon as her head hit her pillow.
She made eye contact with Mason as he sat across from them, with Brutus stretched out over the seat and doing his best to push him off the bench to claim it all for himself. Good Lord, that dog was the size of a small pony, but Mason was patient and affectionate with him. Just as he was with Emmeline. The two of them had formed a connection during the past few weeks, with Emmeline’s face lighting up every time she saw Mason, and not just because he always arrived with that hound at his heels. He took the time to tell her stories and play games with her, and he wasn’t afraid to correct her if she misbehaved, firmly but quietly, which somehow only made the little girl appreciate him even more. Emmeline liked him, a great deal.
But then, so did Nora.
And that was the problem.
When the tiger opened the door, both little girl and dog instantly came awake. They jumped from the carriage and went bounding up the front steps, across the portico, and past the butler who patiently held open the door but said nothing as the two streaked past him.
Mason lingered inside the carriage with her, as if neither of them wanted to end their wonderful day. And ithadbeen wonderful, all because of Mason. She couldn’t deny that.
But she also couldn’t allow it to happen again. She was becoming too fond of him.
Fond?Laughable! It was so much more than that. In the past few weeks, she’d allowed him glimpses into her heart that she’d not given any other man, had grown to depend upon him, had grown to care about him. She’d looked forward every day to their carriage rides and to the hours she’d spend with him, to simply being in his presence. She’d been able to look beneath that cantankerous exterior he showed the world to the real man beneath, and what she saw there simply captivated her.
Yet the more she came to care about him, the more she allowed herself to ponder a future with him—a future she both greatly wanted yet feared. Wedding vows could easily turn into an inescapable prison. She couldn’t survive living through that again, and she wouldneverput Emmeline under the care of a man who didn’t love her completely, as much as he would love the other children they might have together.
Would Mason prove to be a good husband and father, or would he be like Davenport?
He slowly stepped down from the carriage and turned back to hold out his hand to her.
Taking a deep breath, she slid her hand into his, and he helped her carefully to the ground.
“Go,” Mason commanded the coachman, who flipped the ribbons and set the carriage into motion. The team pulled out of the courtyard and into the street, driving away toward the mews and leaving them in the quiet glow of the full moon.
He signaled to the butler. The man gave a curt nod and stepped back inside the house, but he left the door open for them so they could linger in the courtyard as long as they’d like.
“You’re awfully good at ordering people away,” she commented dryly.
“Couldn’t help myself.” He took her hands and stepped back into the shadows alongside the portico where the light of the moon and the gas lamps didn’t reach, bringing her along with him. “I’m not ready yet to say goodnight to you.”
She went willingly into the shadows. She was unable to deny herself the thrill of being with him in the ness, unable to resist stepping forward into his arms when he stopped with his back against the stone wall and brought her against him…thoroughly unable to resist tilting back her head to meet his lips as they captured hers.
A soft moan of capitulation escaped her. She melted against his hard front, shamelessly pressing her breasts against his chest and lifting her arms up to encircle his neck as she deepened the kiss. When the tip of his tongue caressed against her lips, she opened them with a sigh and allowed him inside. He slipped between her lips in a silken glide that she felt echo through her and all the way down between her legs.
Instead of ravishing her kiss as she’d expected, Mason explored her mouth and tenderly sought out the secret recesses there, just as his hands explored her body. They swept over her back and down the length of her to her bottom, where he gently cupped her in his large palms and pulled her even more tightly against him. Their two pelvises met in a scandalous contact that pulsed a delicious heat at her core.
“I have to go to my estate in Kent,” he murmured against her neck as he swept his lips away from hers, to place open-mouthed kisses against her throat. She gladly tilted her head aside to give him better access. Now that they were finally free from those stolen half-kisses of before and could openly touch and kiss, neither of them wanted to deny themselves the pleasure of it. “There’s business there I have to take care of. I’ve been putting off a visit for too long.”
“When?” The loss of him struck her even as she stood encircled in his arms.
“The end of the week.” He sucked enticingly at her earlobe. “Come with me.”
She inhaled sharply, and not only because he’d nipped at her with his teeth.
“Emmeline can see all the animals.” One of his hands left her bottom and stroked along the side of her body, to capture her breast against his palm. “She can play with the puppies and kittens, ride a pony, play in the woods…”
He began to massage her fullness, and the heat of his touch seeped through the layers of clothing and into her flesh, as if she wore nothing. She leaned into him, to beg silently with her body for a harder, more intimate caress.
He kissed her ear, and the warmth of his lips and breath sent delicious shivers through her until goosebumps covered her skin. “It’s safe there for her. Maybe there she’ll speak to someone other than Brutus.”
“To the other animals?” she teased, her breath coming in short, aching pants. But it was a different sort of teasing she craved and reached up to tug down the neck of her bodice and free a single breast to his touch.
The shadows were too dark for her to see his reaction to her boldness on his face, but a low groan of appreciation dropped from his lips. He folded his hand over her bare breast, holding her possessively against his palm for only a moment before he began to stroke his thumb enticingly over her hardening nipple.
“Well, there are a lot of sheep and chickens there.” Despite the casual answer, his voice emerged husky and thick. “They’ll give her lots of practice.” He lowered his head to place a delicate kiss against her nipple. “And practice makes perfect.” The tip of his tongue circled her in a slow, torturous lick. “Lots and lots of practice.”
