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Chapter Fourteen
Thomas had never been good at exercising restraint. He’d always struggled with getting caught up in the moment, riding his horses to near exhaustion, acting off his first instincts, committing to the most obvious move in chess games without giving a single thought to strategy.
He wasn’t as bad as he’d been as a boy. Trading in the Far East had taught him both patience and the art of exercising forethought, even if the learning experiences that had left him with those skills had also lost the family money in the process.
Now, however…kissing Lady Evelina in the dark seclusion of the gazebo…all possible chaperones tucked away, oblivious, in their beds—
It was nearly impossible not to slip back into old habits.
Thomaswantedto pull Evelina in closer. To grip her slim waist with both hands and hoist her onto his lap. To deepen their kiss until they were both gasping, desperate,pleadingfor more. He longed to hear his name upon Evelina’s lips, to nibble at the smooth, delicate skin at the nape of her neck.
But Thomas did none of those things.
It wasLady Evelinawho made the moves to deepen their kiss. What Thomas had intended as a chaste brush of the lips, she continued by knotting her fingers in his hair and slotting their mouths together with a hunger he could never have anticipated.
Thomas was surprised at first, but needed no more encouragement than that; with a low growl, he settled his hands around her waist and dug his fingers into her sides, enamored with the soft, supple curve of her torso.
Lady Evelina gasped at his boldness, but did not retreat. She pressed her bodice harder against his chest, as though seeking even more contact. She smelled of late-summer lilacs, or perhaps that was the foliage around them—either way, Thomas found himself utterly lost in his senses. He longed to sweep her away, to go someplace even more private where he could know her in full detail.
As though she could read his thoughts, a low, needy whine came from the back of Evelina’s throat, sending a shudder down Thomas’ spine. He could lose himself in such a sound if he was not careful…
In fact, that seemed to be what he was doing already. How far did Lady Evelina mean to take this? Should they slow down?
As though Thomas had voiced the very question to the universe, somewhere in the distance, the guard dog began barking once more.
Lady Evelina’s breath hitched, and her body tensed against his. They sat there in complete silence for a long moment, wrapped up in one another, terrified that they might yet be discovered.
When enough time passed that it seemed as though they were to remain undetected, Thomas delicately wrapped his hands around Lady Evelina’s and pulled them away. He could feel her pulse beneath the fragile skin of her wrists. Her pupils were dark, and a heavy flush was creeping its way up her neck, onto her face.
She swallowed thickly. “Well…I…Um —”
“I’m…truly sorry if I carried on beyond what you were comfortable with,” Thomas murmured.
He was honestly not quite sure how to handle the situation now. On the one hand, it sent a prideful little thrill through him to know he could have this strong of an effect on such a remarkable woman. On the other… well, thathadbeen rather passionate for a first kiss, hadn’t it?
“No, no,” Lady Evelina said, her words so breathy they were hardly audible. “I am rather too comfortable, Thomas, that is the problem.”
She laughed nervously. Thomas found himself unable to fight the smile threatening to claim his face. He nearly reached out to take her hands in his once more, on the verge of professing the depths of his own ‘comfort,’ when the guard dog began barking yet again…even closer this time.
Lady Evelina’s face tightened. Thomas heard the guard yelling at the dog to ‘quit yapping at nothing,’ but the illusion of true privacy had already shattered.
Yes, they’d had this single moment of stolen passion together, but Lady Evelina still needed to make her way back into the dark house unnoticed, and Thomas would once again need to avoid the guards on his own journey home.
“We will meet again soon,” Thomas said, rising and offering Lady Evelina his hand. “Once all of this business is clarified, no one will ever keep us apart again.”
From there, despite Lady Evelina’s insistence that Thomas return immediately to the fence, rather than staying in the open and risking getting caught, he insisted on at least walking with her to the estate’s back door. They were both reluctant to part ways, but this was for the best. Thomas promised himself once again that they would be reunited soon.
He waited at the edge of the fence until the guard and the dog passed by once more, before wiggling his way back through, and disappearing down the street. It wasn’t until he was standing before Elvington Manor that he finally allowed himself to relax.
The note of calm didn’t last long, however. No sooner had he laid his head atop his pillow than the full gravity of his situation made itself known.
He now had two conflicting stories as to the origin of the feud between his father and the Duke of Alderleaf. He no longer believed Evelina was by any possibility untrustworthy. Yet who was correct? Did Gerard have all the right information? Was the Duke of Alderleaf lying to his daughter?
Was it possible that his own father, who Thomas had looked up to so staunchly throughout his life, truly was responsible for the double cross?
Rest now, Thomas told himself, there at the heart of the witching hour,these mysteries will still await you come morning.
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