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Chapter Twenty
“You’re acting strangely, my Lord,” Jane said. She followed his gaze to Ariadne’s disappearing back. If he was paying attention, he would catch the note of jealousy in Jane’s voice. His eyes, however, stayed on Ariadne and his thoughts as well. Her pride had been wounded when Jane called her a servant, he could make that much from her face.
“Are you feeling unwell?” Jane asked, a note of annoyance seeping into her voice. Edward realized he had addressed none of her concerns so far.
He was astonished to see her there tonight and he almost thought that he had imagined her as he often had when he lay on his bed at night. But this was different. Ariadne had been possibly hurt at Jane’s comment. On top of that, he hadn’t said anything to contradict her either. He had decided to keep Ariadne safe and that meant keeping her away from his world. But not at the cost of her hurt. He had to go find her.
“My Lady, why don’t you go back to the party downstairs?” Edward said finally turning to Jane whose brows were furrowed. They had been conversing just moments before he had left to look for Charles. He hadn’t expected her to follow him upstairs.
“And what about you, my Lord?” she asked. Edward couldn’t really blame Jane for what she had said to Ariadne. It was an honest mistake, considering the way Ariadne was dressed. But he did feel a shot of annoyance at her.
“I will be with you shortly,” he said, trying to keep his voice neutral. And with that, he took off down the stairs where Ariadne had disappeared. He had never been inside this part of Lord Brexley’s home before.
Whenever he entertained party members, it was always in his study so this was unfamiliar to him. The corridor was dimly lit and he expected the kitchen to be on the other end but instead, he came upon a garden. Plush grass grew on the ground and neatly trimmed bushes bordered the garden walls. It was so dark that Edward had to squint. There was nowhere else Ariadne could have gone.
He stepped out into the darkness trying to locate her. He found her sitting alone on a small bench, looking out into the distance. He cleared his throat to get her attention and she sprang up immediately. “I was working. I just came out to get some fresh air.”
Edward realized she couldn’t see him so he stepped closer. “It’s only me.”
As soon as Ariadne saw him, her face changed and her eyes flashed. “What are you doing here?”
“I came to look for you,” Edward said. “I’m sorry about what happened back there.”
“What part of it? Your lady friend calling me a servant or the fact that you didn’t acknowledge me?” Ariadne sneered.
Edward winced. He was correct in guessing her thoughts. “Ariadne, I was taken aback when I saw you in there. And before I could say anything, you had left.”
“It's fine,” Ariadne said, sniffing. “What could I possibly expect you to say anyway? We’re barely acquaintances.”
Edward took a few steps in her direction. “You know that’s not true.”
Ariadne looked at him sullenly. “Oh? What else is there to it?” Her soft alabaster skin was illuminated by the pale glow of the moonlight that darkened her eyes and highlighted the tip of her nose and the bow of her lips. Edward couldn’t help but reach out and touch a stray strand of hair that had escaped her tight bun. Her entire profile was cast in an ethereal shimmer that made her look like an otherworldly goddess. He had never seen one so beautiful.
“You’re stunning,” Edward couldn’t help but murmur. He wanted to bury his face in the crook of her neck and breathe in her sweet scent. At his words, Ariadne closed her eyes and almost sighed before opening them back up again. Some of her anger from earlier had dissipated.
She looked at him from under her lashes. “You’re good at distracting me.”
“How so?” Edward asked. He couldn’t tear his eyes off her. His mind memorized every last detail of her features.
“When you look at me like that, I forget about everything else. I forget why I was vexed with you in the first instance,” Ariadne said.
“You were?” Edward asked. So he had indeed guessed correctly.
She nodded. “I know it’s rather silly—”
Edward stopped her with his finger pressed against her lips. “Nothing you say or do will ever be silly to me. You can be as frank as you want, Ariadne. In this world, I’ve given permission to only three people outside my immediate family to use my name, you’re one of them.”
She gasped and the movement was caught on his skin. A terrible heat slid down him and he couldn’t pull back any longer. “I’m going to kiss you now,” he said gruffly. This time he didn’t want to catch her by surprise. But she didn’t move away from his grasp. Instead, she stretched her hands out to loop around his neck and pulled him toward her.
She sighed against as he replaced his palm with his lips. The kiss was like slow molten lava. He nibbled on her lower lip softly and then pulled at it causing her to gasp. His tongue flicked out to soothe her inflamed skin. He groaned as he found access to the warm crevice of her mouth and slid in. As soon as he did, the kiss deepened.
Something ravenous came over him. Until that moment, he had been controlling himself but now he pressed her to himself, and then pushed them both back until her back collided with a garden tree. Ariadne was now trapped between it and him.
Her fingers slid into his hair and he found his own combing through her long tresses. A few pins fell out of it and her hair came undone. Knotting the free strands in his fingers, he pulled her head to the side to find better access to the long slender column of her throat.
His thigh rested between her legs as he continued to rain kisses down her throat and then climbed back up to her jaw and traced his tongue lightly along it. Soft little trills escaped her as she clung to him, her fingers running around in his hair and then pressing the back of his head.
Edward pulled back, panting, to look at her eyes. They were half closed in the surge of pleasure. “Please,” she begged reaching for him again. At the back of his mind, common sense begged him to pay attention to their surroundings. They could be easily discovered if someone were to stroll into the garden. But the fear came nowhere close to the surge of pleasure he got when he saw the haze in Ariadne’s eyes.
