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“Public kisses are to be chaste!” Felicity’s heart started to pound, and wild sensations went off in her belly.
“Did we agree on this?”
“I…” an incredulous laugh pulsed from her. “I am certain of it.”
“Very well,” he said, voice droll with humor, slipping one of his hands around her hip and drawing her to him. The earl lowered his head.
Felicity made a soft, questioning sound low in her throat when he pressed his mouth to hers. The kisswaschaste, but how she trembled. She made to draw back, and his hand tightened on her waist. “Don’t look,” he murmured, so his mouth barely moved. “My mother has joined my grandmother and…oh Mary has also joined, and they are all shamelessly sneaking peeks at us. I say, they look too delighted.”
A quick nip at her lips made them tingle.
“Isn’t this far too scandalous?” she murmured against his mouth, birds taking flight in her belly. Surely he could feel the pounding of her heart against his chest.
This close, she saw the dark circles of his eyes widen with his surprise. “Thislittle, tiny peck scandalous? Why Miss Harrington, I am shocked at your…”
“Naivety?” she said, then deliberately licked along the seam of his lips. There, she thought smugly, mildly shocked at her own daring.What do you think of that?
The earl groaned. “I believe we need the private kiss after this.”
“We are only allowed two kisses per week,” she refuted pertly. “What sense is there to do them both on the same evening? We must strategically use our kisses to the best advantages.”
“Can you wait?” he demanded gruffly.
Good heavens. She understood, and it startled her that he was feeling the same raw ache of desire. She bit into her bottom lip. Felicity was tempted to remind the earl that the kisses only served a particular purpose and were not intended for pleasure. Not for delight. Not because they simply wanted to. Yet those words would not come from her because that look in his eyes tugged at all the longings she had held buried deep in her heart. Phineas desired her. Only a fool would remain in doubt when he stared at her with such obvious want. “I suppose I can wait,” she said softly, “but I do not want to.”
“Thank Christ.”
He backed away and held out his arm for her to lightly clasp, then they continued strolling.
“Are they still watching?”
“Yes.”
“Your family is incorrigible.”
“Hmm, it is a wonder I still love them,” he added reflectively. He led her to a gazebo decorated with sweet-smelling climbing roses and honeysuckle. The planting close to the gazebo was vivid with phlox, sweet peas, larkspur, delphinium, garden pinks, hydrangea, scabious, snapdragons, nigella, lavatera, godetia, lavender, and yellow lilies. It was naturalistically arranged with the flowers picked for their vibrant colors and sweet scents. It would be brilliant in the full of day, but as twilight was falling it was a very romantic scene.
Phineas assisted her in sitting and then lowered himself beside her. With a touch of amusement, Felicity noted his grandmother had taken a seat now before the window, that lorgnette still glued to her eyes. “What do you think the dowager countess is looking for?”
“There are times I try to not ascertain the thoughts of my nanna,” he said enigmatically. “This very moment is one of those instances. Too mysterious that one.”
Felicity suspected he teased her and couldn’t help being charmed by him.
“Tell me about this man who kissed you before,” he said unexpectedly.
She swallowed her gasp and stared at him in surprise. “You recall that offhand remark, my lord?”
“I do.”
“There is nothing to tell,” she said slowly.
“I am considerably curious if you will permit the intrusion.”
“When you ask so charmingly how dare I resist?”
He chuckled and she smiled. “He is a gentleman from where I lived in Berkshire. We were friends for several years before we started admiring each other. We took long walks together, and he stole a few kisses. He asked me to marry him once, and I agreed.”
“Why are you not married to him now?” he asked quietly, dipping into his pocket to retrieve a small flask. He lifted it up. “After dinner port.” His lordship took a sip and held it out to her.
