“Well, this is such a fine list, I’d say,” Gerard smirked. “And to think that you have accused me of such grave crimes as being improper.”
“May I have the list back? I really would like to go back inside now.”
“Not so fast,” he replied. “What do we have here?”
Ellen tried to snatch the sheet out of his hands, but he moved away quickly.
“Never kiss a rake even if he asks you to,” he read. “Now that, My Lady, is easily remedied,” he said, grabbing her by the waist and dipping his head low to kiss her.
Ellen’s murmur of protest softened as he sealed his lips with hers, giving her the first taste of yearning that came with such sinful pleasures. A foreign but welcome warmth spread through her as Gerard held her in place with his arm around her waist while his mouth did deliciously wicked things to hers. He deepened the kiss, coaxing her to open her mouth for his intrusive tongue. A whimper escaped her throat as Gerard bit gently on her bottom lip, but the sound also brought her back to her senses. Gasping, she shoved hard, tearing her mouth away from his.
“That,” she managed to croak, “is a list of don’ts! Not a wish list!”
“I fail to see the difference,” Gerard smirked.
“Oh, you’re incorrigible,” Ellen snapped, still trying to still her wildly beating heart.
“You did not seem to think of that when you kissed me only a few moments ago.”
“How…how dare you?” Ellen sputtered.The audacity of the man!
“How dare I fulfill a wish list?”
“This wasn’t a wish list, and you know it! The last thing I wanted was to be kissed by you, you uncivilized oaf!”
Gerard raised an eyebrow in surprise. The chit certainly had some fire in her bones, despite how soft her body had felt in his arms. His breeches tightened almost painfully. “Hush now, or you may be completely ruined if anyone catches wind of you screaming your head off with me here.”
Ellen gulped. In her passion, she had forgotten one of the first of her mother’s rules.Never be alone with a man unchaperoned.She gritted her teeth. She was certain that Andrew would have caught wind of her disappearance now.What would the ton say if they found out that she was no longer as innocent as she was supposed to be?
“There’s no need to be so angry,” Gerard said, handing her back the list. “But I truly find it odd that you have based your life on rules written down on a sheet of paper. Where is your sense of adventure?”
“That’s easy for you to say,” Ellen huffed. “You’re a man.”And the worst rake of them all.
“My Lady,” Gerard said gravely. “If there is anything I have learned by being a rake and an uncivilized oaf, it’s that life is better enjoyed when you explore your own passions. You do not have to live your life bound by shackles of these rules and laws guiding the very concepts of propriety.”
The Earl’s words made her remember Marjorie. They sounded so alike in their radical beliefs. But Ellen would not want to bring such a scandal upon her family. In any case, she needed to get married to a man of high standing.
“You are being absolutely ridiculous,” Ellen huffed. “If you’ll excuse me, My Lord, my brother, the Duke of Grant, will have the ballroom turned inside out if I don’t appear soon,” she said and turned around to leave.
* * *
The Duke of Grant was so caught up in his argument with Marjorie that by the time he noticed that Ellen was nowhere to be found, it was already too late.
“Where’s Ellen?” he asked Marjorie, changing the subject. He and Marjorie could argue for hours without end, but now his major concern was finding his sister.
“Why are you asking me that? I have been with you this entire time, have I not? Perhaps you think I have hidden her in my skirt or swallowed her up in my pretend world of radical beliefs?”
“Don’t you ever stop talking?” Andrew groaned.
“Heavens, no. Not when I have thoroughly enjoyed our intellectual banter so far. But you go search the east wing, and I will search the west. Perhaps some young gentleman has succeeded in prying her away from your stifling clutches.”
“I will have you know I am the finest chaperone you never had.”
Marjorie ignored the comment and stalked off to find her missing cousin, who she found only a few moments later. “Ellen! Are you all right? Why do you look so out of sorts?”
“Oh. Marjorie, I am; I am. Do you think I will get in trouble?”
“Trouble with whom?”
