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“You poor thing,” Lucinda said. “Here is another. A clergyman was reading the burial service over an Irish corpse, and having forgotten which sex it was, on coming to that part of the ceremony which reads thus, ‘our dear brother or sister,’ the reverend gentleman stopped, and seeing Pat stand by, stepped back, and whispering to him, said, ‘Is it a brother or a sister?’ Pat says, ‘Friend, this is neither; this is only a relation.’”
Alexander chuckled, hauled her against him and kissed her mouth soundly. Even within the kiss, he still laughed, and she swallowed it into her being, such fierce emotion swelling inside of her for this man. Their lips parted, and she whispered, “A gentleman asked a lady if it did not make her dizzy to waltz? ‘Why yes,’ she answered sweetly, ‘but one must get used to it, you know. It’s the way of thewhirled.’”
Alexander tumbled her laughing beneath him. “I like you.”
“I like you too,” she whispered.
He took her mouth in a primal kiss, and before Lucinda could gather her wits, she was moaning and crying out her pleasure beneath his heavy weight. As she came down from the dizzying heights of being loved for the fourth time since he climbed through her window, he pressed his mouth against her ear, and he murmured, “The aim of a pair of fencers is to each touch their opponent, but in this, they are often foiled.”
Alexander thoroughly seduced her senses with kisses and laughter until Lucinda thought she had never known someone like him. He kissed her forehead a few hours later and slipped from the bed. Opening her eyes, she watched as he dressed in silence and suspected that it was close to dawn.
She’d never had a gentleman spend so long in her bed, and it was a sweet comfort indeed to be held in a lover’s arms as they slept. “I will miss you,” she whispered, knowing it to be the truth and not shying away from the realization.
* * *
I will miss you.
The ache in those words sank beneath his skin and down to his bone. He had never said those words to a lover before in all his years, but he wanted to offer them to her. For Alexander knew it would be the truth. “I am going to miss you as well, Lucinda.”
He’d delighted her, for even in the chamber barely brightened by the encouraging dawn, he saw the spark of something in her gray eyes that turned over his heart. It was a tenderness none of his other lovers had ever shown him, and an answer rose inside him. He quickly put on his boots, stood, and went over to sit on the edge of the bed. She turned, the move wrapping her body more tightly in the silken sheets, hiding her charms from his eyes. Alexander lowered himself and lightly kissed her, letting his mouth linger over hers.
She glided a lone finger along the edge of his unshaven jaw, and a whisper of wanting trembled from her mouth. He pulled from her and stood, offering no further words on their parting. Alexander was reluctant to part with Lucinda. A man could talk to a woman like her all night, love a woman like this his whole life. He froze in the act of opening the door, his heart pounding.
Was this what it felt like when sensible men lost themselves and fell hard for a woman? A rueful chuckle left him, and he shook his head, slipping from her chamber and discreetly leaving her townhouse.
Later that evening,Alexander arrived in Derbyshire in time to dine with his mother and Hannah. It had been a long grueling ride with regular changes of horses and barely time to snatch sustenance while a fresh horse was being saddled. Oscar had remained in town to run about with his set, and William had withdrawn to his manor in Kent with his wife and child. It was a pleasant dinner, where he engaged in a spirited discussion with Hannah about a book she’d recently read.
Afterward, he retired to his study, going over a few letters from solicitors and a series of investment reports. He found his powers of concentration vexedly diminished as his mind constantly turned to Lucinda. Alexander had to ruthlessly direct his thoughts away from his awareness from her, cruelly reminding himself it was foolish to be so consumed by another. He went to bed sometime later, determined to have a night where he did not think of her. He abysmally failed, for as he drifted off into deep slumber, she crept into his dreams, lay her head on his shoulders, and slept with him for the night.
The following morning, he rowed on the lake, peering up at the flock of starlings that dipped and soared in the brightened sky.
“What mystery has you looking so pensive,” the countess pertly asked, tilting her face up to the warm rays of the sun.
It was a miracle the outrageously large hat that seemed to wear a fruit basket did not topple from his mother’s head. Alexander smiled, clawing back the boat's oars, taking them farther out on the lake at the front of their county manor.
“This was a really wonderful invitation, Alexander. I am enjoying this boat ride on your splendid lake.” She gave him a brilliant smile before arching her elegant brow. “Are you ignoring my question?”
“And what question was that?”
“What are you thinking about? You seemed so lost in thought just a few moments ago.”
He cleared his throat and set the oars into their resting position. “I was thinking about romance.”
She gasped, clearly delighted. “You met someone!”
Bloody hell.“No, I—”
His mother pinned him with a shrew stare. “Is it the viscountess? I saw how you looked at her and how she also looked at you.”
Alexander paused, then leaned forward, resting his elbows on his thighs. “How did Lady Darby look at me?”
His mother smiled. “Lucinda stared at you like a lady willing to be ravished by my son.”
Good God. It shocked him to feel the tip of his ears burning. “On second thoughts, I do not think this is the conversation I want to be having with my mother.”
“Pish!” His mother waved a hand, dismissing his words, and then winked. “I havefourchildren, you know. I know what goes on between a man and a woman. I am also aware of the trail of broken hearts you’ve left in your wake. Ghastly conduct, but I’ve always known you were a rogue.”
He found himself chuckling at her outrageousness. His mother had always seemed so proper; this bit of spiritedness surprised him and showed him a side of her that was previously hidden.
