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She smiled slightly. “Yes, I am aware that you know about Minnie,” she said. “I put two and two together myself. I knew that someone had been through my trunk, and then it made sense why you were so insistent and curt with me last night.”
His heart contorted with shame. “I am sorry I did that. But I was so frustrated. I knew you were lying to me about who you are. I thought you might be a confidence woman.”
She sighed. “Yes. You shouldn’t have done that. But I am not angry with you. I just felt ashamed that I was lying to you and digging myself deeper into that lie last night.” She hesitated. “I wanted to tell you the truth, Ambrose. So much.”
He reached out, taking her hand. Her face crumpled.
“Minnie was my maid,” she whispered. “She sacrificed her position in my home for me. We swapped places. She was heading north to see her grandmother in Bradford on the same day I was going to stay with Lord Stanton for the formal announcement of our betrothal. The decision was made so quickly there was no time to think through the consequences. I just took the opportunity. God help me.”
He stroked her hand to comfort her. She was so distraught.
“I am so worried about Minnie,” she continued, her voice thick with tears. “I am consumed by guilt. What have they done to her?”
He sighed heavily. “Baldwin told me that the maid refused to tell them where you are,” he said in a soothing voice. “And that she vanished after they questioned her. I think that Minnie is fine. She sounds like a brave girl who can look after herself, Delia.”
Her face transformed. “Really? She escaped?”
Ambrose nodded. “That is what Baldwin told me. I have no reason to think he is lying to me.” He hesitated. “But that is what is so urgent about this situation, Delia. Baldwin is not a very nice man, and he is aware of the missing lady. He might just sell you for his thirty pieces of silver if he suspects that you are the lady. You must avoid him at all costs.”
A shadow of fear passed over her face. “You think he would suspect?”
Ambrose nodded grimly.
“Indeed. He is cunning and clever, if morally bankrupt. You stand out like a sore thumb, Delia. It is not just the way you speak. You are very refined.” He paused. “He has a general description of the missing lady. He knows you have grey eyes, which are an unusual colour. The combination of all of that will have his senses tingling that you are not who you claim to be.”
Her face crumpled again. “What am I to do? If he is staying here, it will be very hard to avoid him entirely.”
Ambrose sighed, running a hand through his hair. “Just keep doing what you did today. Stay in your room as much as possible and avoid the main room.” He sighed again. “The storm looks like it is abating, and we will probably be on our way again soon. You will not have to do it for very long—just long enough that we can get in the coach without him seeing your face or speaking to you.”
She nodded. Her face was grave. “I will do what I need to do.” She hesitated. “Thank you, Ambrose. For everything.”
They stared at each other. The air thickened between them. He couldn’t help it. He needed to feel her in his arms again. He pulled her to him…and finally, his lips found hers again, at long last.
Chapter 35
Delia sighed inwardly with pleasure as she felt the familiarity of Ambrose’s lips upon her own. It felt so good and right to be in his arms again, as if it were the most natural thing in the world. As if she truly belonged within them.
Her fear was slipping away, just a little. He was going to protect her. He was going to help her avoid detection and get to Bradford, just as she had planned. He understood why she had done what she had done and didn’t judge her for it. Nor was he going to pressure her to return to a life she didn’t want or go behind her back to force her to do so.
He wasn’t going to betray her. She could trust him with her secret. She hadalwaysbeen able to trust him with it. She didn’t have to lie to him any longer. The relief was so immense that she clung to him fiercely, never wanting to let him go.
He felt her sudden zeal. She felt a shiver run through his body. He pushed her up against the wall of the stable, running his hands over her body as the kiss deepened. She moaned in her throat as she felt his hands upon her breasts, kneading and twisting the nipples through the thin fabric of her gown. A thousand sparks of ecstasy fell through her body like a trail of shooting stars through the sky.
At that moment, all was forgiven. She didn’t care any longer about how he had talked to her the previous night. She didn’t care that he had gone through the trunk. She didn’t care that he had asked her to be his mistress and couldn’t take her seriously. None of it mattered any longer beneath the ferocity of her need for him.
Suddenly, his mouth left hers, and he twisted her around so that she was facing the stable wall. Fiercely he nibbled her neck as his hands bent down, pulling her gown up her legs. He was pushed so tightly against her back that she felt his manhood, hard and insistent, pressing against her. She groaned, her face squashed sideways against the wall, as she felt a flood of wetness.
She gave a strangled gasp as she felt his hand slip into that moistness. Her head tilted back in ecstasy as he gently caressed her folds. At the same time, he was biting her neck, a delicious agony that was whipping her into a frenzy of desire. Her legs instinctively opened. He groaned against her neck…and then she felt him slip a finger inside her, his whole hand covering her core as he kept caressing her.
Delia moaned, opening her legs wider. It was shocking, but it felt so amazing that she couldn’t stop herself even if she had wanted to. The sensations were building at an intense pace now. She clawed at the stable wall as a hot flush broke out over her flesh. She felt another flood of wetness; her folds were pulsing now, almost aching, demanding release.
She wanted to feel his manhood inside her. She wanted him to take her and make her his own.
“You are driving me crazy,” he whispered into her neck. “I want you so, so much….”
“Do it,” she whispered back, shocked by her brazenness, but unable to stop herself. “Take me.”
He groaned in agony. She felt him hesitate. But she was past caring about anything. She didn’t care that there were no promises between them and that she probably wouldn’t see him again once they got to Bradford. She didn’t care that she was pressed against a stable wall. None of it mattered in the haze of her passion. She wanted him inside hernow.
