His fingers brushed against her most intimate place, once, twice, the third time her knees sagged.
“I’ve got you, love.” One muscular arm gripped her tightly as he continued to pluck a potent rhythm.
She could think of nothing but him, touching his bare skin, devouring his mouth, taking him into her body.
“My lord! Are you in there?” The words echoed through the woods. “Rose? Lord Farleigh? Can you hear me?”
“Bloody hell.” The muttered curse revealed his frustration.
Being slightly detached from reality, it took a few seconds for her to realise someone else had entered the woods. Christian released his grip, straightened her dress and stepped away. She wobbled, struggled to gain her balance.
Christian cupped her elbow. “Alfred is coming.” His gaze drifted over her lips and hair. “I’m afraid we shall have to explore our mutual attraction some other time.”
Her heartbeat pulsed hard in her throat. It amounted to more than exploring an attraction. That word made the whole affair sound superficial. And though she thought him the most handsome man of her acquaintance, her desire to be with him came from her heart as well as her loins.
But guilt flared.
How could she be so selfish? She’d pressed him for more kisses rather than information about the occupants of Morton Manor. At some point, she would have no choice but to leave him, leave Everleigh. If he discovered her identity, he’d offer marriage. But it would be a marriage based on a lie. Another marriage doomed out of a need to conform to society’s rigid rules.
And what of the children? They did not need any more disruption in their lives.
“My lord.” Alfred caught sight of them and hurried forward. “Mrs Hibbet sent me to help you find Rose.”
“Thank you, Alfred.” Christian placed his hand on her back and guided her through the foliage and onto the path. “I found her near the boundary.”
Rose forced a smile although her head was a jumbled mess of contradictions. Should she stay another day? Should she run? “I thought someone should check that his lordship was unhurt.”
Alfred glanced at a point beyond their shoulder. “Mrs Hibbet said there’ll be nothing left of the place after this.”
“Mrs Hibbet is right. Come the morning Morton Manor will be a pile of ash.”
Rose looked back over her shoulder. “Thank heavens the occupants left when they did.” Then again, the fool in the woods said he’d come from there. Either way, it didn’t matter. Her father couldn’t send her back to the manor now even if he wanted to.
“Oh, there were people staying at the house. If you didn’t know already, the Earl of Stanton is the gentleman who employed you to work at Morton Manor.”
“The house was occupied?” Rose swayed as the ground seemed to slip away beneath her feet. "By whom?"
“Well, I say the earl, but in truth, his mistress has taken residency.”
“His mistress?” Rose blinked, but her head whirled. Her father despised women who sought affairs out of wedlock. Woe betide he ever discovered Lord Farleigh had ravished his daughter in the woods. “The Earl of Stanton doesn’t have a mistress.”
Christian turned to her and frowned. “You mean you were unaware he hired you to keep house for a courtesan.” He paused and glanced at the footman. “Walk on,
Alfred. I’ve no intention of spending the rest of the evening gossiping in the woods.”
With a curt nod, Alfred strode back along the path, and they followed.
“I … I trust the occupants escaped un-unharmed.” She despised her father but couldn’t bear the thought he’d perished in the fire.
“Both the earl and his mistress are staying at The Talbot Inn. Dr Taylor is with them. Stanton’s mistress is suffering from the effects of the smoke but should be up and about in a few days.”
Relief coursed through her. But what of Nicole? “And the servants escaped too?” What if Stokes or Mrs Gripes came to Everleigh looking for work? Her father would pay handsomely for news of his runaway daughter.
“Apparently there are no servants.” He offered his hand as they approached the stile. Rose gripped his fingers for fear her knees might buckle. These new developments only added to her confusion. “By all accounts, he dismissed them a few days ago although I wonder how the earl and his companion managed on their own.”
Dismissed? It came as no surprise. Her father refused to tolerate incompetence.
“But the gentleman in the woods said he’d come from the manor?”