"Er . . . well, actually, about that," Daniel began finally, but then frowned as his hands holding hers brushed against the front of her damp gown. She was soaked through with something, whiskey from the smell of it, and he asked, "What happened? Why are you drenched in whiskey?"
"Oh." Her smile gave way to annoyance and she glanced down at herself. Daniel followed her gaze, noting that the gown was plastered to her like a second skin, and it was definitely her nipples he was seeing through the now sheer cloth.
"Richard tried to stop me from drinking his whiskey and knocked it all over me," she muttered with disgust. "He claims he's changed and wants to make Christiana happy, but . . ." She shook her head. "I don't think he's changed at all. Chrissy says he won't let anyone drink his whiskey and he was just as selfish about it in his office a moment ago as she claimed. I don't think he's really changed one wit."
"I don't know about that," Daniel murmured, hoping to help Richard in his efforts to convince the women he'd changed so that Christiana would warm to him more quickly. Suzette might be able to influence Christiana if he could convince her that he had truly changed. "Coming as close to death as he apparently did today can make a man reevaluate his life and can be an impetus for change."
"Hmm." Suzette didn't look convinced, but just shrugged, and then smiled and said, "I don't want to discuss Dicky. I want to talk about us."
"Us?" he asked weakly.
"Yes. I'm so glad you've decided to accept my proposal and marry me, my lord," Suzette breathed and then rose up on tiptoe to kiss him again. This time she didn't just caress his mouth with hers, but then she nipped at his lower lip, another trick he'd taught her earlier that night. Damn, she was a fast learner he thought with dismay. And damned good at this kissing business for a beginner, he decided when her tongue slid out to run along his lips. It was a temptation he simply couldn't resist and Daniel allowed his mouth to open to her, his own tongue sliding out to play.
Suzette immediately sighed into his mouth and slid her arms up around his neck, her body arching into his with a rather flattering eagerness. An eagerness borne of the belief that he intended to marry her, Daniel reminded himself grimly and was about to put an end to this when he was distracted by the door opening behind her.
Stilling, he opened his eyes and then almost sighed with relief when he spotted Richard in the open door and not someone else. The other man paused at once on spying them, but then just stood there looking unsure what to do. Deciding it would be better for everyone if Suzette didn't realize they'd been discovered, Daniel waved him away. Richard hesitated another moment, but then apparently decided to trust him and backed silently out of the room, pulling the door closed again.
The moment Daniel heard the soft click indicating it was fully closed he broke their kiss and began trying to disentangle himself. "Suzette, we have to stop now. I should go. It's not proper for me to be in your room like this."
"Oh, but we have to discuss when we should do the deed, my lord," Suzette protested.
Daniel had removed her hands from around his neck and was turning toward the window when she said that, but the words stopped him cold. The term "do the deed" immediately brought to mind a variety of images that he was sure she hadn't meant. All of them included her naked and--
"It does not have to be right away this evening, but it does have to be soon. Father only has two weeks to repay the debt and I think it takes at least two days to get to Gretna Green and then only if you travel day and night. It may even be three days and nights."
Daniel sighed. Of course she wasn't talking about the deed he would prefer. She was talking about leg shackling him. He really needed to clear up this confusion about his presence meaning he intended to marry her. And then he had to get out of the house, find Richard, collect George and--The thought of George made him glance toward the window he'd tossed the man out of and Daniel's eyebrows shot up as he spotted movement on the ground below. Leaning closer to the open window, he squinted into the darkness, just able to make out Richard down below, rolling George back up in his blanket.
"What's that?"
Suzette was suddenly beside rather than behind him and he straightened at once and caught her arm to urge her away from the window, but she tugged at her arm and peered over her shoulder, craning her head to try to see.
"I thought I saw someone down there doing something, Daniel. I--" Her words died abruptly when he did the only thing he could think to do, and pulled her into his arms to kiss her.
It was a desperate attempt to distract her, and it worked. For both of them. At first he was in control, his mouth slanting over hers, his arms holding her firmly in place, his tongue sliding out to enter her mouth and sweep thoughts of what she'd glimpsed from her mind. But when Suzette released a little mewl of pleasure into his mouth and shifted her hips, her body pressing closer and rubbing against his groin, Daniel lost the thread of his plan. In the next moment, instead of a cool controlled kiss, it was a wild demanding one and his hands were moving, searching out the secret delights he was suddenly so eager to touch.
Chapter Four
Suzette gasped as Daniel cupped her behind through her gown and urged her tighter still against his growing hardness. But it was the hand that suddenly slid between them to cup her breast through the damp cloth covering it that made her moan and shudder with delight. His touch and the way he was kneading the tender flesh was sending shock waves of pleasure through her that surpassed anything she'd previously experienced. When he caught her growing nipple through the cloth and pinched lightly, she cried out into his mouth and then tore her lips from his, suddenly afraid that in her excitement she might bite his tongue.
Daniel's mouth immediately slid across her cheek to find her ear. He nibbled there briefly, and then his mouth moved downward, following the line of her throat. The entire time his hand continued to play at her breast, kneading, squeezing, pinching and stirring up such a riot of pleasure in her that she didn't think she could bear it. Suzette honest to goodness feared she was going to swoon from it all. Certainly, she was suddenly finding it hard to breathe, her chest rising and falling in rapid pants, but seeming to take in little air.
Suzette was so consumed by the combination of this worry and the pleasure he was firing to life in her, that she wasn't even aware of him backing her up until she felt the bed behind her legs.
"Daniel," she mewled as he followed the neckline of her gown with his tongue. "I can't brea--"
Her words died on a gasp as her gown suddenly loosened and began to slide off her shoulders. He had managed to undo her stays with the hand previously at her behind, and now removed his other hand from her breast to tug her damp neckline down, baring one breast. In the next moment, Daniel's mouth had swooped to cover the tight, rosy jewel he'd revealed. Suzette sucked air in through her teeth as he drew her nipple between his lips and lashed it with his tongue. She still didn't seem to be taking in the air she was inhaling, but she also no longer cared.
When his teeth grazed lightly across her nipple, Suzette couldn't bear it any longer and curled her fingers into his hair, trying to force him up to kiss her again. Much to her relief, Daniel allowed her nipple to slip from his mouth and straightened at once to reclaim her lips. If she had thought his previous kisses passionate, they were nothing next to this one. His mouth was demanding, his tongue thrusting almost violently between her lips to claim everything it touched. Suzette responded just as passionately, her mouth eager and arms locking around his neck, clasping him so tightly that the buttons of his jacket pressed almost painfully into her naked chest. The discomfort was enough to convince her that if she was to be bare from the waist up, then he should be too, and she eased her chest back enough to find the buttons of his coat. Happily, they were already undone and she promptly began to push the cloth off his shoulders.
When Daniel took over the task, shrugging off the coat and tossing it aside, she blindly undid the buttons of his vest. The moment she finished, he was shrugging out of that as well and her attention turned to his cravat. Suzette managed to undo it and slide the soft cloth from around his neck, letting it slip to the floor as his arms came around her again. She then melted into him, shivering as the coarse hairs on his chest brushed across her sensitive nipples.
Suzette only knew he'd eased her to the bed when she felt it press into her back, but it was a brief awareness before she was distracted by the pressure of his weight settling half on top of her. She felt cool air from the open window kiss her ankles and then her calves and recognized somewhere in her passion-muddled mind that he was dragging her skirt up, but didn't care. Her attention was wholly on where they were joined at the mouth and the excitement and need he was wringing from her with just his kisses. When he broke their kiss to shift his attention to her breasts again, she sighed and then moaned and shifted restlessly beneath him, her hands clasping his shoulders and her head twisting on the bed with mounting need.
Daniel had stopped dragging the skirt up now. Having pulled it up high enough that he could reach beneath it, he now skimmed his fingers up along the bare skin of her upper leg, pushing the light cloth of her gown ahead of it. The sensation caused a confusion of feelings within her. Excitement, anticipation and fear all roiled through her making her moan and squirm a bit, her hips unconsciously rotating on the bed. Suzette froze, however, the breath whooshing out of her when his hand suddenly slipped around to the inside of her leg and began to creep up her thigh, still pushing her gown higher. Those fingers were a bare inch from the core of her when Suzette suddenly snapped her thighs closed. It was an instinctual rather than intentional move, her untried body responding to the situation.
Daniel immediately stopped ministering to her breasts and raised his head to kiss her again. Oddly enough, the fears and tension claiming her miraculously began to slip away then, and after a moment Suzette allowed her legs to ease open with a little moan, but before Daniel could take advantage of what she offered, a knock at the door had them both stilling.
"Suzette?" Lisa's voice came to them through the door followed by another knock. "Suzette, I need to talk to you."
When Daniel broke their frozen kiss and lifted his head, Suzette bit her lip and turned to glance toward the door, wondering if Lisa would go away if she simply remained silent. Her answer came when the doorknob rattled as Lisa announced, "I am coming in."
"No!" Suzette squawked, sitting up abruptly as Daniel leapt off her. Much to her relief the door didn't open. Still she struggled to slip her arms back into the sleeves of her gown and pull it back on as Daniel snatched up his vest and coat and rushed to the window.
"Just a minute," she called, scrambling off the bed now to finish straightening her gown. Her worried gaze was on Daniel as he reached the window and paused to shrug on his vest and jacket. He started to climb out the window then, but suddenly hesitated, glanced back, and then pulled himself back in and rushed back to her side. His kiss was so swift it was done almost before it started. He then whispered, "Tomorrow," and turned to hurry back to the window.
"Suzette?" Lisa called impatiently.
"Just a moment," Suzette snapped and watched worriedly as Daniel climbed out onto her window ledge and then dropped out of sight.
"What are you doing?" Lisa asked.
Suzette rolled her eyes and then hurried to the door. Yanking it open, she scowled at her sister, annoyed that her arrival had brought an end to such a wonderful interlude. She growled, "I was preparing for bed. What are you doing?"
Lisa stared at her, worry creeping across her expression. "Are you all right? You are quite flush."
Suzette held her breath for one moment and then let it out with a sigh before saying more calmly, "I am fine. I just didn't wish to trouble Georgina this late at night, but had a bit of a struggle getting my stays undone by myself." Grimacing to herself over the lie, she shifted where she stood and asked, "What was so important that you just had to speak to me at once?"
"Oh, I . . ." Lisa frowned and glanced along the hall toward Christiana's room. "I just came from Chrissy's room and she was saying the oddest things. She was talking about marrying George and . . ." She shrugged helplessly. "I am just a little worried."
"She is drunk, Lisa," Suzette said patiently. "I wouldn't worry about her saying strange things. Goodness, she was going on about strawberries and seeing Dicky's bottom when we got her to her room earlier. I'm sure she will be fine in the morning."
"I suppose," Lisa said with a little sigh, and grimaced. "I am sorry I disturbed you. I shall go to bed now."
"That is probably a good idea," Suzette said solemnly.
Nodding, Lisa started to turn away and then paused and swung back to say, "Oh, I almost forgot. Dicky had to go through Chrissy's room to get to his just now. We must remember to unlock his bedroom door in the morning."
"I will," Suzette assured her. "Now go on and get some sleep. It has been a long day."
"Yes, it has," Lisa mumbled and stumbled off along the hall.
Suzette watched until she'd slid inside her room before closing her own door. Sighing, she then turned away and walked to the window. A glance outside showed an empty yard. Daniel had already slipped away. He was probably out front, walking to wherever he'd left his carriage . . . If he'd brought his carriage. Suzette had no idea how far away his own townhouse was, if he even had one. He may have walked there for all she knew.
She closed the window and turned back toward the bed, but paused as a bit of snowy white cloth caught her eye. Recognizing it at once as Daniel's cravat, Suzette rushed over to pick it up, and before she'd realized what she planned to do, was rushing out of her room. He was probably gone, of course, but she might still catch him, Suzette thought as she hurried toward the stairs.
Daniel's driver was asleep on his perch when he reached the waiting carriage. He didn't disturb the man yet, instead glancing through the window into the carriage, only to turn back to the house with a frown when he saw no one sitting inside. George's body had been missing from where it had fallen when Daniel had dropped to the ground from Suzette's window. He'd supposed Richard had moved the body to the carriage alone, and had hurried here expecting to find his friend waiting with George. Now he didn't know what to think. Where the hell was Richard and what had he done with George?
The opening of the front door drew his attention and Daniel started to relax, expecting Richard to appear with George's body. However, it wasn't Richard. Instead, Suzette stepped out. A bit of bright ivory cloth fluttered in her hand as she glanced along the road one way and then the other. Before he could decide what to do, she'd spotted him standing beside the carriage and hurried forward.
Daniel frowned and started forward to meet her, but had only taken a single step when his eye was drawn to movement in one of the front upper windows. The sight that befell him brought Daniel to an abrupt halt and had his mouth dropping open with surprise. It also answered the question of where Richard was. The man was framed in the open window of the master bedroom, naked as far as he could tell and suckling at Lady Christiana's bared breasts.
"Oh."
That startled sound from Suzette reminded him of her presence and Daniel glanced down to find that she'd reached him and had apparently followed his own gaze to the window to witness what her sister and the man they all thought was her husband were up to. She was watching the display quite wide-eyed.
Daniel looked back to the window to see that Christiana had wrapped one leg around Richard and he had lifted his head to kiss her. Even as he saw this, Richard picked the woman up by the waist and carried her away from the window. It didn't look to Daniel as if the man planned to join him again that night. However, it didn't explain what Richard had done with George's body, and he briefly debated going back into the house and interrupting the couple to find that out. It seemed to him to be a pretty important matter to resolve.
"You forgot this," Suzette said quietly, drawing his attention from these worries to see that she was holding out the cravat.
Daniel's eyes widened, however, when he also saw that Suzette had rushed out here without even stopping to do up her gown. The neckline was loose and held in place only by her hand splayed across the center of it. He had barely taken that in when the clip clop of horses' hooves drew his attention to a carriage coming up the road toward them.
Realizing that he was standing there, his jacket and vest open to reveal his bare, cravatless chest, and that she was scandalously undone as well, Daniel cursed and quickly opened the carriage door. He bundled Suzette inside and then followed as swiftly as he could, pulling the door closed with one hand even as his other tugged at the drapes at the windows to close them. He closed every last drape, determined that whoever was in the other carriage not see them, and then settled on the edge of the bench seat opposite Suzette and smiled at her wryly.
"Sorry, I just thought . . ." His explanation died as he tried to sit back on the bench and came up against something hard. Frowning, Daniel glanced over his shoulder and felt around to see what was occupying the seat with him. It was only then he noticed the blanket-covered legs hanging off the end of the bench seat next to him. At least he assumed it was George's legs, it was too narrow to be his shoulders and head. Those, presumably were what was taking up most of the bench behind him.
Alarm coursing through him, Daniel swivelled back to face Suzette. He reached for her hand and the door handle at once, intending to hustle her back out of the carriage, but then realized that the clop clop of horses' hooves had reached them and the other carriage was apparently just passing. Cursing, he pulled the door closed again and then turned sharply toward Suzette as she stood and, apparently thinking he'd grabbed her hand to draw her to him, moved to stand crouched before him.
While the carriage was dark, his own eyes had adjusted enough to make out the bulk behind him and he was very aware that Suzette might be able to as well should she look, so promptly pulled her to sit sideways in his lap, hoping to distract her.
Suzette settled there with a little sigh. Her arms then slid around his shoulders and she pressed a kiss to the corner of his mouth, whispering, "There is nothing to be sorry for, my lord. I too am eager and can't wait."