Talk of the Ton (Free Fellows League 5)

The madness of wanting took over, and he realized the power of the feelings he had tried unsuccessfully to keep in check. He wanted her with such fierceness that his body shook under the strain. The savage thought warred with protective instincts he had never known he possessed.

Dragging his mouth from hers, he shoved her from him with strength he was surprised he still possessed. “That is quite enough.”

Her lips were swollen and red from their kiss, and she appeared dazed. God, he felt like that, too. His body thrummed with life, and he had to step back quickly before his last sensibility, weakening under the desire to hold her again, gave way altogether.

Jenny stared at up at him. Confused, she could only wonder why he looked so hard, even angry. The gentleness of moments ago was gone. She touched her fingers to her throbbing lips. They felt scalding hot.

“I apologize,” he said. His tone was crisp. It wounded her after his gentleness. “That was completely uncalled for. I . . . forgot myself.”

“You do not think I am cold,” she blurted. “You kissed me.”

“I kissed you because it is what I have wanted to do since the first day I saw you.”

Joy exploded in her breast, eclipsing the confused jumble of emotions that had driven her to seek solitude in this room.

She reached out her hand to him, and his closed over it. It felt large, warm, protective, and powerful. Drawing in a shaking breath, she lifted her gaze.

“Does that frighten you?” he inquired softly.

“Yes,” she admitted. “But I am glad, too.”

He smiled, then seemed to remember himself. Releasing her hand, he grabbed the hem of his jacket and yanked the smooth fabric into place. “We shall be missed,” he said, “if we are gone too long. Let us go before there is trouble.”

“Yes.” She placed her hand to check her hair.

“Let me go first and see if the way is clear.” He slipped out the door, then stepped back in and motioned her to follow.

As they exited, he perused the crowd, apparently satisfied that they had been successful in reentering the party undetected. “Go on. I will not risk damaging your reputation further. Go now. I will speak to you later.”

Jenny immediately headed into the card room, where she knew Aunt Iris was sure to be. On her way, she came across Cassandra draped on the arm of one of her suitors.

“Have you seen Miles?” she asked, a hint of accusation in her tone.

“No,” Jenny said. It was the first time she had ever lied to her cousin, and she did so without a blink of an eye, to her surprise.

“I wished to dance with him again. I am quite put out with him.” She strained to find him in the crowd. “He has been very busy tonight. I saw him out on the dance floor with Missy Hartley and Lady Veronica Swinton. I hope he is not considering either one of them for a wife.”

It was meant to be a jest, but the tension in her voice pounded the words flat.

Jenny took her hand to comfort her. “I very much doubt it. Have a good time, Cassandra, and do not worry about that.”

“Oh, I will make certain that he makes it up to me,” she said with a toss of her head, and she and her partner drifted off.

But during the carriage ride home, Cassandra was not so sublime. “Mama, he only danced with me once!”

“But you said he apologized, dear,” Aunt Iris noted. “He said he looked for you but could not find you.”

“He must not have looked very hard,” she said sulkily.

Jenny braced herself, seeing there was a storm brewing. Cassandra was crushed by Miles’s indifferent attention.

“Do you think he might have found someone else to amuse him?”

The carriage hit a rut, jostling them all soundly.

“Cassandra, dear, please . . .” Aunt Iris pressed her fingertips to her forehead, her tone conveying her deep dread of Cassandra making a scene.

“He paid me no special attention,” Cassandra declared. “None at all!”