Splendid

  Alex was stunned by both her soft lecture and its discomforting accuracy. Her quiet words made him extremely uneasy. Didn’t she realize that her tender words could tear through his armor far more effectively than any sword? Suddenly uncomfortable, he decided to change the subject before she had another chance to unsettle him.

  “You still haven’t told me why you were out and about dressed as a servant this afternoon,” he said abruptly.

  Emma was startled by the sudden turn in the conversation, and the sharpness of his voice roused her ire once again. “Whyever would I explain my actions to you?”

  “Because I insist that you do so.”

  “What? You must be joking!” Emma spluttered. “You overbearing, arrogant, unscrupulous—”

  “Once again” Alex cut in smoothly, “I find myself in admiration of your vast vocabulary.”

  “There are quite a few more where those came from,” Emma said between clenched teeth.

  “I don’t doubt it for an instant.”

  “Why, you insufferable, odious—”

  “Here we go again.”

  “—PIG!” Emma clapped her hand to her face as she realized what she just said, and she started to shake silently with laughter. She simply couldn’t help herself. Sitting on her soft white quilt in a most unladylike manner, she hugged her bent legs to herself and bowed her head as she laughed. Her body rocked uncontrollably as she tried to contain her mirth. The complete ludicrousness of her situation had suddenly been brought home to her, and though she knew she ought to do something like swoon, she simply could not help but be utterly amused.

  Alex regarded Emma’s laughter with surprise. That a woman could actually find humor in her compromising position—it was inconceivable! But he soon found that her mirth was infectious. His rich chuckle joined her silent laughter as he watched her pale, delicate shoulders rise and fall with each giggle.

  Alex’s chuckles proved to be Emma’s undoing, and she exploded into loud, throaty laughter. Unable to keep a tight rein on her shaking body any longer, she acted just as she would have done if it had been Belle in the room instead of the Duke of Ashbourne, and she flopped out onto her back, legs hanging over the side of the bed.

  Alex watched her with fascination. Spread out on the bed, with her flaming hair fanned out against the pale sheets, she seemed not to notice him. Lost in her laughter, she was primitive and without artifice, completely oblivious to his hungry gaze.

  He thought she was magnificent.

  How was he ever going to keep his hands off of her?

  “Oh my,” Emma gasped, finally emerging from her fit of laughter. She fought for breath, trying desperately to contain herself. She placed one hand on her heaving chest as she regained control. “Whatever must you think of me?”

  “I think,” Alex paused as he crossed the room in quick strides and perched himself at the foot of her bed, “that you are beautiful.”

  Emma pulled her legs back onto the bed and shrank back against the headboard. His silken voice melted her limbs, and she was terrified by her reaction to him. She had to put as much room as possible between herself and the dangerously handsome man who had snuck into her bedroom. “Beauty is only skin deep,” she quipped, trying to relieve the tension that hung in the air.

  “Very astute,” Alex said with a nod. “Allow me to rephrase myself. I think that you are splendid.”

  Joy shot through Emma like ten thousand tiny flames, and her body tingled with strange, unfamiliar feelings. All she knew was that Alex’s presence affected her in ways she did not understand, and she was frightened.

  Alex caught her timid gaze. “My dear Emma,” he began.

  Emma suddenly felt the need to assert herself and regain some self-confidence, which he had washed away. She straightened her back with false bravado. “I am certainly not your dear Emma,” she said primly.

  “Really? Then whose dear Emma are you?”

  “What an absurd question.”

  “Not at all. Because”—he caught her unshod foot and began to massage it—“if you don’t belong to anyone else yet, I think I might make you mine.”

  Emma gasped as his hands continued to knead the muscles in her foot. She had never dreamed that a touch to her foot could send sensations up to her stomach, she thought frantically as she pulled her leg to escape his grasp. Her struggles only strengthened his resolve and his strong, tanned hands moved upward under the hem of her skirt to her calf. Emma unconsciously wet her lips as delicious spasms of pleasure shot up her leg.

  “Feels good, doesn’t it?” Alex grinned.

  “No, I don’t think I like it at all,” was her strangled reply.

  “Oh?” Alex asked innocently. “Then I’ll just have to try harder.” His hands lazily moved upward until he was touching the soft flesh just above her knee. “Do you like that?” At her dazed expression, he continued. “No? Perhaps then a kiss.”

  Before Emma had any chance to react, he tugged her feet and pulled her down so she that was lying on her back. He stretched out beside her, the hard length of his body pressing into her side. Cupping her chin with his strong hand, he pulled her face to his and his lips gently met hers.

  “No,” Emma whispered weakly. She didn’t understand how this man came to be in her bedroom or how he came to be lying on her bed, but most of all, she didn’t understand why her body suddenly felt like it was about to go up in flames.

  “Just one kiss,” Alex moaned against her mouth, his voice thick with desire. “If you say no after one kiss, I’ll stop. I promise.”

  Emma didn’t say a thing, simply letting her eyelids flutter shut as his tongue traced the outline of her lips. That delicate touch proved to be Emma’s undoing, and her body responded shamelessly. She snaked her arms around the back of his neck and pressed her hips instinctively into his. Moaning slightly, she parted her lips, barely conscious of her own movements.

  Alex took full advantage of her reaction and pressed his tongue into her mouth immediately, searching its inner depths. “God, you’re sweet,” he murmured huskily. He plunged back into her mouth, pressing and probing. Emma met this intimate caress with an ardor she had never dreamed she possessed, one hand grasping at the silken fullness of his thick hair, the other roaming over the hard muscles of his back.

  Alex groaned as her touch ignited him. His mouth never leaving hers, he moved and covered her body with his own, pressing it hotly into the mattress. Emma moaned passionately at this new intimacy, and the sound increased his ardor. “Who’d have thought such a little thing would be so passionate?” he murmured as his lips softly trailed down her soft, white neck.

  Emma shivered with desire. “What are you doing to me?” she asked huskily.

  Alex’s chuckle came from deep in his throat as his lips returned to hers. “I’m making love to you, my sweet. And you feel like you do—” His hand snaked up to close over her breast, and Emma gasped at the stark heat that poured through the satin of her dress and burned her skin. “—because you want me every bit as much as I want you.”

  “That’s not true,” Emma said shakily, but she knew she was lying even as the words tumbled from her mouth.

  Alex’s lips moved across her face to nibble on her earlobe. “Ah, my dear Emma, have they turned you into a prim English miss already?”

  Emma could feel his warm breath in her ear as he spoke, but nothing could have prepared her for the onslaught of desire she felt when his tongue suddenly darted out and began to caress her. “Ahh,” she sighed, unable to prevent herself from murmuring her pleasure.

  Alex only grinned. “Don’t be ashamed of what you’re feeling, Emma. Never feel ashamed. It’s completely natural. There is nothing bad or evil about it, regardless of what society matrons may say.”

  “I wasn’t exactly told such feelings were bad in and of themselves.” Emma’s voice shook. “I was just told they were bad unless you were married.”

  Alex grimaced at the M word, and his desire receded slightly. “I wou
ldn’t look to me for marriage, if I were you,” he chided her gently.

  “I wasn’t!” Emma retorted, pulling away from him.

  “Good!”

  “I would never marry you.”

  “That’s very convenient for you because I don’t recall asking you to.”

  Emma fumed. “I wouldn’t marry you if you were the last man on earth!” She paused for a second as she pondered what was clearly an overused cliché. “Well, maybe if you were the last man on earth, but only then!”

  Alex decided he loved her obvious common sense.

  “But seeing as how you’re not the last man on earth,” Emma continued, “which is more than obvious considering the fact that I’ve got a whole ballroom full of eligible bachelors just downstairs—”

  Alex’s mouth quickly drew together in a grim line.

  “—I think you should leave right now.”

  “I disagree.”

  “I don’t care.”

  “We seem to be at a standstill here,” Alex drawled. “I wonder who will win.”

  “I haven’t any doubt of the outcome,” Emma said bravely. “Get out of my room!”

  Alex raised his eyebrows at Emma’s ire. His seeming indifference only served to inflame her further. “Now!” she exploded.

  Alex rose to his feet and straightened his coat. “If there’s one thing I’ve learned,” he commented caustically, “it’s never to argue with a screaming woman.”

  Emma immediately pouted. “I wasn’t screaming. I never scream.”

  “Oh?”

  “I was merely raising my voice.”

  “For your sake, I hope you weren’t screaming,” Alex said, “because the last thing we need is your family rushing in. Especially now that we’ve clearly established our lack of desire to be married to one another.”

  “Oh, damn,” Emma sighed.

  “Such language,” Alex chided, and then he realized he sounded just like his sister.

  “Oh, do be quiet. The last thing I need is a lecture from you.” Emma sprang to her feet and smoothed the violet folds of her dress with her hands. “Do I look presentable?” she asked, her eyes wide with need for reassurance. “I don’t want to embarrass my family.”

  “Quite frankly, you look like you’ve just been kissed. And rather soundly, too.”

  Emma groaned as she rushed to her mirror to inspect the damage. Alex was right. Her face was flushed and tendrils of hair had escaped her barrette and floated seductively around her face. “Well, at least it shouldn’t be too difficult to fix my hair. Meg tried absolutely forever to get it to conform to the latest styles, but I finally managed to convince her that this was simpler, more comfortable, and more flattering.”

  “Don’t tell me you actually have a maid named Meg.”

  “Yes, well, it’s difficult to be overly creative when one has just gotten oneself whacked in the head.” Emma struggled valiantly to contain her thick hair in the barrette.

  “Allow me,” Alex purred as he moved to stand behind her. Emma was shocked when he picked up her hairbrush and began to stroke her hair softly, sweeping it up atop her head.

  “I won’t even ask where you learned to dress hair.”

  “You probably shouldn’t.”

  “You have scores of mistresses, I’m sure.”

  “You’ve been gossiping about me,” he accused.

  “Only a little,” she admitted.

  “How unfair of you. I didn’t even know your true name.” Alex plucked the barrette from Emma’s fingers and deftly secured her hair into place.

  “Well, now you do,” Emma commented, unable to think of anything more interesting to say.

  “So I do,” Alex replied, for much the same reason.

  The two of them paused, simply watching the other tentatively. Emma finally broke the silence. “But you mustn’t act as if you know me. I wouldn’t want anyone to suspect anything untoward.”

  “Of course. Although you can be sure that I will seek out a proper introduction as soon as possible. And then you’ll have a fine time avoiding me.”

  “Not for want of trying, I’m sure.” The insulting words tumbled out before Emma could stop them, but Alex only laughed softly.

  “You do have a charming wit, my dear Emma.” His head quickly swooped down as he placed a quick kiss on Emma’s surprised lips. “Now go on and return to your ball. I won’t follow you for at least a quarter of an hour.”

  Emma rushed to the door, opened it, and slipped into the hallway. Pausing briefly, she stuck her head back into her bedroom. “Promise?”

  Alex chuckled. “Promise.”

  Chapter 6

  Emma breathed a sigh of relief as soon as she closed the bedroom door behind her. Although she’d only met the Duke of Ashbourne that day, she knew instinctively that he was a man of his word and would not cause an irreparable scandal by following her directly back to the ballroom. He would keep his promise and wait at least fifteen minutes before reappearing.

  Emma moved silently through the dark hallways of her cousins’ home until she emerged at the top of the stairs that led to the brightly lit ballroom. She stopped for a moment to survey the scene. Aunt Caroline had surely outdone herself this time. It was really quite breathtaking. Exotic, brightly colored flowers adorned the refreshment tables that lined the walls of the room. Hundreds of serene off-white candles had also been placed around the perimeter of the ballroom. But the most spectacular part were the guests. Dashing men and elegant women swept effortlessly across the dance floor, whirling to the tunes provided by the orchestra Caroline had hired for the evening. The ladies were especially brilliant, their jewels glittering shamelessly in the candlelight as their bright silks and satins floated through the air. The dancing couples seemed to move in unison, as if choreographed, turning the ballroom into a kaleidoscope of light and color.

  As Emma smiled at the gorgeous spectacle, she didn’t realize she was something of a sight herself. By pausing at the top of the stairs, she had unwittingly given the entire ballroom a chance to stop and stare at her. And stare they did.

  “I’m definitely in love,” declared John Millwood, one of Ned’s university friends with whom Emma had danced earlier in the evening.

  Ned laughed heartily. His blue eyes were just as bright as his sister’s although his hair was a dark mahogany brown. “Forget it, John. You could never keep up with her. Besides, I thought you were in love with my sister.”

  “Right, well, still am, I suppose. You’ve simply got too many beautiful women under your roof. It just isn’t fair.”

  Ned grimaced. “You’d be changing your tune if you had to deal with all the suitors who are continually banging down the door. I thought it was bad last year when it was just Belle, but it’ll be hell now that Emma’s here, too.”

  Just then, two more of their friends came rushing over. “Ned, you simply must introduce us to your cousin,” exclaimed the young Lord Linfield. His companion, Nigel Eversley, nodded in agreement.

  “I’m afraid you’re going to have to petition my mother for that. I’ve given up trying to keep track of all the people who want introductions to Emma.”

  “She’s stunning, simply stunning,” John sighed.

  “I don’t know how much more of this I can take,” Ned groaned.

  “’Course we’d all be content if you’d simply agree to put in a few good words about us with your sister,” Nigel said eagerly.

  “I did that last year,” Ned retorted. “It didn’t do you any good, if you recall.”

  “You might try putting in a few excellent words, then,” George Linfield suggested.

  “You three are simply going to have to accept that the last thing my female relatives are going to do is listen to me,” Ned said dryly. “Nothing I say ever sways them one way or another.”

  “A biddable female, that’s what I need,” George muttered.

  “Don’t look for one in my family,” Ned chuckled.

  “What happened to biddable fema
les? Why can’t I find one?” George continued to lament his plight.

  “They’re all ugly and boring,” John decided. “Oh God, here she comes!”

  Sure enough, Emma had spotted her cousin and was heading straight toward the group of men. “Hello, Ned,” she said softly, a vision in violet satin. “Good evening, John. I so enjoyed our dance earlier.” John beamed at her friendly words. Emma then turned to the two men she had not met and smiled at them expectantly, waiting for Ned to introduce them.

  Ned quickly did the honors. “Emma, this is Lord George Linfield and Mr. Nigel Eversley. We’re all up at Oxford together. George, Nigel, my cousin Miss Emma Dunster.”

  The two men crashed into each other trying to take her hand. Emma looked vaguely embarrassed and heartily amused.

  “Excuse me, Linfield,” Nigel said in a deep voice, trying to appear older than his twenty-one years. “I believe I was trying to kiss Miss Dunster’s hand.”

  “Excuse me, Eversley, I thought I was taking her hand.”

  “You must be mistaken.”

  “Really? I rather think you are mistaken.”

  “You are highly mistaken if you think I’m mistaken.”

  “Goodness!” Emma exclaimed. “I do believe Aunt Caroline is calling me. It was so lovely meeting you both.” With that, she hastily scurried away, trying to find her aunt

  “Oh, brilliant, Linfield, absolutely brilliant,” Nigel said sarcastically. “Now you’ve gone and done it”

  “I’ve gone and done it. If you hadn’t been falling all over yourself grabbing at her hand…”

  “If you will excuse me,” Ned put in silkily, “I believe my mother is calling me as well.” He quickly slipped away and followed Emma, hoping she knew where to find her.

  Across the ballroom, Belle was dancing with William Dunford. The two had met the previous year and, after a few weeks of courting during which they realized they were not at all suited to one another romantically, they had quickly become close friends. “I hope your cousin is poor,” he laughed, watching Linfield and Eversley fall all over themselves trying to meet Emma.