But its marvelously entertaining. He smiled in a manner that made her want to upend her untouched glass of champagne over his tousled head. Youre so deliciously afraid that each morsel lures you a step nearer to ruin.
It takes more than a few scraps to suborn me, she said stoutly. Before he could deride her unconvincing defiance, she bit into the concoction. I see why you tolerate Mrs. Bevans eccentric manners. What a pity shes forgotten cutlery.
Merrick sipped his golden wine. The pleasure on his face reminded her of his expression after kissing her. Devil take him, everything reminded her of his kisses. What a pity, he said with spurious regret. Eating with ones fingers is soprimitive.
She blushed. He turned the most innocent words into an invitation to wickedness.
Speaking of eccentric manners, he said lightly, raising his glass to Sidonie in a brief toast, youre not in a pew listening to the Sunday sermon.
Im perfectly comfortable, thank you, she lied.
He sank his strong white teeth into a patty. At least take the jacket off.
She primmed her lips and wished his taste didnt linger even after the delicacies. Curse him, shed remember kissing him until her dying day. As a prelude to taking everything else off?
Amusement brightened his eyes. Should the urge strike, dont mind me.
In truth, she was overly warm. Her heavy riding jacket prickled over the muslin gown. It might be nonsensical to hide her body when hed already seen every inch, but after those soul-awakening kisses, she desperately needed defenses. To cool the heat of the air and his gaze, she swallowed some champagne. He rose to fill a plate from the sideboard and top up his wine.
Ive had enough, she said quickly, but Merrick ignored her and filled her glass.
Try this. He fell to his knees before her and between thumb and forefinger lifted a small square of nuts and pastry shiny with syrup.
The couch was so low, when he kneeled in front of her they were eye to eye. She retreated against the sofa. Move away.
So nervous, tesoro. He clicked his tongue in disapproval. And me on my best behavior. If I promise not to kiss you, will you stop worrying?
I
He smiled and pressed the pastry between her lips. She struggled to articulate a protest, then shut her eyes on a low moan of approval. Goodness, what is that?
Something I discovered in Greece. I insisted Mrs. Bevan learn how to make it. Gently he tipped Sidonies glass against her lips until she drank.
She opened her eyes. He leaned near, too near.
Something that good must be sinful.
Sidonie, Sidonie, such a little puritan.
Shakily she took another pastry between her fingers. Eating from his hand made her feel like his lapdog.
You were in Greece? She nibbled at the pastry. The spicy sweetness no longer astonished, but it was just as delicious.
You think polite conversation will keep me in line?
To her regret, learning about him was more tempting than any bonbon. One lives in hope.
Slowly he drew away. My motto.
She inhaled, filling lungs starved of air. Her relief evaporated when he lifted one of her feet across his bent knees. What are you doing?
His hold turned ruthless before she could jerk free. Making you comfortable, cara. A few flicks of skillful fingers and hed removed her scuffed half-boot.
Thats not a good idea, she said, even as he slid the second boot away and set it down on the carpet beside its mate.
From his kneeling position, he regarded her darned cotton stockings with unmistakable disapproval. Stupid to mind, but shame at this evidence of poverty rose like bile. With shaking hands she tugged her skirts down to cover her feet. I suppose youre used to painted harlots flaunting themselves in silk and lace.
His lips twitched. Painted harlots? Your imagination runs amok. He inched her skirts up past her ankles.
Lurching forward, she slammed her hand down upon his. She realized her mistake when the heat of his palm radiated over her shin. Mr. Merrick! You have no right to undress me.
Only your stockings, cara.
Permitting the removal of my undergarments exceeds our bargain. She wriggled free and struggled to stand. The squashy sofa proved appallingly difficult to escape. When finally she rose as clumsily as a drunken bear, it did her no good. Merrick caught her hand and tugged sharply. With an undignified bounce, she collapsed back onto the cushions.
Do you play the lawyer again, dolcissima? he asked over her gasp.
Pretty Italian blandishments dont disguise ugly intentions. She hated how priggish she sounded.
She expected more mockery but he merely leaned back on his heels and caught her foot again. He stroked her leg up to the knee and back. Not ugly, surely.
The heat of his touch penetrated her threadbare stockings and made her toes curl. Shed never considered her feet and ankles particularly sensitive until Merrick launched his gentle exploration. Her skin burned. Her heart raced with a dizzying mixture of fear and excitement. Her hand lifted to unbutton her jacket before she recalled that hed misinterpret any removal of clothing.
He might be on his knees on the floor, but his assessing gaze held no hint of the supplicant. Instead he challenged her to throw caution to the winds and discover what he knew and what she didnt. Take it off.
You move too fast, Mr. Merrick.
His fingers drew another elaborate pattern from ankle to knee. We have a mere week, Miss Forsythe. Times wingéd chariot and all that.
Suddenly the relentless push and pull he practiced upon her was unendurable. Merrick lured her to deny everything she believed in return for the sheer pleasure of his touch. And for the sake of that half-smile tilting his mouth. Tears sprang to her eyes. Please stop. She hardly recognized the choked voice. For pitys sake, please stop.
He frowned and lifted his hand. Sidonie, I wont take it further.
You say that but you dont mean it. Hurriedly she shoved her skirt down. And I fall for your tricks like the veriest moonling.
In helpless frustration, Jonas stared up at Sidonie from where he kneeled. Every second in her company stoked his arousal. He wasnt fool enough to imagine the fascination one-sided. She might say no, but her cheeks flushed with excitement and he couldnt forget how only hours ago shed kissed him. Now that her backbone lost its forbidding rigidity, she reclined against the sofa like an odalisque. An odalisque in a superfine hacking jacket.
She should look ludicrous. What she looked was irresistible.
He gritted his teeth and struggled for self-control. The urge to trail his fingers up those slender legs to the treasure at their apex beat like a tattoo. But with every step she took toward surrender, her uncertainty grew. If he pushed her too far, shed run. Roberta or no Roberta.
The promise of the greater prize made him set her foot down. Immediately she lifted her legs and curled them under her, out of reach.
You know I mean to seduce you.
I know, she said in a raw voice, wiping her eyes with the backs of her hands. He tried to tell himself he was too old and cynical to find the childish gesture touching. Ive always rather despised people who allowed passion to lead them astray.
You know I mean to seduce you.
I know, she said in a raw voice, wiping her eyes with the backs of her hands. He tried to tell himself he was too old and cynical to find the childish gesture touching. Ive always rather despised people who allowed passion to lead them astray.
He shifted to lean against the sofa, his shoulders resting near her bent knees. Now you find passion is a ruthless master.
Her delicate scent wafted out to torment him. He couldnt sit this close without touching her. He twisted, leaning an elbow on the couch, and caught her hand. To his surprise, she didnt jerk away.
Fit punishment for assuming myself immune. Her voice lowered. Every man Ive known has been contemptible. My father was weak and greedy and unable to countenance a contrary opinion. He was incapable of kindness or affection. While he didnt hit my mother, his tyranny turned her into a cypher until she just faded away and died when I was twelve.
Im sorry. He was. The Forsythe women had appalling luck with the men in their lives. And it wasnt as if Sidonies entanglement with Jonas Merrick would do her any good.
My father never ceased to blame my mother for only producing two useless girl children.
The picture of an unhappy family life that she painted was vivid, if heartbreaking. Hardly your fault.
Sidonie shrugged with a carelessness Jonas didnt believe. The only time he ever expressed an instant of satisfaction with either of his children was when William offered for Roberta. A lord for mere Miss Forsythe? Even a shabby, slightly questionable lord counted as a triumph. Our family wasnt influential and while Robertas portion was respectable, she was hardly an heiress.
The uncertainty about my birth blighted Williams marital prospects. Jonas didnt hide his satisfaction. After all, William had blighted most of his prospects.
William courted Roberta as a last resort. His original ambitions were much higher. But no magnate would waste a daughter upon a man who might be disinherited any time.
Not that he has been disinherited.
No.
He waited for her to continue, but she remained quiet. Curious, Jonas glanced up. She stared down into her lap and her lush mouth twisted with unhappiness. He wondered why. Last night shed been ready enough to call him a bastard to his face. This namby-pamby reaction to his scandalous origins seemed uncharacteristic. No need to step carefully. Im accustomed to being socially unacceptable. Ive had years to come to terms with illegitimacy.
Did she guess he lied? Because of course he did. His bastardy was a wound that never healed. When she finally looked up, Sidonies brown eyes didnt betray derision. Instead they were veiled as hed never seen them.
Itit cant have been easy when you were raised as the heir, she said hesitantly, and to his surprise her grip on his hand tightened as if she extended comfort.
Ancient history, tesoro. What use raking up old ashes? His gaze fastened on her lips, soft, so soft. Are you sure you wont let me kiss you?
I must be wise.
Wisdom is an overrated virtue, amore mio.
She cast him an unimpressed look. Youre no expert on virtue.
Virtue is my foe. Ive devoted great study to it.
He watched her struggle to summon some crushing remark and decided to rescue her. How did you sneak away from Barstowe Hall?
Robertas help.
Even so, surely some guardian must barricade the garden gate against swains vying to glimpse the fair Sidonie.
William has been my guardian since my father died six years ago, she said flatly.
All desire to smile left Jonas. Instead, a sickening suspicion set his gut heaving. Good God, dont tell me the blackguard hits you, too?
Jonas, youre hurting my hand.
Im a clumsy dog, he muttered, loosening his grip. If he hit you, Ill vivisect the worm.
William has never hit me. She stroked his cheek, the first time shed willingly touched him. In her eyes, he saw a softness he couldnt remember before, even when hed kissed her.
Why should you be safe? Yet as he stared into the beautiful face that conveyed strength as well as allure, he guessed why. Jonas was long past crediting his foul cousin with anything like shame. But under Sidonies clear gaze, perhaps even William retrieved some vestige of honor.
We mostly live apart. She paused and her earlier inexplicable discomfort returned. I run Barstowe Hall with the pittance he sends. And theres always written work for a bluestocking like me. Lately, Ive catalogued Williams library. She spoke reluctantly, although Jonas couldnt imagine why. The subject was hardly controversial. She was as jumpy talking about her life with William and Roberta as she was when Jonas touched her. Almost.
Anything interesting?
She avoided his eyes. Your father took all the valuable books before his death, as you well know.
Her existence sounded like drudgery. And lonely. But he made himself smile. So what prompted my cousins sudden bibliophilia?
Hes selling whats left, of course. Surely you know how close to the wind hes sailing. The last of Robertas dowry went earlier this year in some scheme for South Seas emerald mining.
My cousin never had the touch in business.
She cast him a disapproving look. No need to sound so smug. You know hes reckless to compete with you.
If hed cut his coat to fit his cloth when he inherited, he could have lived perfectly comfortably at Barstowe Hall. Jonas was deliberately disingenuous. William was a heaving mass of jealousy, conceit, and bluster. Hed never accept life as a quiet country squire while his bastard cousin turned the world on its ear. The mans his own worst enemy.
Id feel no compunction gloating over Williams disasters if my sister and nephews werent plunged into penury with him.
What about your penury? Youre damned quick to care about the fate of Roberta and her brats.
She raised her chin. In two months, I turn twenty-five. Williams guardianship ends and Ill receive an allowance from my fathers will. Its not mucha plutocrat like you would scoffbut it will establish me away from my brother-in-laws tantrums. I have plans for a useful future. I intend to set up a house of my own and teach indigent girls to read so they can make their way in the world.
The idea of Sidonie slaving her life away as a spinster schoolmistress struck him as a tragic waste, but he knew better than to say so. Hed caught the militant light in her eye when she mentioned the unappealing scheme. Im surprised William hasnt married you off. Especially if you already have a dowry.
I meant it when I said Id never wed. Whatever she saw in his smile, it discomfited her enough to make her try to shift away. He didnt let her go. He began to suffer the alarming fantasy that hed never let her go.
Not all husbands are like William. Or like your father.
Her expression turned bleak. Its pure luck, though, isnt it? The law gives a husband ownership of his wife. I value my judgment too dearly to sacrifice it to anothers. And theres no escapethe contract binds until death. A married woman is little better than a slave.