Bronwyn Scott's Sexy Regency Bundle (226 page)

44

The Viscount Claims His Bride

could coax from her. How could she have forgotten this?

burned. Every part of her body was on fire. Heat licked at her from the inside out. Pressure built at her core until she wanted to scream. Valerian was the sum of her world in that moment. He was everywhere-his hands on her body, his scent in her nostrils-and she didn't want him to stop. She wanted this moment to go on for eternity. She hated herself for it.

She pulled away with the greatest of efforts, panting and desperate. Valerian looked dismayed at her retreat.

That was some gratification. 'Have a care, St Just.

Lucien will not tolerate playing the cuckold.' She gave a slight nod to the empty room beyond the French doors, where Beldon and Lucien had just She

hoped she didn't look as dishevelled as she felt.

'Philippa-' he began in a ragged voice.

She didn't give him a chance to beg, to explain, to persuade. 'You have gravely overstepped the boundaries of polite society.'

'I didn't do it alone,' St Just responded, his eyes hot, gleaming dark with unslaked need.

'How dare you try to implicate me in your base conduct?'

flamed. 'Let me remind you that

this is not some decadent European court filled with women who are dying of lust for your attentions.'

'You're just angry because you liked it.' He had the audacity to give another throaty laugh.

Philippa's nerves were stretched to breaking.

She raised her right hand and slapped him hard across the face.

Scott

'What was that

Valerian put a hand to his red

cheek, stunned.

inhaled deeply, squaring her shoulders.

'That was "welcome home."'

Chapter Three

home indeed, Valerian thought sourly, watching

disappear inside. Through the

glass panes of the French doors he could see her sit down at the polished cherry-wood pianoforte and arrange her skirts.

Lucien Canton slid on to the bench next to her, ready to turn pages, acting the devoted suitor to perfection. From the looks of him, the man did everything to perfection. He was immaculately turned out and not just his clothes, Valerian had noted. Canton's nails were trimmed and buffed to a healthy sheen, his face freshly shaved. Valerian looked at his own nails, just as neatly kept. He too was fastidious in his personal habits. He had learned quickly in his time abroad that women responded to two things, cleanliness and sincerity, both of which were in short supply in many parts of the world. But from all ap-through the window pane, Canton possessed both qualities in abundance. Through the

Scott

panes,

smiled and laughed at something

Canton had said.

Primal envy sparked in Valerian. He didn't want laughing with Canton. He wanted her laughing with him. He hadn't come home expecting to woo her. He hadn't even known wooing her would be a possibility until Beldon had mentioned Cambourne's death in the coach. But now that the chance to win her back was present, he could see no other course of action.

He'd meant what he'd said at dinner about taking a wife and starting a family-as long as that wife was Philippa. He still desired her and she still responded to him, if that ill-conceived interlude here on the balcony was any indication. He only had to convince her of that. She'd had nine years to nurse her grudge and she'd always been far too stubborn.