Engaging the Earl (6 page)

He looked up at her with a smile in his dark emerald eyes that made her stomach flip. “This messy-looking creature can’t possibly belong to you.”

“She does indeed. I have been looking for her for forever. She ran off a half-hour ago. Vera, come.” But the blasted creature just rolled over on her back with her paws in the air, her panting smile inviting him to scratch her belly. “And why can’t she possibly belong to me?”

“I’d expect an incomparable such as Lady Kat to own the best-groomed canine in town.” He smiled down at the dog. “Not a hopelessly mangy whelp like this fellow.”

“Now you’ve gone and insulted a lady.”

He looked up quickly. “I meant no insult to you.”

“Not me,” she said, amusement in her voice. “That messy
fellow
is female.”

He grinned at her and light came into his eyes. For a moment they fell back six years—to when they had talked easily and enjoyed each other’s humor. “Ah, then I must offer my apologies.” He favored Vera with a doubtful look. “Although, while she may be female, she does not appear to be a lady.”

She looked at Vera, sprawled out on her back with her loose hanging tongue, her fur matted and wet. The dog looked utterly relaxed, half asleep actually, thanks no doubt to Edward’s ministering hands on her belly. “I’m afraid you have caught her at her worst. She decided to take a dip in the pond.”

He came to his feet, as if belatedly realizing he’d been sitting in the presence of a lady. “That explains the malodorous scent.”

He was dressed in a casual manner which still retained a certain military precision. The form-fitting nature of his clothing emphasized how lean he’d become. His chocolate jacket was slightly wrinkled from his crouched stance against the tree, and his mushroom-colored breeches bore traces of grass and twigs.

Vera remained on her back, watching Edward with one open eye, clearly hoping he’d return to the task of scratching her belly. After a moment, she appeared to give up because she rolled over onto her legs and sauntered over to press her nose against Kat’s thigh.

She petted the dog’s damp, furry head. “Suddenly Vera recalls that she belongs to me.”

“Vera, is it? What breed is she?”

“No one really knows. We’re not certain how my father’s Pomeranian came to be
enceinte
at the country estate.” Her face warmed to be discussing breeding with him.

Turning his attention back to Vera, he didn’t appear to notice her discomfort. “She has the look of a pointer to her. Perhaps her mother had a clandestine meeting with a neighbor’s hunting dog.”

“A female of easy virtue.” She arched a brow after Vera, who wandered away, distracted by a fluttering butterfly. “Thereby proving your point that Vera is no lady.”

He laughed out loud, a chest-deep expression of amusement this new Edward had seemed incapable of until now, and she noted his complexion had lost some of its pallor. “I’m surprised to encounter you here. Isn’t Kensington Gardens a little out of the way for a shining star of the
ton
?”

She brushed a hand down her skirt, his perusal making her self-conscious of her appearance. She wore a simple old day dress, nothing like her usual modish ensembles that set young ladies of the
ton
rushing to their modistes to copy her latest look. “I like it because it is quiet here.”

“I thought it paramount for all of the incomparables to appear in Hyde Park to see and be seen.”

She lifted a shoulder with deliberate insouciance. “Haven’t you heard? I, sir, am the
only
reigning incomparable this Season.”

“And have been for many years, from what Tobias tells me.” He regarded her with obvious appreciation. “I can’t say I’m surprised.”

Her insides warmed under his gaze. She turned to follow the dog, castigating herself for allowing this man who had deserted her to have any impact on her at all. “I mustn’t let Vera escape again. We might find her assaulting another unsuspecting admirer of nature.”

He followed. “Are you alone?” He looked around as they strolled, spotting her maid following at a distance. “Good lord, is that Fanny?”

“It is indeed.” For some reason, it pleased her that he had remembered her maid. Fanny was part of their shared past.

“Well, I’ll be.” He squinted to get a better look at the dark-clad woman. “From the disagreeable expression on her face, I gather I’m still not a great favorite of hers.”

“Fanny sees herself as the guardian of my reputation. And you are the only gentleman who has ever tempted her mistress to misbehave.”

“Is that so?” Probing eyes fixed on her face. “Your Lord Sinclair doesn’t provoke you to naughtiness?”

Her cheeks grew hot.
No. No one has ever had the power to provoke me but you.

A shout pierced the air. “I say, you there, is that a dog? Canines are not allowed in Kensington Gardens.”

She looked back to where three gentlemen of middle age pointed in their direction. “Oh no.”

“Is that so?” He followed her gaze. “Are dogs not allowed here?”

She averted her eyes. “It might be so.”

His brows rose. “Are you breaking the rules?”

“It’s a silly rule and I just wanted some privacy and quiet for my walk.”

“I’ll take that as a yes.”

She looked back at the approaching men. “Perhaps if we ignore them—”

The man was gesturing wildly now toward his servants. “You, go get the constable.” Pointing to another servant, he yelled, “You, capture that canine.”

Turning to face them, Edward squared his shoulders, his face hardening. “Don’t worry. I won’t let them take your animal.”

A shiver of consciousness swept through her. On the battlefield, commanding an army, he must have appeared much as he did now: the lean lines of his body tense with anticipation, his emerald eyes dark and stormy, the hollows in his cheeks made more pronounced by his braced jaw and the fierce set of his features.

She put a staying hand on his forearm, surprised by the hard turn of warm muscle apparent beneath his jacket. “Let us away from here.” She tugged at his jacket. “I cannot be caught here with you
and
Vera. The gossips would have a field day.”

An arrogant rise of his brow. “Are you suggesting that we run rather than face them?”

She nodded with vigor, still pulling at him. “That is exactly what I am suggesting. The rags love to write about me. And you are a new earl, a war hero. If we are discovered, it will be in all of the papers. Mama will have an apoplectic fit.”

He appeared reluctant at first, his planted feet not budging. “Please, Edward,” she pleaded, yanking on his sleeve more vigorously.

His stern expression shifted, as though he’d reached a decision. “Vera, come!” Grabbing Kat’s hand, encasing it in his large, firm grasp, they made a run for it.

The dog yapped, cavorting alongside, clearly enjoying the game. Kat raced with Edward as they ducked into the wood line, her heart pounding and her blood soaring in a way that made her feel like a carefree girl again. When her hat snagged on a branch and swept it off her head, tousling her hair, she wanted to laugh. She had no idea how long they ran, but finally, out of breath, they spun around the trunk of a large tree in the wooded area.

Peering in the direction they’d just come from, Edward ran a hand over his close-cropped hair. “I think we’ve lost them.”

Kat bent over, panting, trying to ease a cramp in her side. “Oh my, I can’t remember the last time I’ve run like that.”

“Are you well?” Concerned tinged his question.

She dropped to the ground, still trying to catch her breath. “I’m wonderful,” she said between laughing gasps. “That was marvelous! We showed them, didn’t we?”

He eased down next to her. “We certainly did. Although I doubt they’d drag us down to Old Bailey for bringing a canine to Kensington Gardens.”

“Certainly not an earl,” she said between heaving breaths.

His lips curled into an ironic smile. “Finally, a useful privilege to go along with this infernal title.”

She looked at him and they shared the smile, the impartial coldness in his deep green eyes replaced with a penetrating spark of cognizance. A fine sheen coated his face and neck from their exertions and the tang of perspiration mingled with the bergamot scent of his shaving soap. Having been starved for him for far too long, she breathed him in, relishing the sensation of his masculine warmth in such close proximity.

He reached out and touched a loosened golden strand at her shoulder, fingering it as though it were something precious. “Like sunshine, just as I remember.”

Her heart slammed. “I must look a mess.”

“You are beautiful as always.” He slid both hands up behind her head, caressing her for a moment before drawing his fingers outward through the strands of her hair, shaking it loose of its pins so that it streamed down her shoulders. “I have always loved your hair. When it is loose and flowing like this, you look like a goddess.”

He cupped her face with his large hands and she brought her own hands up to rest over his, relishing their rough softness. Her heart sped up when he lowered his head toward her. His lips met hers with a tender touch, taking soft nips, as though his body was reacquainting itself with hers again. Her body recognized him at once. She felt edgy and wet all over, and a restless energy throbbed between her thighs.

She kissed him back, reveling in the softness of his lips. Nothing and no one else existed. The kiss deepened, becoming hot and full of hunger, nothing like the sweet considerate kisses Laurie gave her. Edward’s tongue drove hers lips apart and he lapped inside like a starving man. He plundered deeper, demanding more, his kiss raw and hungry, lacking any restraint or finesse.

He tasted like tobacco and something much darker and sweeter. Her greedy tongue tangled with his, taking as much as she gave. She’d waited six interminable years for this, for him. Damn him.

Then he was shifting her onto the soft ground. He came down over her, and the scent of grass and wet leaves and tree bark engulfed them. His lips left hers, trailing down her neck, then back up to suckle the tender lobe of her ear. She moaned at the exquisite sensations, writhing against his hard body as it pressed down on hers, loving the feel of his unrelenting lean form against her woman’s softness.

“You are exquisite,” he murmured as his hands ran down the sides of her body, his thumbs brushing provocatively over the sides of the sensitive flesh of her breasts. When they reached her hips, he grasped them and pulled her against him. She gasped at the titillating sensation of his aroused flesh grinding against the throbbing wetness between her thighs.

A band of tension tightened inside of her. Then his lips were back on hers, his tongue tasting and stroking. His hand moved to her breast, cupping and then tweaking at the tip through the thin fabric of her dress until she thought she would scream from the intense sensation. It felt as though the sun’s hottest rays radiated from that place between her legs outward through her entire body—every part of her was alive and pulsating.

Somewhere out there, Vera’s bark penetrated her consciousness, followed by the crunching of leaves and approaching footsteps. “My lady!” Fanny’s sharp tone shattered the spell, dragging Kat unwillingly back to the reality of a world where she and Edward no longer belonged to one another.

He jerked away and rose to his feet in one swift motion. Sitting up, still dazed, she took the hand he offered to pull her to her feet. The maid stood just a short distance away, arms crossed over her chest, shocked disapproval stamped on her face. She glared at Edward before running her disappointed gaze over Kat’s flushed and disheveled state. “We must return, my lady,” she said tightly. “Lord Sinclair will be waiting for you.”

Edward gently disengaged Kat’s hand from his. She hadn’t realized she’d been grasping onto him so tightly. “It is good to see you again, Fanny.”

“I wish I could say the same, my lord.” She said the honorific in the same tone one would say an epithet.

“Fanny!” Kat said, shocked by her maid’s insolence.

“Come along, Lady Kat.” She jerked her chin in Edward’s direction. “This one here is nothing but trouble to you.” Edward’s face remained expressionless, his skin stretched taut over sharp cheekbones.

“Hush, Fanny. You don’t know what you are talking about.”

She bustled over and took a firm hold of Kat’s arm. “Yes, I do, my lady. Now come along. You don’t want Lord Sinclair to come upon you looking as you do now. There’d be no explaining it away.”

She glanced back at Edward, who’d remained frozen where he stood, his eyes an inscrutable opaque. He gave a brisk nod. “The redoubtable Fanny is correct. It is best that you go with her.”

“Will you call on me?” she called over her shoulder.

Watching her go, he did not answer.

Once they’d walked far enough to lose sight of him, Kat tugged away from Fanny’s grip. “You may return my arm to me now.”

Letting go, the maid made a tsking sound with her mouth. “I would have thought you would know better than to involve yourself with the likes of him again.”

“We are not involved. It was just a moment that took us both off guard.”

Fanny halted and fixed a hard look on her. “After that man left you that last time, I thought you would never recover. It took months before you began to act alive again, but in truth you were never the same.”

She opened her mouth to dispute Fanny, but then shut it again. She thought she’d hidden her despair so well, but no one understood her better than Fanny, who had known her since girlhood. And her maid had seen through her performance. Kat hadn’t been the same after Edward’s desertion. And she would not survive another of his rejections.