In The Prince's Bed (13 page)

“Tell me what you
do
want.”
So I can drive that blasted Lovelace from your mind once and for all
. But Katherine’s mind was miles away fromSydney. Alec’s hand, that hot, questing hand that had driven her mad during the reading, was all she could think of, caressing her breast, fondling it, searing her with this wild excitement.

She should protest the outrage. She should push him away.

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But no wonder all those ladies in the Rhetorick looked rapturous when men touched them so intimately. It was the most deliciously naughty feeling. Only think what it would be like if he touched her bare flesh…

As if he’d read her thoughts, Alec began to unbutton the bodice of her riding habit.

“Alec, what are you doing?” she tore her mouth from his to whisper, scandalized. Fascinated. Dying to see how far he’d go and what it would feel like.

When had she become so very wicked?

He nipped at her earlobe again, sparking an electric sensation along her every nerve. “Tell me what you want.”

She couldn’t catch her breath. Another button came free. And another, while she waited in shameless anticipation. “Not this,” she said feebly.

“No?” Her bodice gaped open, and Alec slid his hand inside, then beneath the low neck of her chemise to cup her naked breast.

She sucked in a breath and curled her fingers into his coat.

“You don’t like this?” he asked, his voice low, guttural.

“Oh, my word,” she choked out. Sin should not feel so sweet and amazing… and incredibly erotic. His hot hand warmed her flesh, turned it molten. He thumbed her bare nipple, and she nearly shot off the table. Heaven, pure heaven. When it ought to be anything but. He nuzzled her cheek, his breath ragged against her skin. “I wanted to touch you like this last night, sweetheart. But I didn’t dare.”

“Yet you dare to do it now?” she whispered, then shivered delightfully when he moved his hand to fondle her other breast.

“If that’s what it takes to convince you that you want me as much as I want you, then I’m eager to oblige.”

Before she could answer, he kissed her again, so deeply and thoroughly that she hardly noticed him settling his body between her thighs until her skirts inched up to accommodate him. Then catching her behind her hips, he pulled her flush up against him, so tightly she could feel the bulge in his trousers even through her bunched-up riding habit and petticoat.

“Alec, you have to stop this.” She sighed against his lips.

“Not yet.” He rubbed his thickening flesh against her, rousing a strange new ache between her legs. “Not until you admit you like having my hands and my mouth on you, that you like having me touch you.”

He caressed her naked breast so temptingly that she groaned aloud.

“Tell me,” he urged. “Tell me you want me, Katherine.”

“I… I…”

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“Tell me!” he demanded as he pressed between her legs so firmly that pleasure bolted through her, making her cry out.

“Yes, you devil, yes—I want you!” she practically screamed. His eyes shone with triumph, as if he’d won a battle. Which he had, of course. Ashamed, she hid her face in his coat. “There, you got what you wanted.”

“Hardly,” he murmured. “I want much more than that from you.”

That statement brought her fully to her senses. “Well, you can’t have it.” She grabbed his hand and tried to pull it out of her gown. “Stop touching me.”

“Katherine—”

“Now, Alec! Before someone seesusin here, and my reputation is ruined forever.”

He hesitated, the fierce hunger in his face feeding her sudden panic. Then he stiffened, as if fighting for control over himself.

When at last he drew his hand from her bodice, she could have wept with relief. “Thank you,” she whispered. Swiftly she fastened her buttons, but when she tried to get off the table, his body still held her pinned there. “Please let me down.”

Clasping her about the waist, he pulled her off the table until she slid slowly down his body, every inch of his rigid flesh branding her even through her skirts.

His eyes darkened. “One more kiss,” he whispered, “then we’ll leave.” And before she could even protest, he took her mouth again.

Jealousy has no place in a rake’s arsenal,

for it makes a man foolish and liable to err.

—Anonymous,
A Rake’s Rhetorick

Sydneyglanced at the clock in the back room where all the poets were gathered. He’d seen Katherine leave Iversley and head into the hall. So where was she? Hadn’t she been coming to offer him her
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congratulations?

She hadn’t been waiting whenSydneyentered, and the thinning crowd had revealed no sign of Iversley inside the assembly room, either.Sydneyscowled. That dashed scoundrel had probably talked her out of coming back here, the way he had tried to keep her from attending the reading. Unsuccessfully, of course. Satisfaction spread throughSydneyas he remembered Katherine’s smiles.
Take that, Iversley. She came anyway, didn’t she? Came to see me
. And perhaps she was waiting for him even now in the hall…

He headed for the door, but Julian stepped into his path, blocking his exit. “For God’s sake, don’t make a fool of yourself over some silly chit.”

“Stay out of it, Napier. This does not concern you.”

Jules flushed. “So it’s ‘Napier’ now? What happened to ‘my dearest Jules’?”

“Shut up!”Sydneyhissed. “We’re not alone.”

“I know that.” Glancing around the room to make sure no one noticed, Jules stepped closer and lowered his voice. “The same way you know, even if you won’t admit it, that anything concerning you concerns me.”

A delicious shiver sweptSydney. Jules’s hints about the nature of their friendship became bolder by the day, and—what was worse—more accurate.

No, what was he thinking? He didn’t feel like
that
about Jules. It was unspeakable, intolerable.Sydney loved Kit. He always had and always would. Jules—
Napier
— didn’t understand the pure and holy love that could exist between a woman and a man, purer than the… the wicked sort of friendship Jules wanted.

“Leave me be.”Sydneypushed past his longtime friend. “You’re wrong about me and Kit. Utterly wrong.”

Pain slashed over Jules’s face. “You only wish I were, because that would mean that you are not a—”

“Don’t you even say it!”Sydneysnapped. “I’ve told you time and again—all I want is to marry Kit and have a family. But you won’t listen.”

“Because that’s not what you want. That’s what you’ve been told to want. But I know better.”

Sydneyswallowed. He should never have responded to Jules’s surprising kiss a few weeks ago. Though they hadn’t spoken of it since, it had changed everything between them. Worse yet, it had crystallized all that had been wrong his entire life, and made him want—

No, he didn’t want
that
. He couldn’t. But Jules refused to see their one kiss for the mistake it had been.

“I can’t be what you want, Jules,”Sydneywhispered. “Can’t you see that?”

“No, I can’t.” Jealousy turned Jules’s tone bitter. “I care more about you than she ever could. For God’s sake, man, she came here with Iversley!”

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WhenSydneyglared at him, Jules added cruelly, “Or is that the real reason you’re trying to keep her? Because you can’t bear to lose even her to
him
. And all because of some silly schoolboy rivalry—”

“Don’t be absurd.” But Julian’s words rang in his ears as he headed out the door into the hall. It was true—until Iversley had started sniffing around Kit,Sydneyhad actually toyed with the idea of
not
marrying her.

But the earl was infuriating, with his title and easy manner and reckless disregard for rules.Sydneyalways followed the rules, was terrified not to.

Except when it came to Jules.

Heat flooded his face so powerfully that he scanned the hall to see if anybody had noticed. But it was empty. No remaining audience members and no Iversley and Kit. Dash it all if he didn’t feel relieved. Relieved, of all things! What kind of man was he? He sagged onto a bench that sat against one wall and buried his face in his hands. When had everything become so muddled? Kit was pressing him for marriage, Mother was against it, and Jules—

He sucked in a breath. Jules wanted him to
really
break the rules, to leaveEnglandand go toGreecewith him on an extended trip.Sydneylaughed madly. Mother was actually enthusiastic about
that
idea. She thought it would separate him from Kit so he could find some “better” woman. If Mother only knew what Jules intended for them…

A thrill shot through him that he squelched ruthlessly. He mustn’t think of Jules like that. He
mustn’t
. It was wrong. The man’s plans were simply impossible. A life outside ofEnglandengaged in— No, he couldn’t.

Besides, how would Mother manage all alone? And there was Kit to consider, too—Sydneycould never leave her to Iversley. That scoundrel would ruin Kit’s life. He could never make her happy. Yes, but can you?

He wanted to. He really did. It was just that Kit had grown into such a… a woman. Suddenly, the amiable playmate who’d joined him in all manner of innocent boyish activities—boating and fishing and climbing trees—had become this creature of blatant femininity who scared the devil out of him. He still enjoyed their talks and admired her clever mind. But the thought of sharing a bed with Kit—Katherine—made him break out in a sweat.

It’s only because you’ve never been with a woman. Jules confused you, that’s all. Just kiss her as she asked, and that will break the ice and then everything will be fine. But what if it wasn’t? What if, God forbid, he hated it?

No, Jules was wrong about him.Sydneystood up and strode down the hall. He’d prove it, too. He’d find Kit, and he’d demand that she stop spending time with Iversley. Then he’d take her in his arms and—

A muffled noise from one of the nearby rooms broke into his thoughts. Curious, he approached the
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door—the only closed one in the hall—and peered through the little window to the inside. His heart stopped. Iversley was kissing Kit. Anger surged throughSydney. How dared that blackguard touch
his
Kit?

Sydneyopened the door. He would put a stop to the man’s insolent attentions. Then he caught sight of Kit’s arms, looped about Iversley’s shoulders, clinging to his neck. She was kissing the man back. And when Iversley moved to kiss her neck and her ear, her face showed pure rapture—her eyes were closed and her lips were parted and she looked as if she’d finally found heaven. AndSydneyfelt… nothing. No surge of jealousy, no outrage… nothing. Well, that wasn’t entirely true. The sight of such passionate fervor made him wish he were the object of it. He was envious.

And to his horror, it wasn’t Iversley he envied.

“Unhand the lady, you blackguard!”

As the words penetrated the sensual spell Alec wove around her, Katherine shoved him away. Dreading what she would see, she turned her gaze slowly to the door.

Lord preserve her, it wasSydney! How much had he witnessed? Had he been here when Alec removed his hand from her bodice a few moments ago? Judging from his furious expression, he might have been. Except that his fury seemed directed more at Alec than at her. Alec turned, too, his expression carefully controlled. “Good afternoon, Lovelace.” Not “This isn’t what you think,” or “Sorry, Lovelace, didn’t mean to steal your woman.” Then again, Alec was always honest about his desires.

What was she going to do?Sydneywould never forgive her for this, never. Like an avenging angel, her friend stalked up to them. “Dash it all, Iversley, you have no right to kiss her!”

Relief coursed through Katherine.Sydneyhad only seen their kiss, thank goodness.

“I’ve as much right as you,
old chum
,” Alec shot back. “As long as the lady doesn’t protest my kisses, our activities don’t concern you.”

“Kisses?”Sydney’s gaze shot to her. “You let this scoundrel kiss you more than once?”

This was her chance to proclaim Alec a liar, to say she had been forced. But she couldn’t. Even though Alec’s grim expression showed he half expected her to, she couldn’t speak such a lie. It might save her pride, but it would compelSydneyto defend her honor, which was unthinkable. Men of action like Alec were inevitably good shots.
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“Lord Iversley,” she whispered, “would you give me a moment alone with Sir Sydney?”

Alec searched her face, surprise flickering in his eyes. Then he nodded grimly. “I’ll go see to the horses.”

He strode out past Sydney, who glared at him every step of the way. As Alec’s footsteps receded down the hall,Sydneyapproached her. “Dash it all, have you lost your mind? What are you thinking, to let that man kiss you?”

An odd speech for a man who should be jealous. He sounded more like an overprotective brother than a lover.

“I wasn’t thinking at all,Sydney. It… it just happened.” She wasn’t about to tell him of her bargain with Alec—Sydneywould certainly find
that
appalling.

“The only man you should kiss is me,”Sydneysaid with uncommon fierceness. She gaped at him. So Alec’s scheme was working? “You’re absolutely right,” she said stoutly. “And I would much prefer that you be the one to kiss me.”

Liar, her conscience whispered.

Be quiet, she told it. She meant it—she only wantedSydney. Really, she did. Even if she
had
just been behaving like a shameless wanton with Alec.

She blushed. “My kissing Al— Lord Iversley was a mistake. I promise it will never happen again.” Or at least she fervently prayed it wouldn’t.

A flush spread overSydney’s cheeks. “Glad to hear it.” He stepped toward her with clear intent.