Ruin Me Please (20 page)

She sighed
into his kiss with contentmen
t, every bone in her body seeming
to melt.  She speared her fingers into the hair at his nape feeling the silk
y texture between her fingers
and pulled him closer
.

His tongue traced the entrance to her mouth.

Sh
e felt his smile, and the rumble of his words,
“Open for me,” h
e groaned.  His lips claimed her possessively.  His tongue reach
ing
deep into her heat
,
b
old, hot,
and devouring
.

She shivered as his tongue plunged between her lips. 
Assaulting her
senses,
he aroused exquisite sensations
that were brand new
.  She was lost in the taste of him.
 

He ravished her mouth with superb
thoroughness.  This was madness.
  To steal a taste w
as not
going to be enough
he craved more.  He desperately needed more
, but common sense won out
.
  He tore his lips from hers, resting
his forehead against the top of her head.  His
breath rasped
sharp
and uneven.

“Have mercy on me,” h
is voice
a soft
whisper.  He inhaled her evoc
a
tive fragrance. She stirred him as no other
woman
had.  He was weak with
his
desire
for her
.  Raising his hand,
he
tenderly trac
ed
her jaw
as
his thumb stroked her
kiss-swollen
lips
.  His searching g
aze found similar desire mirrored
in her
eyes so he
lower
ed
her down his body,
l
eaning
down to
kiss her plump lips, sipping from them, savoring
them a final time, setting her back from his body.

He watched
as she slowly blinked her eyes and stared right at him
, her gaze still unf
o
cused
.  He was surprised that she
looked more curious tha
n shocked.  More intrigued than nervous.

“Oh my.
” 
Her hand
pressed to her breast as she
struggled
to catch her breath.

He couldn’t stop the rakish gri
n that spread across his face.

Poppy’s head reeled.  She looked up transfixed by what she saw in his eyes as a soft heat once again curled in her stomach.

Declan cleared his throat. 
“
The number one rule of friendship is that men are not su
p
posed to dally with
each
other’s sisters.”

Poppy interrupted before he could say anything else.  Her eyes still hazy with passion
,
she shook her head
closing
her eyes briefly
as she gathered
her nerve. “
You can blame me.  I’ve i
m
agined
kiss
ing
you since
the moment
you walked into my garden
.
”
  S
he smiled s
oftly
as a rosy blush cr
ept up her neck into her cheeks.  “Shocking.” 

“Shocking, indeed.” 
Declan
gave a start and
stepped aw
ay from her at the sound of a door
open
ing
and
clicking
close
d.  H
olding
out his arm
, a faint smile curved Declan’s mouth as he gave her an elegant bow.
“Shall we?” 
He took her hand, but before tucking it in the crook of his arm, he
raised it to his lips
and pressed
a kiss on each of her trapped fingers. 
Seemin
g
ly,
without thought he
caress
ed
her hand
.

Poppy glanced up from under her and inquired
innocent
ly,
“Are you hungry
,
my lord
?”

He
nearly groaned aloud at her question, staring
into her eyes
hungrily
. 
“Ra
v
enous
.”

***

Chloe stood at the
top of the stairs
, a
worried frown
turned down her mouth
at the spectacle she had witnessed between P
oppy
and the
d
uke.  It was
un
like Poppy to be so car
e
less. 
She wanted
her friend to be
happy
.
S
he
just
prayed that disaste
r was not swirling around them.
  She needed to find some way to divert Poppy from this infatuation.

Love is a smoke raised with the fume of sighs;

Being purged, a fire sparkling in lover
’s
eyes;

Being vex’d, a sea nourish’d with lover
’s
tears:

What is it else?  A madness most discreet,

A choking gall and a preserving sweet.

Romeo and Juliet

*William Shakespeare

P
oppy
immediately scanned the Drawing room upon
enter
ing.  As soon as she crossed the threshold, a palpable
animosity
was almost visible between Freya and Durham
.
She searched out
Parker
and when she caught his eye, she raised a questioning
brow
,
her lips quirked in a half smile
.  H
e responded with a half grimace and
a
shrug.
  She had a fee
l
ing this evening was not going to turn out well.

A
untie A
dele
was the only one missing.  She
had decided to take
her dinner en suite
, stating
that the young people should be able to have fun without
an
old harridan hanging around
all the time
.

“How are you this evening, Lady
Freya
?”  Declan bowed his head.

“Perfectly well
,
Your G
race
,
”
Freya said u
nconvincingly,
inclin
ing
her head.  Poppy n
o
ticed a shimmer in her eyes that could only be the beginning of tears.

“Oh dear,
” Poppy
said, turning
towards
Declan
before
releasing his arm
.  Then
she ge
n
tly
looped
their arms together
.  “Freya, let us take a turn about the room
, dear
.” 

Freya could only nod. 

“Why, everyone’s been cooped up all day and traveling in ca
r
riages, it’s enough to make an
y
one fatigued…
” her
voice faded as they walked away.

Poppy smiled
at Miss Harris who was sitting
sleepily
by the fire with her embroidery
as they strolled by
.

Declan’s ey
es followed them for a moment, c
oncerned for Poppy’s friend
and the mess Durham had made.  He turned and made his way to Durham curious to uncover more of hist
o
ry.
  Pa
s
sion that
hot was going to burn someone
and he wanted to make sure it consumed the right people.

Declan stopped beside his friend. 
“Durham,
” he
said in greeting
, then proceeded to b
e
rate
.
“What the devil is going on?”

Durham looked away uncomfortably, s
taring into his glass of brandy
with a
deepening frown. 
“I don’t have a clue what you
’re
talking about
,
Hawk.” 
Still he
refus
ed
to meet Declan’s eyes.

“
Well
, I
thought you should know that if I heard your theatrics in the hall when I was coming to di
nner, others could have as well.
” 
Declan’s brow
furrowed
.
“Just what kind of game are you playing with Lady Sheffield?  It is not like you to play so dangerously with inn
o
cent l
a
dies.”

Durham’s face turned fierce.  “I
’
m not playing games
.
” He waved his hand.  “A
huge
misun
derstandin
’
.
”
He glowered
,
swallow
ing
more
of his brandy.  “I wasn
’
playing with her as you so
deli
---deli
cately
put it.  What bus
’
nes is
h
yours anyway?”  He snorted in outrage
his scowl dee
p
ening
.

Taken aback by
Durham’s vehement reply,
but not surprised,
Declan continued,
“
I’m j
ust trying to help an old
friend that
is all.”  Declan eyes narrowed and he forced a smile as he watched
Durham take an
other large
swa
l
low.  “Maybe you should put that drink down?”

Durham, groaned, stomping his foot, nearly sloshing the contents of his
half-filled
glass on the carpet
.
“A
terr
’
ble mesh o
’
ev
’
rything.
  Now ish
n’t
the time and pla
ce
.
”
He looked
i
n
to his glass,
“
’
sides
, I need
more brandy.” 
With each passing second, he slurred
his words a little
more
.  Declan watched as he spun
, holding out his arms to right himself and
stalked aw
ay none too steady as he went.

Needing reinforcements, Declan made his way to Parker and whispered, “You might want to hide the brandy tonight, Ash.” 
He gestured towards
Durham
while
giving
Parker
a ru
n
down of the situation.

Parker rolled h
is eyes
heavenward
muttering,
“God give me strength. 
You are kidding me.
 
We’ve not even made it past the first day.
” 
H
e sighed,
h
ead
ing
towards Durham and his best
bottle of
brandy.

Poppy glanced over her shoulder, catching
the end of
Declan and Durham’s convers
a
tion
taking note that it
apparently did
not
end well
. 
She w
atch
ed
as Durham filled his glass to the brim
, surprised that he didn’
t spill
a drop
.  “Whatever is the matter with Lord Durham?”  Poppy inq
uired of Freya. “He is usually such an
amiable
man.  I don’t believe
I have e
v
er seen him d
rink this much.”