The Princess & the Pea (36 page)

Just before she lost herself to the intoxication of his kiss she noted, with a vague sense of wonder and amazement: Dirt had never tasted so good.

"Jared?" Cece said softly and squeezed through the barely opened door to the stables. "Are you in here?"

A lantern perched near the center automobile cast a pool of yellow light. Jared stood in front of the motorcar and glared as if he and the machine had come to some irreconcilable difference.

"Jared?" She stepped toward him. "Whatever are you still doing here? It's the middle of the night."

Jared glanced up, surprise on his face, as if he had only now noticed her presence. "What? Oh, Cece, it's you." He tunneled his fingers wearily through his hair. "Whatever are you doing here? It's the middle of the night."

She sighed and shook her head. Obviously, the man was dead on his feet. It had been a very long day. After the race they had transported the automobile back to the stable, the Whites once again taking up residence at the castle. With the upcoming wedding, it was only fitting that both families spend time together to work out details and plans for the event itself and the future.

"I came to find you."

"I'm afraid I'm not much worth finding right now." He pulled his brows together in a troubled frown and nodded toward the automobile. "There's an odd sound I noticed today. I meant to leave the machine here and study it further tomorrow—or rather I suppose now it is today—but I began tinkering and ..." he shrugged, "here I am."

"Not for long," she said firmly. "This can definitely wait. It is past time you retired for the night."

Absently she reached her hand out to brush a dark strand of hair away from his face. Honestly, he was very much like a child at times. She could almost picture him as a boy, losing track of the hours, intent on catching frogs or climbing trees. One wondered if all men were as—

His hand caught hers abruptly and her startled gaze jerked to his. For a long moment they stared unmoving. Then, slowly, he brought her hand to his lips and placed a single kiss in the palm.

She sucked in air through her teeth, as if his touch burned, branding her as his forever.

He dropped her hand and quickly turned his back on her. "Go away, Cece." He fairly growled the words. "Go back to the castle and your own bed. Or I cannot guarantee your safety."

Cece stared, speechless. At once her decision was made. Her stomach fluttered with apprehension and excitement. "I have no fear for my safety."

He refused to face her. "You would if you knew what I'm thinking."

She laughed lightly. "But Jared, I do know what you're thinking."

He turned sharply and pulled her into his arms.

"Do you, Cece? Do you know how I long to savor the taste of your lips on mine?" His gaze lingered on her mouth and instinctively she licked lips at once dry and heated. His eyes narrowed at the sight.

She gasped. "Yes."

"And do you know how my fingers yearn to explore every inch of you? To feel the heat of your silken flesh beneath my hands?"

"Yes, yes." The words were a bare breath of agreement.

He splayed one hand across her back, the other cradling her neck, and she stared up at him. wanting all that he wanted and more. much, much more. Surely the need revealed in her eyes mirrored his own?

"And do you know, my love, how I long to rip your clothes away and let my eyes ravage your innocent charms?" Her hands were trapped between his chest and hers and his blood seemed to throb beneath her fingers. "And do you know how I ache to join my body with yours and make you mine for all eternity?"

"I know. Lord, Jared, I know." A cry caught in her throat and desire pulsed through her.

He smiled in a wry manner and pushed her gently away with obvious reluctance. "But you are to be my wife and. as much as it pains me to resist, it shall have to wait until we are duly wed."

"What?" She widened her eyes and struggled to catch her breath. "Why?"

"Why?" He stared at her as if she had lost her mind.

"Yes, Jared." She fought the urge wrought by frustration to stamp her foot. "Why?"

"I just explained—" He glared as if his passion had suddenly turned to anger. "Do you have any idea that this is exactly what I had planned all along?"

"What are you talking about?" Outrage simmered within her. A confession was the last thing she wanted at this moment.

"I thought if I seduced you, you would have to marry me."

"Well then, why on earth didn't you?"

His eyes widened with obvious annoyance. "You want to be seduced?"

"Yes, if it was by you," she snapped.

"Perhaps this will change your mind." He clenched his jaw as if he still debated whether to force the admission from his lips or hold it back. "I also believed that if I could seduce you, I would not have to teach you to drive. I intended to avoid that chore as long as possible."

"No!" She clapped a hand to her cheek in a sarcastic imitation of surprise. "Why, I never would have guessed."

He stared for a long moment. Then a smile played at the corners of his lips. "You knew?"

She heaved an exasperated sigh. "Jared, I would have to be a complete idiot not to."

"And you're not angry?" Caution shaded his tone.

The knowledge that she had, more or less, already taught herself to drive flickered through the back of her mind, and she shrugged. "Perhaps I will be at some point, but not now. Although if we are confessing all, I too have something to disclose. I suspect it would be best to start this marriage with as few secrets as possible between us."

He laughed, his mood now light, and she realized he must have been quite concerned at her reaction to his divulgence. "What kind of secrets can you possibly have to confess?"

"I'm not quite certain how to say this." She clasped her hands together and gazed upward, searching for the right words. "Do you remember Marybeth Anderson?"

"Anderson?" A thoughtful frown furrowed his forehead. "I can't say that I do."

"She's a friend of mine, from Chicago. You met her several months before we arrived."

His expression cleared. "Of course. The one who would have gone to fat. Well on her way to two chins, I believe."

"Jared!"

"Sorry." He cast her a sheepish smile. "Mother's opinion, not mine."

She snorted disparagingly. "Now there's another surprise."

"If I recall, I quite liked her," Jared murmured.

"You broke her heart." Cece tossed the accusation like a weapon.

"Did I?" Genuine remorse crossed his face. "I had no idea. I didn't mean to."

"Well, of course you didn't," she said quickly. "I can see that now. But at the time I didn't know you at all. My plan would have worked quite nicely if I hadn't fallen in love with you." She heaved a sigh of regret. "It was such an interesting idea."

His eyes narrowed. "Cece, for the rest of our lives together, that phrase will strike terror into the very depths of my soul."

"What phrase?" she said with genuine curiosity.

" 'An interesting idea,'" he said wryly.

"Yes, well..." She waved his comment aside as if it had no meaning. The dear man would no doubt get used to her "interesting ideas" sooner or later.

"Just what was this 'interesting idea'?" The expression on his face indicated that he was not at all convinced he wanted to know the answer.

"If I remember correctly ..." She drew the words out. stalling for both time and inspiration, in hopes of her idea sounding somewhat less ridiculous than she now realized it was. It had. however, seemed so clever at the time. She pulled a steadying breath, then pushed the words out in a long, quick rush. "I was to meet the notorious Earl of Graystone and engage his affections—"

"You were to entrap the Earl of—or rather—me?" Jared raised a disbetteving brow. "To what purpose? Marriage?"

"Don't be absurd, Jared." She threw him a condescending smile. "First of all, I don't believe the term
entrap
is quite accurate. And secondly, the plan was merely to break your heart. I had no intention of marrying you."

"Bloody decent of you." Sarcasm dripped off his words.

She ignored him. "The purpose of this venture was to point out to a sanctimonious, stuffy, British snob—"

"That would be me," he said pointedly.

She continued without pause."—that Americans are just as good as the English, if not better. That the standards of my country are as high or higher than yours."

"You came all the way to England to prove some convoluted, patriotic point?" Amazement shone in his eyes.

"Well," she hedged, "there was another purpose."

"Oh?"

"Why, yes." Goodness, this was far more difficult to explain man she'd thought. With every word the entire proposal seemed to grow more and more preposterous. She squared her shoulders. "It's entirely likely that one of the reasons I was intrigued by you in the first place was because of your dreams."

"The automobile?" he said carefully. She nodded. "Go on."

"I have—or rather. I had—a dream as well." She hesitated, hoping to gauge the reaction on his face but his expression revealed nothing. She plunged ahead. "I wanted to travel the world, see all there is to see. I wanted to have adventures and experiences. And I wanted to write about them. I wanted to be a newspaper reporter. Like Nellie Bly."

He studied her silently. Long moments ticked by. What was he thinking? Was he annoyed? Angry? Did this change anything between them? Did it change everything?

"What do you want now?" he asked, his tone quiet and intense.

"What do I want?" She stared and considered him thoughtfully. This was perhaps the most important question of her life. Honestly, didn't he know the answer by now? She threw his own words back at him.

"I want to build a motorcar company and see an automobile in front of every manor house and cottage in England."

Relief shone in his eyes, the beginnings of a smile touching his lips.

"I want to be the Countess of Gravstone. Not because of any desire for a silly title." she said quickly, "but because the Earl of Gravstone is not nearly as stuffy and sanctimonious as I had originally believed—"

"Thank you." He grinned. "I think."

"And because whether he's an earl who needs to marry for money—which I still do not approve of, mind you—" she slanted him a pointed glance, "or an inventor without a penny to his name, I cannot envision my life without him.

"And that's not all I want." She advanced toward him with a purposeful step.

"What else do you want?" His brows drew together and he gazed at her with suspicion.

"I want you, Jared Grayson." She wrapped her arms around his neck. "Now. This minute."

"Cece." His tone rang hard and taut with restraint. "Don't tempt me this way. I refuse to seduce the woman who will be my wife. The woman I love."

"Very well." She gazed up at him. Regret mingled with desire in his eyes. Did the man really have a will of iron, or was the disreputable rake lingering just beneath the surface?

With a long, deliberate movement, she ran her tongue across her lips. The night sky of his eyes darkened at the sight. "What if the woman you love seduces you?"