Lady Catherin'es Scandalous Christmas (2 page)

He moved on and she followed.

“While in London, what do you do with your
time?”

She paused. “What most women of my class do,
I imagine. Some charity work, visiting aged relatives, overseeing
the running of my house and staff. I like to read, I enjoy my
garden, and during the Season, there’s always some soirée or dinner
to attend. One is spoiled for choice.”

As the other strolling couple had not
ventured this far, she expected him to lead her back to the
ballroom. Instead, he tucked her hand into the crook of his arm,
and they continued around a bend in the path.

“Do you never yearn for more?”

She gazed up at his elegant profile.
“More?”

“Romance.” He stopped and faced her.

A stone gazebo stood before them, its marble
columns supporting a high, domed roof.

“My lord, I believe we should return…” Before
she could continue, he took her hand and drew her up the steps and
onto the marble floor.

For a moment, they gazed at each other. Then
he traced a gentle finger down her cheek, his touch causing her
flesh to tingle. “Do you want to be here with me?”

It was time for a graceful retreat. A scandal
would ruin her life. Catherine hesitated, her cheeks hot, her heart
thudding in her chest. Surely a few glasses of champagne couldn’t
make her feel so intoxicated and weak in the knees. “Why did you
bring me here?”

“I want to be alone with you.” He tilted his
head with a smile. “And Lady Bellingham, I think you want to be
here with me.”

“That’s rather presumptuous,” she began,
although she couldn’t deny it, for here she was.

Lord Berwick chuckled softly and reached for
her hand. He peeled the glove from her fingers and pressed his lips
to her palm. It was incredibly erotic. The touch of his lips on her
skin awakened a response deep inside her. “My lord,” she protested.
“Is this wise?”

“Not all things worth experiencing in life
are wise,” he murmured, his big hands pressing her waist to draw
her closer. “And this is infinitely desirable.”

“Perhaps we should talk.” Her voice trembled
as he gently edged her back against a stone column. “I…” He took
her chin in his hand and muffled any further comment by crushing
his lips to hers.

The kiss ignited something in her, long
suppressed, and her body throbbed. She fought to steady herself
when he released her and she could gain her breath. “My lord…”

“My name is Gerard.”

“I can’t call you by your first name,” she
protested, then realized how foolish that sounded. She had always
been confident of her cool head. The effect this man had on her was
startling.

“You can call me Gerard here, tonight.
There’s magic in the air, can’t you sense it?”

She felt suspended in the moment. He was
right; it was enchanting.

He bowed his head and kissed her again. His
firm lips demanded a response and she gave it, kissing him back,
giving in to slow, drugging kisses. It was so agreeable to be close
to a man again. His clean male scent made her senses spin, and she
couldn’t suppress a sigh. His tongue teased her lips apart. When he
stroked the cavern of her mouth, she clung to his shoulders with a
tiny moan. Pleasurable sensations rippled through her from head to
foot.

He drew away, and the moonlight revealed the
intense passion in his face as his intelligent dark eyes searched
hers. “I’ve wanted to do that since I first saw you months ago. And
then you disappeared.”

“I’ve been in France,” she murmured,
breathing in shallow gasps, disconcerted by the demanding frisson
of desire racing through her body. Her nipples throbbed, longing to
be touched. “Nothing can come of this, my lord.” Feeling
vulnerable, she fought to regain her composure, her heart thumping
madly.

“Can you say that so soon?”

“It’s obvious, is it not?”

His hands swept down from her waist to her
hip to pull her closer. “Is it?”

She gave him a wry smile.

“Shall I take you back to the ballroom,
Catherine?”

Catherine hesitated. She didn’t want to
leave. It took little time for him to realize it too, for his mouth
claimed hers for another long, passionate kiss. Coiling her arms
around his neck, Catherine abandoned herself to the whirl of
sensation, her fingers ruffling the silky dark hair at his nape.
Her breath shortened as his hand slid from her hip to cup her
breast. He pulled down her low-necked gown and lowered his head to
take a nipple into his mouth. “I knew you would be lovely,” he
murmured. “And you taste delicious.”

He cradled her other breast, and her nipples
pebbled under his gentle ministrations. Her thoughts fragmented as
his hands and lips continued their hungry search of her body.

“You are extraordinarily beautiful, Cathy.”
He raised his head to gaze at her, his voice husky with rising
passion.

Not even her husband had called her
Cathy.

Catherine inhaled sharply as he drew the hem
of her gown up over her legs. The touch of his fingers on the
tender skin of her inner thigh sparked an intense feeling in her
groin, and her whole body came alive. Flashes of electricity raced
over her stomach as he stroked her core, drawing her close to
orgasm. Moaning, she wanted to strip off his clothes, kiss his
skin. She gazed down at his dark head and ran her fingers through
his thick hair. This was madness. Shouldn’t they fear discovery?
Her body wasn’t listening as her hands roamed his broad back,
delighting in the strength of him beneath the silky fabric of his
superfine coat.

Vaguely aware of the danger of discovery, she
fought to muffle her cries of pleasure as his thumb continued to
tease her hot, moist core and his fingers entered her. Her legs
trembled. She clung to him as an explosion of sensation almost
brought her to her knees.

His breath became labored, his voice urgent.
“I want you.”

She could not deny him. “I want you, too,”
she murmured. When he unbuttoned his trousers, she was eager to
take him into her body. He took her hand and placed it on him.

He was hot and hard in her hands, and she was
shocked at the urge to take him in her mouth. She knew there were
many things that lovers did. She’d heard about them, but they’d
remained a mystery to her.

He supported her with an arm as they rested
against the smooth, cool column, then he slipped a hand beneath her
thigh and raised her leg and swiftly entered her. He edged farther
until he filled her. Why, when she hardly knew him, did the
closeness, the sense of completeness feel so right?

“Do you like it like this?” he asked on a
gasp of pleasure.

She moaned. “Yes.” She was lost to the
exquisite sensations as he moved inside her.

“Oh, Cathy. You feel wonderful.” His voice
strained as he partly withdrew and then pushed inside her
again.

With him, she became someone else, a woman
her friends wouldn’t recognize. She breathed him in like a drug,
exulting in his clean, male beauty. Her fingers dug into his broad
shoulders as he pounded into her, filling her, their bodies moving
in exquisite harmony. She buried her face in his coat as a moan of
ecstasy escaped her lips.

“Cathy,” he whispered into her hair. “Come
with me.”

His breath was hot on her neck, as his
thrusts grew more urgent.

As if her body obeyed him, she was hurtled
into shuddering ecstasy.

He groaned and withdrew.

Holding her tight against him, he pressed his
lips to her throat as their breathing slowed. “I should like very
much to do that again in the near future.” He gazed deeply into her
eyes. “Should you be agreeable?”

“Not if you plan to marry soon, Gerard.” She
tugged down her gown and smoothed her skirts, then dealt with her
hair the best she could, cool reason proving elusive after he’d
drawn her to heights of passion she had never known.

His raised his head from restoring his
clothes. “Then we have plenty of time.” A corner of his mouth
quirked up in a smile, which made him irresistible.

Catherine felt stripped naked by that look,
and fought to steady herself. “This can never become known.”

“It won’t be.” His gaze compelled her. “I
want to have you naked in my bed. I want to discover every
delicious inch of you at my leisure. Cathy? Say you will meet me
again.”

“Perhaps.” Catherine smiled and ran a finger
over his sculptured bottom lip. He grabbed her hand and drew her
close for another kiss.

As they walked back along the path to the
house, he stopped and ran his hands down her arms to take her
hands. “I’m falling in love with you.”

Her heart swelled. She was half in love with
him already. “That would not be wise, Gerard.”

He grinned and shook his head. “There you go
again. Who wants to be cautious all the time?”

“We haven’t been, have we?” She laughed. “We
will be missed.”

“Promise you’ll see me again.”

She glanced up at him, at the moonlight
falling on his disordered hair. She stroked back a lock that had
flopped onto his brow. He caught her wrist and encircled it with
his long fingers. “Promise?”

She should let him go. His bright future lay
before him, and she could hardly be a part of it. But she found it
extraordinarily difficult to do. She liked how he cared for the
poor. She liked him. And his thought-provoking conversation. Most
of all, she wanted him to be her lover, if only for a short time.
She couldn’t deny it.

Best to decide later, with a clear head, for
at this moment, his masculine beauty and the determination in his
deep voice turned her brain to mush. “I won’t deny I want to,
Gerard. But I need to think clearly, somewhere far away from
you.”

He chuckled. He was so confident of her that
she pursed her lips and shook her head at him. He was right to be.
She would take whatever he offered until life drew them apart.

“Shall we return to the ballroom, my lord?”

The End

MAGGI ANDERSEN

Maggi Andersen lives with her lawyer husband in a
quaint old town in the Southern Highlands of New South Wales,
Australia. She began writing fiction after raising three children
and studying for a BA and an MA in Creative Writing.

When not creating stories, Maggi reads, enjoys her
garden, goes for walks, and feeds the local wildlife. Her
kookaburras prefer to be hand-fed.

An Amazon bestselling Regency author, Maggi writes
in several genres—contemporary and historical romances and young
adult novels. Having grown up reading Enid Blyton and Georgette
Heyer, Maggi writes romances filled with adventure, mystery or
intrigue, but always with a happy ending.

LATEST RELEASES:

The Duke’s Mysterious Lady

The Spies of Mayfair Series

A Baron in Her Bed

Taming a Gentleman Spy

What a Rake Wants

New Regency series coming January 20th 2015
Lady Honor’s Debt
– The Baxendale Sisters

Excerpts available on website:
www.maggiandersenauthor.com