Nothing But Time (28 page)

“Establish a…”  Kate was now frowning as well.  “I don’t want to be your mistress, Brand, if that’s what you’re saying.  I cannot imagine being a kept woman.”

Brand looked down at her in surprise. 
“It would not be an insult as great as that.
  I
am
the Earl of Harrowby.
”

“
Check that ego, Brand.  It’s not
the ‘
you
’ in that scenario
that I’m opposed to here.”  Kate frowned as she considered her words.  “
I know it won’t make any sense to you, but I was raised to be an independent woman, to take care of myself.  The arrangement you’re thinking of
is not one that I think I could
live with
.  I mean, even when I do eventually get married
or
decide to
live with someone
– s
omewhere far
, far
off down the
road
– I
intend to keep working.  N
ot
just
because I couldn’t appreciate being taken care of but because I want to have a challenge, something to show for my life, something to give me some sense of accomplishment.  A career to be proud of.”

Careers aside,
the idea of Kate marrying another
much less living openly with one
sent a thrum of discord through Brand
.  H
e couldn’t help but ask, “You don’t believe you would find accomplishment and satisfaction…
challenge
in raising a family?”

“I don’t know.  I guess I just don’t think so,” she admitted.
“
In truth, it
is
n’t a subject
I’ve
given much consideration to.
But let’s not get carried away.  We’re talking about here and now, right?”

“Correct,” Brand agreed though he was disgruntled by her dismissal of the subject.  Why wouldn’t Kate desire what every other woman in England wanted?  A home,
a husband and
a family to care for?  What
employment
could provide more than that?  As he seemed to do so often with Kate, Brand shook his head in bemusement.  She was simply beyond his understanding.  Not that he had imagined Kate would want to be set up as a mistress, though not for any reasons such as those.  Kate simply wasn’t one to gain by half measure.  She would expect more.  He wanted to give her more, more than he was in a position to give.  “What do you suggest then?”

“I guess I suggest that, if we want to see each other, we just do it.  Quietly,” she
added.  “What people don’t know
won’t kill them, right?”

“Are you certain, Kate?” Brand asked.  “I hate to admit it, but the risk is all yours.”

“I’m prepared to
take
a few lumps for you,” she said softly
,
stroking his cheek. 

Brand looked down at her so tenderly, his eyes dark with feeling.  A
knot
formed in her throat that Kate painfully swallowed away only to feel the ache tighten in her chest.  Was he beginning to care for her as much as she did for him?  She’d risk more than a few lumps for him, Kate realized.  She
would
brand her chest with a capital A
in flaming red
if it meant having him if even only for a while.  She’d walk proudly by his side and bear any amount of scorn just to hold his hand
as she had
wanted to
that afternoon
.

She was falling, Kate realized.  Tumbling head over heels in love with Brand and it was all happening with mind-numbing speed.  She’d never been a big believer in love at first sight.  Though she hadn’t been privy to all the details of their courtship, she knew that her parents had dated for four years before they married.  Kate always assumed that was b
ecause love took time.  It needed
years of nurturing to become deep and sustainable.  Even Anne must have felt the same way.  Though she’d met her husband when her nephew was just a baby, they’d dated for three years before her brother-in-law had popped the question.

Love took time.  She’d always believed that.  She’d also always thought that she would be able to choose when and with whom she would fall in love.  Loving Brand was… ridiculous, she
hesitantly labeled the truth of the matter
.  There was no future in it.

A part of her said logically that the best move at this point would be simply to walk away.  Quit, go back to David’s and find another way to establish a life for herself in this time.  A life away from Brand, away from a life that was sure to lead to nothing beyond heartbreak.  Leave now, she told herself, before you’re a goner and there’s no turning back.

But staring up into Brand’s
warm
blue gaze, Kate knew she couldn’t walk away from him even knowing that there was going to be a definite period marking the end of this – whatever it was, call it an affair or whatever – at some point.  Brand would find a suitable woman to marry, a woman to bear his heir sooner or later.  Kate knew she would have to accept that though she hoped it would be later.  In the meantime, she planned to enjoy their time together, enjoy these unexpected feelings.

If it turned out to be true love… well, Kate hadn’t had much experience with disappointment but she would just have to deal with that when the time came.
 
If that didn’t work out, there was always denial.

“What are
you
thinking then, Kate?” Brand asked
softly.

“Lovers it is, Brand,” she whispered back
, giving into the longing of her heart
.  “Secret lovers
,
living life to the fullest.”

Brand glanced up at the seductive turn of her voice to find her again lounging back against the chaise gazing at him from under her lashes with sleepy
green
eyes.  Her lips were damp and parted.  Inviting.

“Taking what we want from it.”  His voice was
husky;
there was desire in his eyes and
something more.  Kate had never had a man look at her that way before, as if he w
ere
lost in the desert and she was his oasis.  As if she were what he needed, what he had to have
,
what only she could give him.  It was more than want and
yet Brand made no further move.  She wasn’t certain what he was waiting for but Kate knew that the next moment would have to be his.  She’d p
layed the aggressor long enough.  H
e’d expressed his interest and it was his move. 

Brand slowly reached down under her skirts and wrapped his fingers around Kate’s ankle
s
.  Though the stockings were indeed thick, Kate could still feel the heat of his hand
s
radiat
ing through
them
.  He lifted her leg
s
, scooting closer to her until her leg
s
w
ere i
n his lap.  Brand bent, the rotation of his hips lifting her legs as he leaned over her until his elbow was resting above her shoulder.  With his free hand, Brand brushed Kate’s long sweep of bangs a
s
ide
,
winding his fingers through her hair much as she had been moments before.

Brand looked at her wet lips, down over her exposed neck where he could see h
er pulse beating wildly in the h
ollow of her throat.  Tenderly he traced a finger down one of those fluttering veins hearing her breath catch before she swallowed deeply.  Her breathing was shallow
;
he could feel her chest rising and lowering quickly under his.  Catching her gaze with his, Brand skimmed a palm over her shoulder, her breast, down her ribcage and waist to her hip and under to her bottom.  Squeezing the flesh there, he roamed farther down her thigh.  Kate’s eyes lost focus for a moment before they snapped back to his.

“Are you finally
going to be the one to ask
if you can kiss me?” she asked wetting her lips with the tip of her tongue.
“Or are we just going to skip that part?”

“Do I need to ask?” he murmured, running a hand over her breast and up her ne
ck
until his fingers dove into her hair and his palm cradled her head. 
Kate nodded. 
“
Then, y
es, I am.”

“I’m afraid you didn’t phrase that in the form of a question.”

“May I kiss you, Kate?”

“
I don’t know
.”

Brand’s eyes crinkled in the corners.  “Are you planning some sort of torment for my previous refusal of your tempting offers?”

“Not at all.  I’m from Minnesota,” she told him breathlessly.  “It’s a universally acknowledged fact that we need to be asked three times for just about anything from a cup of coffee to a kiss.”

“May I kiss you then?”

“
I wouldn’t want to put you out
,” she drawled coyly, running her hands up his muscled arms feeling the strength in the te
nsed muscles, feeling the heat emanate
from his body into hers as his weight pressed against her.

Brand brought his lips to within an inch of hers and whispered seductively, “May I kiss you, sweet Kate?  I want so badly to feel your lips beneath mine.”

“
Well, i
f it isn’t too much of a bother.”

With
that
, his lips parted hers, his tongue diving between hers to sweep through her mouth teasing her lips and her tongue. 
Within moments,
desire consumed Kate
and she
moaned as a rush a dizzying passion swept over her.  So lost was she that she didn’t even notice Brand working the buttons on her dress until his fingers slipped inside, the heat of his fingers scalding her breast as he covered it.

With a gasp, Kate parted her lips even
more
inviting Brand’s hot invasion of her mouth.  She nipped at his lips while he caught her lower lip between his and drew it into his mouth before changing angles to kiss her deeply once again.  With a shudder, Kate began working the buttons on Brand’s jacket and waistcoat the best she could.  With her hands shaking and her mind blank with passion and desire, it was no small task to get them undone.

Finally, she reached his shirt and tugged it from his trousers and at last put a hand to Brand’s bare flesh.  His groan of satisfaction matched hers as her hands dove under his
shirt
and up over his rippling abs
, savoring the feel of his hot flesh
.  Up higher they soared over his smoothly muscled chest before circling his back and pulling him closer.

“Kate, darling,” Brand whispered, smoothing her hair back away from her neck before he lowered his mouth to explore the tender flesh there.

Kate’s head was swimming so furiously that, for a moment, she thought she might pass out. 
She wrapped her arms around his head, cradling him close as she arched her neck.

“What is this second base you spoke of
this afternoon
?” he asked
unexpectedly
.

“What?” she asked
,
confused before gathering her thoughts.  “Oh, it’s
a
term for making out based on baseball.  Oh, you don’t have that here, do you?  It’s a sport with four bases in a
diamond form.  In the center is a…” Kate gasped as Brand’s hand
slid back under her skirts to cup
her bottom
while his other hand
trac
ed
its way
across
her ribcage just below her breast.  “Uh, in the center is the pitcher who throws a ball to a man at home plate… er, base.  That player has a…oh!”
S
he paused again as Brand’s
fingers caught her nipple and rolled it with agonizing laziness
.

Brand allowed her only a moment to let her attention wander before commanding huskily,
“Yes?  Go on
.”

“Uh, the batter… the player at home base has a bat and tries to hit the ball the pitcher throws.  If he does he runs the bases in a…ooo, counter-clockwise direction.  First base, second and so on until he gets home,” she finished breathlessly.

“And what does this have to do with making love?” he asked.

“Oh well, someone years ago equated baseball to kissing and such,” she explained
,
shifting as his
lips ran along her jaw
line
.  “First base: kissing.  Second base: kissing and some bodily contact like… well, this.  Third base… well, you get the idea.  More and more until one might get a home run.”