Twenty minutes later, he was in the main foyer waiting for thecarriage as his valet brought down the last suitcase. “Morgan, where’s my dispatch case?”
“I believe it is in the library, my lord.”
He nodded. “I’ll fetch it. You and Thomas take the luggage out to the drive. That way,” he added as he turned and started for the corridor that led to the library, “we won’t waste any time once Hever’s brought the carriage.”
He went to the library. It took him several minutes of searching to locate the dispatch case, but at last he found it, tucked underneath the malachite table beside the settee. Grabbing it by the handle, he straightened and turned to exit the room, but at the sight of Delia in the doorway, he came to a dead halt.
She was wearing some sort of loose-fitting tea gown, but though the garment of corn-colored silk made her appear fully dressed, her hair was scandalously loose, falling around her shoulders and down to her waist in blue-black waves, making her look as if she’d barely risen from bed. Her next words confirmed the fact.
“Your maid Susan told me you were leaving when she brought my breakfast tray up. Is it true?”
“I’m afraid so. I must go back to London at once.”
He made the mistake of glancing down as he spoke, and when he saw her bare toes, pretty pink-and-white toes, peeking out from beneath the ruched hem of her gown, his body responded at once, desire flickering to life within him.
“But you’ll miss Cassie’s party.”
Somewhere past this rising desire, he regained a measure of his wits. “Yes,” he replied, jerking his gaze back up to her face, but sadly, that wasn’t much help, for her loose hair made him think of what it would be like to wake up in her bed and see her this way, all rumpled and mussed and enticing as hell.
“It must be terribly important.”
“Yes.” He looked into her eyes, struggling to remember priorities. “My apologies for deserting you both. But I’m very grateful you’re here to help my sister.”
“Of course. I’m happy to help, though I fear I shall have to walk by myself tonight, since I doubt anyone but you will be willing to endure the chilly weather with me.” Those magnificent dark blue eyes softened. “I’ll miss you, Simon.”
In the wake of those softly uttered words, overwhelming gladness pinched his chest, squeezing his heart. Almost at once, however, misgiving took its place as he remembered what lay ahead, what might happen, and what it might cost her.
“Delia,” he began and took a step toward her. Then, abruptly, he stopped, and apprehension tightened in his throat, making him forget whatever he’d been about to say. “You’ll be all right,” he said instead. “Quite all right.”
A puzzled little frown creased her forehead. “Well, of course I’ll be all right,” she said in some surprise, making it clear how nonsensical his words must have sounded from her point of view. “Is there some reason I wouldn’t be?”
Suddenly, the frown vanished, her brow cleared, and a teasing glimmer came into her eyes, crinkling them at the corners. “I won’t be prostrated with sadness just because you’ve gone back to London a day or two ahead of me, if that’s what you’re thinking.” She smiled, her nose wrinkling up impudently. “I won’t miss youthatmuch.”
He didn’t smile back. He didn’t reply. Instead, he stared at her in silence, because he didn’t have the freedom to say all that he wanted to say.
He wanted to say that he would fight for her, that he would do whatever he could to defend and protect her. That if things went badly, he’dbe there to pick up the pieces—if she’d let him. But then, she probably wouldn’t. Her loyalty, after all, was to Ritz, not to him. When this mess was over, she might very well never speak to him again. He’d never touch her, he’d never kiss her again.
That thought was like a dam breaking. His dispatch case hit the floor with a thud, and then he was striding toward her, reaching for her, hauling her into his arms.
She was already lifting her face and twining her arms around his neck before his mouth captured hers, and the moment it did, her lips opened beneath his in willing accord.
She tasted like tea and marmalade. She smelled intoxicating, like oranges and flowers and warm, sweet woman, and her kiss was making his head spin. He wanted more.
He moved, stepping backward and pulling her with him as he kissed her, maneuvering their bodies behind one of the marble columns of the library and into a small reading alcove at the other end of the room. Pressing her back against the wall of books, he lifted his hands to cup her face as he tasted her in long, lush kisses that flared his desire even higher and banished any thought as silly as leaving. But he still wanted more.
Easing his hold, he slid his hands to her breasts, making a sound of appreciation as he realized there was no confining corset to impede him. He cupped her breasts in his hands, shaping them through thin layers of silk and muslin, finding them every bit as round and full and luscious as they’d been in his imagination.
He tore his lips from hers to press kisses along the column of her throat as he shaped her breasts in his palms, and her soft moan against his mouth was far more erotic than anything his imagination could ever have conjured. But it still wasn’t enough.
His hands moved lower, his palms gliding over the generous swell of her hips as he trailed kisses up to her ear.
She shivered in response. “We’d better stop,” she gasped, even as her arms tightened around his neck. “Simon, you’ll miss—”
He captured her lips again, silencing her before she could remind him of the damned train and what would come after. He shoved his hands between her body and the bookshelves, cupping her bum and lifting her off the ground, pressing her hips to his as he tasted deeply of her mouth and his hands shaped her buttocks.
This time, she was the one who broke the kiss, her breath coming in shuddering gasps as she moved her hips against his.
The pleasure of it was so exquisite, he groaned, and he knew he’d explode if he didn’t ease back. Lowering her to the ground, he grasped at the folds of her gown, pulling them up to get his hands beneath, and as his palms glided up her thighs, her body felt scorching hot through the thin fabric of her drawers.
