Granby shot her a warning look before whisking her onto the dance floor, ignoring the twist of her hands as she sought to release her fingers from his grip.
“Don’t cause a scene, little shrub.” The corner of his mouth twitched.
“Are you smiling, Your Grace?” Her heart was struggling within the confines of her ribcage, her entire body tingling at his nearness. “Your mouth is making the most unusual contortions. Perhaps you are only having a fit of apoplexy. Pity. We’ll have to leave the dance floor.”
She tried to pull him in the other direction. A useless effort. It was like trying to move a mountain.
He swung her into his arms as the musicians began to play. “You look beautiful, Andromeda.” The shock of hair fell further over his eye, making him look younger and more approachable. Unbearably attractive.
Romy cocked her head, studying him. He seemed different tonight. The coating of ice was missing, for one thing, besides the smile flitting about his lips.
Granby’s mouth. The remembered feel of his lips and tongue against her flesh sent shivers across her skin. “How kind of you to say, Your Grace.”
“Did you make the dress?”
The question caught her off guard, as did the way her nipples puckered inside her gown as he breathed against her ear.
“Don’t trip, Andromeda. You’ll tear that lovely gown. I’d prefer to do that. Tear the gown from you, that is.”
Heat spiraled around her core, though she desperately tried to stop it. The attraction between them sparkled beneath Lady Ralston’s multiple chandeliers, intoxicating and sensual, drawing her closer to him. She was certain everyone at Lady Ralston’s ball noticed.
“What would you say, Your Grace, if I told you I stayed up until the wee hours, stitching away like a common seamstress? How horrified you’d be. Your senses might well not recover.”
His gaze on her hardened into obsidian. “Lower your voice.” He swung her about so forcefully, her slippers lifted off the floor. “Do you wish to draw more attention in our direction?”
“I’m used to being observed as a member of the tattered Barrington family. I’d no idea we were considered so outside the confines of society until you forced me into awareness. Now I see condemnation at every turn, no longer blind to it. You have my thanks.”
“Stop,” he whispered softly, pain and regret leaching into his words. “I did not come to argue.”
She was so surprised at the unexpected emotion in his voice, Romy couldn’t reply for a moment. “Then what did you come for, Your Grace?”
“You, of course.”
A delicious tremor ran up her spine impelled by the feel of one large hand splayed across her lower back. His fingers sank into the silk of her gown, hiding them from view as he squeezed the top of her buttocks.
“I am wholly unsuitable, Your Grace, as you’ve pointed out to me numerous times,” she sputtered, wishing with all her heart he’d not come here to torture her tonight. She had worked so hard to put her feelings for him aside.
“Are you certain of that, Andromeda?” His voice was low and quiet, whispering against the curve of her cheek. His scent, warm male skin and pine, teased her nostrils.
No. Quite frankly, she wasn’t sure of anything.
Granby said nothing more, and Romy stayed silent as well, not wanting to interrupt the sensation of being in his arms with more heated words. She closed her eyes, pretending everything was different between them, if only for the length of a dance.
The song ended much too soon. Romy’s eyes fluttered open as Granby led her off the dance floor, his hand, large and warm, curled around hers protectively. He stopped just short of her brother, bowing solemnly to her. When he straightened, the barest brush of his fingers caressed her stomach.
The slight touch unnerved her, knowing what it was he asked. “There is nothing that need concern you, Your Grace.” Her courses had come and gone, heralding that she was not with child. She’d been grateful, of course. And slightly bereft.
The intensity with which he observed her had Romy looking away.
“First, you are forever my concern, whether you feel it merited or not.” He gently tugged on the silk of her gown. “I came to tell you I must leave London for a time, Andromeda. No more than a fortnight at most. There is a personal matter requiring my attention.” His words faltered. “When I return, we need to talk.”
“I’ve nothing more to say.”
“Yes, but Ido.” Annoyance, the kind she was used to from him, flickered from the depths of his eyes. “And you will listen.” He looked away for a moment as if struggling to remain calm. “Please.”
Romy stared at him. He wasverydifferent tonight.
Granby nodded politely to her brother and Maggie once more before taking his leave of her, heading in the direction of the rooms set aside for cards. Romy had a difficult time looking away from the broad expanse of his back, remembering the feel of all that muscle beneath her palms as she had lain beneath him.
