One Night With You (The Derrings #3)(59)

"I already told you I care not what you believe."

As if to make his point, he folded Jane into his arms and smothered her lips with the hot seal of his mouth.

Jane froze for the barest moment before melting against him. Her mouth opened, allowing his tongue access. And just like that she was back in the garden again.

His hands slid into her hair, loosening the mass as he plundered her lips. Leaning into him, she clutched his biceps, fingers curling into the sleeves of his jacket as blistering flame shot through her veins. Desire simmered in her belly like liquid heat and she moaned into his mouth. One hand slid down her back, cupping her derriere through the voluminous folds of her gown. Loud throat clearing broke the spell, and she jerked her mouth free. Still standing in the circle of his arms, she stared up at him, dazed, mouth throbbing from the assault of his. His chest lifted with labored breaths, as though he had run a great distance.

"See now, Madeline. I can't even control myself in broad daylight when guests are present. I simply cannot manage a moment without Jane."

Jane gave her head a swift shake and glanced at her sister's livid face. Nostrils quivering in a most unbecoming manner, Madeline stormed form the room, wide skirts nearly knocking a vase from a side table.

After a moment, Jane realized Seth's arms still hung about her. "You can let me go now." His arms fell away.

Jane stood there a moment longer, looking down at her satin slippers peeping from beneath her emerald green gown. She could feel his eyes on her, blistering into the top of her head.

"Why was it so important for Madeline to see that?" Silence answered her and she lifted her face to stare directly into his eyes. "Was it to make her jealous?"

"God, no," he bit out.

She frowned, unconvinced. She could still recall that day in the orchard when he had been playing Madeline's knight in shining armor. The love in his eyes had been profound and deep.

"Then why?" she demanded, brushing fingers over her lips mouth still pulsing from his kiss. "I wouldn't have left you. I've more honor than that. I carry your child." Sucking in a deep breath, she pressed. "You haven't kissed me since we married. Why now?" He dragged a hand through his hair. "Perhaps I worried she would convince you to leave with her."

"I would not have gone with her. Even if she knew the truth."

"And what's the truth, Jane?" he asked in a quiet voice, stepping closer, his big body crowding her, warming her in the most disturbing way.

The truth? Not that kiss. Not the way he looked at her, with dark fire in his eyes. His kiss was nothing more than a ploy to get back at Madeline.

"Our marriage is one of convenience. You've made that abundantly clear." Her heart pinched. Before he could read any telling emotion on her face, she turned for the door.

"We need not feel compelled to convince Madeline that our marriage is a grand love affair," she tossed out, glancing over her shoulder. "It was lovely of you to put forth the effort. Very affecting really."

He made a sound, perhaps speech, but she could hear nothing else. Not with blood rushing through her head in a dull roar.

"You needn't play at such pretense again," she added, ignoring the way a muscle ticked madly in his cheek, indicating she had hit a nerve.

Resolve sealing her heart, she strode from the room.





Chapter 24


Seth walked an uneven line into his room, stopping before the adjoining door to Jane's chamber and squaring off as though he faced an armed adversary.

The light beneath her door glowed, taunting him, beckoning. You needn't play at such pretense again. Her words echoed in his head, mocking him. Pretense? There had been no pretense in that kiss. His body throbbed at the memory of sucking her tongue deep into his mouth, of fondling that delicious flesh beneath the green satin dress.

With a fierce curse, he swung about and shed his garments with hard, angry movements, never taking his eyes off her door. His sudden movements made his head swim, and he stopped, pressing a palm to his temple. Perhaps he should not have drunk quite so much at dinner. And after.

Only dinner with his wife at his side, her sweet scent drifting toward him, tormenting him, he found the overpowering need to drink—to wash her from his mind, his blood, his soul. Fool that he was, he had thought a snifter of brandy would do the trick. Now, staring at the door that barred her, his wife, the very woman whose charms he ought to feel free to enjoy, he felt only bleak frustration. Nothing would rid her from him. Not as long as she remained near, yet beyond his reach.

He gave his head a hard shake, which only made him stagger sideways. Gripping one of the thick mahogany bedposts, he steadied himself.

He clutched the bedpost in both hands, as though he could claw the barrier down he had erected between them. The barrier he had erected.

He had set forth the requirements of their marriage, had thought he was being wise. Only with the taste of her still burning on his lips, he knew he was the greatest idiot alive. Why had he turned her away when she came to him on their honeymoon? Why hadn't he embraced what she so sweetly offered?

Shoving from the bedpost, he moved to the door, heart in his throat. The time to change the rules had arrived.

Jane paced the length of her room, listening, as always, for Seth in the next room. Dinner had been a strain. Since her promise to Julianne, Jane could hardly sit at the same table with Seth. Julianne glowed, her love for Knightly hovering on the air, unspoken but tangible as heavy fog. Seth had to feel it. The truth would eventually surface. And he would never forgive her for keeping the information from him. It would be another mark against her. One of several. She started at the sudden rap on the door adjoining their rooms.