You, and Only You (27 page)

“There you are, my lady,” Betsy, the young maid who’d been
attending her since her arrival in London, said as she secured the final button
on the back of Tiffany’s gown.

“Thank you Betsy,” Tiffany said appreciatively as she spun
to face the cheery housemaid.
 
“I don’t
know what I would have done without you.”
 
With her own lady’s maid still at Melborne Hall, Betsy had been a
godsend.

“I’m honored to help, my lady.”

Smiling, Tiffany turned and walked toward the full-length
mirror that stood in the far corner of the room.
 
Smoothing the skirt of her gown, she eyed the
gold silk creation with a critical eye.
 
Not knowing why her father had requested she accompany him to London,
she was extremely thankful that she’d had the elegant gown packed at the last
minute; in the unlikely event she might have need of it.
    

“Oh, my lady, you look so beautiful.”
 
Betsy’s expression was awe-struck as she came
to stand behind Tiffany, gazing at her reflection in the mirror.

“It is pretty, isn’t it,” Tiffany replied, feeling slightly
awe-struck herself as her eyes traveled over the elegant Parisian gown.
 
The stylish, off-the-shoulder evening gown
had been custom made for her the year before, when she and her father had gone
to visit her late grandmother in France, but until now she’d never had the
occasion to wear it.
 
Aside from the gown
she’d worn to her birthday ball, it was by far the most beautiful thing she’d
ever put on.
 
With stunningly detailed
embroidery stitched all along the hem, the rest of the gown was purposefully
devoid of embellishment, for it was the flawless cut of the gown, combined with
the remarkable color of the sumptuous fabric that made it so
extraordinary.
   

“His Lordship won’t be able to take his eyes off of you,”
Betsy proclaimed earnestly.

Feeling a tingle of anticipation, Tiffany could only hope
that Betsy was right.

Descending the front staircase several minutes later,
Tiffany saw Alex waiting for her in the foyer below.
 
As she’d hoped, his gaze was blatantly
admiring as it swept slowly from her head to her toes.

Spellbound, Alex watched as Tiffany made her way down the
stairs, his eyes widening in appreciation.
 
With her blonde hair caught up in a profusion of curls atop her head,
the style of her gown left her neck and the tops of her smooth white shoulders
deliciously bare, and the gown’s daringly low-cut bodice was designed so that
it pushed her breasts upward; giving him a tantalizing glimpse of the lush
mounds it covered.
 
Once again he was
caught off-guard, for Tiffany Marlowe was simply too beautiful to be
believed.
 
Over the years he’d seen
scores of attractive women, but he knew without a doubt that very few of them
could have even come close to rivaling Tiffany’s extraordinary beauty.
 

“I hope I haven’t kept you waiting,” she said as she reached
the landing.

“For you, I would have waited all night,” Alex responded
with absolute sincerity as he walked toward her.
 
“But as it happens, I have only just
arrived.”

For Tiffany, his words combined with his entrancing smile
made the expression
weak at the knees
feel all too real.
 
Fortunately however,
Penrose’s stoic presence at the side of the hall kept her from falling straight
into Alex’s arms.
 
“I’m sorry my father
isn’t here to greet you,” she said, needing to say something, anything to
redirect her focus.
 
“He had a prior
engagement.”
 
In truth, she wasn’t sure
where he’d gone.
 
He’d left shortly after
dinner, mumbling something about a meeting with someone or other when she’d
reminded him that Alex was taking her to the opera.
 

Alex nodded understandingly.
 
“Well then, if you’re ready, I suppose we should be off.”

Slipping her arm through his, Tiffany bid goodnight to
Penrose as they exited out into the night.

Stepping into the Chesterfield coach a few seconds later,
Tiffany was almost giddy with excitement as she settled onto the velvet-covered
seat cushion.
 
This was the first time
that she and Alex had been alone together since their afternoon in the gazebo
and she intended to relish every single moment.
 

Standing behind Tiffany as she’d entered the coach, Alex’s
eyes had immediately fastened upon the row of silk covered buttons that ran
down the back of her gown, his hand twitching at his side as he imagined
himself unbuttoning every last one of them.
 
Mentally cautioning himself as he stepped up into the vehicle behind
her, he knew that he was going to have to keep his head about him if he had any
chance at all of keeping his hands off of her during the ride to the Covent
Garden.
 

Watching as he took the seat across from her; Tiffany’s gaze
roved leisurely over Alex’s stylish appearance.
 
Dressed as he was in his elegant, finely-tailored evening clothes, he
cut an incredibly dashing figure.
 

Looking up, Alex inadvertently caught Tiffany’s admiring
gaze upon him.
 
Smiling rakishly, he
cocked his head to the side.
 
“Do I meet
with your approval, my lady?”

“You do indeed, my lord,” Tiffany replied with
uncharacteristic boldness.
 
He was so
devilishly attractive that even in a crowd Alex would stand out, no matter what
he wore.
 
Undoubtedly, every female head
would turn in his direction the moment they walked into the opera house.

“And you, my dear, most definitely meet with mine,” he said
in a husky timbre, as his appreciative gaze once again swept her from top to
bottom.
 
Careful, he reminded himself,
though the warning did little good.
 
He
was becoming aroused just looking at her, his rebellious cock already hardening
within his trousers.

Noting the smoldering look that had entered Alex’s eyes,
Tiffany felt another delicious shiver of excitement race throughout her
body.
 
How was it, she mused, that he had
only to look at her to make her heart beat faster and send her pulse
racing?
 

“Do you have any idea what you do to me?” Alex asked in a
raspy whisper as his gaze dropped to her delectable mouth.
 
They’d been alone for less than five minutes
and he was already burning with the desire to strip her naked and lay her out
atop the coach’s plush velvet squabs.

Knowing that Alex desired her was a heady feeling, and one
that she would never tire of.
  
“Is it
the same thing you do to me?” she asked suggestively, staring unabashedly into
the depths of his smoky, silver gaze.

“God I hope so,” he breathed.
 
As the coach rolled away from the curb and
into the street, Alex moved across the aisle to the seat next to Tiffany, his
eyes never leaving hers.
 
So much for
caution he mused uncaringly, dragging her into his arms.

Tiffany went willingly, wrapping her arms around Alex’s neck
as he pulled her toward him, his lips descending upon hers as she eagerly
welcomed his kiss.
 
Surprisingly it
wasn’t forceful and intense, but long and unhurried, the skillful manipulation
of his lips and tongue sending shiver after shiver rippling through her as she
clung to him in absolute bliss.

Fighting the desire to tangle his fingers in her hair and
ravage her lips in a soul-searing kiss, Alex exercised what little self-control
he had left, kissing her with a gentle languor that soon had Tiffany melting in
his arms.
 
With his hands holding her upright,
he eventually pulled his lips from hers, trailing them across her cheek and
along the line of her jaw, nipping lightly at the delicate curve of her
chin.
 
As her head fell back, he moved to
the exposed column of her throat, using both his lips and tongue to caress her
petal-soft skin as his head dipped lower and lower.

When Tiffany felt the heat of Alex’s breath against the tops
of her breasts, she couldn’t contain the low moan of pleasure that slipped from
her lips.

Hearing the unmistakable sound of Tiffany’s desire, Alex
longed to pull down her bodice and feast upon her magnificent bosom, while
subsequently tossing up her skirt so that he could gain access to her moist,
feminine heat.
 
Unfortunately though, in
spite of the fierce, almost painful throbbing of his manhood, he knew he
couldn’t allow himself to surrender to his body’s demands.
 
Tiffany was going to be his wife, and she
deserved far better than to walk into the Royal Opera House looking as though she’d
just been ravaged in the back of his coach.
 
So, contenting himself with a few nibbling kisses upon the tops of her
magnificent breasts, he kept himself firmly in check.

While Alex placed hot little kisses along her décolletage,
Tiffany felt a now familiar heat building within her loins.
 
“Alex,” she uttered softly, as always,
wanting more.

Recognizing the sound of her increasing need, Alex silently
cursed himself.
 
He never should have
touched her, for now they were both going to be left tragically
unfulfilled.
 
“Shh,” he whispered calmingly,
as he made his way back up along her neck to the softness of her lips. “If we
don’t stop now, we’re going to wrinkle this very pretty dress of yours,” he
said in between kisses, interjecting a deliberate lightness into his tone.
  

In that moment Tiffany couldn’t have cared less about her
gown, but as Alex’s words gradually sunk in and the carriage continued on its
way to Covent Garden, her sanity slowly returned.
 
He was right.
 
She couldn’t very well attend the opera with her gown a wrinkled mess,
looking as if… well… looking as if she’d been doing exactly what she wished
they’d been doing.
 
Resting her head
against Alex’s chest, she sighed in resignation as he ran his fingers lightly
up and down her back in a light, comforting motion.

Soon, Alex thought.
 
Soon.

Entering the crowded opera house on Alex’s arm was both
exhilarating and slightly daunting at the same time.
 
With this being their first outing since
becoming engaged, the enormous diamond ring upon her finger was certain to draw
a great deal of attention.
 
And although
she was thrilled beyond measure with her impending marriage, she could only
imagine the reactions she was likely to receive from her female counterparts
when they realized that she had officially taken the much sought-after Earl of
Chesterfield off the market.
 
However,
considering Cecelia’s elation over her son’s impending marriage, the news had
most likely already begun to circulate.
 

Much as she’d feared, within moments of their entrance into
the opulent front lobby, she could literally feel the envious stares falling
upon her from all directions.
 
“Everyone
is looking at us,” she whispered under her breath.

“Yes,” Alex acknowledged, “they are.
 
And each and every one of them is most
certainly wondering how it is that I managed to snare the most beautiful woman
in all of England,” he added with a playful wink.

Tiffany grinned and rolled her eyes.
 
How was it that he knew just what to say to
put her at ease?
 
“Yes, I’m sure that is
exactly
what they are all
wondering.
 
How
you
managed to snare
me
?”
she said cheekily.

“My dear, you have only to look around to see that every
gentleman here has turned pea green with envy,” Alex said truthfully.

“Yoo hoo, Lord Chesterfield,” a loud, feminine voice called,
drawing his and Tiffany’s attention from each other to a small group of people
standing off to the left.

“Uh oh,” Alex said.
 
“Prepare yourself.”

Tiffany raised her eyebrows inquiringly.

“Millicent Danbury,” he began, nodding courteously to the
woman in question.
 
“Indisputably the biggest
gossip in all of England,” he continued under his breath.
 
“Oh hell, here she comes.”

“Lord Chesterfield, what a surprise to see you in town this
time of year,” she exclaimed as she purposefully made her way toward them.

“Lady Danbury,” he greeted as she approached, noting that
the insufferable woman had somehow managed to stuff her sausage-like frame into
a plum-colored gown that was at least two sizes too small.

Lady Danbury’s eyes went directly to Tiffany as she came
upon them, her expression expectant.

“Lady Tiffany, please allow me to introduce you to Lady
Millicent Danbury, Marchioness Lilifield,” Alex began.
 

“How do you do?” Tiffany addressed the middle-aged woman
with a polite smile.

“Lady Danbury, may I present Lady Tiffany Marlowe.”

“So, if the rumors are to be believed, you’re the girl who’s
finally convinced Chesterfield to give up his bachelorhood,” she replied, her
piercing gaze sweeping Tiffany from top to bottom, focusing intently for a
moment upon her flat midsection.
 

Tiffany cast a quick, sidelong glance at Alex, but he
appeared unaffected by the woman’s shockingly forthright manner.