A Taste of Honey (11 page)

“If she does not come here alone then I will be compelled to relay my information to your sponsor, Mrs. Brentley, as we are well acquainted,” he said threateningly.  “I doubt she would look kindly on one of her charges being caught alone, late at night, kissing a stranger.”

“You wouldn't dare,” Robin hissed into the dark.

“The scandal it would cause me, would be far less severe than the scandal it could cause her, and you,” the man said before turning and walking away from her.  “Make sure she comes alone,” he reminded her before disappearing into the dark again as if he were made of shadows.

Running back into the house Robin had to wait precious minutes while Katherine finished another dance with Oliver Buckman who seemed unwilling to let her sister out of his sight.  Once they had finished, Katherine ran over to the garden doors and helped her replace the red rose into her hair.

“How did it go?”  Katherine asked after seeing her sister's pale face and shaking hands.

“He knew I wasn't you.” Robin whispered with a touch of fear adding an edge to her voice.

It was on Katherine's tongue to ask how he had known, but Robin hurried her towards the path leading to the fountain looking more frightened than Katherine remembered ever seeing her bold sister.  “You'd better hurry; he could try to come in here at any moment,” was all she said before turning around and joining back into the party.

It was too early in the dance for many couples to have ventured outside looking for fresh air and the back porch was cleared of other prying eyes.  Not that many of the couples who met outside were aware of what else was going on around them.

Katherine wandered the same path that her sister had taken towards the distant fountain.  When she reached the small clearing she waited, looking around for any sight of the man she had met before.  She decided to sit at one of the stone benches that ran along the hedges as they were more hidden than the center fountain.

Katherine picked up a nearby flower, playing idly with its petals as she waited, she was nervous that he had not come out yet, wondering if even now he was searching out Mrs. Brentley inside.  After a couple more minutes of silence she looked at the shadows around her more closely, trying to see through the darkness where he might be hiding.

Suddenly behind her, Katherine could sense him standing there, without needing to turn around and look.  “Hello,” she whispered, unsure of what she should say in such a circumstance.  She had suddenly become horribly shy, and felt a few of the petals drift from her fingers onto the mossy ground beneath her feet.

Garret took the seat beside her and stared intently at her face.  He had seen her sister's features through the dim moon light and had seen the beauty of her face.  Identical twins he had been told, but watching Katherine's face a moment ago had been different.  Without being near her, he had known deep inside that it was the woman he had kissed.  He had watched as she tilted her head to the side, catching patches of the moonlight on her eyes and lips, illuminating the soft blue color of her eyes.

He knew that he shouldn't have, but Garrett had indulged himself in just standing there, watching her, as she waited for him to arrive.  The same fascination and obsession that he had felt over the last few days was multiplied, with each soft petal of the wildflower that she had plucked away.  The stem still hung loosely from her fingertips.

She caused him to feel things that he had not felt for a very long time.  Protecting her from anything she feared, seemed to be his top emotion at present, followed swiftly by his more carnal feelings.  He wanted to take her again in his arms and kiss again.  Lay her back against the cold stone and taste her mouth, cheeks and the soft rise of her breasts until he could hear her moan once more beneath the pressure of his tongue.

“How did you know that it wasn't me?” she asked quietly, once she had picked which of the many questions to ask first.

“She didn't walk the same way that you do,” he whispered, closer to her ear than was prudent.  “I couldn't smell ho
ney and tea when she came near
me.  And when she touched me, I felt nothing,” he added as his finger ran along the stem of the flower until the heat of his touch brushed up against her.

She dropped the stem instantly and drew her hand back to the comfort of her own lap.  After a long quiet silence she lifted her eyes up to his.  “Why did you ask to see me again?”

Garrett wondered how much he could reveal to her without frightening her away.  I came to ask you to marry me, seemed too sudden and absurd, but he knew that his thoughts were tending in that direction.  Especially after seeing this shy and self conscious side of her, he wanted her all to himself.  On the other hand to tell her that he only wanted another moment like the one they had shared before, would sound callus and insincere.

“I wanted to see you,” he admitted and watched her face closely as she pulled a stray hair back behind her ear, causing him to smile.

“Can I see you?”  Katherine asked, pointing at his top hat that kept his face hidden mostly in the shadows.  Slowly, Garrett removed the item, letting her look on his face for the first time.  She
gazed at
the hazel green eyes and short cropped blond hair as if she were memorizing the look of him.  “I knew you would be handsome,” she admitted before quickly looking away again.

“May I ask for a favor as well?” Garrett asked and he enjoyed watching a frown gather at her brows, knitting them together in a cute, thoughtful pout.  She nodded her head.  “Why did you kiss me that night, after I had let you go?”

Her blush deepened as she admitted, “I don't know.  I'm not usually very impulsive.  It just felt right I suppose.  I never thought I'd see you again, so it seemed that it was a chance worth taking.”

Garrett loved each shy and uncertain movement she made.  It was hard to believe she had been capable of something as bold as kissing a complete stranger.  The two images of her clashed in his mind, he wondered which she truly was, until he realized that the same war was still waging inside of her, over which of her impulses she should follow.

One of her hands had picked another small flower from beneath the bench, and she focused her attention on each petal, trying to appear calm even though her fingers shook.

He was even more handsome than she had thought he would be.  The smooth lines of his jaw made her want to run her fingers along the stubble-free edge.  Her fingers nearly shook from that craving.  The night they had kissed, she had allowed her fingers to trace over that jaw, to grasp tightly to his shoulders, holding him closer to her.

Katherine blushed at just how bold she had been in the dark.  She couldn't even imagine doing the same things beneath the sky tonight when it was so brightly lit by the moon, let alone in broad day light.

The one thing that calmed her was that at least he appeared to be a kind man.  He didn't tease her or make fun of her and he had been able to tell her and Robin apart.  She tried not to feel too pleased by that revelation but it was wonderful to consider that someone thought of her as an individual instead of one half of a set of twins.

In fact, Katherine felt that he was the kind of man that she could trust and despite being nervous she was beginning to feel comfortable as she sat next to him.

“You won't tell anyone what happened, will you?” Katherine asked.  He seemed too kind right now for her to imagine that he would ever want to harm her future.  Especially over one small mistake, but when she turned back to him a mischievous smile had spread across his face.

“I won't tell anyone, if you kiss me again.”

Her eyes widened as she realized why he had really asked her to meet him again.  He was more like a cat playing with a mouse, releasing it only to then take it back again.  He was playing with her the same way now, because he was not yet done with her.

Katherine looked horrified as she shifted further down the bench and away from him.  “I can't,” she told him and held up her hands, hoping to keep the temptation away from her because the truth was that she did feel a bit tempted already.

He seemed surprised by her rejection and frowned.  “You're already engaged to someone else?”

“No.”

“Then you intend to be engaged soon?”

“No.”

He looked relieved as he captured one of her hands and played with the inside of her palm, spreading her hand out so that he could run his fingers along the tips of her smaller, more delicate ones.  “Then I see no reason why you can't do whatever you want.”

The sensations that he caused left Katherine feeling heavy and weightless at the same time.  She couldn't seem to concentrate as he tried to ask her more questions, while she feebly fought to pull her hand out of his.  “I can't really discuss this,” she told him and tried to pull harder to free her hand but he kept it firmly within the grip of his own as he teased them lightly.

“Katherine,” he said slowly, seeming to pick his words carefully.  “There is something between us, something unique.” Her fingers were brought closer to his mouth and she felt his warm breath cascade across the sensitive palm.  “It is rare that two people have as strong of a connection as we do.”

He watched as her voice caught in her throat and her body seemed to tense as he held her fingers closer to his lips.  He placed the first light kiss on the pad of one of her fingertips before opening his mouth and licking at the delicate spot.

The low moan came from deep inside her body and he drew her finger into his mouth until he had sucked on it for a moment.  Her eyes fluttered briefly before closing completely and her moan became louder as he licked another finger, all fight leaving her body as she began to succumb to his seductions.

“That's why I had to find you,” he explained to her.  “I needed to show you that what we had that night, and what we have now, is very special.”  Her eyes finally opened as he withdrew her hand from his lips and returned it back to rest on her thigh where her fingertips twitched with abandonment.  “We can't leave our needs unfulfilled.” 

His husky voice brought her out of the dreamlike state.  “I am not going to have an affair with you,” she told him primly.

He stared at her and then burst out laughing.  “I don't want an affair with you,” he assured her.  “I would like to see you again, in the sunlight even, visit you at dances, take you for late night walks.”  When she didn't seem to fully understand what he was saying, he clarified.  “I would like to have the chance to court you.”

She considered his request before asking, “Are you titled?”  Katherine knew that she would not be the first wom
an to reject a man for not
having a higher status.  Her mother would never approve of her marrying a man simply because she enjoyed kissing him.  Even to her that reasoning sounded shallow.

His face changed again.  This time he seemed cautious.  “Is that what you are looking for in a husband?”

“Yes,” she answered simply, hoping that all of this would end there.  If he wasn't titled then there was no point in dragging things on until she felt even worse about leaving him behind.  As much as she had enjoying his company and as much as she had enjoyed kissing him there was no future between them.  Brushing the last of the petals from her gown Katherine stood to leave.

His hand grasped her elbow, he stopped her retreat and smiled up at her from the bench.  “I never told you that I wasn't,” he pointed out with a smile.

Katherine had heard of couples who played little mind games with each other.  She had never seen the fun in it before, and was even less enticed by it now that she believed that he was toying with her.  Annoyed with the situation, and worried that her absence might be noticed soon, she allowed herself to get angry.

“A duke or a lord would never have accosted a young woman in an alleyway,” she assured him, pulling her arm from his hold.  “So clearly you are not one.” She started to storm back up the path to the party in the hopes that he would leave her alone.

“I have to correct you,” he said as he walked casually beside her at the same pace as her hurried one.  “I know many lords who would have done much worse.”  He leaned in closer, “And you would be scandalized if I told you what a duke would have done.”

If he kept walking beside her, they would enter the dance together.  Katherine couldn't risk being seen that way.  “You can't go in there with me,” she told him, as he grinned unapologetically at her.

“If you go in before we are finished discussing this, then I will have to.”  He waited patiently for her next move, his lips crooking into a smile.

“Then I'll stay out here the entire night, refusing to talk to you,” she threatened and turned around to return to her bench and prove that she was stubborn enough and willing to do so.

“I'd rather stay outside as well,” he confessed, sitting beside her on the same bench and stretching his long legs out in front of him as if he had no other plans for the evening.

Katherine sat quietly for a moment, trying to solve her problem.  He wanted something and would not leave until he had received it, but should she give in?  Letting him continue his little game did not seem like the best way to handle the situation.  “If I let you kiss me, will you leave me alone forever?” she asked.

“No.  But if you kiss me I won't tell anyone about the other night.  However, that does not mean that I won't try to see you again.”