Dizzy Dilemmas (15 page)

“Do you know, Marcus
,” he said whilst moving from his friend’s right side to his left. “These flower displays are really quite something. Most unusual wouldn’t you say?”

             
Discovery was imminent and Dizzy knew there was no way to escape. She had clearly been brought into Glenmore’s range of vision as he had turned his head to follow his friend’s progress and now as he registered what Ross was saying he looked her way. He laughed. Loud enough too that some people turned to see what had amused him so but as Dizzy was obscured from their view they assumed the men had been sharing a joke.

             
“I see you would like to study the flora so I will leave you to it. They are about to strike up a waltz and my lovely wife will have saved it for me.” So saying he winked at Dizzy who glowered back and sauntered away.

             
Glenmore moved directly next to Dizzy’s refuge and leaned back against the window with his arms folded, very much at ease and looking as if he was expecting to have some fun.

“Go away,” s
he uttered in a loud whisper. “Standing alone will attract attention and soon every mamma with a daughter to marry off will be coming over and they will see me!”

“Shuffl
e over and I will join you then,” was his response and he uncrossed his arms.

“There is only room for one I am afraid and as I am already here you will have to make use of the next flower display along
,” she told him but she might as well have saved her breath for the next moment he was crawling in beside her.

“See plenty of room! How fortunate that our hostess likes flowers. Move up a touch, Gherkin!”

“And how are you going to explain this when we are discovered?” she asked moving up although as he moved with her his thigh still pressed against the length of hers.

“I discovered you. Why are you hiding here, my lovely pickle?”

“You know why! I have been avoiding the attentions of the most irksome Duke to have ever traversed the ballrooms of London. Do you know him? He bears a remarkable likeness to you,” she replied.

“I cannot say I do. All the Dukes of my acquaintance are
charming and gracious.”

Dizzy gave him the look or tried to but with him smiling beguilingly at her it was nigh on impossible.

“Charming and gracious Dukes do not threaten to spank young ladies of their acquaintance!” she pointed out.

“It depends on the provocation and I distinctly remember telling you I was undecided whether to spank you or kiss you and I was definitely veering towards
the latter when you punched me,” he explained.

“Charming and gracious Dukes do not threaten to kiss young ladies either!
And you invited me to punch you,” she reminded him.

“Again it depends on the provocation
and to me you are provocation personified. And as I recall it was to try and punch me and on the nose; not in the stomach!  You do have a fairly good left hook though, Gherkin,” he said.

“Do I?” s
he asked, delighted at the compliment, and when he nodded she continued. “Well thank you very much. You kiss extremely well!”

He laughed as she blushed scarlet, having realised what she had said and tried to take it back.

“That is I meant to say. …”

“
Oh no my love, what you said was perfectly clear and you do not need to say any more,” he interrupted her, his eyes twinkling with amusement.

“No what I meant to say…”
she tried again but again he interrupted her.

“Is that I kiss extremely well! Tell me; do you make that judgement on how my kisses make you feel or in comparis
on to other kisses you have received?” he teased.

“I do not make a habit of going r
ound kissing men; even Dukes!” she was affronted. “One or two young men have tried to kiss me I admit, but a mere peck I assure you!”

“I am glad you enjoy
my kisses because I find myself wanting to kiss you again,” he told her.

“You are destined to be disappointed because there must be no more kissing, Glenmore
,” she said firmly but was slightly disappointed when he did not contradict her. “Are you listening?” she asked turning to look at him only to have him kiss her gently on the lips.

“Are you sure about that Gherkin?” he asked and she nodded although it lacked conviction. His response was to kiss her again, more deeply despite the cramped conditions and the danger of discovery.
His mouth claimed hers and although still gentle she could not mistake his demands; his insistence that she respond to him truthfully and without prevarication. She moaned and desire swept through her as he took the kiss to another level; using his tongue and lips to explore, taste and entice. Tentatively she entwined her tongue with his and when he growled she became more confident, kissing him back and exploring him as he had done her. No longer concerned that he would scare her, Marcus plunged his tongue into her open mouth; wanting to devour her with every sweep, every thrust. It was no longer enough that their lips were joined and their thighs were touching and so he put his arm around her and pulled her closer, wanting to feel her softness against him.

             
Dizzy was completely absorbed in their kiss, blind and deaf to whatever might be happening beyond their flowery shield; that is until her foot caught the base of the display. Although too big and sturdy to be toppled by one small kick, it nevertheless scraped along the floor making, or so it seemed to Dizzy at least, a terribly loud noise. Even when the container had stopped moving the flowers near the top continued to wave backwards and forwards, drawing attention or so Dizzy believed. In truth only anyone standing close by would have seen or heard anything and fortunately no-one was but the moment had been broken and rational thought had once again asserted itself.

             
“The waltz has ended,” she stated the obvious. “Everyone will be making their way into supper so I will go first and you can follow in a few moments.”

“No, we will go together. I am not spending the next hour or so chasing you around the room.
I will take you into supper,” Markus told her.

“But I already have
a partner for supper,” she lied, still hoping to avoid having the eyes of the ton upon them.

“Oh who would that be?” h
e asked knowing she was lying to avoid having supper with him.

“No-one you know,” s
he replied and then sighed. “Look, if we are seen together in public tonight, by tomorrow all the gossip sheets will be speculating on your intentions, all the matrons and the unmarried daughters will be pestering me and plotting my downfall, and Gideon and my grandmother will be booking the church and sending a note post-haste summoning my parents home. Let us go back to being mere acquaintances so that we do not arouse hope, despair or angst in the hearts of our family, friends and the ton.”

“And if we are seen in public tonight by tomorrow the gossip sheets will
be linking my name to yours and not faceless girls; giving false hope to them and their mothers. Those same girls and mothers will be pestering you and not me and although your family may get their hopes up I am sure you exaggerate about booking the church,” he answered before adding. “Your parents? Aren’t they dead?”

“No! Whatever gave you that idea?” Dizzy asked affronted “OF-course they are not dead!”

“I’m sorry. I should have realised because your brother is not Lord Elveston is he? It is just that you have not mentioned your parents and as they are not here, I assumed they had died,” Marcus explained.

“No. They left home at the end of my first season
,” she told him and feeling it called for further explanation. “Having raised five children to adulthood they decided that having fulfilled familial commitments, it was time for them as a couple. As none of us had moved out of the family home, they decided they would and so they have embarked on a tour of the sites of historical significance.”

“Did your mother not want to chaperone you d
uring your season?” he could not quite believe what he was hearing, especially when he thought about all those matrons who were trying to ensnare him for their daughters.

“She did the first one
but as neither of my sisters would accept any of the proposals they had then she said I would probably be the same and so there was no need for her to wait around. Gideon was put in charge and Grandmamma agreed to chaperone us.”

“I do not know how to re
spond. It is certainly….unusual,” he said.

Dizzy just shrugged. “
Unusual maybe but then so was our childhood. They donated a lot of time to us when we were young; taking an active role in all we did. Unlike many people of our class, we were not raised by nannies and governesses; only seeing our parents for half an hour after tea. We are all in our twenties now and thanks to their guidance, and Coulton’s discipline of-course for papa was not strong on discipline, we are all responsible members of society.” Then upon seeing his raised eyebrow she clarified, “In ways that count at any rate!”

“I was raised by nannies and servants and sp
ent little time with my parents,” for some reason he felt the need to tell her, though not to evoke sympathy, because that was the way of their world after all, but just to share a part of his past with her as she had with him. It seemed appropriate somehow.

“Well rest assured,” s
he replied solemnly, “Our children will be raised as I was with plenty of parental involvement. Will you be able to cope with that?”

“What?” Marcus forgot to keep his voice down.

“Shhhhh” Dizzy placed a finger to her lips and flapped her other hand in a gesture for him to be quiet. “It was a joke, Your Grace. Just a joke!”

“You gave me a nasty shock just then
, Gherkin,” he dramatically placed his hand over his heart. “But now I am getting used to the idea, I can just picture our dozen or so children. They would all look like me of-course because I am a handsome devil when all is said and done.”

With a theatrical groan Dizzy said, “Come on, Lord Bashful, time to go.”

Taking great care Dizzy manoeuvred herself so that she was on all fours and shuffled to the edge of the flowers and working on the notion that people rarely noticed things at ground level, she put her head as close to the floor as possible and edged out. A few stragglers remained but the majority of guests had made their way into the supper rooms and fortunately no-one was lingering near them.

             
Glenmore was not sure whether he was in heaven or hell. Positioned as she was, he had a very nice view of Dizzy’s bottom, tantalizingly close and evoking a number of very erotic thoughts and images in his mind. He took a deep breath and tried to get his body and thoughts under control and although he knew he would find the task easier if he closed his eyes, he was enjoying the view too much to look away. This young woman was driving him to distraction but of-course, in her innocence was unaware of the affect she was having on him, and here she was just inches away in a very provocative position. It really was not surprising that he was in a state of arousal and dreaming of making love to her. He sighed knowing he could not act upon his dreams though he would not dismiss the idea of seducing her at a later date, given the opportunity.

             
Going onto hands and knees he moved over her and cursed his stupidity as he thought about taking her from behind. She fit perfectly beneath him and it would only take a matter of moments to lift her skirts and bury himself within her. As a gentleman he could not act on his impulses but there was no reason he couldn’t take advantage of the situation in a different way.

“Is the coast clear?” h
e asked her.

“Not quite. Just another minute,” s
he whispered and then as she realised where he was she added. “What are you doing?”

“Nothing though there is plenty I would like to do such as stroking this
shapely bottom that has been torturing me for several minutes now,” his voice was low and sensual and his hand began to gently caress her; the erotic motion making her gasp. “If we were anywhere else now I would raise your skirts and fondle your naked derriere. Then I would make love to you; take you in this position.” He continued to stroke her a few seconds more, relishing her little gasps of delight as he felt her passion build. “But as I cannot do that, I will have to settle for delivering the spanking I promised you earlier.” Languid with desire it took Dizzy longer to register what he was saying and by the time his words had sunk in he had landed a slap on her backside.

“You despicable...” Whatever else she was going to say was lost as she spun around, heedless of their situation and collided forcefully with the flower arrangement which
rocked violently on its base before teetering on one edge. There was a fifty percent chance of it righting itself but Glenmore was not prepared to take the risk and so, grabbing Dizzy by the arm he hauled her up and out the nearest door. They were well along the terrace and away from the blaze of light filtering from the ballroom when they heard the resounding crash as the carefully constructed flower arrangement hit the polished wooden floor.