Steam Guardians 01 - A Lady Can Never Be Too Curious (5 page)

Or of being near him. She should have been, or at least wise enough not to rock the boat. Instead, she discovered herself rising to the challenge in his eyes.

“And you should accept the fact that we are from two very different worlds,” he countered before turning her once more.

It wasn’t right that he looked as if he expected to be slighted—or maybe she just didn’t care to be so predictable. She liked thinking that, among his brethren, women didn’t need to be mindless ducklings who always simpered when in public. She liked even less the fact that he was pointing out what her father expected of her. The man was an Illuminist; she craved something different from him. It was like a thirst she couldn’t seem to quench.

The music finally rose to signal the end of the dance. Janette slid into her starting position before sinking into a curtsy. The room filled with soft applause created by gloved hands.

“Thank you, Mr. Lawley.”

She noticed her father shaking his head with disapproval. Her mother stood by his side, fanning herself at a frantic pace. But there was also something in her mother’s eyes that looked very much like approval.

“My pleasure, Miss Aston.” He took her hand but didn’t kiss the back of it. Instead, he looked like he was attempting to solve some sort of puzzle. “I believe I need some air after dancing with you,” he added quietly.

Mrs. Brimmer overheard him from her position on the edge of the dance floor.

“The gardens are a feast for the senses. Go and enjoy them.” She waved them off, casting approval on them with her smile that dared any of her guests to condemn their actions. Janette saw her father start after her, but Mr. Brimmer stepped into his path and her father was forced to stop and offer his host a formal bow.

The Brimmers were old blood but maintained their fortunes with new industry. The rest of the guests might whisper, but no one dared comment aloud because future business deals might not appear if the Brimmers were offended during their party.

Janette knew she would be on her own with Darius Lawley, just as she had been before. A bolt of excitement shot through her as he placed her hand on his forearm.

“Still unwilling to offend your hostess?” he asked quietly, but not so much so that she didn’t hear the expectation in his voice. The man certainly did think he knew a great deal about her.

“What I’m unwilling to do is back down from the challenge you insist on directing at me,” she informed him through a smile she’d practiced in front of her mirror.

“I am not a toy for you to satisfy your need for amusement with,” he admonished her softly.

Some of her anger faded. Again, she heard expectation in his tone.

“I believe I could fairly accuse you of the same thing—you mentioned the garden.” Her heart accelerated as they neared the open doors and the garden beyond came into sight. “Well, I am not so timid, sir.”

There
was
only
one
reason
a
couple
retired
to
the
garden
during
a
dance…

“You don’t lack spirit, Miss Aston. But it would be in your best interest to refuse me.”

His hand rested on top of her gloved fingers. She could feel the steel-corded muscles of his forearm, and his grip wasn’t gentle either.

“Why do you want me to?” She tightened her grasp on his forearm.

His eyes narrowed. “I will take you into the garden, Miss Aston. But are you quite certain you want to continue this game? It is sure to be the topic at every breakfast table in town.”

He slowed his pace, giving her ample time to jerk her hand away while still in full view of the guests.

“I refuse to give you the satisfaction of believing I cannot suffer the gossip of being alone with you while my peers know it. Besides, it would be quite rude.”

He guided her down a stone walkway and around a corner so that they disappeared from the sight of the guests. That was when he gave her a look at his true emotions, his expression now one of frustration.

“But that leaves you to deal with me alone, yet again. I find your choice interesting.”

“At least I do not feel as upset by that fact as you sound, Mr. Lawley.”

The night air teased her cheeks, cooling them and reminding her that she was blushing. He continued on, not stopping until they were far enough away that the music became only background noise. The air was still warm enough for the jasmine to be blooming, and late-season roses also added their sweetness to the air.

Once out of sight of the ballroom, Janette pulled her hand away. “Is it necessary to sound so annoyed with our circumstances? I believe you are the one offering me insult. Perhaps you are the one truly worried about being the topic at breakfast? Are your Illuminist brothers going to condemn you for spending time with me? Will holding your head high be difficult among the members of your Order tomorrow?”

Maybe she was mad to take such a bold approach with him, but his constant warnings awakened a reckless need to do so. In his world, women could speak their minds, and she wanted to make sure he noticed she was up to the task of having a logical discussion with him. The man would not find her wits lacking.

“If you believe I’ll begin muttering polite topics any matron behind us would approve of, simply because I was raised a lady, you are going to be disappointed.”

He folded his arms across his chest and studied her. The pose was considered common in polite society, but it drew her attention to how muscular he was beneath the fine wool overcoat. He really was an overly large man; she doubted her head would reach his chin, and his jaw was lean, telling her he was very physical. It also drove home just how annoyed he was with her for not slighting him.

“I’m warning—”

“Yes, yes,” she interrupted. “As you have done before. But I will not believe it was necessary for me to reject you to protect myself.”

He chuckled, but the sound had a sinister quality. “Your education is lacking, Miss Aston. I would have thought your mother would have instructed you on the dangers of being alone with an Illuminist.”

“Your being an Illuminist doesn’t have anything to do with it.”

Yet her mother had warned her of exactly that on many occasions.
Walk
out
with
an
Illuminist, and your reputation will be tarnished…

He cocked his head to the side. “I know what the polished upper crust thinks of me. I’ve seen their sneers often enough.”

There was his expectation again, the firm belief that she would look down her nose at him. She refused to give him the satisfaction—even if he was correct. Trouncing back into the ballroom would please her father enormously.

“Then by all means, return to the party before someone thinks you brought me out here for a moonlit kiss.” She turned her back on him, suddenly as frustrated as he appeared. “I wouldn’t dream of sullying your reputation by having our names linked over breakfast tables tomorrow.”

Disappointment raked its claws across her emotions, killing the excitement that had been twisting her insides. It was bitter, indeed. All her senses felt heightened, her lips more sensitive as though they longed to feel what his kiss was like.

What
you
want
is
to
flirt
with
a
man
who
will
not
act
like
a
gentleman…

“You have no concept of what you’re saying, Miss Aston.”

She turned back around to face him, her temper sizzling. “I see you’re intent on punishing me like some child who needs reprimanding. If that is how you see me, please depart.” It stung—in spite of her determination to banish him to a place in her mind where his opinion might have no importance.

“An incorrect assumption on your part, Miss Aston,” he insisted. “I’ve noticed just how much of a woman you are.”

His leisurely position had given her a false sense of security. To her surprise, Darius closed the gap between them and pulled her against his body in a fluid motion that was lightning-quick.

“My interest in you is rapidly growing beyond my ability to ignore it. This opportunity to kiss you, too tempting to resist. Yet if you are intent on reminding me that you are a woman, there is no reason for me to restrain myself.”

She flattened her hands against his chest, but that didn’t stop him. He angled his head and pressed his mouth against hers before her skirts had finished swishing. She tried to shove him away and pull her head back, but he captured her nape, cradling it in one large hand to keep her in place for his kiss.

The few kisses in her past paled in comparison. Darius pressed his lips over hers but began teasing her lips with his. The kiss didn’t end after a brief press. He continued to slide his mouth across hers, pressing against her lips until they parted and their mouths fit together more completely.

Sensation poured down her body. She felt it pooling in her belly as excitement flared up. She moved in his arms, not necessarily in an effort to escape, but following his lead, moving her lips in unison with his. She heard him pull in a deep breath, and it made her bolder. She rose onto her toes to make sure her lips were fused with his, and his kiss became harder, more demanding.

She
liked
his
embrace.
The hardness of his body and the way his hands moved her to suit his desire. He continued to kiss her with a skill that sent delight racing through her. He teased her lips with the tip of his tongue, just a tiny stroke along her lower lip, before he sealed her mouth again with his. She shivered, surprised to feel her passage yearning for something more.

The desire was there inside her, shocking but too real to ignore—twisting every principle she had while, at the same time, urging her to seek out his bare skin. It was instinct, something rooted deep inside her, and it felt like it was ripping at the fabric of her being in an attempt to break free. The scent of his skin further fueled her rising desire.

“We must stop…” she murmured.

“No,” he growled softly.

She reached up and depressed the device covering his ear. It let out a sharp whine. He reached for her hand, giving her the opportunity to escape his embrace.

“Yes,” she insisted, but her breathing was harsh, and she noticed his was too.

“Damn us both, Janette. I didn’t need to know what you tasted like. It will be damned hard to forget.”

Yes…it will…

There was a promise lurking in his eyes that she retreated from. The more she considered it, the farther back she moved. It wasn’t Darius who frightened her; it was her reaction to him. When combined, they created a reaction that threatened to be unstoppable. What surprised her was the realization that she was equally responsible.

“I shouldn’t have…kissed you back.” But she’d enjoyed it so much, it was an effort to maintain a distance from him.

He cursed, the profanity rolling across his lips without hesitation. He was so contrary to what she’d been raised to desire in a man, but her flesh burned for him. It was dark and wicked, but too hot to control.

“You should have sneered at me, Janette; I need you to be exactly what I expect of a high-society lady.”

For just a moment, she let the burn of her desire warm her. She could be his equal, step back into his embrace and do all the things her flesh was urging her to. “Being a lady doesn’t mean I have to be prejudiced, Darius. I’ll judge you on your actions alone.”

One corner of his mouth curled up, making him look like a rogue. “So judge me, sweet lady. I await your decision.”

Tension drew her body tight. She felt poised on the top of a wall, her answer some manner of test from him. There was something inside her that didn’t want to fail, didn’t want to be what he expected. She pushed aside all the lectures from her parents and heard instead the words Mrs. Brimmer had spoken…
too
young
to
be
prejudiced
. Was that all it was? This division between Illuminist and high society?

“Nothing to say, sweet lady? Or should I say, not enough courage to speak your mind?”

It wasn’t the smugness in his tone that needled her, but the bitterness.

“You are bold, and I believe I enjoyed it too much.” Her words came out in a husky whisper she didn’t recognize as her own voice. She’d never sounded so sultry before.

“You did,” he concurred, his voice deep and edged with satisfaction. She witnessed the truth shimmering in his eyes before she turned her back on him and ran. It wasn’t Darius she fled, but the certainty in his dark gaze—the flame of desire that she wanted to move closer to until she surrendered to the heat his kiss unleashed. She felt more alive than she ever had, as though she had just been waiting until this moment for her life to begin. If she didn’t run, she was going to forget why kissing him back was a bad idea.

But he wasn’t a gentleman, and she was a lady. He might ruin her and return to his Solitary Chamber, where she might never see him again. So she proved him correct about one thing: she lacked the courage to stay anywhere near him. She ran right to the front of the house, and her father’s butler noticed her immediately from where he waited with the other servants.

Why had she never noticed how some men were considered better than others? Across the well-manicured lawn stood the personal escorts of everyone inside. They had their collars turned up to keep the wind from biting into their necks while they passed flasks of whiskey between them.

All the while waiting on their betters.

The idea stuck in her throat, but she climbed into the carriage when it was brought around, because it offered escape.

Coward.

She didn’t dispute it.

***

“I cannot begin to express how disappointed I am.”