The Temptation of a Gentleman (12 page)

Noah frowned at the fear in her eyes. A forced marriage was certainly distasteful, but it was no reason for her to be so frightened, or worry she wouldn’t be protected. Hadn’t he already promised her that?

“
In the future-” In one step, he closed a little of the gap between them. Her scent wafted over toward him and dulled his anger. “You’ll depend on me for protection
and
instruction before you go running off and doing something so foolish like invading Lucas’s office.”

Her eyes narrowed as she brought her hands up to cover her hips. He followed their movement, wishing he could mimic their action with his own.

“
Now wait just a moment, Noah Jordan,” she said, completely oblivious to the lust she inspired in him. “You aren’t talking to a child! I’m a grown person and if you trust me to be your partner, even for a short time, you must trust me to make my own decisions. Right now you’re being as narrow-minded as my father.”

Noah moved even closer. Now they almost touched. “See here, I’m
nothing
like a man who would sell you for his own foolish debts.”

“
No? He doesn’t feel I’m capable of making my own decisions either,” she retorted.

He pursed his lips. “You’re not experienced enough in this field to do anything without some guidance.”

“
That is so pompous,” she said with a sigh. “To think that because I don’t have training, I somehow don’t have instincts.”

She began to turn away from him but he caught her arm in one smooth motion and spun her back around to face him. “I know you have instincts, but I can’t see you hurt. Do you understand?”

Marion gazed up into intense blue eyes that refused to set her free from their imprisoning gaze. Noah’s warm, sensual scent enveloped her, and his hands felt like fire burning through the thin silk of her gown. She flashed back once more to his mouth on hers and instinctively wet her lips at the thought.

Noah let out a low groan and without warning, brought his mouth down to hers. Marion’s surprise lasted only for a moment as the heat from his mouth washed away any other senses, any other thoughts, anything in her mind but him. For that moment, he was everything. And she gave in willingly, bringing her arms around his neck with a soft sigh.

This time Marion wasn’t surprised when Noah’s tongue caressed her lips. In fact, she opened hungrily to him, clutching at him harder when he delved inside her mouth to taste every hollow. Meanwhile, his hands crept to her waist and he tilted her against him until their bodies touched in the most scandalizing way.

Through the haze of desire, she noted Noah was guiding her backward across the room. He stopped when her back flattened against one of the high bookshelves. Now she felt the full length of him as he pressed against him. His broad, muscular chest touched hers, his hard stomach and hips molded to her quivering body and his muscular thighs, so well defined in his tight breeches, pressed against her most intimate place. Never had her body felt more alive, tingling at every nerve ending.

He moved his mouth to kiss the corner of her lips, then her cheek before moving down to skim along the curve of her throat. She tilted her head back with a soft sigh. Her hips lifted with the motion and she felt the hard thrust of Noah’s erection against her thigh.

Her eyes flew open at the contact and she looked at Noah’s face through heavy lids. “I…”

He shook his head, though he continued to keep her wedged between his body and the bookshelf. “I’m sorry.”

“
Don’t,” she pleaded as she buried her face against his shoulder to place a light kiss just above his cravat. “Please don’t say you’re sorry.”

With a grunt, Noah tilted her face back toward his and kissed her again. He simply couldn’t control himself around this woman. He needed her. Despite the promises he’d made to Charlotte and the fact Marion was an innocent who he could plan no future with, he wanted to hold her in his arms and fill his senses with her scent and taste.

There was a bustle in the hallway and a burst of laughter through the door. Immediately he pulled away to leave Marion staring stunned at him.

“
Servants,” he explained when no one intruded on the awkward scene.

She dipped her head with a slow nod. “Yes.”

“
I’m sorry, Marion, I don’t know why I got carried away.”

Already, he longed to touch her cheek and brush away the stray curl that twisted against the satin of her lip. Of course he knew why he’d gotten carried away. Marion Hawthorne was beautiful, honest, light and he wanted her more than he’d wanted any other woman in he couldn’t remember how long.

She sucked in her breath through her teeth. “I told you,” she said, accentuating each word. “Don’t apologize.”

She pushed past him to halt before the fireplace. Staring at the flames, she didn’t say anything for a long moment, then finally she whispered, “Do you want to know what he told me?

“
Who?” Noah answered. She had to know any thread of conversation they’d had previously was hopelessly lost in a haze of passion.

“
Josiah Lucas.”

With a shiver, she glanced over her shoulder. Quickly she recounted their conversation. Noah answered her with nods and few non-committal grunts. Nothing she said was news to him, but the idea that Lucas had compared Marion to his dead wife was deeply troubling. If he saw her as some kind of replacement for Georgina that could mean he would repeat whatever patterns he’d played in his first marriage. Including murder.

“
Is that all?”

“
Yes.” She kept her eyes down.

He winced, hating that he’d embarrassed her. This was exactly why he was so reticent about ruining her, even in name only. If a stolen kiss in private left Marion shaken, how would she survive a blight on her name that would follow her forever?

Of course, a false ruination wouldn’t make him as hot as their stolen kiss had. And she’d responded, too. There was no doubt in Noah’s mind Marion desired him and, gauging from her reaction, it terrified her.

He cleared his throat and snapped, “In the future I again ask you not to do any investigation without my instruction.”

Her shoulders stiffened and her eyes came up with slow, angry purpose. “And what am I allowed to do then, my lord?”

He stifled a smile at the return of her spirit. “Why don’t you start by asking a few discreet questions of the servants and see where that leads?”

She nodded. “And I can continue to probe Lucas when I have the chance.”

Noah’s heart leapt at the thought. “No, no, no. Didn’t you hear what I just told you? Don’t talk to Lucas about anything unless I’m in the room. Don’t confront him at all. And above all else, don’t go sneaking about his private rooms anymore. Do I make myself clear?”

She stared at him for a long moment. Her eyes flashed with emotion as she struggled to rein in control. Finally she ground out, “Perfectly. Now I’m going back to the party.”

Marion turned and stalked toward the door. How she would like to prove to Noah Jordan that she was more than some pawn in the game he played. She was intelligent and could be of better use than simply questioning the servants. Why just a few moments of conversation had opened Josiah Lucas to her. She could only imagine what more time and questions would reveal.

“
Good, I’ll be behind you in a moment,” Noah said. “If we return together it will only spark questions.”

“
Fine.” She pulled the door open. Muttering under her breath, she added, “I don’t want to walk back with you anyway you overbearing lout.”

“
Marion!” Noah said, his voice heavy with surprise and laughter.

She turned back with a sweet smile on her face. “Yes, my lord?”

“
I am standing right here! I can hear what you said perfectly well.”

Marion stiffened. She straightened her back in defiance and nodded her head at Noah.

“
Good,” she said. “I wouldn’t want you to think I was talking behind your back.” With that she closed the door and strode down the hall, her ears tickled by the sound of Noah’s belly laugh from behind her.

***

Marion slipped into her seat with a quick smile for Lady Woodbury. As she straightened her napkin on her lap, she noticed the other woman continued to look at her.

“
Marion.” Tabitha tilted her head as she glanced at her son’s empty seat then back. “Is anything amiss?”

“
Why?” Marion’s heart beat faster. She’d been very careful to return with as little fuss as possible.

“
You’re a bit flushed.”

Marion looked away. Oh dear, she was a bit too obvious it seemed. The last thing she desired was for Lady Woodbury to know what a wanton she’d made of herself in the library. She enjoyed Noah’s caresses. No, she craved them. When he pushed her aside, it had left her feeling bereft and aching for his kiss.

“
I’m sure it’s just the afternoon sun.” With a false smile, she smoothed her pelisse and began a covert search for Noah.

Tabitha’s well-defined eyebrow arched up. “I’m sure.”

Marion shifted in her chair, refocusing her attention on the plate a footman set before her. Lady Woodbury’s dark eyes continued to watch her as if she understood far more than Marion wanted her to. Finally she returned her attention to her other guests.

Marion let out a small sigh of relief as she began to pick at her dessert. Lying to her father and Josiah Lucas was one thing. The two men were conspiring against her, so turnabout was fair play. But lying to Tabitha Jordan was quite another. For some inexplicable reason she wanted Noah’s mother to like her.

She glanced up with a smile as Noah returned to the table. He shot a quick wink at her before turning to the man to his side and beginning a political conversation. With a shiver, Marion realized the reason she wanted Tabitha to like her was sitting across the table from her, his blue eyes sparkling and the little dimple between his cheek and chin making him even more charming. The reason was Noah Jordan.

The man she was falling in love with.

Marion sat in the window seat in her chamber and stared out at the overcast day. Though she should have been doing many other things, she was lost in thought as she watched the gardeners trim the rose bushes in the distance.

“
Where Noah first kissed me,” she murmured, before growling at herself with displeasure. Surely she’d been mooning over the man long enough. It was time to forget the girlish crush.

Except it was more than a girlish crush. Two days before she’d dared to think that she was falling in love with the handsome Marquis. Since then that notion had grown until it filled her mind and shadowed her every thought, word and action.

“
Stupid, stupid girl,” she chided herself before resting her forehead on the cool glass. Over the years her father had kept her from being courted. Of course her natural reaction to the first man she met was to believe he was the man of her dreams. And the fact that he looked like a Roman god and made her blood run hot only served to further bolster that silly idea.

But nothing could ever come of it. Even if Noah weren’t practically engaged to another woman, he certainly wanted to marry someone of aristocratic blood and gentle breeding. Men of his ilk didn’t fall in love at all, much less with the daughters of indebted merchants who would sell their only child.

She almost burst into tears right then and there, but the somber moment was interrupted by a light knock on the door behind her. Wiping her eyes, she called out, “Come in.”

The door opened and Sally stuck her kerchiefed head into the bedroom.

“
I’m sorry, miss. I’ll come back to change the bed linens later.”

Marion scrambled to her feet with a shake of her head. “No, no. Please come in now. I’ll stay out of your way.”

This was just the distraction she needed, the opportunity to chat with the maid. Noah had said the servants might hold the key to finding out what had really happened to Georgina Ross. The key to Marion’s salvation.

“
If you’re certain, miss.” Sally came into the room with a pile of folded linens in her arms.

“
Of course. It certainly isn’t your fault that I’m hiding up here in my room,” Marion said with what she hoped was a light laugh. “I wouldn’t want to keep you from your work.”

“
Thank you, miss.”

Sally gave her a brilliant smile before she stripped the bed with an efficiency born from many years of practice. Marion moved over to her dressing table and sat down in order to watch Sally in the mirror as she hurried about her duties.

“
How long have you been with the household?” She pretended to fiddle and rearrange the items on her table.

“
Going on three years, miss,” Sally said. “Since I was fifteen.”