Veiled in Blue (7 page)

His lips on hers, his skin under her hand delivered waves of sensation that rippled over her skin, enlivening her and bringing all her senses to a peak. He murmured something against her lips and kissed her again. This man knew exactly what he was doing, which was more than Eve did.

She stretched up, arching her neck, her back hollowing in her efforts to get closer to him. An urge filled her, one she was not used to, to press her body against his, head to foot, to drink in as much of him as she could. He tightened his hand on her back and curled the other around the back of her neck, gently caressing her bare skin, his fingers thrusting into her hair to cup the back of her head under her linen cap. He had her exactly where he wanted her. Eve couldn’t have been happier about it.

Reckless thoughts invaded her mind. Why should she not let him go as far as he wished? If she had hung out for a lover, she could not have found a more worthy candidate. He was leaving soon, likely never to return, and from his kisses he would know what to do and how to do it, which was more than she did. She could take him, and nobody would be the wiser.

She lost herself in him. Sinking into his arms, letting him lead her to places she had never visited before was deceptively easy. Seductively easy. He caressed her softly, tenderly, but their passion increased every time his lips returned to hers, and her willingness to accept him grew more eager.

With a gasp, she pulled away and shoved her hands against his chest.

He opened his eyes, his mouth still curled in a smile, reddened with their kisses. “Calm yourself, sweetheart,” he murmured, but he let her go, releasing her gradually, giving her time to regain her balance and her sense of where she was.

Her first thought was for Muffy. Sometime during their embrace, he’d released the dog. The spaniel could be anywhere. But when she looked down, there he was, lying with his head resting on his paws, fast asleep.

“I kept my foot on his lead,” Julius said. “He seemed content.” He took her hand. He could well be applying the word to her.

His warmth seeped through her, inviting her to return to the shelter of his arms.

Seductive was exactly the right word. “What were we thinking?” she demanded, when she should have asked the question of herself much earlier.

“I was thinking that you are lovely and you fit perfectly in my arms.” He smiled. “I wouldn’t have compromised you.”

He said the last softly, but she wasn’t sure what he meant.

His lips curved. “I wouldn’t have gone any further than I did. Truly, I didn’t intend to take you this far. Only a kiss, I thought, but you are too lovely for just one kiss.”

She swallowed. “I didn’t mean to encourage you.” This would not be the first time a man had accused her of leading him on, although that time she’d been innocent of any such intention.

Julius frowned. “None of this was your fault. The only way you caused it was by being here. I will keep you safe, Eve, I swear it.”

She glanced down at their joined hands, where he’d increased the pressure slightly. He was not drawing her back, though.

“I should not. We have not known each other long. We have met only a few times…” Panic swept in when she realized how far he had taken her with but a few kisses. She fought to keep her breathing steady.

“I know. But you draw me, sweet Eve. I want to know you better, if you will permit it.”

“You’re going back to London soon.”

He nodded. “Not for a while. And are you fixed permanently here, in Appleton?”

She was not. “I’m a respectable woman, sir. I may not possess a great fortune, but I cannot consider any other way of life.”

“I know you cannot. If this friendship progresses the way I want it to, it will lead to the expected outcome.”

Marriage. When he said it, the prospect did not sound so distant. That could not be right. She couldn’t expect marriage. Except this man wasn’t a landed gentleman, and he wasn’t in the first flush of youth. Both points made him more eligible for her, not less. He could please himself where he married. He had a daughter, a motherless child, and he had a prosperous business. Either that or he was a charlatan of the first order. “You would consider that?”

He nodded, tugging on her hand so he drew her back to him. “Of course. I would welcome an intelligent woman to help me in my life’s task. That you are unutterably lovely and intelligent make this an even more delicious prospect. Should you object if I set to courting you?”

Eve could hardly believe she was accepting his proposal. “I should say no. We have met but three times, counting today.”

What would he say if she told him she was a princess, the granddaughter of an anointed king?

She knew immediately. He would her mad, and he would reject her. If she believed her mother, that would mark her as a madwoman for sure.

He gazed at her, warmth in his eyes, so she knew he was getting great pleasure from her appearance. Since she had hardly dressed up to take this walk with Muffy, that was saying something. “I can move quickly when the mood takes me.”

She’d wager he could. He was a successful businessman. That, and his air of command told her more than the scant information about himself that she knew. He was decisive, strong, and bone-meltingly handsome. Not that the last had anything to do with the situation, except she loved to look at him. She would find it no hardship to see his face on the pillow beside her every morning.

Her body heated anew, though they were only linked by their hands.

Muffy stirred, and Eve took the opportunity to look away, lest she appear a lovesick fool. She would have bent and picked up the lead, except he did it first. The dog trotted happily by his side, the plumes of fur wreathing his legs bouncing perkily with every step.

“He’ll never do that for me,” she said. “He pulls at the lead all the time.”

“He just needs to know who is master,” Julius said, glancing down at the dog.

He didn’t release her hand or offer his arm for her to take in a more formal manner, but linked his fingers with hers and swung their arms gently as they continued with their walk. “I thought my daughter too young for a dog before, but taking responsibility for another creature might help her.”

“Oh?” That didn’t sound encouraging.

Neither did Julius’s gentle sigh, scarcely a breath, but his expression changed, his mouth flattening. “She’s growing up fast. I would like her to remember her mother, but that is impossible. My wife died just after Caroline was born.” He flicked a glance at her.

“I’m so sorry.”

“Thank you.” He studiously kept his attention on the path before them. “We manage, my daughter and I.” His expression lightened, his eyes sparkling. “She’s a lively child, and her intelligence is better than I have seen in others. Of course she’s lovely.” He was smiling when, finally, he turned his attention back to her.

“You must miss her while you’re on this errand.”

He nodded. “Yes, I do. Who knows what she will do while I’m away? She’s staying with my parents, under the supervision of my sister.”

She smiled, easy now his mood had shifted. “You have sisters?”

“I have two sisters and one brother. Helena is closer to me in age than Lucinda. Usually she makes her home with me.”

“And your brother?”

“He’s abroad. A scholar.” His smile broadened.

“You are fortunate to have the means to indulge him.”

“Oh, he supports himself. He is not without means.”

Whatever that was supposed to convey. Was Julius wealthier than she had supposed him? The notion made Eve uncomfortable. She would appreciate a comfortable life, but not one so far different to the one she knew.

She didn’t need to know everything about him now. She could wait. Perhaps their closer acquaintance would end in failure. She refused to get her hopes up and let her dreams run away with her. Despite the way he had aroused her, she would not succumb. He had but asked for her permission to see more of her and assured her his intentions were honorable, should they decide to take their acquaintance further. Nothing else.

Easy to say now, when he was but holding her hand.

He paused, lifted her hand to his lips, and brushed her palm with them. “If you do not pursue our friendship, I will understand.” He smiled at her, his old confidence returning like a shield to protect his deeper emotions from becoming exposed. “That is, I will understand, but I will not give up.”

His audacious remark made her laugh. “I take it that doesn’t mean you wish to abduct me? One reads the accounts in the papers and trembles with fear. Although I must make a confession to you.”

He raised a brow in query.

“I do not have a dowry, sir.” Better he knew now, even if he had not guessed it. “Not a jot. There is no dowry, no provision for me, save what my mother has preserved.” Gentlemen married for gain, not for love. Despite what he said, the cold, hard fact remained between them.

“I’m sorry to hear that, but for your sake rather than any other reason.” He retained her hand and walked on, giving Eve a ridiculous sense of togetherness. With his hand touching hers, she felt better, more than she was in an odd way. She could not think like this, could not.

A woman without any source of income was a vulnerable creature. He should understand her position. She could not allow him to continue with her if he had any doubts.

With Julius, Muffy behaved like a well-trained gun dog, trotting by his side and sitting when they paused, as they had just now.

“My father engaged in several unwise speculations. When he lost money, he would find another hare-brained scheme. We had no idea he had spent everything until after his death.” Her father had been as much of a dreamer as her mother, but his dreaming had been more dangerous.

His hand tightened around hers. “He was feckless. So you have nothing?”

“An annuity opened in my mother’s name by her father. It is our sole source of income now.”

“Your father was the vicar here?” he asked.

“Yes.”

“I’m so sorry.” Abruptly he halted and turned to face her. “That must have been difficult for you.”

“Yes.” She could not deny it. She had gone from a comfortably circumstanced young woman to a pauper in the space of a month. His concerned gaze told her he really cared. He wasn’t merely expressing sympathy because it was expected of him.

“The house is yours?”

She nodded.

“I’m glad to hear that. Miss Merton—Eve. I would very much like to see you again. Like this. I feel we have learned a great deal about each other in one short walk.” His words sounded formal, but the burning gaze he fixed on her was not.

She heated under his appraisal, wanted nothing more than to please him. She would have to take care. For a woman in her position, the sentiment was dangerous.

They had reached the place where they either looped around the church and returned to the village or took the path to the Manor. People could come upon them here. Gently, she freed her hand, and he nodded as if he understood.

He left her outside her front gate and lifted her hand to his lips. “I will claim the first dance at Sir Henry’s ball. Be ready for me, my lady.”

She liked being his lady. Liked it too much. If they had too many moments as private as this, she would make herself too vulnerable to him. She must be careful not to spend time in private with him. Not only for propriety’s sake, but for her own peace of mind.

Julius only accepted the invitation to dinner at the vicarage when he heard that Eve was attending. After that one reckless moment by the church, he had behaved impeccably, although he had made it subtly clear that he was interested in Eve.

He had seen her at church, and during the week he accompanied her on her walks with Muffy. He dared not indulge himself again. He’d found her kiss and the heat of her body against his overwhelming, too much of a temptation to repeat. His declared intention was to remain close to her while he waited for a reply from his enquiries to London, but the more time he spent with her, the more she attracted him and the more he wanted her.

He walked around the green to the vicarage on a fine summer afternoon that was gently mellowing toward evening. The house was a reasonably substantial building next to the church, superior to the smaller establishment where Eve and her mother currently lived. Built and much improved by the last incumbent, or so the gossipy landlady at the Crown had informed him. It appeared that the Reverend Mr. Merton had been too profligate for his own good. And more importantly, that of his wife and child.

A neatly attired maid took his hat and gloves and ushered him into the parlor.

The Reverend Simpson, his wife, and daughter waited to greet him. Julius blinked when Miss Simpson curtseyed, his view of her bosom more suited to a ballroom than to a sedate dinner engagement. Blond and pretty, Miss Simpson was the eldest child of the Reverend, her two siblings being still in the schoolroom. Julius assessed her to be no more than seventeen.

She flourished her fan and bade him sit next to her. The gracious drawing room was a stark contrast to the little parlor across the green. This was furnished in a more modern style, the parquet floor highly polished and the upholstery matching.

“La, sir, you must have seen much of the world. Is London so very exciting?”

“It depends what you consider exciting,” he said cautiously.

“Balls, and the theater, and the opera, and the pleasure gardens. Not to mention the shopping! I have been at Father this past age to allow me a season there, but he has only promised Bath.” She pouted.

“In a year or two, we will consider the visit,” her mother said.

Mrs. Simpson was a comfortable woman with the same pale blond hair as her daughter and a flamboyant, not to say individual, style. Her burgundy gown contrasted vividly with the turquoise petticoat, but her daughter was not to be outdone by such a bold statement. While her gown of the palest pink was of a suitable color for one her age, it was cut daringly low, and adorned with a great many brooches and pins. A row of lace bows marched down the front of her stomacher. She was overdressed for court, much less a country vicarage. She should have been left in the schoolroom to mature for another twelve months and a suitable governess found who could give her polish.