To Tame a Highland Earl (34 page)

“
Yes.”

Her heart broke as the seconds of silence
passed, then he canted his head. “You will marry Somerset, then.
Shall we inform our parents?”

“
There is nothing to tell
them. I may prefer him, but that doesn’t mean I will marry
him.”

“
Why not?”

“
Because—” she broke off,
silently adding, because he prefers my sister—and because I am a
fool, then said, “Because I am ruined for any man of
character.”

“
But Somerset is a man of
character and he did ask you to marry him, repeatedly.”

“
That was
before.”

Lord Rushton leaned a shoulder against the
wall. “Before you sullied yourself with the likes of me?”

“
I doubt it would matter
who the man was,” she said.

Eve hadn’t lied when she told Grace she
wasn’t angry that Grace was more beautiful. Eve had had her share
of suitors, a few who she felt sincerely held some genuine
affection for her. But to discover that the man who had only days
ago threatened a duel in her honor had fallen in love with her
sister hurt.

“
I doubt any other man
could have incited you to kidnap him,” Lord Rushton
said.

“
That is most certainly
true.”

“
You need never fear that I
will think you unworthy of my esteem.” He flashed a smile. “As I am
not a man of character, there is no danger of you falling from
grace.”

Had she heard right? “How am I to take that,
my lord? Does your lack of character mean you don’t care that I am
no better than you? Or is it that since I have fallen to your
depths, you see us on even footing? Or perhaps I should take
comfort in the fact you have no character, therefore, you do not
require a wife of character?” She gave him a cold smile. “I suppose
I win in any case.”

“
A woman who can depend
upon her husband’s feelings remaining constant is fortunate,” he
said.

Yes, she was fortunate. He didn’t love her
and never would. Her father had been right. “I am the most
fortunate of women.”

“
Not yet,” he said, “but
you will be.”

“
I shall be the envy of
every eligible—” and many an ineligible “—lady of the
ton.”

“
Yes, you will—if I do my
job properly,” he drawled.

Dear God, the cad actually sounded pleased
with himself.

He lifted a brow. “Perhaps you would like a
taste of your good fortune?”

“
A what?”

“
This.”

His hand shot about her waist and he yanked
her to him. Her breasts and belly crashed against his hard body and
liquid fire ignited in her core.

Eve gasped. “Have you gone mad?”

“
I believe I have,” he
said. Then kissed her.

Eve slammed her palms against his shoulders
to shove him away, but his mouth ravished hers with such insistence
that the strength ebbed from her. This wasn’t the slow assault he’d
waged on her in the ship’s cabin. This, she realized with a jolt,
was unadulterated lust. His mouth slid down her cheek and along the
curve of her throat. She became conscious of the steel rod pressing
into her abdomen, then his mouth found the curve of her breast
above the fabric of her dress. He tugged her bodice and cool air
washed over her breasts.

“
Sir!” Eve grabbed for her
bodice.

“
Hush.”

He grasped her wrists and pushed them behind
her back as he urged her backwards against the stone wall. His head
dipped and he closed warm lips around one nipple. He suckled so
hotly Eve found herself stunned by the intense pleasure that
tightened her sex. She drew a sharp breath when he clamped her
wrists together with one hand and began hiking up her dress with
his free hand. His warm palm came in contact with her hip as he
flicked his tongue against the rigid peak of her nipple. The place
between her legs throbbed in unison with the action. His fingers
slid over and brushed her curls.

“
This is madness.” She
couldn’t think. “Our families—”

A long digit caressed her swollen sex. Eve
shuddered. He rubbed gently. Hot need surged through her. Insanity.
If they were caught—his finger dipped between her moist folds. His
finger slipped inside her and she froze as he began to stroke. He
shifted to her other breast and sucked, still stroking inside her.
A tremble radiated from her stomach. Pleasure coursed like a
whirlwind with his finger its vortex centered between her legs.

“
My lord,” she whispered.
“We shouldn’t do this.”

“
Quite the contrary,” he
withdrew his finger and began rubbing her swollen nub again, “this
is exactly what we should be doing.”

“
Oh my goodness—” She
tensed. What was he doing to her? Faster, he stroked faster, while
he flicked his tongue against her nipple, mimicking the action of
his finger. Heat rushed through her. “Why-why is this exactly what
we should be doing?” She drew a harsh breath.

“
So that you will know no
other man will do for you what I can do.”

He was right. Blane certainly hadn’t made her
feel like this.

Reality washed over her like ice water and
she stiffened. “You are not the first man to put the wedding night
ahead of our wedding.”

He stilled. Slowly he straightened, but his
finger remained on her sex. “I promise you, the wedding night will
be far superior to a little pleasure in an alcove.”

Gaze locked with hers, he massaged her sex.
Her stomach flipped.

“
Did Blane do this for
you?” Lord Rushton leaned closer. “Can Somerset please you like I
can?”

Eve closed her eyes, but the ache only
engulfed her.

He pressed close to her hip, rubbing his
engorged shaft against her. “Did they want you this badly?” he
asked. She didn’t answer and he bent and whispered in her ear. “Did
they, Eve?” He stroked faster. “Did you want them?” Faster he
stroked. “Did you?”

She shook her head as much to ward off the
need that gripped her as to answer his question.

He ran his tongue along the shell of her ear.
“Do you want me?”

She wanted him and—Holy God—she wanted him to
keep doing what he was doing. Eve moaned.

“
I’ll take that as a
yes.”

He released her wrists and wrapped his arm
around her, while stroking her in small circles, tormenting her
until her breath caught and light danced across her closed eyelids.
Pleasure burst over her, swallowing up her senses and centering on
his touch.

“
Yes, love,” he
whispered.

His voice washed over her and she shivered as
another wave of pleasure weakened her knees. He caught her to his
chest as he slowed his strokes. An echo of pleasure rippled through
her, then another followed until she released a slow breath. He
removed his hand, pulled down her dress, then held her close. Eve
sagged into his warmth.

It seemed they held one another for hours,
until Eve realized that her bare breasts were pressed against Lord
Rushton’s shirt—and he hadn’t satisfied his lust, although the
bulge in his pants had receded somewhat. She had the unexpected
desire to do for him what he’d done for her—had no idea how to go
about it—but good sense kept her from asking.

He drew back. She started to straighten her
bodice, but he grasped the fabric and lifted it over her breasts,
then released a breath.

“
Are you ready to return to
the lion’s den?” he asked.

“
You once told me you would
not willingly go into the lion’s den.”

He traced a finger down her cheek. “For you,
madam, I will.”

She blinked. Then he smiled and her breath
caught.

“
We had best return,” he
said. “I doubt my threat will keep our families at bay
indefinitely.”

Eve froze. Everyone was sure to know the earl
had made love to her while they’d sat chatting in the library.

*****

Erroll pulled back the tapestry and stepped
from the alcove. “Miss Crenshaw.”

She joined him, glanced in the direction of
his father’s library, then looked up at him. His mouth went dry.
Her cheeks were still flushed with the remnants of pleasure. She
was stunning. His cock throbbed again. He was going to make her a
very rich widow before he’d had a chance to truly take a husband’s
pleasure.

“
They will know…” she said,
and Erroll feared she might be right. Unless…

“
They already believe it is
true,” he said.

“
Believing we have been
intimate and finding out we dallied while they waited a few feet
away is quite another.”

That was true, and the distinction that might
get him shot. He shrugged. “Do we care what they think?”

Her brows snapped down. “I am not a woman who
allows a man to tumble her anywhere.”

“
Not any man, love. Me.
That is a point I will be very particular about.”

“
That doesn’t make it any
better,” she retorted.

He grasped her elbow and started down the
hallway. “Of course it makes it better. Our parents can’t fault a
man for finding his future bride irresistible.”

“
They would never believe
that, and even if they did, it is unseemly.”

It certainly was and he wanted to do it
again, so answered honestly, “What else would anyone expect from
me?”

“
I told you, I will not
live that sort of life, my lord.”

He wasn’t sure what she meant by ‘that sort
of life.’ Miss Eve Crenshaw was clearly a passionate woman, and she
was going to have a devil of a time hiding that fact from him after
the way she’d reacted to his touch.

“
You are overwrought, Miss
Crenshaw, and not thinking clearly. There is a vast difference
between unseemly and completely dissolute. I promised to be a
decent husband, but that doesn’t mean I have any intention of
becoming a saint.”

“
You, sir,” she said as he
opened the door, “are anything but a saint.”

Her words rang through the room and all eyes
turned on her. Silence reigned for a long moment before his mother
said, “Come in, Erroll. Miss Crenshaw, come sit with me.” She
patted the place beside her on the sofa. Miss Crenshaw didn’t move
and Erroll gave her a gentle push. She kept going and reached the
couch, then sat beside his mother.

“
I assume everything is
settled,” his father said.

“
It is,” Erroll
replied.

“
Good, then Miss Crenshaw
need only sign the contract and the Registrar will complete the
forms.”

Shock rolled over Erroll.

“
Registrar?” Eve shot to
her feet. “You—” her eyes cut to the stranger, then she whirled
toward their fathers “—him? He is a Registrar? But that-that means
we are to be married
now
?” She faced Erroll. “
You
knew
.” Her words dripped with accusation.

“
No,” he stated flatly. “I
am as surprised as you.”

“
You expect me to believe
that you sat here and didn’t ask who the gentleman was?” she
demanded.

“
You did the same. My
father ordered me to sit and be quiet.” Erroll saw the hurt in her
eyes, and his mind snapped from limbo. He quickly added, “I
understood that we were to attend church tomorrow to hear the
reading of the first of the banns.”

Her brow furrowed and he could see that she,
too, knew they were to attend church tomorrow. Eve still stared,
but her expression had gone blank. Was she deciding whether or not
he had manipulated her? He had, but not as badly as she might
think. He’d seen the way Somerset looked at her sister—not to
mention Grace Crenshaw’s reaction to him—and realized the viscount
had fallen in love with her. Erroll suspected Eve had observed the
same and wouldn’t marry a man who preferred her sister, which meant
Eve had no choice but to marry him.

“
You have both missed the
mark,” the marquess said.

Apprehension coiled in Erroll’s gut. “Would
you mind explaining, sir?”

“
Technically, you are
already married,” Tolland answered. “The promise of marriage along
with an intimate relationship constitutes a legal
marriage.”

Good God. So his lie that he had taken Eve’s
virginity is what had done him in?

“
Already married?” Eve
echoed.

“
There was even a notice in
the paper,” Tolland said.

“
I never agreed to any of
this,” she said in a whisper.

“
Are you telling me Rushton
forced himself on you?” Tolland demanded. “If you tell me that,
Eve, I will shoot him here and now.”

Her cheeks reddened. “No, no, of course not.
It is just…”

She looked at Erroll and he knew she was
thinking of the pleasure he’d given her moments ago. By God, he’d
made a mess of that, hadn’t he? He thought he had three weeks to
allow her to come to terms with marrying him so he had…had what?
Bloody hell, he had no idea anymore.

“
Apparently, all of Gretna
Green knows you dueled Halifax because he kidnapped your
betrothed
,” the marquess said. “That public announcement was
simply the confirmation of marriage.”

It was so ridiculous Erroll wanted to laugh.
“You do remember the duel, my dear?”

“
It is burned into my
brain.”

His as well.

“
I told you that duel was a
bad idea.” She dropped down on the seat beside his mother. “Just as
I told you that coming uninvited into my room was a bad
idea.”