Dishonorable Intentions

DISHONORABLE INTENTIONS

By

Shannon Steeves

© copyright by Shannon Steeves, October 2011

New Concepts Publishing

Lake Park, GA 31636

www.newconceptspublishing.com

This is a work of fiction. All characters, events, and places are of the author’s imagination and not to be confused with fact. Any resemblance to living persons or events is merely coincidence.

Without so much as a word of greeting, his mouth crashed down hers and his entire being invaded her senses.  After a frenzied moment of cruel torment, he broke the kiss, growling into her ear, “That’s for running away from me once we got back to London, and for lying to me about who you were.”

His lips crushed down on hers again, this time even harder.  Her heartbeat tripled and her pulse pounded in her ears.  His powerful presence threatened to consume her.

Her hands flew to his muscular shoulders in an effort to ward him off, but soon she found herself clutching at them to remain upright.  His sandalwood scent filled her nostrils and his familiar presence soothed her rattled nerves.  Being in his arms was like coming home after a long journey and she couldn’t think of anywhere she’d rather be.

She kissed him back with all of the skills he had taught her, not fearing him like he had obviously intended, because he actually started when her tongue snaked out to twine with his.  Instinctively, she peeled her gloves off her hands and began caressing the nape of his neck, lightly tugging at the locks of hair that had come loose from his queue.  She felt his sharp intake of breath and she wondered in awe if she could make him react like that to a simple caress, what else could she do?

She let her hands slip lower, down his back, coming to rest on his taut, firmly-rounded buttocks.  Holding him tightly to her, she raised herself up onto the tips of her toes and ground herself into him, pelvis to pelvis.  A bolt of heat shot through her and the fluttery beginnings of lust rose within her.  That’s when she realized the extent of his desire for her as well.  There was no disputing that evidence.  When he groaned into her mouth and pressed his arousal against her with even more pressure, the first twinge of alarm raced up her spine.  She had just inadvertently given him leave to take her, right here in her father’s garden.  Oh dear, no good could possibly come of that.

She tried to wriggle out of his crushing embrace but the realization that she’d failed miserably hit her full force when a few minutes later they were both more aroused than when she had first started.  She was just about to give up and let him take liberties with her in the midst of the shrubbery—God knew she wanted him to—when she thought a good swift kick to the shin might do the trick.

“Oww!”  His howl of pain breached the silence of the night as he jumped back and grabbed his injured leg, leveling her with an offended glare.

“Sorry, but I needed to get your attention.”  He was still hopping about on one foot and cradling the bruised appendage like it was the crown jewels.

“Come to my room when the house has settled and we’ll talk,” she whispered as they both stood in the shadow of the house.

She pointed to the top floor of the looming mansion.  “Third window to the left, do you see it?”

“A window?  You can’t be serious?”  He looked over one shoulder, then the other, before confiding, “I’ll be eight and twenty next month Cassie, too old to be climbing trellises and maneuvering dark balustrades.  What’s the matter with the door?”

“There’s a tree and a ledge, Nathan, and I’ll leave my window unlocked as well.  What on earth could possibly go wrong?”

“It wasn’t the earth I was worried about my dear,” he muttered in an aside.

“Besides, you have to come.  No gentleman would dare refuse a ladies invitation, and telling you the truth is the only way I can think of to keep you safe.”

He took her hands in his and used his thumbs to swirl small circles on her palms.  Damn her traitorous knees, she could feel them starting to turn into jelly.  And where the heck did his gloves go?  His voice was a deep and husky, his breath fanning gently onto her ear.  “If I am such a person, why would I sneak into a young ladies bedroom in the middle of the night?  That would be something a rakehell, not a gentleman, would do wouldn’t you agree?”

Cassie was starting to wonder if maybe he was a genuine rogue.  She couldn’t tell, she was having difficulty concentrating—his nearness was permeating her senses to the point of incoherency.  She quickly took a step away.  They couldn’t risk anymore time out here, someone might come outside and find them like this.

“Gentleman, rake, does it matter?  All we are going to be doing is talking.”  He shot her a look so unbelieving that she had to question her own words.  She shrugged to herself, it wouldn’t be the first time she’d been wrong about something, no sense worrying about it now.  “So you’ll come?”

He raised her hand to his mouth and gently kissed the tip of each finger, lingering on the smallest one to gently suck it into his mouth.  “Perhaps,” was all he said before disappearing like a specter into the mist.