“Keep this to yourself, though, won’t you?”
Nick had never expected to see such a rogue as Dash tied up over a woman. “What, do you think that I’ll spread it through the village like some gossiping hen?”
Dash shrugged at the same time Jack arrived looking every bit as scrambled as Nick felt.
“Scotch. Now,” he announced. “With a side of dinner.”
“Why the hell not?” Nick grumbled.
He’d drunk his fill the night before. Why was he reluctant to do so again? Surely not because Eve had mentioned her worry over her father.
He frowned, somewhat perplexed. Eve had seemed almost relieved that she wouldn’t be introducing him to her family.
Almost as though he’d been listening at the door, Mr. Rudolph stepped inside and announced that he would return shortly with some hearty stew and ale.
It went without saying that if they wanted quality Scotch, Dash was going to have to dip into the personal stockpile locked up in his chamber.
An hour later, the three of them had emptied one bottle and were halfway through a second one.
“Why are you so sour this evening?” Dash eyed Nick.
“I believe that our Merry Marquess is having women trouble. And I’d be willing to wager she’s the pretty little miss who delivered pie yesterday.” Jack laughed.
“How many blasted women live in this town?” Dash scowled.
“None of this would be so difficult if women played by some sort of rules,” Nick commented. “You know, like in poker.”
“They do have rules,” Dash commented. “Trouble is, they’re playing for a completely different prize than we are. Even worse, they refuse to tell us the rules.”
“How so?” This was a novel concept to Nick.
“We’re playing rationally—logically—placing bets based on the odds. Changing out cards. Folding when the stakes are too high.” Dash seemed quite pleased with his explanation.
“And women,” Jack added, “hold their cards, smiling for all the world as though they’ve got a full house. Trouble is. They do. Even when they’re bluffing. But what if I’m not willing to go all in?”
“Who wants you to go all in?” Dash pinned his gaze on Jack. “And if they’re holding a full house, then how can they be bluffing?”
“Because she’s a damn woman,” Jack answered, looking unusually petulant.
Nick nodded. Jack’s assessment made perfect sense.
“Would be nice if we could read them.” Nick lifted his glass. “Same as you can read your horse. If their head is down, they’re content.”
“Nostrils flaring, be wary,” Dash added before throwing back a generous swallow.
“Only one thing you need to know and that’s if they’re willing.” Of course, that would be Jack’s take on all of this.
“They seem willing enough when they get what they want.” Dash twisted his mouth cynically.
“It’s never what they actually say that matters. It’s the things they don’t say.” Jack uttered almost to himself.
Nick considered his favorite mare. Clarice rarely gave him any trouble. And when she had, she’d given him warning. Her head had been high, her eyes flashed, and she’d danced skittishly. Clarice never spooked without a good reason. The one time she’d bolted with him, they’d nearly stumbled across a boar.
It reminded him of Eve’s posture when she’d allowed her sister to lead her away…
“Speaking of cards…” Jack pulled out a deck of cards. “I say we forget our troubles in favor of a manly pursuit.”
Nick and Dash both agreed at the same moment a stir at the end of the room had Nick pushing back his chair eagerly.
Eve stood in the doorway with her head up and her back straight. “I’ve brought your pie.”
Nick met her at the doorway, and as the foyer was empty, steered her toward the stairs. “I was already missing you.” He was feeling rather bold from the drink and now that she was here, he wasn’t willing to let her get away again so quickly.
“You don’t wish to share my pie with your friends?” Eve glanced up at him with what he immediately realized was a not-so-innocent glance.
Hell, no, he wasn’t going to share her pie.
He all but dragged her into his chamber, careful not to spill the pie, and closed and locked the door behind him.
Nick took the plate from her, set it on the counterpane of the bed, and then turned around and caught her staring up at him with eyes as hungry as his own.
She stepped into his arms, and he wasted no time in claiming her lips.
This. This was what he’d been waiting for, what he’d lacked, and had been impossible to feel with anyone else.
“I can’t stay long,” she gasped against his mouth. Her hands were in his hair, clutching and tugging. Any reluctance he’d imagined he’d seen in her earlier had all but evaporated. She sucked his tongue into her sweet mouth and pressed her soft curves against him.
One kiss that was meant to be enough for now turned to two, and then three. And then Nick stopped counting as neither of them seemed willing to walk away. She tasted him; she nipped at him. She explored his mouth with her tongue and his chest and shoulders with her hands.
They had nearly two years to make up for and damned if Nick was going to do anything to stop her. Her need overflowed with all the desperation he’d felt himself. It conveyed more than words ever could.
He couldn’t remember the last time he’d become so lost in a kiss. Time stood still—or it went on without him. He didn’t care which.
A tremble ran through her but not from fear, from desire.
He wanted her. He wanted all of her. As he thrust his cock against her belly, he knew that he didn’t want to take her hastily. He wanted to savor her. He wanted to claim her over and over again.
Holy hell, he wanted to marry her.
She broke their kiss for the fraction of an instant when he dropped his arm beneath her knees and carried her to the bed. She strained against him, increasing the tension mounting between his body and his mind. He’d told her
