Chapter 23

CHAPTER23

He felt like celebrating. Like bloody damn skipping all the way back to his carriage.

Not only had Evan managed to divest the other gentlemen in the club of substantial amounts of money, but he was also still rather elated from having spent most of the afternoon in the company of Amy at the Follet estate.

"You look so happy, it is beginning to feel a little frightening," Benedict remarked.

Evan raised an eyebrow at his friend. "You do not look like a man who just lost money either."

The Viscount sheepishly smiled and scratched the back of his head—a habit from their boyhood that he never quite outgrew. Evan’s father had found it contemptible, as he did most other mannerisms, and had done his best to stamp out such "weaknesses" in his own son.

But Evan was not going to allow the memory of his sire to taint his current happiness. If the sixth Duke of Leonbridge had been alive to see this day, he would not have approved of Amy either.

It was a good thing that Evan never did think much of his own father’s approval.

"Does Lady Esther approve of you gambling?" Evan asked his friend.

"As long as it is not too much. What about the Lady Amy?"

"I fear that if given the opportunity, she will rob those men blind." Evan gestured towards the building where the men they had played against were still trying to win some money back from each other.

Benedict chuckled at that. "It seems like something she would do."

Of course, there was no way that Lady Amy would have been allowed in a gentleman’s club, even if she was recommended by Evan himself. He certainly was not going to allow her into a den of males, no matter how civilized they pretended to be.

Although he knew that the lady of his affections was quite capable of taking care of herself, he also felt the need to protect her from all sorts of things.

In the beginning, I even thought that I might need to protect her from myself, he thought to himself. Now, there is absolutely no way I am going to let the ghosts of the past haunt my future.

"I did not see Charles in attendance tonight," the Viscount observed. "He never used to miss these nights."

"He is probably busy with some other business," Evan shrugged. In all honesty, he was rather happy not to see the Marquess. After their last confrontation, he felt that they would need to keep their distance away from each other to cool their tempers. Charles had the tendency to be set in his ways, and Evan was not one to back down from anything.

They would only have made their discord public if they had encountered each other at the game tables tonight, and that was something Evan was perfectly happy to avoid.

"Speaking of Charles," Benedict said quietly, "are you going to tell Lady Amy about the challenge?"

"Does it really matter?"

"She... might not be pleased to hear about it." The Viscount shrugged his broad shoulders.

Evan paused at that. Knowing Amy as he did now, she might just laugh it off if he told her about it.

Or she might take offense at being the object of such a stupid bet.

"I shall have to tell her someday," he relented, "but not yet. Soon."

Benedict nodded in agreement. "If it helps, I can also tell her that it was nothing but a joke."

It might have started out as a joke but now, Evan had never been more serious about anything in his entire life.

"Maybe when things have settled down," he muttered. "When we have gotten to know each other better. I want Amy to rest assured that my feelings for her are genuine and not a result of some half-brained bet."

Because she is more than that. She is much more wonderful than that...

In the space of a few weeks, she had become the single most important thing to him—far more important than even his titles and his wealth.

No, he must make sure that everything would be taken care of before he ever revealed to Amy how stupid he once was—how shallow and vain.

Moments later, the Viscount’s carriage clattered up the front door, and the coachman hopped off to open the door for him. Benedict tipped his hat at Evan and grinned, "Well, I shall head out first, my friend."

Evan nodded. His own carriage was right behind that of his friend. "I shall see you tomorrow, then."

Tomorrow, they had agreed to go promenading at Hyde Park. The ladies had not been too keen on the idea, for word had already gotten out of their respective courtships. However, Evan and Benedict felt that it would silence everybody once and for all if they all came out together.

Not that the gossips of the ton would ever stop talking, but the thought of shocking the idle tongues of Society filled Evan with a sort of mischievous glee. Fortunately, it was one that Amy found some entertainment in.

Besides, he quite liked the idea of showing everybody just how blind they had been when they dismissed her as an untenable choice for a bride.

Soon, every damned fool in London would be bemoaning their stupidity, and Evan would be laughing at them all.

* * *

Evan had dismissed his valet as soon as he walked into his house. He might have partaken some spirits in the club, but he was not intoxicated enough to not be able to take care of himself. He was a man in his prime, not a bloody invalid who needed someone to assist him for a change of clothes.

He walked into his rooms and had only but a moment’s notice when something flashed in the corner of his eye—a whirlwind of fabric or something—before it barreled into him and knocked his breath out of his lungs for a moment. He reached out in the darkness and clutched at a fistful of fine fabric, yet even the flimsy layers were unable to hide the soft, warm flesh beneath it.

His eyes widened in shock, and he quickly let go before stepping back in confusion. Someone was in his room!

As his eyes adjusted to the darkness, he nearly groaned out loud when he recognized just who it was—Amy Clarke, whose very existence had tormented him into a state he had not experienced since adolescence.

"Dearest lady," he muttered, "what in the bloody hell are you doing here?"

She bristled at his tone, glaring up at him with green eyes. "I shall not countenance you addressing me in such a tone, Your Grace."

"Forgive me, but you are the one in my room in the middle of the night." Evan ran his hand over his face, but she still stood there. Apparently, she was no apparition but the woman of his desires in flesh and blood. "Dear God, I thought I was dreaming..."

Amy smiled at that, her lips curling devilishly. "Do you dream of me, Your Grace?"

He raised an eyebrow at that. "Must you ask?" he shot back at her before pulling her close, feeling her curves fitting into his male hardness. "Has your chaperone never told you what happens to young ladies who sneak out of bed to rendezvous with their lovers?"

Green eyes looked up at him coyly, and he caught her hand tracing lacy patterns on his chest. She was a bloody minx, and she knew just how much her presence tormented and pleased him at the same time.

"I think I have a vague idea," she quipped, her voice becoming breathy. "But of course, I like to be sure..."

He did not allow her to finish as he slanted his lips over hers, swallowing her words in a hot kiss that threatened to incinerate them both. He pressed her against the door as he took off his jacket before clamping his hands on the generous curve of her hips.

Amy was holding his face close to hers as she met his kiss just as fiercely, her tongue boldly battling against his.

"We...we should not be doing this," he rasped against her neck when they finally pulled apart. As he spoke, he was already pulling at the laces at her breast, his hand encompassing the soft flesh beneath the flimsy fabric. "And how the hell did you come all the way here dressed in nothing but this?"

The thought of another man seeing her in that state filled him with a rage he had never felt before. Did she not know how dangerous it was for her to go about gallivanting like this?

"Of course, I did not come all the way in a state of undress," she pouted at him. "I changed as soon as I got to your rooms. I am not that stupid."

"Of course, you are not. You are the smartest woman I know." He grinned and pressed a soft kiss to the side of her neck. "Although apparently, I need to have a word with my servants."

Amy frowned at him. "Oh, I do so hope that you will not be angry at them. After all, it was you yourself who instructed them that I would be allowed in the estate no matter the circumstances. You told me that yourself."

Evan paused at that and recalled how he had instructed Norton and the others just so. He had also told Amy that she was always welcome to call on his home whenever she wanted, etiquette be damned. He had initially meant it so that she would never hesitate to call upon him. Who knew that the little minx would actually take him up on his word and spring such a surprise on him?

"Do you... not want me here?" she asked him quietly. "I can still leave...although I might have trouble getting dressed all over again... You will have to help me..."

"I like you here," he groaned, finally pushing the robe and her chemise off her shoulders. "I like it too damned much!"

The only thing he would be helping with was getting her out of her clothes!

He kissed her again and swept her off her feet to carry her to his bed. The sudden movement elicited a choked gasp from her lips which was soon devoured by his kiss. He would be damned if he was going to take her against the wall like a barbarian for the first time!

Tenderly, he laid her on the bed and gazed into her eyes. The emerald green had turned dark and heavy with desire. Her lips, swollen from his attention, were parted softly as her breath came out in soft gasps. Her dark brown hair was spread out across his pillow like a river of silk.

It was exactly how he imagined she would look like on his bed—and so much more.

"You are so beautiful," he murmured, running his knuckles gently to the side of her cheek. "So beautiful, my Amy."

She turned her face gently and kissed his hand, enticing a strangled groan from him. He closed his eyes, feeling her lips running over his flesh.

"Last warning," he bit out. "I may not be able to hold myself back for very long..."

Her eyes lit up, and her lips curved into a mischievous smile that sent a bold of pure lust straight into his groin.

"Evan, who said anything about holding back tonight?"

He growled as he covered her lips with his once more. Did she have any idea just what sort of effect she had on him? She was like a potent drug running in his veins, enchanting him, making him crave more and more of her. It was like he was a man starved for too long, and she was the feast set right before his very eyes.

"My dear Evan," she murmured, reaching up to cup the side of his face lovingly with her hand. Her green eyes gazed adoringly up at him. "I want to know all of you, and tonight, I am giving you all of me. I shall not have secrets between us anymore. No more games. We are done playing them."

Heaven help him, but how was he supposed to resist all of that?

He closed his eyes and turned towards her hand, kissing her open palm. He heard her breath hitch in her throat, heard the soft mewl that escaped her lips.

She was right—they were done playing games. She was no longer actively trying to drive him away with her maddening schemes, and he was not with her just to win that stupid challenge with Benedict. The two weeks had already passed, anyway, and he still wanted to be with her.

He wanted more of that, more of her... more with her. Only her.

After tonight, there was no going back—for him or for her. Evan knew that his soul would forever be bound to Amy Clarke, and his heart had been handed over into her hands for her to keep for as long as she wished it.

This was no longer a slaking of physical desires but a true union. Tonight would be nothing like the countless nights he had slept with other women, finding mere release between their thighs and nothing more.

This was going to be different. He could feel it deep in his tormented soul.

"In that case, my dear, I sincerely hope you have rested well today since we will not be sleeping at all tonight..."