Chapter Fourteen

Marcus watched Kaitlyn from across the carriage seat as they made their way back to the Montrose townhouse from the War Office. She could sense his regard upon her, even as she looked pointedly out the window and ignored his scrutiny.

Kat felt her pulse speed up as images of what they’d been doing together last night, in this very carriage, leaped unbidden into her mind. She could still taste his lips on hers. Could still feel the gentle roughness of his stubble rubbing against her throat as he skimmed kisses along the sensitive hollow of her neck. Could still feel the tightness in her core as his hand began caressing between her thighs and his mouth swept over her nipple.

“I’ve barely been able to think of little else except how soft your lips were under mine, and how I want nothing more than to taste them again.”

Kat gasped at Marcus’s words, which all but mirrored her own thoughts. She swiveled her head until her gaze pinned his. “You can’t say such things!”

“Why not?” He shrugged. “’Tis the truth. Even if I know nothing further can happen.”

“And why can’t anything further happen?” She couldn’t resist asking, even though she suspected it was because he would feel honor-bound to marry her if something did. And marriage was something she’d never agree to. A husband, especially an earl, would never allow her to continue her clandestine activities, which was something she would never tolerate. But perhaps they could come to another sort of arrangement. Livie had told her of the rubber sheaths that were available.

“You know perfectly well only a scoundrel would ever compromise a lady and then not marry her. Hell, you run a scandal sheet dedicated to ruining the men who do that very thing.”

“I do,” Kat said. “But only those who seduce a woman with false promises of love and marriage are exposed in the pages of the Gazette. I see nothing wrong if a woman decides knowingly to have an affair with a man, without any expectation of love or marriage.”

“That’s not how I was raised.” Marcus pressed his lips together and took a deep breath. “Starting anything with you would lead to marriage, and that’s an institution I’ll never take part in again.”

“You are entirely arrogant, assuming I’d ever accept a marriage proposal from you.” She lifted her chin, glad they were laying their cards on the table. “You would be far too controlling a husband for me. In fact, any man would be. Which is why I will never enter such an antiquated institution.”

“Good, we’re in agreement, then.”

“About marriage, yes. But perhaps not about improper behavior.”

“Lady, you are improper behavior personified.”

“That may be true.” Kat knew she pushed the boundaries of what was and wasn’t acceptable on a daily basis. Some would consider her riding in a carriage alone with Marcus inappropriate.

Though her status as a spinster, especially at six-and-twenty, allowed her a certain level of freedom that the younger ladies of Society were not afforded, at least in the world of rank and privilege. Ladies from the lower classes could happily walk the streets alone or ride their bicycles about. Such freedom without worry would be bliss.

“May be true?”

“Society has to witness improprieties for them to be aware of them, and luckily for me, none of them are awake at this hour of the morning to even see me in a carriage with you. They live in ignorance of what I get up to. In any event, we have more important things to discuss than my behavior or what happened last night.” She crossed her hands over her chest. “At least for the moment.”

He leaned forward, his knees brushing her own above her skirts. “You’re right, of course, and I’ve been telling myself that repeatedly, but for some reason I can’t stop thinking of how silky your skin felt underneath my hands…”

She closed her eyes for a second and then opened them, locking gazes with him. “Why are you telling me this if you have no intention of following through?”

His eyes seemed tormented, lust and honor clashing in their blue depths. “I don’t know. I realize we can’t repeat what happened.” His eyes broke contact with hers and he sat back with a sigh. “To do so would have consequences that neither of us are prepared to accept.”

“I think you’re overestimating the consequences.” The loss of the contact from his knee and thigh sent a sharp pang of disappointment through her. The man’s presumption over what would or wouldn’t occur was starting to annoy her. “Because, once again, you assume if we did anything further, we would have to marry, which is not the case.”

“Marriage is a consequence a man must face if he compromises a virgin.”

“Why do you assume I am a virgin?”

“What the devil did you just say?” Marcus roared.

Kat screwed up her nose at the look of fury on his face. “Oh, do calm down.”

“Who took your virginity and didn’t do the honorable thing?”

She felt like rolling her eyes, though in the circumstances she thought it best not to provoke him further. “For goodness sakes, I’m still a virgin, you baboon!”

“Then why did you say you were not!”

“I didn’t say I wasn’t, well, not exactly. I was simply questioning your assumption. There is a difference.” She shrugged. “You should know better than to assume anything.”

“I’m going to spank you over my knees!” he said, before pulling her onto his lap.

She grabbed hold of his shoulders to stabilize herself and found herself trapped in the heat radiating from his eyes. Oh, blast it! Why did his body have such a pull over hers? To the point where all good reason and thought fled her mind when she was physically touching him.

Without considering her actions, she pressed her lips to his and pushed her chest against him, something she’d been wanting to do all day.

If she wanted to experience passion, then she would! She would not let his prudish notion of what should happen after, stop her from doing so. In fact, the more she thought about it, an affair sounded just the thing, particularly as the man clearly knew what he was about in that department.

He tore his lips away from hers and swore. “What are you doing? I told you we can’t do this again.”

“I’m kissing you. You can’t talk about last night and then simply say that’s the end of it. Why bring it up in the first place if you didn’t want to repeat it?”

He half swore, half groaned. “Damn it, stop wriggling your buttocks against me.”

“You’re the one who pulled me onto your lap.” Kat didn’t know what came over her, but an insatiable curiosity and a certainty that she must experience what he could offer, all but consumed her. Slowly, she began unbuttoning his vest, then his shirt.

“Damn it, stop that…” There was little conviction in his voice, as his eyes followed her fingers, as button by button was popped open.

“I’m exploring your chest as you did mine last night.”

“God help me,” he muttered, his hands dropping to the side in surrender.

As she undid the last button, she pulled aside the white shirt and marveled at the sight that greeted her. His chest was all muscular planes and angles, athletic and lithe, with a smattering of chest hair that she couldn’t help but reach up and stroke her fingers across.

A groan from deep in his chest was her reward.

Emboldened by his response, she leaned down and flicked her tongue across his nipple, which tightened in response, while her hand danced across to caress his other nipple. His breathing become ragged and his nipples hardened.

The carriage pulled to a stop, which, thankfully, this time she felt. Hastily, she scrambled off Marcus and onto the opposite seat, while he swore black and blue, and quickly buttoned up his shirt. He glanced at her and there was accusation in the depths of his eyes. “What game are you playing, Kaitlyn? I’ve told you we can’t keep doing this.”

“And why is it that you alone get a say in that?” She took in a somewhat shaky breath, trying to return her wildly beating heart back to its normal rhythm. “Surely, my wants and views should be taken into account.”

“Oh God, don’t talk to me about your wants,” he groaned, dragging his fingers through his hair, frustration all but vibrating from him. “We can’t do such things again because if we continue, I won’t be able to stop, and the consequences of that are too large to ignore… Not after Elizabeth.”

“You must have loved her…”

“In the end, I despised her. Which is why I will never marry again.”

“Then everything is fine,” Kat declared. “Because as I have repeatedly assured you, I have no intention of marrying. But I have decided I’ll take you as my lover.”

For half a second, he blinked, seemingly not quite understanding her for a moment, until her words fully sank in. “The devil you will!” he roared as the carriage door was opened by one of his footmen.

“Oh, I will,” Kat said as she straightened up her skirt before stepping out through the door. “It will be either yourself or another man.” She threw the words over her shoulder as the footman closed the carriage door.

“It’s not going to be another man,” Marcus said from the window.

Kat smiled to herself before she turned back to assess him. “Excellent. Then we’re in agreement. I assume I’ll see you tonight at the theater. We can then discuss the logistics of what is to be our new arrangement.”