The Viscount’s Darling Adventure by Maggie Dallen

10

Clarissa ought to send him away. In fact, she opened her mouth to do just that. But then he took a step closer, and she caught the look of determination in his eyes and—

Oh dear.

The air rushed from her lungs, and the room seemed to grow significantly hotter when his gaze met hers in the semidarkness.

“What did she say to you?” he asked, his voice so low and gruff and angry on Clarissa’s behalf, it made her shiver.

She shook her head, swiping at the silly tears which now felt so absurd because...he’d come. Leo had followed her and was worried about her, and that made his arrogant aunt and her barbed comments seem like nothing more than a trivial nuisance now. “It was nothing.”

He let out a growl as he stalked closer, his gaze fixed on her with such intensity she could hardly breathe. “It’s not nothing. If she insulted you in some way—”

“She didn’t. Not horribly, at least.” She reached for his hands as she said it, and he tugged her close until her skirts brushed against his legs and the feel of his warmth surrounded her. “It doesn’t matter. Truly. She was just trying to get a rise out of me. That’s all.”

“She was out of line. I’ll tell her to—”

“No.” Clarissa shook her head. “Please don’t intervene. Honestly, Leo. I’m overreacting. It wasn’t just her, it was…” She glanced past him toward the hallways. “It’s all of them. It’s the whole situation.”

She bit her lip to keep from saying more.

To say it aloud, she would surely sound selfish. Because yes, she was worried about her family and their reputation. But tonight, with Leo standing on the far side of the room—so close and yet still so impossibly out of reach—it occurred to her that if tonight’s effort failed, then there was every chance she might never be able to get closer to him.

She’d never be able to talk to him the way she had the other night, or dance with him like she had at the masquerade or…

She couldn’t let herself imagine all the other opportunities she would not have with him.

But it was those thoughts that had worn her resolve down this evening.

He released one of her hands and reached up to dry the last of her tears with the pad of his thumb. “Please don’t cry, Clarissa.”

She sniffled. “I’m sorry. I’m being so silly.”

“No. You’re not.” He cupped her cheek with his palm, his breath whispering across her cheek. “You’ve been absolutely wonderful all evening. But this has been difficult, and I am truly sorry for my family’s part in this entire situation.”

She gave him a rueful smile. “I saw the way my brother was scowling at you when you were just attempting to be polite. I think we can agree our families are equally to blame.”

He returned her smile, and the way it softened his expression and made his dark eyes warm with emotions made her heart trip over itself in her chest.

“We’ll win out in the end,” he said. “I’m sure of it.”

“I hope so.”

“And even if we don’t…” He trailed off as his thumb stroked her cheek.

She found herself holding her breath, her pulse racing at the feel of his touch against her skin. Her lips parted and when his gaze dropped, he was certain she could feel her lips tingle as if he’d touched them.

As if he’d kissed her.

She drew in a sharp breath at the thought. “Leo, I—”

Her whispered words were cut off when his lips brushed over hers. Her mind went blank when he did it again, the hand on her cheek holding her gently like she was some precious, fragile treasure as his warm lips glided over hers once, twice…

When she sighed against his lips, he groaned in response, and the kiss grew deeper. She followed his lead, her lips clinging to his as he teased and tasted, deepening the kiss with a tilt of his head.

Clarissa had imagined what it would be like to be kissed, but nothing had prepared her for this. The sudden onslaught of sensations made her knees weak, and he let go of her hand to wrap an arm about her waist and hold her steady.

The heat of his embrace, the strength of his body, the delicious thrill of his lips pressed to hers…

Clarissa leaned into him with blissful abandon.

His lips moved from her mouth to her cheeks, to her jaw, to her neck. And with each new kiss, her head spun and heat spread through her veins. So this was what it meant to be kissed.

When he lifted his head to meet her gaze, her heart raced frantically at the emotions that she saw there.

His gaze was warm and yet intense. And there was a softness around his eyes that nearly stole her breath even as he held her against him still.

So this was what it meant to fall in love.

“Clarissa,” he said, his voice low and urgent. “You’re so beautiful, so kind, so brave.” A grin tugged at her lips and he kissed the corners. “I love your smile. I love your wit. The way you live your life with such passion, and the way you view the world around you as one endless adventure.”

His lips met hers again and for a moment he was unable to say more. Her arms wrapped around his neck. What would happen to them? She had no idea. But for right now, for right this second, he was hers to hold.

And she was his.

She drew back to say as much, but the seriousness in his gaze stopped her. “Clarissa, our families—”

A sound out in the hallway had them both freezing. She reluctantly pulled back from his embrace. “We should rejoin the others.”

He nodded, letting her go, but at the last second he cupped her face in his palms once more, his gaze urgent. “Clarissa, I need you to know—”

“Clarissa?” Tabetha’s voice was loud in the hallway. Too loud. Too close.

Clarissa froze with wide eyes. She could see Leo’s torment, but they’d run out of time.

Would there ever be an opportunity for them to share more than just a few stolen moments?

“We’ll find a way to talk later,” she reassured him. But she was already rushing toward the door. She couldn’t let anyone find them together. Not like this.

It was bad enough that their families couldn’t abide each other, but she refused to let this new burgeoning relationship between them end in disaster. And that was what it would be if their families caught them in a passionate embrace.

She was certain such an event would just make the entire situation worse.

“Clarissa,” he started, but she turned back with a shake of her head as Tabetha called from the hall again. So close that she could turn the corner and into this room at any moment.

“I must go, Leo,” she said with what had to have been the first genuine smile she’d worn all evening. “For your sake and mine, I don’t want it to end this way.”

“Yes, but Clarissa, you must know—”

“I’ll find you after dinner,” she said with a final look at him. She didn’t want to go. She’d like nothing more than to stay in his embrace. “We’ll talk then.”

She stepped out into the hallway...and directly in Tabetha’s path. Tabetha widened her eyes, her gaze moving from Clarissa to the dark room she’d just come from and then back again. Was Leo still there? But as she looked in, she didn’t see anything other than furniture. She held back her sigh of relief even as Tabetha narrowed her eyes. “Where were you? We’ve been looking everywhere.”

Clarissa walked past her sister with a breezy air she didn’t feel. “Have you? My apologies. I just wished to freshen up, that’s all.”

Her sister followed behind her and Clarissa let out a long exhale of relief. Well, at least they hadn’t been caught. Her relief ended quickly, however. At exactly the same moment she entered the dining room, to be precise. The entire long table filled with Rutlands and Ainsworths turned to look at her at once.

The expressions they wore were varying degrees of suspicious and knowing, and a searing heat crept up her throat and into her cheeks.

They knew.

They all knew.

She forced a smile. When in doubt, smile. This was her new life motto, and she was fairly sure it helped. At least, some of the Ainsworths stopped staring at her like she was a devil in their midst.

She was being paranoid, that was all. She cleared her throat as she let Tabetha guide her toward her seat next to their brother. There was a glaring absence at the far end where Leo was to be seated.

“Whatever could be keeping my cousin?” Charlotte mused quietly. But her smirk when she glanced over at Clarissa made Clarissa’s cheeks burn all over again. The woman was attempting to torture her.

“I’m sure he’ll be here soon,” Charlotte’s mother said, her mouth set into a frown.

He did indeed join them shortly, and the silence that followed his entry was excruciating. Clarissa didn’t know where to look or to whom she could turn. Mariah and Tabetha were staring at her with matching looks of concern, while Darius refused to even glance her way. He seemed intent on eating his meal as quickly and efficiently as possible.

Not even the duke could help. His efforts to maintain some sort of conversation were met with silence from both families.

She risked one glance down the table and found Leo staring at her with a grim expression that she hated.

This was the Leo she’d grown used to seeing at parties before they’d become acquainted. It was the Leo who put family first, duty and obligation above all else.

It was nothing at all like the tender, heated way he’d looked at her when he’d kissed her.

The memory of that kiss had her turning away, focusing down at the meal she’d yet to touch as her mind replayed every fascinating, delightful, passionate touch.

But the glint in his eyes now was so different, it was like facing another man. The kiss had happened only moments before, but it felt like a lifetime ago. And while he was seated in the same room, it felt as though he lived in another world.

With the people who populated the table between them, living in different worlds might have been easier to navigate than this dinner party had been.

“Do try to eat something, Clarissa,” Evelyn said quietly from across the table.

Clarissa lifted her fork, but she couldn’t bring herself to eat one bite. She was acutely aware of the stares coming from members of both families. And she found herself replaying everything he had said.

Everything he hadn’t said.

Oh, why hadn’t she let him finish speaking? Perhaps if she had she wouldn’t be so worried about what was to become of them.

Did he wish to court her or end their relationship altogether? Did he have a better plan to bring their families together? Her eyes drifted closed. If only they hadn’t been interrupted.

She glanced over to find him in a heated and hushed conversation with his uncle. Which was surprising, really. She’d thought his uncle hard of hearing, he’d certainly appeared so earlier when she tried to make conversation, but at this particular moment, they seemed to be carrying on an entire conversation in whispers.

After dinner, she reminded herself. After dinner they would surely be able to find another moment alone.

The moment dinner was over, Clarissa realized just how wrong she was.

They’d only just stood to leave the table when Darius began making excuses for the family’s immediate departure. Some nonsense about having an early morning the next day.

Evelyn and Tabetha were no better, saying their farewells as the Ainsworths followed them back into the drawing room. They seemed to be readying to depart as well, despite the duke’s halfhearted pleas for everyone to stay and enjoy themselves.

No one wanted to stay, just as no one had been enjoying themselves.

The whole night had been an unequivocal disaster.

Panic built in her chest as she was shepherded toward the door. She cast one last look in Leo’s direction, and he took a step toward her before his uncle clapped a hand on his shoulder. “Lady Clarissa.” His clear, low voice carried across the room and everyone stopped what they were doing.

She brightened, some of the panic abating as his gaze met hers and held.

His lips curled up at the edges. Not quite a smile, but it was enough. Her heart clenched in response to all that he was trying to say. Everything that he was trying to tell her despite their circumstances and the actual physical distance between them.

His smile was a reassurance. This was not over. They would have another chance to make things right.

“Lady Clarissa, it was a pleasure to see you again this evening,” he said. He didn’t seem to notice his relatives or her siblings, all of whom were looking from him to her and back again like they were performing on stage.

“I enjoyed seeing you as well,” she said. She tried to tell him so much more with just an expression. Did he know what she meant?

He turned his head toward her brother and then back to her. “I shall look forward to seeing you again. Hopefully very soon.”

A jolt of joy had her clasping her hands, her smile no doubt a foolish grin. “Yes, I should like—”

“You won’t.” Darius’s growl drowned out her voice, rising above the din of people donning their pelisses and murmuring their goodbyes.

“What?” she gasped.

Her brother ignored her, his gaze fixed on Leo with a hard glare.

“Pardon?” Leo sounded just as shocked as she felt.

Darius finally glanced at her, and she recoiled at the anger she saw there. Oh no.

Oh dear.

Nothing good ever came of one of Darius’s fits of temper. Fear made her insides twist into a knot. He wouldn’t start a fight. Not now. Not here in the Duke of Walton’s drawing room.

Would he?

She moved to place herself in front of Leo, but Darius’s next words stopped her. “You won’t be seeing Clarissa again because she’ll be traveling.”

Traveling? With her brow furrowed in confusion she looked from Darius to her sisters, who looked equally stunned.

Evelyn stepped forward and placed a hand on her husband’s arm. “Perhaps this is a conversation best had in private.”

Darius gave a little grunt of agreement, ignoring Clarissa’s questioning look as he took her by her elbow and guided her with a firm hand toward the door.

Her thoughts were such a jumble. She followed his lead, her legs heavy and her mind clouded. Clarissa was outside and headed to the carriage when she realized…

She’d never even said goodbye.