Falling for the Marquess - Julianne MacLean Page 0,49
Clara placed her hand in his, and they sat on the sofa, facing each other.
“I am sorry for what happened with Guysborough,” he said, “and I accept all responsibility. I should not have come to your sister’s assembly. People know what I am, and they are not accepting of me. I should have remained outside your circle.”
“No. You have honor, Seger. Surely you know that. It was Guysborough who behaved dishonorably.”
With a swift glance toward the door to ensure they were alone, Seger raised her hand to his lips and kissed her open palm. Clara tried to maintain her composure, but it was impossible. Seger stirred every passion-filled longing that existed inside of her.
“I will continue to blame myself for what happened,” he whispered. “I only wish I could make it up to you somehow.”
He laid soft, open-mouthed kisses on her wrist and she sucked in a breath of arousal. No wonder every woman in London wanted him. His ability to please was addictive. Having experienced his lovemaking skills in the coach, it was now impossible for Clara to forget how he made her feel. How quickly he had become an obsession.
Slowly, he kissed his way to the inside of her elbow and Clara’s heart thundered in her ears. She trembled at the sheer, unbridled roar of her desires from the sensation of his tongue on the inside of her arm.
“I’m very sorry for what happened,” he said.
Her voice was breathless. “You’re quite forgiven, my lord.”
Just then, Sophia entered and cleared her throat.
Seger reacted calmly, with the unruffled demeanor of a man who had been caught like this a hundred times before. He sat back, then stood. “Duchess. What a pleasure.”
Before Sophia had a chance to reply, Mrs. Gunther appeared. Clara—still in a dazed stupor—said a silent thank you that Sophia had arrived first.
The two ladies entered the room and moved around the sofa to sit across from them in two facing chairs. Sophia’s face was pale. Mrs. Gunther’s chin was high in the air as she glared hotly at Seger. No one said anything for a few seconds until a parlor maid arrived with a tray of tea and scones.
“May I pour for you, my lord?” Sophia offered with a smile, trying to ease the tension. It would not be eased, however. Not with Mrs. Gunther’s nostrils flaring on the other side of the room.
All Clara could do was sit quietly and try to quell her racing heart and force the hot, stinging blush from her cheeks. Her body was still heated with an insatiable need for more love play with the marquess. Her mind was besieged.
She glanced warily at her sister. How long had she been standing there?
Without batting an eye, Sophia led the conversation into lighter matters. She inquired about the health of Seger’s stepmother and asked polite questions about his home in the country. Mrs. Gunther was grimly silent.
Ten awkward minutes later, Seger set down his cup and addressed Sophia. “I wonder if you would be so kind, Duchess, as to permit me a moment alone with your sister?”
Clara gazed at him in shock. His meaning could not have been more clear. Gentlemen did not request private conversations with unmarried ladies in drawing rooms unless they intended to discuss something personally significant.
Something momentous.
Something that involved questions that were asked on one knee.
Had James forced him to do this?
Heart racing, Clara had to remind herself to breathe. The marquess did not meet her gaze.
All Seger’s attention was focused on the duchess as he waited for her reply because he wanted everyone out of there.
“Of course,” she said at last, looking uncharacteristically flustered. “Mrs. Gunther, won’t you join me in the library for a few minutes?”
The woman refused to move. Her cold gaze darted from the duchess to Seger, then back at the duchess again as if she were struggling for a way to prevent what was about to happen.
But Seger wasn’t even sure he knew what that was. He was at the mercy of his desires, his unquenchable lust for this alluring young woman who had shattered his ability to stave off emotion. When he was with her, he lost all sense of reason and strength of will, and he was astonished by his malleability. He could not be blasé with her, for this entire experience was fresh and new. He had not known it was possible to want a woman this badly.
“Mrs. Gunther,” the duchess repeated more forcefully, rising to her feet. Seger rose also.