the gut. It was as if she’d slapped a rock, and it was her hand that throbbed. With a huff, she sidestepped him with the intent to rush back inside before she was discovered.
Gentle hands clasped her waist, lifted her, and placed her back in the pocket of the shadows. Maryann was so astonished at his audacity, she spluttered.
“Sheathe your claws, little racoon; your hair is a mess, and you have twigs and leaves all over your clothes.”
Oh! A warm, melting sensation flowed through her. “Thank you.”
“Hmm.”
He unerringly found the few twigs and removed them in silence. His gloved finger brushed her nape and that warm feeling muted to pure heat. She did not understand her reaction to the man, and she wondered if he felt anything at all.
A lone finger caressed her spine up to the exposed part of her neck. When had he taken off his gloves?
“You have the most delightful skin. So unbelievably soft.”
“I gather this is a marriage proposal, since you want the privilege to touch what is not yours?” she asked with some amusement, unable to be annoyed with his impertinence, not when he made her heart race in such a recklessly curious way. There was an inexplicable part of her unbearably tempted by the marquess.
He made a rough choking sound.
“A feverish aversion to matrimony, I see,” she said lightly. “Yet here we are, alone and enshrouded in darkness.”
“Mothers do warn their daughters from slipping away with me to dark corners, a message that seemed to miss you.”
When she stiffened, he chuckled.
“And in the same breath, they tirelessly plot how to trap you into marriage,” she drawled. “I cannot fathom what is the charm.”
“It seems the title and my wealth are enough to overlook the dastardliness.”
A curious hunger rushed through her. “It is rumored ladies fall into your bed with just a smile from you, and you’ve left countless broken hearts behind.”
“It is a lovely smile,” he said drolly. “Very hard to resist.”
“Oh, it is more than lovely. Beautiful I would say, devilishly unfair.”
A hitch in his breath sounded, and it gladdened her that she had rattled a man so self-assured.
“I’ve never had a lady flatter my vanity so shamelessly,” he murmured.
Maryann snorted indelicately. “I am not one of those women silly enough to fall rapturously in love with you because you bared your teeth.”
“You exaggerate my abilities.”
Laughter and something unfathomably dark lurked in his tone. A warning that she played in a league she did not belong in slithered down her spine. “I was more in despair of those ladies’ mettle.”
Provocative silence fell between them, and Maryann peered up in the dark, trying to discern his expression.
“Did Stamford cancel the marriage offer?” he asked abruptly.
There was an undecipherable emotion in his voice.
“No.”
“It has been several days since you started the rumors.”
“Perhaps he only heard them tonight and chased me to offer his reprimand,” she replied lightly, though she felt uncertain about the earl’s reasoning.
“If he meant to act with honor, he would meet with your parents.”
“I…” The earl had somehow known she had escaped to the small parlor and had attempted to enter knowing she was alone without a chaperone. “I cannot fathom his intentions.”
The shadows made it hard to decipher his expression fully, but she suspected he stared at her with maddening deliberation. “A liberal experience with debauchery lets me know when another is set upon it. Be incredibly careful in his presence—take care to never be alone with him.”
“Thank you,” she said softly, perplexed by the warmth streaking through her veins.
“Were your parents successful in squashing our scandal?”
Our scandal. “They are trying rather fiercely.”
“Your reckless ploy failed.”
“I fear my father means to marry me to the earl at all cost. Papa gave me a few weeks more of freedom, but after that I am certain it is expected I will fall in line like a biddable daughter.”
“Will you?”
“I do not wish to hurt my parents, for I love them, but if Papa still insists I marry Stamford, I cannot do as he commands.”
“Ah, so you need to be wickeder?”
“You sound as if you approve.”
“Wholeheartedly.”
Her belly did a frightening flip. The devil!
“Perhaps you should start another scandal,” he murmured.
Maryann smiled. “I should, though I would most certainly be banished to the country immediately. That would make it harder for you to sneak into my rooms.”
“Ah, is that censure I hear for not visiting you for the past week, Lady Maryann? Why, I do believe you missed me.”