Last Dance in London (Rakes on the Run #1) - Sydney Jane Baily Page 0,103
makes you uncomfortable, I’ll concede that reading the newspapers would be a good idea, at least until we lose the light.”
Bending down, he drew a rubbed leather satchel out from under his seat, opened it, handed her the first papers he took out and then put the rest on his own lap.
“If you read anything interesting, let me know,” he said, already opening the first.
His remark made her smile. It was so very domestic of him, this rakehell, to read the news with her and want to know what she considered interesting.
“And you do the same,” she replied. “We’ll soon discover if our interests are at all similar.”
“All right, but if you reach the page that nearly always states ‘the E of M was doing this and that,’ ignore it. You know more about me than any half-witted gossipmonger, I dare say.”
Her smile grew, until she wondered if her own name would be in the papers as the suspected jewel thief of Mayfair. And then she sobered quickly. The officers of Bow Street were renowned for writing up accurate descriptions in the papers so people could more easily identify the criminals.
Pushing that unpleasant thought from her head, she began to read the Gazette.
“WE’VE ARRIVED,” CAME a soft male voice near her ear.
Julia was roused from a pleasant dream of riding in Hyde Park. As she opened her eyes and yawned, she realized she was on the same side of the coach as Jasper, sharing the seat. What’s more, she was pressed up against his side with her head upon his shoulder.
As she straightened, she couldn’t help groaning.
“What’s the matter?” he asked, stretching now that he was free to move.
“My neck is stiff,” she couldn’t help complaining, raising a hand to rub it, but he stopped her.
After their last snack, she’d put her gloves back on for warmth, but when his hand suddenly slipped between her coat collar and her skin, she realized he was ungloved. As his warm fingers began to knead and caress her neck, finding exactly the right spot, she shivered.
“Are you cold?” he asked, still very close.
“No.”
“You shivered,” he said.
“You’re touching me,” she pointed out.
“I would very much like to do more,” he said. With that brisk warning, he swooped low and claimed her mouth.
Turning to make access easier, she reached out to hold his lapels with both hands as her insides became molten.
They shared a hurried plunder of a kiss, one that left her quite breathless. And then, after he tugged on her lower lip with his teeth, sending a delicious jolt of pleasure to her female parts, it was too quickly over.
“I’ve wanted to kiss you since you entered my coach, and couldn’t let an entire journey go to waste.”
Julia nearly told him how she’d been wanting him to do that, at least since they’d given up reading when the sun had set hours ago. But he ought to have started such a kiss earlier. Now with her body tingling, she feared she would go to bed frustrated.
However, to keep his pride in check, she said, “That was nice.”
“Nice?” he snapped. “That was a hell of a lot better than nice.”
She ignored his outburst. “I didn’t realize I’d fallen asleep, nor do I recall changing seats.”
He shrugged. “When you started to doze, I helped you onto my side and easy as a cat, you curled up and fell asleep. However, we only have a couple minutes,” he continued. “We have just turned up the drive to my family’s estate. Hopefully, Mother has already gone to bed. She didn’t know when to expect me, so I see no reason why she would wait up, but if she has, we should agree upon what you wish me to tell her.”
“Jasper, we’ve had many hours. Why didn’t you bring this up before?”
“I hated to wake you, and I didn’t think about it until you were leaning on me, snoring like an old dog.”
“What!” She tried to push away from him, preferring the notion of being a sleek cat to an old dog.
“Calm yourself. I didn’t mind. The noise was almost musical, a low rumble followed by a short whistle. Actually, I drifted off to sleep because of it.”
Jasper released her and opened the short velvet curtain. Julia couldn’t see much except for moonlit trees, but soon, a grand house came into view. Lamps were in many of the ground-floor windows and a few in the upper chambers, as well.
“It’s magnificent,” she offered as they rocked to a halt.