Last Dance in London (Rakes on the Run #1) - Sydney Jane Baily Page 0,51

before he realized he truly was going to tug at it in abject frustration. His valet, Blumsey, would be most dissatisfied. Fisting them at his sides instead, he stared at her, rumpled and pink-cheeked and panting.

“I had best take you home.”

Her expression saddened.

“I suppose after this, I will never see you again,” she said, sitting up and beginning to straighten her clothing.

“Nonsense. You shall see me again. However, I tell you plainly that my fervent wish remains to strip you bare. Thus, each time we are in one another’s company, I cannot pretend I will not try to entice and coerce you.”

“Might we still kiss occasionally?” she asked, sipping her wine again, not looking the least daunted by his proclamation.

Looking heavenward, he saw only his white-painted ceiling high above.

“Miss Sudbury, if I kiss you and we are discovered, then you will be in exactly the position Lady Daphne warned you about. You cannot pretend to believe a kiss will leave you any less in ruins than if we were discovered tupping. Well, maybe a little, but not much. The incident would be exaggerated beyond all measure.”

“You are correct,” she said, rising to her feet. “I had best be getting home. I’m not such a horsewoman that my sister will believe I could enjoy riding this long.”

“I could ride you forever,” he muttered, and her gaze flew to his.

Jasper hadn’t realized he’d spoken out loud. Shrugging, he offered her what he knew was a charmingly wicked grin, raising an eyebrow and making light of his words. He must stop saying things to lead her on, even if they felt true when he said them.

Miss Julia Sudbury — his, forever!

“Perhaps I should sneak out with only your Mrs. Crowley and a footman. And since it wouldn’t do to be driven home in your carriage, I would prefer to walk. It’s not far.”

“A fifteen-minute stroll,” he agreed, still feeling off-kilter by the attraction and, dare he think it, the tender affection he felt for this woman. “A very convenient distance between our two homes.”

And yet, whether fifteen minutes or a handspan between them, until he had her in his arms again, she would be too far away!

Thus, Jasper couldn’t resist drawing her to him, taking one of her nether cheeks firmly in each of his hands, squeezing them in spite of the thick riding fabric, and drawing her hips close against his.

When her mouth touched his, he sunk his teeth gently into her lower lip and ground himself against her.

“Mm,” she moaned, the sound going right through him and making his loins hitch.

This was intolerable. Her tongue touched his lips, and he was the one to open his mouth and accept her sweet assault.

Continuing to rub against her, he felt like a raw youth. Was he going to spend in his breeches? The thought of doing so, at his age, made him stop completely.

Julia, however, continued to suckle on his tongue and press close. She would drive him straight to Bedlam.

Firmly, with hands on her upper arms, he set her back before walking, a little gingerly, to the bell-pull.

“Let’s get you safely home, shall we?” He tried to sound casual, not as if he intended to go straight upstairs and bring himself to swift release in the privacy of his bedchamber. All the short while, he would recall how it felt to slip his fingers between her damp petals in the dark garden, and how hard the peak of her nipple had become with his ministrations.

“Thank you for understanding, my lord.”

She was thanking him. He shook his head. Luckily, Mr. Greer arrived, ready to summon Rigley and Mrs. Crowley.

In a very few moments, the blonde gilflirt had departed, looking perfectly respectable, and Jasper took his stairs two at a time to offer himself relief.

THE FOLLOWING MORNING, Jasper went to number 32 Ludgate Street, entering the shop of the royally appointed jewelers, Mr. Philip Rundell and Mr. John Bridge. It was known among those who gambled how Mr. Bridge in particular helped out many a young, foolish nobleman, giving plenty of good coin for their aigrettes, signet rings, and pins and even for their wives’ brooches and necklaces in order to bail them out of debt.

Although Jasper had a few careless friends who’d gambled and gotten into trouble, he had never imagined something of his would have ended up being pawned.

As it turned out, it was neither the older Mr. Rundell nor Mr. Bridge who assisted him, but the other Mr. Rundell, the nephew,