on the man holding her in his arms. She could not have told up from down if anyone had asked her to do so. She could no longer sense the soft warmth of the flames dancing in the fireplace behind them. She barely felt the smooth wood of the door through the fabric of her dress as he pressed her against it.
All she was aware of was him.
His lips against hers. His hands moving back up into her hair. His fingertips tracing the line of her jaw before moving down the small dip to her neck. “Don’t ever wear such a high collar again,” he growled against her lips before she felt a sharp tug and then the fabric give way. She heard the sound of small buttons dropping to the floor like pebbles and felt cool air against her flushed skin. Then his lips moved against her neck, and she drew in a shuddering breath, her fingers digging into his shoulders as her knees buckled.
Perhaps there was some merit in marriage after all, was the odd thought that crossed her mind in that moment and she wondered what it could possibly mean.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
A Change in Affections
Sarah was shocked to see the state of Caroline’s dress when she returned barely an hour before dawn, and Caroline needed all her powers of persuasion to dissuade her friend from the somewhat murderous thoughts that had taken up residence in her mind.
“He’s a vile man!” Sarah hissed, her cheeks blazing red and her arms akimbo. “I should never have allowed you to go to him! To his house! At night! Alone!” Pacing Caroline’s bedchamber as the sun slowly began to rise, Sarah quietly cursed herself, Caroline, Pierce—as Caroline had resolved to call him from now on—and the world in general.
“You need to calm down,” Caroline tried to pacify her, afraid that someone would take notice. After all, with a few servants already up and about, it had been almost impossible for her to sneak back into the house after Pierce had dropped her off a little down the street from her father’s townhouse. “Nothing happened. I—”
Sarah wheeled around, her eyes narrowed in suspicion before her hand shot out and grasped the ripped fabric of Caroline’s collar. “This doesn’t look like nothing! He’s an animal! He—”
“Then so am I!” Caroline interrupted her friend’s tirade.
Sarah stilled, her eyes going wide in shock.
Caroline chuckled. “You should see his shirt. Completely in shreds.”
A dark glare came to Sarah’s green eyes. “This is not funny.”
Exhaling a liberating breath, Caroline wrapped a companionable arm around her friend’s shoulders. “I’m sorry. I merely wanted to distract you. That glimmer in your eyes was quite worrisome.”
Sarah heaved a deep sigh before her shoulders slumped and she rested her head against Caroline’s. “I didn’t mean to yell,” she whispered, her anger suddenly deflated. “But I was worried. You didn’t come back, and I didn’t know what to do. I was close to going after you a thousand times, but then I thought what if…” Her voice trailed off, and the two women sank down onto the edge of Caroline’s bed side by side.
“I’m sorry I didn’t come back sooner,” Caroline mumbled. “I feel terrible.”
Sarah nodded. “You should.”
A chuckle rose in Caroline’s throat. “Is there anything I can do?”
“Don’t do it again,” Sarah demanded as she lifted her head and looked at her friend. “You don’t plan on seeing him again, do you?”
Caroline didn’t know how to answer that. Quite honestly, she hadn’t done much thinking that night despite her efforts to make Pierce see reason, which she hoped had succeeded. At the very least, she’d distracted him from that murderous vendetta of his. However, this was not the end of the story. Far from it.
“Tell me,” Sarah said, her green eyes sweeping over Caroline’s face.
Caroline sighed, knowing that Sarah deserved the truth. Now, at least, she knew better how to explain all the many confusing things that had happened, and so Caroline told her friend everything, beginning with the night Pierce had tried to rob her.
With every word of her story, Sarah’s eyes grew rounder, the expression on her face teetering between shock and outrage, fear and fury until Caroline spoke of Daphne and all that had happened to her. Hearing of the little girl’s past filled Sarah’s eyes with tears and her hands grasped Caroline’s in a sudden need for comfort. “What will he do now?” she sniffled, dabbing a handkerchief at her eyes.
“I’m not certain,” Caroline admitted, determinedly shoving aside