The Matter of a Marquess - Jess Michaels Page 0,81

of the carriage back and bowed slightly toward her. Then he opened the door and held out a hand to assist her. She hated that her fingers trembled as she took the help. Hated to show that weakness or to feel it when it was so important today to remain strong and calm.

As she stepped into the rig and the door closed behind her, she turned her head to say good afternoon to Derrick and Selina, but to her shock it wasn’t them who waited to greet her in the seat opposite hers.

It was Nicholas. He sat ramrod straight, his dark eyes focused intensely on her as the blood drained from her cheeks.

“No!” she gasped, and reached behind her for the door handle.

He snaked a hand out and caught her wrist, his fingers folding around her firmly but not cruelly. With hardly any effort, he gently tugged her into his lap just as the carriage began to move.

“Please, no!” she repeated, squirming against him. “If you are seen on this errand, Nicholas, it could destroy everything you’ve worked for!”

He didn’t answer her with words. His hand slipped to the nape of her neck and he tilted her head up toward his. Close enough that his warm breath stirred over her lips. She hated herself for forgetting all her very good arguments as she sighed in the pleasure only being with this man could bring to her.

He kissed her. Gently, sweetly and she melted against him. She opened the fist she’d placed between them to push him away and rested it against his heart. She felt it throbbing, just like her own.

He deepened the kiss ever so slightly, tasting her, teasing her, setting her on edge because he could do that with even the slightest touch. Perhaps he used it against her, perhaps it was just as natural as breathing to them both. It didn’t matter. It was happening and she was helpless to him.

But at last he pulled away. He brushed his lips across her cheek instead, his fingers clenching against her nape as he whispered, “I’m not letting you do this alone, Aurora.”

She blinked at the tears that stung her eyes and shook her head, but she no longer fought him for escape. It was impossible anyway with the carriage bobbing along at a frisky pace toward their destination across Town.

She still needed to say the words, though, to try to convince him not to be foolhardy. He didn’t have to exit the vehicle when they arrived, after all. She could still convince him if she just said the right thing, did the right thing. There had to be a way.

“I-I won’t be alone, though,” she began, her voice trembling just as her body trembled in his warm arms. “The Willowbys, Derrick, Selina and Mr. Barber are all coming with me. They’re vastly qualified to handle any situation.”

“But they aren’t me,” he said. “You think I would be happy to stay behind while you go into a situation that might be dangerous? The very idea is outrageous. When I heard that you cut me out of your plans, I couldn’t let that stand. Please don’t argue with me.”

It seemed there was no room to do so. She heard the firmness in his tone. The complete faith and peace in his decision to come to get her, to insert himself in this day, whatever the consequences.

“How did you find out?” she asked as she shifted off his lap and slid onto the seat next to him.

He arched a brow and a flicker of humor entered his dark eyes. “Selina.”

She huffed out her breath. “Selina?” she repeated in shock. “And after she made such a show of hugging me and telling me I could travel with them so I wouldn’t be alone. Did she come running straight to you after our meeting earlier today? She must have, for there was no time for this plan of yours otherwise.”

There was something lighter in the way Nicholas laughed. Something so much more like that boy he’d once been before heartbreak and war and injury. How that sound pulled her back in time and softened some of her upset that she had been tricked.

“Selina behaved like a very good sister,” he said. “I’m terribly pleased with her.”

“Well, I’m—I’m very angry with you.” She folded her arms and wished with all her heart that her voice sounded stronger when she said those words. “You tricked me by coming to fetch me in the Huntington’s carriage.