She stared at his wicked expression, and was unable to speak. A great lump of disappointment hit her squarely in the stomach. He didn’t recognise her.
‘Whichever, I think you owe me something,’ he continued. ‘As you ran into me … Now let me see, what shall I demand as a forfeit?’ He cocked his head and stroked his finger over one of her cheeks.
She shivered and, to her horror, swayed and moaned.
He chuckled. ‘Ah, sadly not enough time. But this I think …’ He pulled her close until their bodies touched, bent his head and, for the first time in her life, Clarissa felt a man’s torso against her own, and his lips on hers.
‘Open, sweetness, let me taste more.’ His voice was thick and guttural.
More? She opened her mouth to voice the question and almost swooned. His tongue pushed into her mouth, and played with hers and oh goodness, something rigid and hard pressed against her belly. It was strange, exciting and … scary. His hands crept around her waist and scribed circles on her rear.
‘Oh yes …’ He sighed the words, and she stiffened as they impinged on her thoughts. Oh yes, what?
Lord Bennett drew back as if he’d been stung, and stared at her with unfocused eyes. Then his gaze sharpened. He let her go and took a step backwards. ‘You’d best go back to the village while you can. Did no one warn you of the animals you find roaming the countryside? Especially with your ankles on show. Enough to get the juices flowing. Run home, little girl, before I forget I am, allegedly, a gentleman as well as a rake.’
She ran.
With hindsight she could only approve of his restraint. Although, at the time, hearing Lord Bennett tell her brother of the beautiful village wench who had made his cock stiff and how he had ached for her, she wished different. He reckoned she would have willingly rolled over for him if he had persevered. After all he was well able to seduce a response from a female. As it hadn’t been said in a boastful manner, Clarissa saw nothing wrong with his reasoning. She pressed her ear to the door to hear more.
Phillip had laughed. ‘You mean you have enough willing women, so you chose not to take her up on her offer.’
To Clarissa, unable to see either of them, Lord Bennett’s answer seemed somewhat stiff. It wasn’t, he said, his way to tease a young woman, and bed her for no reason, beautiful or not
Clarissa didn’t know whether to be mortified that he hadn’t recognised her or upset he hadn’t carried on. But she preened at the idea he thought her beautiful.
Now, years later, in an overcrowded ballroom, full of the scents and aromas of humans, flowers and beeswax, she’d had enough of the Hemmingtons and their ball, enough of the capital, and more than enough of her peers. Clarissa made her way to the ladies’ withdrawing room, and accepted a glass of orgeat as she tidied her hair and washed her hands. When could she reasonably leave?
Sadly not yet, and worse was still to come. As she left the room, she spied Lord Theodore Bennett standing nearby. He was the last person she could cope with at that moment. Why couldn’t she be aroused by someone other than him? An acknowledged rake of the first water, he still made her senses reel and her skin tingle. With a toss of her head – after all, she couldn’t show how he affected her – Clarissa whisked into another anteroom and leant against the window frame. Her tummy churned. The way he affected her was ridiculous. At sixteen it was surely instant lust. At six and twenty it should be long dead and buried. He probably thought of her as an irritant. One to be ignored. After all, he’d never said one word to make her think that his friend’s sister was his willing village wench in Northumberland.
How long would she need to skulk?
She wasn’t about to find out. The door opened and Ferdy Pendragon entered. Could it get any worse? It seemed it could.
‘Yu … Yesh …’
She sighed. He was as drunk as a fly in a vat of ale.
‘Go away.’
He blinked and stumbled towards her.
‘Ha. You lured me.’
Clarissa had to laugh. She’d never lured anyone anywhere in her life, let alone an imbecile like him. With a growl, she poked him, and bit back a smirk as he rocked on his heels.
‘Shm n …’
‘You are addlepated and mistaken. Go far, far, away.’ She couldn’t help it. Clarissa laughed again. Sadly the laugh was a red rag to a bull.
He roared … well, almost. It was, she decided, a pathetic attempt at showing who was in charge.
‘Rub … bb … bish, and here I am.’ He held his arms out and swayed.
‘You are the one talking rubbish. Drunken rubbish at that. Go away before I … I knee you.’
‘Do … don’t be like that. I’m all for you, you know … every bit of me.’ His eyes crossed, as he hiccoughed and burped. Had he so little between his ears that he couldn’t believe that she spurned him?
‘If you do not leave me alone, this instant, your body will be missing some vital parts,’ Clarissa threatened him harshly. ‘You are a pest, and pests deserve to be squashed.’
Sadly he was so full of his own importance, and alcohol, he didn’t believe her. Ferdy grabbed her arms, and pulled her so close to him that she wouldn’t have been surprised to be overcome by brandy fumes. He put one large foot on her flounce, which effectively anchored her where she was. Clarissa began to wonder if this once she had found herself in a situation she couldn’t control, and it worried her.
No, I am not a victim. Not now, not ever. Clarissa gathered her panicky self together. She could cope, and cope with ease. Ferdy needed showing what for. She was about to box his ears, and if necessary follow through with something more drastic, when Lord Bennett stalked in and took stock of the situation. He grabbed the hapless Ferdy by the shoulders, boxed his ears much more successfully that Clarissa would have managed, spun him around and forcibly manhandled him out of the room.
‘Do not ever let me see you behave like this again, do you understand? If a lady says no, a male, be he a gentleman or not, listens and takes heed. Is that clear?’
Ferdy had stuttered, protested and agreed. Lord Bennett scowled as he slammed the door shut with a bang that made Clarissa jump, before he returned, to cross his arms over his chest and stare at her broodingly.
‘Do you have the sense you were born with? What on earth are you doing alone in a room with him? He could have done whatever he wanted and you’d have been helpless to stop him.’
Clarissa went on the offensive.
‘Rubbish! I could have coped with him. He’s a worm. A bosky worm at that.’ Even as she spoke the words, Clarissa was uneasily aware they weren’t necessarily the truth. Ferdy had been more insistent than she had thought possible and Lord Bennett’s intervention was a timely relief. Ferdy had been drunk enough not to listen to reason, and strong enough to make her more than slightly worried. ‘I’m alone with you. Are you going to pounce?’
His eyes narrowed. ‘Do not tempt me.’
Why had she retreated into that room anyway? To hide from the man who now stared at her. That was even more idiotic. What on earth made her think such a sought-after man would look for her? What a waste of effort it had been.
‘I’m sorry you felt you had to intervene,’ Clarissa said stiffly.
‘Would you have preferred me not to?’ His voice was glacial. ‘To leave you to him? Really?’
‘Well, no. Thank you.’
He bowed. ‘Said with such grace, my dear.’
Grr. Why did he have to make her feel an inch tall?
‘I meant it. Now, pray excuse me.’