“I’m sorry,” she said, releasing him. “That was an accident.”
His eyebrow quirked.
“I mean, it wasn’t an accident. People accidentally bump heads, don’t they. Or knees. No one bumps lips on accident. I did it purposely.” She could hear herself blathering, but she couldn’t seem to stop. “I was grateful for your help with Bixby, and more than a little overwhelmed by that display of brute strength. All that flexing.”
He stared hard at her mouth, likely in disbelief at the nonsensical words streaming out of it.
She bit her lip. “Would you believe me if I said I was dizzy from the altitude?”
“No.”
“Very well, I . . .” She squeezed her eyes shut. “I wanted to kiss you. I can’t explain why. I have no excuses. At any rate, don’t worry. It was clearly a mistake, and I promise it won’t happen agai—”
Again.
He kissed her again.
Or rather, he kissed her for the first time—and he was so much better at it than she.
This kiss could not be mistaken for an accidental collision of mouths. Oh, no. He kissed with purpose. His lips had ideas. His tongue had plans.
She closed her eyes and melted against him, flattening her hands on his muscled arms. He brushed his lips to hers in a series of chaste, yet masterful kisses. He swept a hand up her spine and into her hair, where he twisted and gathered the tangled locks in his fist. Then he tugged sharply, tipping her face to his and sending electric sensation over her every nerve.
When her mouth fell open in a gasp, he reclaimed her lips, sweeping his tongue between them. Her first instinct was to shy away, but Penny fought against it. She reached higher, lacing her arms about his neck and holding tight.
His tongue stroked hers, slow and insistent. He tasted of soot and salt and . . . and of apples, strangely. Tart, smoky, just a hint of sweet.
A lush, decadent pleasure unwound within her, snaking through her veins—as though it had lain coiled in anticipation for years. Waiting on this moment.
Waiting on this man.
And then, in a voice rough with yearning, he whispered a single word against her lips. “Inventory.”
Penny’s eyes snapped open. “What?”
“Send me an inventory,” he said, releasing her from his embrace. “A list of the animals. I’ll start on finding them homes.”
He gathered his discarded coat and folded it over his arm. After a look at his soot-smeared cravat, he tossed it into the fire.
Suddenly, he was all business. Penny was all confusion.
When he left the kitchen and mounted the stairs, she followed him, because what else could she do?
“While I’m working on the animals,” he went on, “confer with your seamstress friend. You can’t attend balls and such until you have a gown to wear. And if you want to make the society column, it had better be a stunning one.”
“If anyone can create something stunning, it’s Emma.”
“Good.” He opened the front door. “We’re all sorted, then.”
“Are we?”
“I’ll await your list.” With a nod, he exited the house and shut the door behind him.
How irritating. Penny was still reeling and breathless from their kiss, and he . . . wasn’t, apparently. Surely a considerate man would at least pretend to be a bit unmoored.
Then the door reopened, and he entered again. “Your Ladyship, I—”
After a lengthy pause, she prompted him. “You . . . ?”
He frowned at the floor. “We.”
We.
He said this as though it were a complete sentence, but even after several moments of contemplation, Penny could not make sense of it.
With an annoyed shake of his head, he wrenched open the door for the third time, stormed through it, and slammed it behind him with such decisive force that the portraits rattled on the wall.
Penny smiled to herself.
With that, she could be satisfied.
Tap. Tap. Tap.
The next day, Gabe found himself sitting in his office. In fact, he’d been sitting there for hours now. Not reviewing any of the many papers, contracts, or ledgers awaiting his attention, but merely staring into space and tapping a shilling against the desk.
Tap. Tap. Tap.
She’d meant to kiss him. She’d wanted to kiss him. She’d said as much, explicitly, and she’d seemed perfectly content to be kissed in return. More than content.
He hadn’t taken advantage of her.
He’d just been colossally stupid.
With a creaking groan, he allowed his head to slowly fall forward until his brow met the desk blotter. And then he stayed there, trying not to recall the sweet freshness of her kiss or the hot joy that had blazed through him when her breasts met his chest.
Colossally. Stupid.
“Mr. Duke, you’ll never guess what—”
Gabe lifted his head.
Hammond fidgeted in the doorway. “I’d something to show you, but perhaps this isn’t a good time.”
“No, no.” Gabe launched to his feet. “It’s a good time.”
It was, in fact, the best possible time. He’d never been so happy to be interrupted.
Hammond led him to the upstairs bath, where he gestured expansively toward the tub. “Behold, the latest in modern conveniences. Hot running water.”
“You’re certain this time?”
“The tradesman repaired the boiler yesterday. I tested it just this morning. Piping hot.”
As his architect turned the tap, Gabe crossed his arms and kept a safe distance. He’d let Hammond take the chances today.
Happily, the tap did not explode like a cannon packed with icy shrapnel.
Unhappily, what pooled in the bathtub was a trickle of rusty sludge.
“Deuce it.” Hammond closed the tap and kicked at the tiled floor. “I swear on everything holy, this was working an hour ago. Burns probably hexed it.”
“The housekeeper? Don’t start in on that nonsense again.”
“I tell you, she’s unnatural. I don’t know if she’s a ghost, a witch, a demon, or something worse. But that woman is of the Devil.”
“Ahem.”
Startled, both Gabe and Hammond wheeled around.
There stood Mrs. Burns. Even Gabe had to admit, these sudden appearances were growing unsettling.
Hammond raised his fingers in the shape of a cross. “I rebuke thee.”
“Good afternoon, Mrs. Burns,” Gabe said. “We didn’t hear your footsteps.”
“I was always taught, Mr. Duke, that servants should draw as little attention to themselves as possible.”
She certainly had their attention now.
Wordlessly, Hammond lifted his arm, extended a single finger, and poked the housekeeper in the shoulder.