His hands framed her face, skimmed down her neck, cupped her shoulders. Found her breasts. This was no accidental grope. And when his hands closed around her, she had no thought of lopping them off. She heard herself moan. Felt herself succumbing like a drowning man to the undertow. Desire snaked through her deeply. Intimately.
It wasn’t by chance that he’d brought her here. His intention was clear. He would make love to her here, and she would welcome him, give herself to him, and there would be no going back, and then—
She tore her lips away. “You said you had a little news,” she said, breathless.
“Later.” His eyes were the dark green of water churning beneath a storm.
“Now.”
His nostrils flared, and his jaw tightened. She watched him debate whether to comply. “Very well.” Desire roughened his voice. “Hathaway, Edrington and Zagost have all assured me they’ll not support a recommendation against you.”
“That’s three.” And hardly news. She’d expected more.
“There are others.”
“Who?”
“I’ve spoken with all of them. They know where I stand on the matter.”
That was hardly a commitment. The panic that had dogged her since her first night in London returned, seeping through every crack like water through an unsealed hull. “They’re going to vote against me, aren’t they.”
“Not if I can help it.”
She stared at him. What if he couldn’t help it? “Nobody knows me,” she said. “My father’s friends, my old acquaintances—they’ve no reason to support me.” And plenty of reason not to.
“Don’t be irrational. These are reasonable men. They’ll not take this issue lightly.” He bent his head to kiss her again, but she pulled away and paced toward the drapery fluttering in the breeze. Behind her, he exhaled sharply.
“To come to London and attempt to navigate society, when I barely remember my own debut—”
He gave a derisive laugh. “The melodrama returns. Show me the woman who doesn’t remember her debut, and I’ll show you a corpse twenty years in the crypt.”
His sarcasm couldn’t staunch the flow of her fear. Her feet began to move. “What effect did I think I could have? What did I think I would accomplish besides letting all the world witness my humiliation?”
“This is senseless. You’ve already made inroads into society, and I’ve talked with dozens of men. I’m sure I’ve changed more than a few minds.”
But what if he hadn’t? “What if they don’t stop with pains and penalties?”
“Oh, for God’s sake.”
“What if they press charges against me?” She paced by him to the fireplace in a panic, her fear in control.
“You are not a pirate, and there will be no charges.”
“The questions people ask me—”
“Impolite, certainly, but reflecting a curiosity that works to your benefit.”
“The conversation we overheard, the invitations—”
“Katherine, stop.”
“The odds that they’ll decide to let me keep Dunscore without any conditions—”
“Stop.” This time he grabbed her arm as she walked by. She jerked to a halt and shot her attention to his face.
Please help me. Please do something. She couldn’t beg for help. She wouldn’t.
“It’s too soon to give up,” he said. “Which isn’t to say there’s anything easy about surrendering your fate into someone else’s hands—especially when you’re used to being in command.” His voice was low and calm. It filled the cracks in her resolve like soft tar. Oh, God—she was staring at him the way he must have stared at the Possession’s hull as he’d floated in the water.
“No. No, it isn’t easy,” she said woodenly.
“You’ll have to be cautious about what you tell the committee. You mustn’t lie—”
“Of course.”
“—but you should be...prudent.”
Prudent. A hundred unanswerable questions crowded her tongue. He stood there like Gibraltar, strong and constant, and the desire to be in his arms again nearly overwhelmed her. Instead, she paced toward the fireplace. She’d promised herself she would not lean on him. She needed to say something to distance herself, but now her tongue felt leaden and all she could think was, Please tell me it will be all right.
“What will they want to know?” she asked.
“Everything, no doubt. Things they have no business knowing.”
“And I risk their disapproval if I refuse to answer, as well as if I tell them what they want to know.”
“Unfortunately. Except...”
She spun back. “What?”
His brows were furrowed, and he watched her with troubled eyes. “There’s more than mere high seas drama to your story, Katherine. I would never suggest that you exploit your unfortunate circumstances, but if it would elicit even a small measure of sympathy from the committee members to remember that you were just a girl, and—”
“You want me to describe my capture.”
“It might be helpful.”
“And my captivity.”
“If the story might affect the outcome, yes.” In his eyes she could see that he wanted the story not just for its effect on the committee, but for himself. He wanted every detail, every tragic turn of events, so he could add them like stones to the weight of his debt. Everything he was doing was because of his own guilt—not affection, not even lust.
The past yawned open and began to suck her in, and she fought back hard. She didn’t want his pity. More than anything, suddenly, she wanted his understanding. But she wasn’t going to get it.
He hadn’t moved, and neither had she. They watched each other from several yards away. “You should know that I’ve forgiven you,” she said flatly. “You did what you thought best at the time. I understand that.”
His eyes sparked, and his lips curved mirthlessly. “An ill-timed absolution, given that I’m likely to be instrumental in front of the committee tomorrow.”
“Nonetheless. There is nothing you could have done to stop what happened.”
“You don’t know that,” he said sharply, then calmed. “We can do no good rehashing this. We should return to the crush. I shall do all I can tonight, and tomorrow in front of the committee. I’ll not walk away until everything is settled.”
I don’t want you to walk away ever.
But he hadn’t brought her to this room to calm her fears. The truth of that still burned in his eyes. If she reached for him right now, he would put his arms around her, pull her to him, and she could lose herself in his strength and forget about everyone in that ballroom, if only for the time it took to—
To what? Show him how weak she really was?
She forced her lips into a stiff curve, straightened her skirts and moved toward the door. “Excellent. Then by all means, let us go see what more can be done.”
* * *
NOTHING MORE COULD be done. She knew it in her gut as sure as she could sense the tide changing.