Wicked's Scandal by Kathleen Ayers

Author:Kathleen Ayers [Ayers, Kathleen]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2013-04-27T21:00:00+00:00

THIRTEEN

Sutton resolved to stay away from Miss Dunforth. Her association with Archie Runyon filled him with disbelief and an angry possessiveness. Jealousy. An emotion Sutton had never felt for any woman before, and he shied from it. But then he saw her, walking smartly into the atrium of the Royal Exhibition, in the company of his sister. Again, the Badger surprised him with her appearance in the most unlikely place. Miranda neglected to inform him she was bringing Miss Dunforth today.

He waited before entering the lecture hall, intending to sneak in after Bishop began speaking. He would stand during the lecture and avoid Miss Dunforth. Then Alexandra had burst through the heavy doors of the lecture hall, scurrying away like a frightened mouse chased by a housecat. He’d followed her. He reasoned that he trailed her only to make sure Alexandra made it safely to the Cambourne carriage. Not to accost her. Not to demand an explanation of her relationship with Runyon, though God help him, he needed one.

He watched as she spoke to the monkey. The Badger’s voice, so lost and forlorn, undid Sutton. The very sight of her trim form, the overabundance of bosom and the curling mass of hair, made every muscle in his body come alive. He longed for her. There simply wasn’t another way to describe this deep, intense yearning for the small, prickly woman before him.

Alex didn’t move or turn as he said her name. She looked straight ahead, as if frozen in place before the cage. Her voice quivered.

“Stalking innocent women again, Lord Reynolds?”

“Perhaps. Or badgers. I am partial to badgers.”

“Are we back to seeing me as an irritable rat again, Lord Reynolds?” Still, Alex refused to face him. The pale blue gown she wore made her chestnut curls shine and the pale skin of her neck gleam like a slice of moonlight. Her outlandish hair struggled mightily to escape its confines. One shiny hairpin busily worked its way loose as he watched. His gaze fell to her waist, running up her back to the long string of satin covered buttons. Sutton had an unnatural fascination for her back. He longed to see the naked flesh hidden behind the satin.

Sutton’s fingers wandered to the line of buttons. He rotated each one, wiggling the button just so as he imagined undressing her.

“Please leave me be, Lord Reynolds. I beg you. I have not the strength of will to fight you.” Sad and despondent, her voice shook as she spoke.

He resolved to comfort her only. “Turn and look at me. Tell me what is wrong that has you weeping on the shoulder of a capuchin monkey.”

Her head shook in denial. The hairpin fell to the floor. A curl flowed down her back and fell on his fingers where they touched the buttons. His finger shook. He determined to just hold her. To offer assistance.

She shivered under his touch, arching as he twisted the buttons. “Why?” Her shoulders moved. The satin rippled underneath his hand. “Why do you care?”

Sutton pondered that difficult question.

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