The Regency Season Collection: Part One. Кэрол Мортимер

but I will see what can be done to prevent Jeffrey from rushing headlong into the coming war,’ he added grimly.

      She sighed. ‘He admires you tremendously, you know.’

      ‘Unlike his sister,’ Zachary drawled drily.

      She gave him a brief glance. ‘It is not a question of not admiring you, Hawksmere. Indeed, I admire your endeavours on behalf of the Crown enormously.’

      ‘That is something, I suppose,’ he drawled.

      ‘The rest of your personality leaves a lot to be desired, of course,’ she added caustically, ‘but one cannot have everything.’

      ‘As usual, the sword thrust in the velvet glove.’

      Georgianna eyed him mockingly. ‘At least I am consistent.’

      ‘Oh, you are most certainly that, Georgianna,’ Zachary allowed before sobering. ‘Is it convenient for you to come here tomorrow afternoon?’

      ‘Why?’ She eyed him warily now.

      He grimaced. ‘I would prefer to discuss that with you tomorrow.’

      And Georgianna would prefer to know now what that discussion was to be about.

      Unfortunately, Jeffrey chose that moment to return to the dining room, so putting an end to their own conversation as they all began to talk instead of the invitations they had accepted for the coming season.

      * * *

      ‘Thank you, Hinds.’ Georgianna smiled politely at the butler as he showed her into the blue salon of Hawksmere House the following afternoon.

      After she had spent the night, and all of this morning, fretting and worrying as to what it was Hawksmere could possibly wish to discuss with her today in private.

      Hawksmere himself had his back turned towards her as he stood in front of one of the large bay windows, looking out of into the garden beyond. He turned the moment the door closed as evidence of his butler’s departure.

      ‘I did not think, when I asked you to come here.’ He frowned darkly. ‘You do at least have a maid with you, I hope?’

      Georgianna nodded. ‘She is waiting out in the hallway.’

      ‘Would you care for refreshment?’ the duke offered politely. ‘Tea, perhaps?’

      She eyed him scathingly. ‘The only time I have been in this house, apart from that surreal dinner with Jeffrey yesterday evening, was as your prisoner, so, no, I do not require the nicety of tea, thank you, Hawksmere.’

      ‘The time for social politeness between the two of us really is over then, hmm?’ he guessed drily.

      ‘I am not sure it ever began.’

      Once again Zachary found himself chuckling at Georgianna’s honesty. ‘Let us at least sit down,’ he invited ruefully.

      ‘You consider I might feel a need to do so, once you have spoken with me?’ she murmured concernedly as she moved to perch demurely on the edge of one of the armchairs.

      Zachary had debated with himself long and hard as to what he should tell Georgianna about Rousseau. And still he had no real answer, only knew that she needed to know that the other man no longer posed a threat, to her liberty or her life.

      She looked so lovely today, dressed in a gown of pale silver, the darkness of her curls peeping out from beneath the matching bonnet, her face youthfully flushed by the freshness of the breeze outside, that Zachary baulked at even introducing the subject of her previous lover.

      Her previous lover?

      Well, yes, because the intimacies the two of them had shared two weeks ago meant that Zachary had certainly been Georgianna’s most recent lover.

      And now that he was alone with her once again, he found that the last thing he wished to do was talk of Rousseau.

      ‘Have you thought of me at all this past two weeks, Georgianna?’ he found himself prompting huskily.

      She blinked at the unexpectedness of his question. ‘Politely or impolitely?’

      ‘Oh, impolitely, I am sure,’ he allowed with another laugh.

      ‘Then, yes, I do believe I have thought about you. Often,’ she added pointedly.

      Zachary smiled ruefully. ‘And were all these impolite thoughts unpleasant ones?’

      Georgianna was uncertain where Zachary was going with this line of questioning. They were two people who had once been betrothed to each other and now found themselves thrust into a situation not of their choosing. She very much doubted that Zachary had wished to become her guardian, any more than she now wished him to be. And that was without the awkwardness of the intimacies which had taken place between the two of them two weeks ago. That certainly made for a very strained relationship between the two of them.

      To a degree that Georgianna had found herself wondering many times since how such a thing could ever have happened between two people who could not even claim a liking for each other?

      And then she remembered the touch of Zachary’s hands upon her, his lips, his tongue, and she knew exactly how such a thing had occurred between them. They were a man and a woman, who had been forced into a situation of close proximity. Factor in Zachary’s feelings of anger towards her for past wrongs, then making love to her, ensuring that she enjoyed having him make love to her, and those intimacies had become inevitable.

      Her own response to them she found harder to explain.

      ‘Unpleasant enough,’ she answered him sharply as she stood up restlessly. ‘Now...?’

      ‘I thought of you, too, whilst I was away, Georgianna.’

      She stilled, once again eyeing him warily. ‘Oh, yes?’

      Zachary nodded, his expression intense. ‘They were not unpleasant thoughts at all.’

      Georgianna’s heart began to beat loudly in her chest, her cheeks suddenly warm. ‘You surprise me.’

      ‘Do I?’ He crossed the room silently until he stood only inches away, looking down at her. ‘Does it really surprise you that I remember our time together here so vividly and so pleasantly, Georgianna?’ he repeated huskily.

      It did, yes. Hawksmere had not earned his reputation, as one of the five Dangerous Dukes, solely on his war record. No, his exploits in the bedchamber were also lauded by the ladies of England and much envied by the gentlemen. Georgianna did not imagine that someone as inexperienced as herself would have been in the least memorable amongst the dozens of beauties who were reputed to have shared a bed with Hawksmere.

      As she had done. However briefly.

      Her legs trembled slightly, hands clasped tightly together, as she looked up at him. ‘It would surprise me very much,’ she answered stiltedly.

      ‘And yet?’

      ‘I really would rather not talk about that particular subject, Hawksmere.’ She had meant the words to come out as a set-down, but instead they sounded wistful and yearning.

      Yearning?

      Could it be that she secretly wanted there to be a repeat of the events, the intimacies, they had shared that morning in the bedchamber above them?

      That would be madness on her part.

      Georgianna’s thoughts were broken off abruptly, indeed, her mind went a complete blank, as Zachary took her in his arms and claimed her lips firmly with his own.

      The passion and desire were instantaneous, as Zachary’s arms tightened about her even as his mouth devoured hers hungrily. It was all that Georgianna could do to remain on her feet, by clutching tightly to the tops of his muscled arms as she returned the heat of those kisses.

      Zachary broke the kiss to graze his lips against the softness of Georgianna’s cheek.