The Heiress - Lynsay Sands [54]
Grimacing, he turned back to Suzette and sighed with defeat. She was impossible to resist and he had been fooling himself to think that he could spend time getting to know her before satisfying his desire for her. Truly, she was like a house on fire in the midst of a hurricane, sucking him into her winds and burning him up all at once. All his good intentions and sensible decisions were nothing against the temptation she presented.
“Get dressed,” he said firmly, turning her away and urging her toward the bed and the discarded dress lying there. “We will head to Gretna Green as soon as we can.”
“But—” Suzette tried to turn back, her gaze on the bulge in his trousers, but he turned her firmly away again.
“I shall survive until we are wed,” he assured her dryly, though that was debatable. The woman was driving him insane, Daniel acknowledged and then glanced down at himself with disgust and moved to the window. Opening it, he leaned out briefly to inhale several deep breaths meant to calm himself before joining the others, but truly a basin of cold water poured on his groin would have been more useful. Sighing, he closed the window and turned back to find Suzette back in her dress and struggling to do it up. Leaving the window, Daniel moved to help her, quickly doing up her stays.
“You’d best brush your hair,” he murmured as he finished. “I shall be downstairs when you are presentable.”
Leaving her then, Daniel turned and crossed the room. He slid out into the hall with more haste than thought and was pulling the door closed before checking to see if the corridor was empty. It wasn’t. Richard was presently locking the master bedroom door, and while there was no sign of Christiana, Langley was with him. Daniel suspected this meant that both Christiana and Robert Langley now knew the particulars of what was going on. That was a relief of a sort. A secret like that was almost impossible to keep and they now had allies to aid in keeping it.
“I think perhaps you’re right,” Richard commented as he finished locking the door and straightened. “I will talk to Daniel and see if he can come up with any faults in the plan.”
Straightening his shoulders, Daniel started toward them, asking, “Faults in what plan?”
Both men turned his way.
“Where did you come from, Woodrow?” Langley asked abruptly, his eyes narrowing suspiciously and moving to the door to Suzette’s room.
“Oh . . . I . . . er . . .” Daniel waved back along the hall, but came to an abrupt halt as he heard a door open behind him.
“Daniel! Daniel, you forgot your cravat.”
He turned sharply at that loud whisper to see Suzette hurrying for the stairs, apparently thinking he’d headed straight below.
Daniel rolled his eyes with a sigh, and then said sharply, “Suzette!”
She came to a shuddering halt, and glanced back, eyes widening as she spotted him, Richard and Langley in the hall.
“Oh.” She turned slowly to face them and waved back toward the stairs, but then quickly jerked her hand behind her back as she noted the cravat waving about. “I was just going downstairs.”
Richard made a sound that was half cough and half laugh behind him which drew an immediate scowl from Suzette. She then heaved an exasperated sigh, stomped the small distance to Daniel, shoved the cravat at him, and simply whirled away to march silently off up the hall.
Daniel quickly tied his cravat in its intricate knot around his neck, but his gaze was on Suzette as she went and a smile was trying to claim his lips. Any other woman would have been mortified at what had just happened. She however was annoyed and even exasperated. There was nothing usual about Suzette Madison. If nothing else, she would certainly keep him entertained the rest of his days, and not just in the bedchamber. Somewhat reassured by that thought, Daniel turned back to Richard and Langley as he finished with his cravat, and then grimaced when he saw Langley’s glowering look.
“We are getting married,” he announced at once to forestall any outraged