Page 25 of Always the Chaperone

William’s hands crept around her neck, drawing her closer. The kiss deepened, and she arched into him, but he pushed her roughly back against the wall, breaking the kiss and staring at her with wild eyes.

“Damn it, Charlotte,” he panted. “I have wanted this—wanted you—for too long now.”

She did not need his words; she wanted his touch. Wild thoughts fluttered in her mind as she lost herself in their embrace.

William’s hand moved from her neck down her body, tantalizingly close to her breasts but moving to her leg. It seared her when he had touched her in the curricle, and once again, there was nothing innocent about the way he caressed her.

He started to push up her skirts, and she gasped at the sudden rush of longing she felt but did not understand.

“Is that you, Bert?” a man’s voice echoed down the alleyway.

William broke the kiss and immediately covered her with his body to protect her from being seen.

“Bert?” The man shouted again, the echo bouncing off the walls.

Charlotte could feel William’s heart pounding. It mirrored her own as she felt his hardness throbbing against her.

Without someone answering him, the gentlemen moved away, his shadow disappearing from the end of the lane.

“You are lucky,” William said in a low voice.

Charlotte swallowed nervously. “How so?”

He nodded. “Lucky I am able to control myself. Does this mean you are seriously considering marrying me?”

She could not speak. Her mind was awash with images of what would have happened if that stranger had not attempted to find his friend.

The wordyeswas on her tongue, but it was all too quick. Her mind might be ready for him, but was her heart? Was this just a game to him?

She needed time to think—time away from William’s intoxicating presence.

“No,” she whispered.

William staggered away as though burned. “No?”

Charlotte hated the disappointment on his face, but surely this was better than blindly accepting? She had been a chaperone for too long to be ignorant of the dangers of rash proposals and blind acceptance. Could she trust a man she barely knew? Was this not just a joke between them?

“No,” she repeated breathlessly. “William…”

“God’s teeth, woman,” he muttered ruefully, his eyes never leaving hers. “Every taste of you makes me want you more. I cannot take this much longer.”

Without another word, he stepped away, leaving Charlotte alone, leaning against the brick wall and feeling more alive than ever before.

“Come now,” he said, gaze finally dropped to the ground. “I should return you home. This is no place for a lady.”

She attempted to gain her breath. A lady? She had never felt less like one than in this moment.

“Do…do we have to leave this minute?”

The words had escaped before she had been able to consider them, but William’s smile was enough to assure her she had not spoken out of turn.

He pulled her into his arms and pressed his lips against hers, and Charlotte lost herself in the heady world of his embrace.

Chapter Eight

William groaned. Thesharp light that could only mean morning was piercing through the curtains in his rented room. He had never believed it possible to wake up on the wrong side of the bed, but his throbbing headache increased as he opened his eyes.

Today was a day for staying in bed and doing absolutely nothing.