The carriage slowed, then turned in through tall gateposts topped with… were they eagles? They'd driven around a large block and down Park Lane. A mansion appeared; the drive wended past it and on.
"My curricle's waiting."
The carriage rocked to a stop on the words. Dexter opened his door and alighted, then helped her down.
The yard was heavily shadowed. Dexter led her to a curricle and handed her up to the seat. Two grooms were leading the coach horses away; another held the prancing pair harnessed to the curricle. Taking the reins, Dexter sat beside her. He glanced at her, then reached around and rummaged. "Here." He dropped a thick, soft wrap on her lap. "It'll be colder driving." Looking forward, he nodded to the groom. "Let them go."
Releasing the horses, the boy dashed for the back of the curricle as Dexter flicked the reins. Amanda grabbed the rail as gravel crunched and the curricle rocketed forward. As they rounded the house, she scanned the massive edifice but it was shrouded in darkness and shadows. They swept on and the gates loomed ahead. Once Dexter took the turn and the wheels were rolling evenly, she released the rail and settled back.
Shaking out the wrap, she found it beyond luxurious-silk with a sumptuous weight. And the colors-deep, rich, even in the weak light. It had long fringes at both ends. She swung it over her shoulders, then tucked it about her. Dexter glanced at her, confirmed she was suitably swathed, then looked to his horses.
His house stood near the south end of Park Lane, the southeast corner of the fashionable area. Safe enough for her to ride openly beside him through the night as he steered the curricle further south and onto the Kings Road.
The horses were fresh, other carriages few and far between. Amanda sat back and enjoyed the cool air, the quiet of the night. They made good time, crossing the river at Putney, then rolling on through villages and hamlets. During the journey, the clouds dispersed, leaving the moon to shine freely. Eventually, they came to the village of Richmond, sleeping beneath a star-spangled, black-velvet sky. Beyond the last house, running from the village to the river, lay the dark expanse of the Deer Park.
She straightened as the first huge tree, bare branches spread wide, drew near. She'd been here often over the years, recognized the area, yet all seemed different in the dark. More evocative, the promise of excitement infinitely more acute. Cool tingles prickled over her skin and she shivered.
Instantly she felt Dexter's gaze, but made no move to meet it. He was forced to look to his horses as they rolled deeper into the shadowy park.
Silence engulfed them, pervasive and profound, disturbed only by the hoot of an owl, the scurrying of some nocturnal creature and the dull clop of the horses' hooves. The moonlight was faint, enough to see shapes but not colors. The breeze was faint, too, wafting the scent of trees, grass and leaf mold. The deer were asleep, round lumps beneath the trees. Some were standing, but evinced no interest in the interlopers into their moonlit world.
They were deep in the park, out of sight of all things human, when Dexter drew the horses to a halt. The silence, the eerie quality of the night, intensified and closed about them. He tied off the reins and turned to her. Eyes wide, she drank in the sight of the parkland rolling away from the carriage drive, edged by trees and copses, empty of all save the moonlight.
"Exciting enough?"
The words reached her on a whisper; no cynicism came with them-he seemed as appreciative as she.
She drew in a breath-the air was cooler, sweeter than any she'd ever tasted. "It's… strange." She glanced at him. "Come-let's walk a little way."
His brows rose but he stood, stepped past her and jumped down. He gave her his hands, helped her down the steps, then, enclosing one of her hands in a firm grasp, he surveyed the silvered sward. "Which way?"
"There." She pointed across the expanse before them to a pinetum.
Dexter called a command to the groom, then, her hand still locked in his, they set out.
It had been years since she'd walked hand-in-hand. She found it unexpectedly enjoyable, leaving her freer than if she'd taken his arm. Yet when her boot slipped in a dip, he pulled her up, steadied her easily. She laughed and smiled her thanks, resettled the luxurious wrap, then let him take her hand and they walked on.
Behind them, the carriage drive dwindled. The sense of being alone, the sole living beings in the quiet landscape, grew with every step. The consciousness of being isolated, one male, one female, burgeoned; there was no other living creature to distract or deflect their senses.
The magic that hung in the moonlit air was a drug. Amanda felt giddy by the time they were nearing the pines. She was aware Dexter was watching her; his thoughts were impossible to guess.
How did he see her? As an obligation, a young lady he felt honor-bound to protect? Or as a lady with whom he was happy to be walking handfasted through the moonlight?
She didn't know which, but she was determined to find out.
The pines were grouped to create a grove with a path winding through it; she glanced at Dexter. "Can we go in?"
His eyes met hers. "If you wish."
She led the way, gazing about her as they moved into the trees' shadows. The path led to a clearing where the interested could pause and admire the individual trees. She did so. The trees hid the moon; the clearing was lit only by diffused light, even softer, less substantial, than moonlight.
Sliding her fingers from Dexter's, she adjusted the silken wrap. She paused, eyes on the trees, senses alive to the subtle promise, the elusive whisper on the night air. She turned to him. His gaze shifted from the trees to her. She hesitated for only a heartbeat, then stepped closer. Lifted one hand to his shoulder, stretched up and set her lips to his.
He didn't immediately react, then he stirred; his hands locked about her waist and anchored her in the same instant his lips firmed. He returned her caress, then his tongue touched her lips and she parted them. He surged in.
Their lips clung, their tongues twined, caressed, made artful promises. His fingers flexed against her spine, sinking deeper, as if to hold her where she was, her feet firmly on the ground. Preserving the small but definite distance between their bodies, when all she wanted was to close it.
He drew back from the kiss, lifted his head, but seemed incapable of lifting it far. His eyes searched hers. "What are you seeking?"
She slid her fingers to his nape. "I told you-excitement. You told me I could find it here." In your arms. With her eyes, she dared him to misunderstand as, ignoring the pressure of his hands at her waist, she stepped closer. Her pelisse brushed his coat. She held his gaze, darkly shadowed, and prayed she struck the right note-one of blatant challenge. "Show me, then." Her gaze fell to his lips. "I want to know-I want to feel it."
Stretching up, she kissed him again; this time he met her from the start. Their lips melded, tongues tangled… then, as if she'd succeeded in getting him to open some door, the muscles of his arms unlocked. His fingers eased from her waist; his hands slid over, then under the slipping silk wrap. Slowly, deliberately, he drew her to him.
The contact, body to body, was a shock-a delicious one. The sheer strength now caging her would have had her resisting had it been any other man. Instead, she sank against him, inwardly smiled as his arms tightened and his hands shifted over her back. Gloried in the contrasts-her slender-ness against his large body, the fineness of her bones against the heaviness of his. Her body reacted; she felt his react to her-felt her pulses leap. Sensed his need to seize. Was grateful that he didn't.
He felt like iron beneath his clothes-hot, resilient-male. Her breasts, flush against his coat, started to ache; her palms itched. Sliding her hand into his hair, she tumbled the thick locks, as heavy and silken as the wrap, over and through her fingers. Her other hand rested on his chest; she would have sent it wandering but he distracted her.