How To Build The Perfect Rake (26 page)

Fortunately Endymion – and Luc’s erstwhile
ex-fiancée – was absent. And he was about to go and propose to a
woman who he wished to spend the rest of his life with.

She would kiss him, he was sure of it.

On feet that would have given Hermes a run
for his money, Luc hurried towards Martin Street, lighter in spirit
than he had been in days. When one finally understood ones heart,
everything became dazzling clear.

He certainly understood his now. And he
hurried on in pursuit of his happiness.

Olympia paced the floor of her bedchamber
for an hour before she went downstairs to breakfast, unable to
sleep much past eight, despite her late night. She had tried to
compose herself before she faced her aunt across the breakfast
table for it would not do Aunt Flora to ask questions about why her
niece was so agitated. She would demand to know what was wrong but
Olympia wasn’t quite sure what she should answer.

Truthfully, she was full of hope for she was
sure that Luc would do what he had promised.

But she was also full of dread because what
if he could not?

Such a situation would have made anybody
twitchy.

It would have helped to talk to Jasper but
he was still asleep and likely to remain so for some time. Not for
him, the anxiety that had continually chased Olympia from her
dreams. He would be snoring away until noon in all likelihood.
Drawing several deep, calming breaths, Olympia opened her door and
went down to the breakfast room.

As it turned out, her aunt had decided to
partake of breakfast in bed so Olympia needn’t have worried. She
picked indifferently at her food, glancing at the clock, wondering
what time Luc would decide to brave the Houghtons. He had said that
he would go this morning. But mornings continued on until midday.
He might not even come until after luncheon! Oh surely he would
come before that…

Olympia, alone but for a footman, let a
small groan escape her. This was torture!

She had wondered, as she had climbed into
her bed in the early hours, if the events of the previous evening –
being kidnapped in such a dramatic fashion and then her rescue,
quite like something from a sensational gothic romance – would have
had a detrimental effect on her but, beyond the tender lump on her
head, she appeared to be emotionally unscathed. Perhaps it was
because, apart from a minute or two, she had not felt as if she
were really threatened. She had seen men in their cups before and
Lord Howe had been very far gone when he had decided to abduct her,
let alone after the event. Unless she had seriously misjudged the
situation, and truly she had not, she had known that she could
probably extract herself more or less successfully although the
arrival of Luc and Jasper had been a wonderful thing. Not only did
it provide her with transport back to the city, but her
conversation with Luc had banished the hard knot that had settled
in her stomach from the moment she had heard about his offer for
Carisse.

Uncharacteristically disinterested in her
food, she left the table and wandered into the parlor, wondering
how she could fill her time until Luc appeared. She took out one
book off the shelf, then another, returning each in turn for
nothing could hold her interest. So it was that, when Hobson came
to inform her that Mr. St James requested an audience with Miss
Grayson, she was sitting dejectedly in a chair, having decided that
the worst had happened and her beloved had succumbed to the
pressure of two emotionally wrought females. How could he not? What
man could stand before a weeping Carisse and not surrender?

Even so, when Hobson entered she sat up
abruptly in her chair.

‘Mr. St James, miss. Shall I put him in the
parlor?’

‘Oh no! No… please show him in here.’ Where
at least she was sitting down. In case of bad news. Oh dear God,
what if it were bad news…

Luc appeared moments later. He paused on the
threshold, eyed Olympia thoughtfully and then closed the door
quietly behind him.

‘Well?’ she breathed, searching his
face.

‘My dear Miss Grayson,’ he drawled ‘you look
extremely fetching this morning.’

Fetching? Her heart gave a leap of
excitement. Luc would surely not say such a thing if he had failed.
‘What did she say?’

He gave a small smile and leaned back
against the door. ‘Have I mentioned lately how your eyes unman me?
Looking into those glorious dark pools is like looking into the
velvet warmth of a summer’s night.’

The breath hissed out of Olympia,
exasperation and a strange, prickling delight rippling through her.
Clearly, he had been successful. Just as clearly, he was determined
to act like a fool. She rose to her feet. ‘Lucien St James, you
stop that at once and tell me what happened!’

Luc walked forward slowly. Well, he more
stalked forward for there was something a little predatory about
him. She watched him warily, remembering the last time he had
played the rake, how it had caused havoc to her senses.

‘Dearest Miss Grayson,’ he breathed, coming
to a stop just inches from her, ‘do you know what you do to
me?’

‘What I do to you?’ she repeated, voice
faint.

‘How you make my body
shudder with desire. How you make my pulses race, my heart thunder,
my blood heat to boiling point.’ He moved infinitesimally closer.
She could feel the heat of his body. She could feel the heat of
her
own
body, a
great deal warmer than it had been a few minutes before. He reached
out to trail a finger down the side of her face, touch feather
light, sending a shiver through her. ‘Do you know what else you do
to me Miss Grayson?’

Olympia moistened her lips. ‘Ah… what?’

‘You make me want to taste those sweet,
sweet lips. So much so, that I cannot resist a moment longer…’

His voice was mesmerizing, a low rumble that
set something deep inside of her alight. The man before her was
completely familiar and yet a stranger, with that tantalizing edge
that made her own heart thunder. It seemed that he had cleared a
path to their future, for she knew he would not be talking to her
like this if he were not free to do so. Which meant that her mouth
was his for the taking…

The kiss was a continued of the one that
they had shared the previous evening, going deeper as he teased her
lips apart, his arms circling her to pull her firmly against him.
This time the surprise was gone, replaced by eager anticipation. He
had clearly anticipated this moment as eagerly as she had and she
relaxed in his arms, closing her eyes as he kissed her with all the
thoroughness of a man determined, lips becoming firmer as the kiss
deepened, their bodies intertwining as they explored each other
eagerly. Olympia felt as if she were on fire, desire a hot lick of
flame through her blood and she clung to Luc while her legs grew
weak. She forgot her fears, her long hours of waiting; she forgot
everything but the man who was holding her.

Bliss…

After a very long time, Luc’s mouth left her
own. Olympia opened dazed eyes to look up at him. He was smiling, a
devilish kind of smile that did nothing to settle her ruffled
emotions.

‘Miss Grayson,’ he breathed, dropping his
head to slide the tip of his tongue around the receptive lobe of
her ear. Olympia gave a soft gasp, arching against him as pleasure
spiraled along her nerve ends, flushing her skin with heat. ‘I have
the most ardent desire to get to know you more intimately.’

His voice was a dark shiver that whispered
wickedly in her ear. ‘Mr. St James, you know me very well
already!’

‘Not well enough,’ he
murmured, nibbling delicately on the sensitive skin of her slender
neck. ‘Not nearly well enough, my
dear
Miss Grayson.’

Oh, but she loved it when he played the
rake! It gave an extra frisson of delectable allure to every word
he said. More than that, it made her squirm with a kind of wanton
delight she had first experienced when he had danced with her and
she had demanded he don his alternate character. He had thrilled
her then and he thrilled her now.

‘Mr. St James,’ she breathed, ‘are you
trying to seduce me?’

‘If I were really trying to seduce you, Miss
Grayson, it is doubtful you would still be upright.’

She gave a half gasp, half giggle at this.
‘Luc, you wretch!’

‘But you find me irresistible. You know you
do.’

She looked up into his blue eyes; so
familiar, so dear and yet so very different when they were darkened
to a deeper blue with passion. ‘It’s true,’ she admitted, ‘I really
do find you quite irresistible…’

It was not an invitation to kiss her again
but he took it as such and with considerable enthusiasm. So
involved were each of them with this kiss that they did not
realized they were no longer alone until a small squeal shattered
their preoccupation.

Olympia and Luc broke apart guiltily. Flora
Richmond stood in the doorway, her mouth agape, staring at them
incredulously. She was clearly at a loss for words, which was
something of a first for the lady.

‘Aunt Flora!’ Olympia
swallowed. She felt flushed. She probably
looked
flushed. But at least she was
clothed. Much more of Luc’s sinful mouth and that might no longer
have been a certainty.

‘My… my goodness!’ Aunt Flora gasped. ‘I
mean… Oh my goodness!’

‘Aunt Flora,’ Luc said, recovering far
better than Olympia who couldn’t think of any reasonable
explanation for being found chaperone less with a single man. ‘How
very appropriate that you should be the first to wish us
happy.’

Aunt Flora looked from one to the other.
‘Wish you happy?’

‘Indeed. I have come here today to ask your
niece to marry me.’

‘But… were you not planning on marrying
Carisse Houghton?’

‘A ridiculous idea,’ Luc shook his head, ‘I
cannot imagine what I was thinking.’

‘So you’re not marrying Miss Houghton? Then
why were you making up to her, you silly boy?’ Aunt Flora demanded,
bewildered.

‘A momentary lapse of reason. I fear I had
to chase after Miss Houghton to realized how much I love your
niece.’

‘That makes absolutely no sense.’

Olympia’s lips twitched. Clearly her aunt
was overset by this abrupt change of circumstance. ‘Men cannot be
expected to make sense,’ she said soothingly. ‘But are you not
happy that I will be going back to Warwickshire with a fiancé after
all?’

‘Good God,’ Aunt Flora said, much
struck.

‘A rich, good looking fiancé,’ Olympia added
slyly, slipping her hand through Luc’s arm. He shot her a quick
look and she caught a glimpse of blue fire. It made that little
flutter in the pit of her stomach begin to tickle again, but she
repressed it firmly. There would be plenty of time for flutters
later. ‘I shall be the envy of all the girls.’

‘Well of course, I’m very happy for you but…
this jumping about the place is most confusing.’ She looked at Luc
severely. ‘Are you really going to marry Olympia? You’re not going
to change your mind?’

‘Never. I promise you that.’ There was no
doubting the sincerity in his voice.

Flora Richmond allowed herself to relax. And
then she began to smile. ‘Well I never!’

‘You never what?’ A deep, rather lazy voice
demanded behind her. Jasper strolled into the room. ‘Oh hallo you
two.’

‘Your sister is going to marry Mr. St
James.’

‘I know.’

‘You
know
? Well nobody told
me.’

‘Old news, dearest aunt. They shall be
sickeningly happy together, I daresay.’ Jasper quirked an enquiring
eyebrow at Luc. ‘I’m assuming all went well then?’

Luc huffed out an involuntary laugh. ‘Better
than well. You have no idea what has happened!’

‘Tell me over breakfast,’ Jasper invited,
putting an arm around his aunt’s shoulders and leading her from the
room. ‘I’m starving.’

‘As am I,’ Luc murmured, glancing down at
Olympia who dimpled up at him. ‘Although I find I do not hunger for
food…’

‘Later,’ she said firmly, leaning up to
plant a quick kiss on his willing mouth.

‘Not a long engagement, I think,’ he
muttered as they followed Jasper and Aunt Flora.

‘Oh dear me no,’ Olympia agreed with a grin.
‘Not long at all.’

Epilogue.

‘It occurs to me,’ Mr. Featherstone said
bitterly as he observed the enraptured couple dance around the
floor, ‘that some fellows have all the luck.’

Olympia and Luc had been married for a week
and Flora Richmond had decided to put on a small celebration at her
house in Oxfordshire for the couple. The wedding had been a family
affair but she felt an almost proprietorial pride in the union, as
if she herself had engineered the whole thing. She had invited her
own friends so that she could gloat, some of the couple’s closer
friends and both families for a weekend party and the event was
proving to be very merry indeed.

Miss Gaffney gave Freddy a pitying glance.
‘You didn’t suspect that Mr. St James was in love with
Olympia?’

‘Of course I didn’t. I was after her myself.
He could have mentioned it to a fellow and saved me the
trouble.’

Miss Gaffney shook her head. It was a pity
that Mr. Featherstone had red hair or she might decide he was
suitable husband material. But with her own hair, the combination
might prove altogether too vivid. Just the same, he was an amiable
fellow even if he did need a female to take him in hand. ‘It was
perfectly clear to me which way the wind was blowing.’

‘What, you knew he was sweet on her?’

‘I knew she was sweet on him and it seemed
clear that they got on far too well together not to make a match of
it. Of course, the advent of Miss Houghton put them off course but
they got there in the end.’