He would be out the door and away in his carriage before she reached the foyer.
“Anthony!” she cried.
A startled hush fell over the parlor. He didn’t turn. He didn’t even slow, apparently uncaring that she was making a fool of herself. From the corner of her eye she saw her mother dip into a swoon, caught by Lord Hoyt.
Phillipa called even louder. “I love you, Anthony Thornton, and I don’t give a goddamn who your father is!”
Her audacious declaration rang through the house, fierce and proud. She loved him, and she didn’t care who knew. She wanted the whole world to know! And after this, it clearly would.
Fire scalded her cheeks as she waited anxiously for his reaction. The crowd parted between them like the Red Sea, holding its collective breath.
At last he halted, halfway through the front door.
Her heart surged with hope.
He turned with infinite grace, filling the other end of the ever-widening gap with his towering body and broad shoulders.
His response finally came in a slow, sensual smile. He captured her gaze and held it. This time, she did not hesitate when he held out his hands. She ran to him and placed her trembling hands in his.
“I love you,” she said. “I care not what your name is, as long as I can share it.”
His low laughter echoed through her, warm and comforting. He dipped his head and skimmed his lips over hers. There was a gasp of outrage from someone nearby, a startled laugh, and a fit of coughing. A lady swooned.
Anthony turned and walked out of the house, and she went willingly with him, her arm around his waist.
Her heart raced at her own daring. She could imagine the uproar that was going on behind her in the parlor, but she no longer cared. Her heart trembled. The look on her mother’s and sister’s faces had flooded her with guilt, but Anthony’s shattered look had shredded her to ribbons. She gripped him tighter, the trembling of her body growing more pronounced.
The Calydon carriage waited at the curb, and he swept her inside, giving orders to the footman she could not decipher. The plush elegance of the interior did little to sooth her nerves as the coach rambled off with speed. He pulled down the blinds over the carriage’s windows and shut out the world around them.
Then he looked over at her, his eyes glowed with an intensity she had never seen before. Not even when he had made love to her. Her eyes widened as he shrugged out of his coat and started to unbutton his waistcoat. Heat pooled inside her at the stark sensuality in his face.
“Where are we going, Anthony?” Her voice came out husky, filled with part fear and part excitement.
“To Gretna Green.”
She blinked. Then her mouth split in a joyous smile, her composure completely rattled. But she felt reassured in a good way, a very good way. “To get married?”
“I thought you would like another adventure. We will be husband and wife. After all, the notification was in the Gazette and the Times, so it must be true.”
“Indeed, it must,” she agreed, and then she launched herself onto his lap and kissed him. “And I do like adventures.”
He laughed under her loving attack. “I have a special license in my pocket. We can have a vicar marry us before we reach Scotland, or we can marry over a blacksmith’s anvil.”
“I like the anvil,” she said in between kisses.
His hands tightened on her hips. “God, how I want you. You are my obsession.”
She could feel the evidence of the desire that surged through him at her happy surrender. “Then take me, my lord.”
He kissed her back, letting all his emotions and his passion pour over her like molten honey. After a long, thorough kiss, she gifted him with the most radiant smile she had ever felt.
“We will travel together,” she said. “Sail the oceans, and be free.”
“We can visit wherever you wish, for as long as you want. I have enough wealth to take us on a thousand adventures,” he murmured. “I want only to please you.”
Her heart was dizzy with elation. “Does this mean you love me, my lord?”
“It means I love and adore you completely.”
…
Everything that had ever been cold in Phillipa melted. A sensual smile curved her lips and heat seeped through her. The carriage jostled and rumbled over the streets and complete happiness unfurled within her.
“I meant what I said earlier,” she said. “But are the rumors true?”
He nodded unflinchingly. “Yes, my father is the Viscount Radcliffe. This untimely revelation is Orwell’s doing. He has attempted to exact vengeance on us for foiling his plans to have you.”
Phillipa listened aghast as he told of the old duke’s letter and the break-in at his solicitor’s office. Pain sliced her at the unfairness. “I am so sorry, Anthony. You and your sister were hurt because of me.”
He scowled. “The fault lies with Orwell, not you. Don’t ever say this is your fault, for it is not.” His gaze was resolute.
Her eyes widened and she nodded. “I promise.”
“Do you trust me, Phillipa?”
A subtle tension swirled around them. Her heart stuttered. She wished only to be held in his arms. “Yes, more than I have ever trusted anyone.”
He nodded, and the coiled tension eased. “My brother and I, and the viscount, will deal with Orwell and the repercussion of the scandal. You and I shall leave London, I promise, Phillipa. However, we must stay for a little while first. For the sake of my sister Constance and for that of your family. The gossips will devastate our dear sisters, society will crush them, and their dreams will be shattered unless we stem the tide of condemnation before it takes them under.”
Phillipa’s throat tightened. “I am so sorry you and Constance will be judged by circumstances that do not measure your worth as the honorable man I know you are, or the wonderful lady that she is.”
“Thank you.”
“Your father, the late duke…” Questions twisted in her, but the flare of hurt in his eyes halted them. Her heart ached for him. “Why did he do this?”
Anthony hesitated. “I doubt I will ever know for sure. I suppose at the end he despised the very thought of me ever inheriting his estates. In any case, a large part of me is glad he was not my real father. He was never a true father to me. But pray, let us talk of anything but this.”
She wanted to throw herself into another kiss with him, yet hesitated at the slightly guarded look in his eyes.
“So…you adore me?” she murmured, dropping her voice to a husky whisper.
The guarded look was replaced by a slow, devastating smile. “With a depth you cannot comprehend.”
; A thrill surged through her. She wanted to vanquish his hurt and pain, to soothe his turmoil. She moved her leg over his thighs to straddle his lap. Slanting him a coy look, she drew her skirts up her legs, as far as they would go.
A strangled groan escaped from his lips as she bared herself to his gaze. She had left her drawers off again, so she widened her legs lasciviously.
“I see you waste no time behaving scandalously,” he growled, his eyes glowing with lust and intense love.
She waggled her brows, and laughed as he drew her over himself. The emotions roiling in his eyes sent shivers through her. Need flowered in her and she grew moist from desire. With efficient movements he freed himself and notched the broad head of his erection at her entrance. There was no need for foreplay. His hands clasped her buttocks and with a powerful surge he embedded himself within her.
He captured her cry. “I love you, Miss Peppiwell. Scandal will follow us all our lives, I wager. But to experience your indomitable spirit, your passion, and sensuality, and the love I can see so clearly in your eyes, is more than enough to fill a lifetime without a single regret.”
She nodded as his hands on her buttocks tightened, lifted her, and with a forceful movement, which had her crying out urged her down on him to meet his upward thrust. “You will never be bored with me, either,” he vowed. “I will introduce you to sexual pleasures you could not have imagined. You will always be free and loved for your daring and your passion,” he promised, voice rough with emotions.
He captured her lips with a kiss so full of wild, aching hunger she felt it to her very soul. Bliss seared her and she returned his kiss with all the love and hunger within her.
“You fill my dreams, meet my needs, and soothe my fears. I love you, Anthony,” she whispered against his lips, shivering under the rush of exquisite pleasure.
Their pleasure burned bright into the carriage that jostled them toward their first adventure, to become husband and wife.
She pushed away her doubts and accepted the love he had to give, as they raced toward an uncertain but thrilling future.