“Good Lord, you’re skittish in the mornings.” Under his hands, she was as taut as a violin string. “I’m going to toss you up into the saddle. Or would you rather use the mounting block?” His voice lowered. “If you don’t want me to touch you, you’ve dragged me out of bed under false pretenses, which is dashed unsporting on such a cold morning.”
She sidled away. “Shh.”
“We’ve often ridden together. And our early start won’t be a secret, once the grooms see both horses are gone.”
“I know.” In the flickering lamplight, her expression was difficult to read. “But we’ve never ridden alone. And we’ve never gone riding for the purpose of kisses.”
Giles smiled. He liked the sound of that. He’d worried that her jumpiness meant she’d changed her mind. “They can’t read your thoughts, Serena.”
“Which is a blessing,” she said fervently.
Damn, that sounded even better.
When she’d kissed him, he’d had a hard time remembering that she used him as a conduit to Paul. But last night in the library, he’d swear that her attention had belonged to him. At least for part of the time.
Then she’d spent the rest of the night smiling at Garside as if the sun shone out of his arse.
“So you want to do this?”
“Yes,” she said. “Faint heart never won fair baronet.”
Actually from what Giles had seen last night, Serena could stick Paul’s head over her mantelpiece as a trophy, he was so bloody won.
“Then on we go.” Trying to sound as if he didn’t resent her devotion to Paul, he lifted her onto the black mare.
He mounted his gray gelding, and they rode out of the yard together. She was a fine horsewoman, and the strengthening light allowed him to admire the fit of the forest green riding habit trimmed with black frogging.
“In that get-up, you’re ready to launch a military campaign.”
Beneath the curling brim of her stylish black hat with its jaunty green scarf, she looked fresh and lovely. The cold added an enchanting glow to her cheeks, and her eyes sparkled with excitement.
Anticipation made his heart leap. Was she excited because she looked forward to his kisses?
“Is there a compliment hidden somewhere there?”
“You’re getting above yourself, Miss Talbot.”
She laughed. “I’ll tell myself there was.”
He took the path through the woods behind the house. He knew the Talbot estate better than he knew his own. It hadn?
?t taken him long to choose the location for the next installment in Serena’s sensual education.
“I can guess where you’re taking me,” she said, over the crunch of hooves on the carpet of dead leaves.
“I’m sure you can.”
“I’m glad we’re not staying outside. It’s such a cold day.”
The rising sun tinged the stark winter landscape with gold but little warmth. “Don’t worry, my pretty little miss.” The smile he gave her was full of exaggerated lust. “I’ll soon warm you up.”
“Perhaps I’ll be the one to warm you up,” she retorted.
As if one glance from her wasn’t enough to make him burn. This morning with kisses in the offing, his blood pumped with barely controlled impatience. But still he must play the game, for fear his urgency might terrify her into running away. “Reckless promises, Miss Talbot.”
He couldn’t mistake the devilry in her eyes. “Not as reckless as I intend to be, my dear Lord Hallam.” She set her heels to her horse, and the mare broke into a canter.
Giles gave a short laugh, as the heat inside him blazed high to defy the icy morning. He set off after Serena, and soon they were galloping through the trees. They were both breathless when she drew rein at a rustic Greek temple beside the silvery gray lake.