“No. You were looking for me.”
Just being in her presence was like drinking a magical elixir. Every part of him thrummed with excitement. Every part of him throbbed, desperate to be near her, to touch her, to lie her down and cover her with his naked body.
“I was not looking for you,” she reiterated.
She turned away from him again and pushed through a group of people. When he followed, he realised they were standing amidst the group of dancers, a hundred pairs of eyes focusing on their next move.
Damn it.
Alexander pulled her into his arms, his hand settling on her waist in the hope of joining the other couples dancing the waltz.
“What are you doing?”
“I have no intention of making more of a spectacle than I have already. You will dance with me, Miss Bromwell, and you will damn well smile when you do.”
He didn’t give a fig what they all thought of him. But he would not have her name sullied. Giving her no other option but to take his hand, he guided her around the floor.
Like a naked flame to a barn full of dry straw, he felt desire ignite so swiftly he almost mistimed his steps. Holy hell, his whole body burned from just the feel of her fingers. He knew that she felt it too. Her eyes were wide, her lips parted as she struggled to catch her breath. Then the pulsating started. The pleasurable ripples radiated from her palm, shooting into his, running up his arm and down his leg until he felt dizzy with it.
What the hell was happening to him?
“You feel it, don’t you?” she suddenly said. Her ethereal blue eyes were alight with pleasure. “It is like a river of fire flowing through my veins. Tell me what it is.”
He shook his head and swallowed hard. “I don’t know.”
Tiny furrows appeared on her brow. “In my naivety, I thought … well, I imagine this is what desire feels like.”
He thought back to all the moments in his life when he had been desperate to bed a woman. He thought back to all the moments when he’d spilled his seed and growled with satisfaction.
“It feels like desire … but something deeper, something different.” It was as though they were two halves of one whole. The merest touch reuniting them, bringing them together as it was always destined to be. But he could hardly say that to her. He would keep his damn mouth shut. Those sorts of dreams and whimsical fantasies were not for the likes of him.
“So we both feel it?” she clarified.
Alexander moistened his lips. “Yes, we both feel it, Miss Bromwell.”
When he met her gaze, she was staring at his mouth. “If we were alone, would you try to kiss me?” she asked. “I need you to be truthful. I need to understand why I feel this way with you and not with Mr. Sutherby.”
At the mere mention of the man’s name, the heavenly feeling subsided, and his anger surfaced. “Do we have to discuss Mr. Sutherby?” He had noticed the gentleman watching him twirl her around the floor; his sickly smile replaced with a scowl.
“I’m to walk in the park with him tomorrow, at two.”
There was no need to say any more. Mr. Sutherby would make her an offer of marriage, and she would give him her decision.
He glanced at the faint bruise still marring her cheek and the urge to protect her grew fierce. “Do you know what you will say?”
“You were right when you said I don’t love him. But marriage is about more than love.”
“Is it? To my mind, it should be about nothing else.”
Miss Bromwell laughed. “That is easy for you to say. A lady must consider financial support and her husband’s ability to provide a secure future.”
“Are you saying you would choose stability and wealth over love, Miss Bromwell?”
“No. I’m saying there is more to it than deciding whether or not you love someone.”
“But how do you know Mr. Sutherby is everything he professes to be?” A pang of guilt hit him in the chest. In that regard, he had no right to judge. “For all you know, his mop of hair could be a wig that he wears to hide the fact he’s bald.”
Alexander could not shake his suspicion of Mr. Sutherby. He had been so concerned for Miss Bromwell’s safety that he’d spent the last two nights trawling about from rout to ball in the hope of finding her. Numerous hosts had given a disgruntled snort when they noticed him leaving after a few minutes.