Page 18 of The Dare Before Christmas

Despite it all, he was drawn to her, forever turning in her direction like he was following the sun as she dazzled him from the heady heights of her position, so far above him. Wanting her when he knew it was pointless rankled. Nonetheless, here he was, searching for her because the lady could not resist the temptation of a treasure hunt, for which Barnaby could cheerfully strangle Louis. He spent half an hour fruitlessly searching the house, before realising she must have gone directly into the woods.

Immediately, he set off, retracing the path they’d taken.

As he walked, the first fat flakes of snow fell from an increasingly sombre looking sky. Barnaby muttered a curse and walked faster, the snow falling quicker with each step he took. Finally, he saw the overgrown shape the lady had been so fascinated by and was about to sigh with relief when a scream came from inside the building. His heart, already overwrought by the events of the past days, panicked. He ran.

Barnaby saw the door. The overgrowth had been trimmed to allow entry. There was a thin gap, too narrow for him to fit through with ease. Without another thought, he slammed against the door with all his might. It gave way immediately, and he barrelled inside.

Another scream rent the air, this one louder and more terrified than the last.

Barnaby ran to Victoria, grasping her forearms.

“What?” he demanded, his heart thudding too hard, too fast. “What is it? Are you hurt? What happened?”

“Oh!” she exclaimed, shoving at his chest. “You frightened me half to death!”

“I frightened you?” he exclaimed, perceiving she was not, as he had feared, grievously injured or being attacked by unknown assailants.

“Yes! What on earth do you mean by exploding in upon me in such a fashion?”

“You screamed!” he retorted, wishing for the first time in his entire life to shake a woman out of sheer frustration, such was his discomposure. He resisted the urge, but discovered he was unable to let go of her. “I thought you were being attacked! I thought you were hurt!”

“Oh, don’t be ridiculous,” she said impatiently. “It was only a rat. I was startled, that’s all.”

Barnaby grit his teeth. “Well, I did not know that.”

“Well, there’s no need to be testy!” she flung back at him. “I didn’t ask you to come.”

“No, more’s the pity! If you had, I would have had the good sense to get your father to lock you in your room, you dreadful girl! What the devil were you thinking, coming out here alone on such a day? Does anyone even know you’re here?”

“Well, you do, apparently,” she snapped back, her green eyes flashing. They were brighter than ever in the dim, verdant light of the strange building they stood in. “Why are you here? I thought you were gone with the others.”

“I did go, but we were halfway up the drive when I broke out in a cold sweat worrying that you would break your pretty neck!”

She coloured, sending him a volcanic look that in usual circumstances he would have heeded, but he was too far gone.

“I’m not an imbecile, nor am I a child,” she said, her tone icy despite the fire in her eyes. “I am a grown woman, quite capable of making my own decisions, thank you very much.”

“Yes, idiotic ones,” he remarked savagely, making her gasp with shock.

He didn’t even mean it… well, not entirely at least. He knew she was an intelligent woman, even if she was a bit rash, but his blood was up, frustration seethed beneath his skin, and it was all her fault.

“Oh! How on earth I could ever have believed myself in love with you is beyond me! You’re as beastly as all the rest of them,” she cried, and then fell silent, the blush of pink intensifying across her beautiful face as she realised what she’d said.

“In… In love?” Barnaby asked, utterly dumbfounded.

“No.” She pressed her lips into a tight little line and shook her head, but her chest rose and fell too fast, the scarlet of her cheeks blazing, and Barnaby… snapped.

He hauled her into his arms and kissed her, and not gently either. He couldn’t help himself, could hardly remember how to breathe, let alone behave like anything but a caveman. Yet he had never in his life been the kind of brute who forced his attentions on a woman, and he wasn’t about to start now. Though he was overwrought and not quite in his right mind, he would have stopped instantly had the lady made the least protest, but she did not. In fact, the moment their lips touched, she became pliant and acquiescent in his arms, melting into him with an immediacy that was at once gratifying and had alarm bells screaming in his head.

But, even as the carillon din exploded in his ears, her arms were sliding around his neck, pulling him closer, and he was deaf to anything but the pounding of his own heart. He could feel it thudding in his chest, and… and in hers, too, for her soft body was pressed close to his and her heart was keeping time, matching his for speed and urgency. With one hand settled upon the small of her back, keeping her close, Barnaby cupped her face, tilting her head back as he encouraged her to let him in. He sensed her hesitancy and knew in that instant that she had not been kissed before, at least not like this. Gently, he encouraged her to trust him, to open to him, feeling a surge of sheer triumph as she did as he wanted, her tongue shy and tentative as it met his. She gasped at the intimate slide and caress, her entire body jolting, and Barnaby could not help but smile at her shock, except that then he remembered why she was so innocent, why she had been so closely guarded that she had never even been kissed.

Duke’s daughter, duke’s daughter, out of bounds, retreat, retreat.

Barnaby broke the kiss and stepped away from her, breathing hard. Confound it all, was he out of his bloody mind? Staring at Lady Victoria, her bonnet awry, hair all this way and that, and her lips swollen from the fervour of his kisses, it was not a difficult question to answer. Yes. Yes, he damned well was.

“That…” he began hoarsely. “That was a mistake.”

As was what he’d just said, judging by the lady’s expression.