Page 17 of A Countess Never Tells

“The fireworks display is about to begin. It’s a rare enough occurrence here at Vauxhall that everyone is excited to witness it.” He peered at her, a smile playing around his lips. “You’re not afraid of the fireworks, are you? They are quite safe from this distance, I assure you.”

“As you say, my lord.”

“If you’ll look just there,” he stepped behind her and stretched his arm out so he was almost embracing her, “to the south toward the Dark Walk.”

Those words, and his proximity, made her tremble all over. Lord, why did he affect her so?

“The fireworks should appear just above the hedge line.” He shifted slightly, and suddenly his mouth was next to her ear. “You have seen fireworks before, have you not?”

“Yes.” She should’ve been incensed that he would think her so unsophisticated, but his presence so near to her left room for nothing save excitement. “Of course, I have.”

John had taken her to a display in Hyde Park the year before their mother fell ill. She remembered it vividly, beautiful and wild, with great blazes of color lighting the sky. Tonight’s display would surely be even more memorable because of Lord Ashwood’s presence. Kitty glanced back over her shoulder at him, and instantly regretted it.

His glittering gaze was fixed directly on her, and her trembling increased. “The music has begun.” The low-pitched voice, so musical itself, was like velvet in her ears.

“What music?” All she could hear was him.

“They often play music to accompany the fireworks. It makes the display even more festive and stirring.”

If her emotions were stirred any more, she’d explode right along with the fireworks. Lord Ashwood was so close behind her now, his breath ruffled the hairs on the nape of her neck, making her run hot and cold by turns.

“The fireworks are beginning, my dear.”

His voice, suddenly in her ear, made Kitty gasp then shiver as a streak of light tore across the night sky with a sharp whistling sound. There was a low popping noise then an explosion as thousands of sparkles of white light shimmered above the horizon before raining down on the dark landscape of Vauxhall.

“Ooooh!” The crowd gasped as one.

How thrilling it was. Even though she remembered the previous display, it paled in comparison. Another and another firework flashed across the night sky, each burst of color more exhilarating than the last. The heat inside her that had begun to subside built again.

“You know—”

Kitty jumped and almost shrieked. Lord Ashbrook’s warm breath in her ear again made the hairs on her neck snap to attention. “You startled me, my lord.”

“My pardon, Miss Tate. I was about to remark that our kiss reminded me of one of these fireworks.”

“It did, my lord?” His presence so very close to her made Kitty yearn to fan herself vigorously.

“Didn’t you feel a spark, deep in your soul, that threatened to explode when your lips met mine?” The deep timbre of his voice made Kitty forget how to breathe.

Heart hammering in her chest, she turned toward the outrageous man at her back.

He grasped her shoulders, and Kitty gasped. “A pity it was only one such kiss.”

Her legs trembled and threatened to give way all together. She licked her lips, remembering their kiss, and suddenly felt a throb deep down inside.

“One day, Miss Tate,” the charming, sultry voice continued, “I hope we two will light up the night sky in a brilliant display of fireworks.” His lips brushed her ear, and she writhed with a desire she’d never dreamed she possessed. “Yes, I truly hope we do.”

And then he was gone.

Chapter 8

Next morning, when Judith did not appear after breakfast, Kitty went in search of her sister-in-law in hopes of asking her some rather intimate questions. Her conversation with Lord Ashwood last evening, inappropriate and thrilling though it might have been, had raised several questions Kitty believed it best she answer before her plans for a dalliance with his lordship got out of hand.

What she needed to know, however, was why there had been strange stirrings within her while she was kissing him. And why she’d been first hotter than blazes then cold as an icicle when he was near her. Kitty had never had the chance to be in love before—never even to converse with gentlemen much before this Season, save for a few of John’s friends.

So she needed to know if these pleasant flutterings of her heart and the more troubling throbbings down in her nether regions were to be expected whenever she talked with gentlemen. So far she’d never experienced such a thing when conversing with Lord Quatford or Lord Fenton. Did they only occur when she spoke with Lord Ashwood because he was a rake? And if so, what on earth did that mean?

If she’d only had her mother with her still, this would be so much easier. Judith, her childhood friend, however, was a wonderful substitute, although she doubted her sister-in-law was at all pleased with her at the moment. Not after catching her almost kissing Lord Ashwood. But as that was the subject she needed to discuss, perhaps she would take pity on Kitty and tell her about love and…other things.