Page 29 of A Sporting Chance (The Chances #8)

His mind appeared to have ceased operating.

There she stood, his Kathleen—not his Kathleen, no, but his Kathleen nonetheless—standing in his hallway, removing her hat and gloves and depositing them on the nearby table.

It was all he could do to remember to put his own hat and gloves back beside hers.

He thought better of that and put his hat and gloves in front of hers, hiding them from view.

He did not know when his family might pass by and spot the guest’s belongings.

She gave a small smile. “I had to see you.”

It was a flattering remark and one that put a smile on Leopold’s face. “You did?”

“Is… Is there somewhere we can talk?” she asked, her voice low.

Naturally, she would not know that they were, to all intents and purposes, the only ones in the house.

Still, he supposed the hallway was not the place to have illicit conversations.

Not that what would follow would automatically be illicit. Obviously.

Oh, hell, why was his mind now filled with delectable images of Kathleen wearing absolutely nothing writhing on the floor of the hallway and beckoning him down with parted wet lips that promised—

“Leopold?”

“Lips,” Leopold blurted out. When he saw Kathleen’s eyes widen, he amended hastily, “Let’s—Let’s go into the drawing room.”

Yes, that was safe. They could converse on whatever neutral and absolutely-nothing-to-do-with-amorous-congress topic, she would depart—he would send her in a carriage, there was no possibility of her walking home—and he would have the coldest bath known to mankind.

Right.

Kathleen obviously recalled which door led to the drawing room, for she made for it damned quickly, in Leopold’s opinion. Evidently, whatever it was that she wished to speak about was of the utmost urgency.

There had been no fire in the drawing room, as it was far too warm for that, and servants had already dimmed and extinguished the lamps. As the hallway had been barely lit, however, Leopold’s eyes swiftly adjusted to the darkness.

Kathleen was sitting in the window seat. Her hands were folded in her lap and her lips were pressed together, as though she were about to say something truly unpleasant.

Leopold swallowed and walked over to her, his instincts telling him that sitting beside her would cause his brain to overload and for absolutely nothing to happen in any case.

He sat next to her. His knee brushed up against hers.

“Arghh,” he said confidently.

Kathleen blinked. “I beg your pardon?”

Closing his mouth, swallowing hard, and attempting to speak again simply did not work. This is the trouble with becoming fixated on a woman you cannot have , Leopold tried to tell himself.

Besides, she felt nothing of the sort for him. Oh, she accepted his kisses, but she had shown no real interest in him beyond that. Surely, if she had, she would have pressured him for more by now. More than he could give.

“Leopold,” Kathleen said seriously. “I need to tell you something.”

The gravity of her expression rushed through Leopold, centering him on the conversation right now. His foolish attraction could wait. “You do?”

“Yes,” she said quietly. “I need to tell you that I… I have been pretending.”

His heart fell.

Pretending? He should have known this was all too good to be true. Should have known his affections were not returned. Should have known—

“I’ve been pretending not to be good at archery,” Kathleen said in a rush.

Leopold blinked. “I… I beg your pardon?”

Her smile was awkward and her lips were— pay attention, man! “You are an excellent teacher, and I have been getting much better, but…but I did not wish for you to end our lessons. So I have been pretending to be unable to hit the target.”

She… She wanted to keep going with the lessons?

The laugh that escaped his mouth was one of relief. “You were so desperate to win the bet that you would feign poor archery?”

Kathleen looked directly at him. “Partly because of the bet. Partly because I wanted to spend more time with you.”

“Oh, you didn’t have to pretend for that to happen. I would have—”

“Because I have fallen in love with you.”

Leopold stared. Then he blinked, then blinked again for good measure.

He could not have heard… She could not have said…

“You know, I do not believe I have ever seen anyone’s face actually flabbergasted,” Kathleen said with pinking cheeks, peering at him closely. “You do look a tad gormless.”

The rushing in his ears, the pounding of his chest, the quivering—any one of them could have been more than sufficient a distraction to make it impossible for Leopold to think.

As it was, the trio of sensations combined made it absolutely impossible. He was fairly impressed he had not tipped over.

“Leopold?”

Leopold blinked. Kathleen was waving a hand before his face.

“Hello?”

He reached out, took her hand in his, and stilled it. “I do apologize. I think I… I am not sure I heard correctly.”

It was only then that he noticed the nerves. Not his own. Kathleen’s. There was a pulse in her jaw that was set to a determined expression, one that had propelled her to make this confession, this confession that surely could not have been true.

“I’m sorry,” he said faintly. “I think I need to hear that again. I must have mistaken—”

“I said that I have fallen in love with you,” Kathleen said simply.

How, he did not know. How was it possible for her to speak so calmly, so rationally, about something that would entirely upend their lives? How could she be so tranquil, when all he wanted to do was run about the place shouting with delight at the top of his lungs? How could she just…sit there?

“I…” Leopold swallowed. “I do not know what to do with that information.”

His body quite disagreed. His loins and his hands had come to an agreement that it would be most delightful to lean forward, push Kathleen down on the window seat, kiss her senseless until she was begging for his touch, and then soundly give it to her.

Leopold gave a strangled yelp, which was due to the combination of trying to cough and speak at the same time.

“You don’t have to say anything.” Kathleen had at some point, he knew not when, pulled her hand away. Now he had noticed her absence, it pained him. “I did not inform you because you were obliged to do anything, I just—”

“I am obliged to say something,” Leopold said, heart in his mouth.

What, did she think she would merely come in, state she was in love with him— in love with him! —and then walk out?

Did she think he would do nothing?

“No, you really don’t,” she said quietly, her cheeks now very red.

“No, really,” Leopold said, certainty forming within him. “I really do.”

Leaning forward to close the meager gap between them, he kissed her passionately. His hands had grasped her arms and pulled her close and Kathleen did not fight him, instead pressing herself against him, her legs somehow unrelenting against his own.

Oh, she was like nothing else.

She was Kathleen. Sweet, and tangy, and scalding hot. Elation roared through Leopold’s veins as he slid his tongue across her lips, parting them as she whimpered in his arms, the noise doing something stiffening to his manhood.

She loved him. She loved him.

And with that knowledge, the certainty that she wanted this just as much as he did, Leopold grew bolder. One of his hands left her arm and slid down to her waist, tightening his fingers around her before they moved up slowly, slowly.

Kathleen squirmed, but she did not shy away, and she gasped with pleasure in his mouth as Leopold’s fingers danced along the hem of her bodice.

“Leopold…”

Never before had he known such passion, never before had he known such need. There was an ache in him, a fire that had never sparked but was now ablaze, and Leopold moaned as Kathleen’s sweet kisses became sultry as she pressed her breast into his hand.

Dear God, he could feel her nipple through her gown.

Was she not wearing a corset?

The thought broke his concentration and Kathleen pulled away, her eyes hazed with lust. “I knew you wanted me.”

“I had no idea you wanted me,” whispered Leopold in a jagged voice, hardly able to think. The fact that his hand was still on her breast probably had something to do with it. “You—You love me?”

“And I am not here for a few kisses,” she said firmly, her eyes bright. “I-I mean it, Leopold. I love you very much and I very much wish you to take me to your bed—”

Leopold groaned. Did she know what she was doing to him?

“—but this is not a once-and-never-again situation for me,” Kathleen finished.

How could he do anything but say the words on his heart. “And nor is it for me. I… I love you, Kathleen.”

It felt odd, saying the words aloud. He had hardly permitted himself to say the words even in the solitude of his own mind, but now?

Now he could see the need in her to hear them—and she deserved to know. The whole world deserved to know.

“Oh, Leopold,” Kathleen whispered.

This time, it was she who kissed him and Leopold reveled in her passion as she pinned him back in the window seat.

This time, it was her hand splayed against him and the other wove its way into his hair and Leopold was kissing her like his life depended on it, like he would never breathe again if he did not breathe her in.

Her hand was moving, caressing through his shirt, moving down until—

“Dear God.” Leopold broke the kiss as a jolt of unadulterated delight rocked him.

Kathleen looked up, lips quivering but smile broad. “Ah. You appear…um. Eager to please.”

Trying not to think about the way her questing fingers had brushed up against his aching manhood, he nodded. “Yes. Very.”

“So what…what is next?” she whispered.

It was an excellent question. What, indeed, was next?

Leopold knew precisely what his brother would do. In fact, Alexander was likely as not deflowering someone as they sat here. It was a rather unpleasant thought, but based on previous activities, almost a surety.

And then there was her sister.

Miss Angela Andilet. Her life had been ruined by such an occasion, he had to presume, and Kathleen was therefore hardly likely to permit herself to fall into such circumstances.

Besides, he did not wish to ruin her. He wished to marry her.

The certainty washed over him like the knowledge that the sun rose every morning and the moon followed at night.

It rocked him, causing jumping muscles down his arms and across his torso.

And a smile appeared on his face, unbidden but most welcome, when he realized precisely what he was about to do.

“What are you thinking?” Kathleen’s voice was quiet—not fearful, but uncertain.

What had his expression been, when he’d been considering just how he was going to make this woman so happy?

“No,” she whispered as Leopold untangled himself from her embrace. It tightened his senses, just for a moment.

Soon, she would understand exactly why he had done so. Soon, she would be glad he had.

Trembling slightly, Leopold lowered himself down onto both knees before the window seat—that was, before Kathleen. The woman he loved.

“Leopold?” Her murmur was uncertain, but there was hope there now, anticipation.

Leopold smiled as he took her hand in his own.

“Kathleen. I… I always knew that one day, I would meet someone who was impossible to ignore. Whom I could not dream of escaping, not because I wanted to, but because there was nowhere to escape to, when I wanted to be with them all the time. Someone who would become the target of all my affections.”

Kathleen’s eyes were wide and Leopold’s loins stirred. Yes, this was right.

“I’ve never been one to miss my target,” he said with a wry smile. “And so this is me drawing my bow back and attempting a bullseye. Kathleen, will you marry—”

His aim was true. So was Kathleen’s as she launched herself into his arms and kissed him most furiously, something Leopold gladly welcomed.

How long they knelt there, locked in each other’s arms, unaware of the world around them, Leopold could not tell. Not long enough. It could never be long enough.

When they finally broke apart, they were breathless.

“Goodness,” Leopold murmured. “I have no idea what to do next.”

Was it banns? Or asking permission of her father? Or informing his father—or his mother? She would certainly wish to—

“Really?” And there was a wicked glint in Kathleen’s eyes he had never seen before. He was quite eager to see more of it. “ I do.”