Page 19 of Grace in Glasgow (Seduced in Scotland #3)

A series of starbursts flashed behind Grace’s eyelids as a rush of fire coursed through her veins the moment James’s lips touched hers.

Her fingers reach up, curling into the dark hair at the back of his skull, and holding him close as his tongue swept against hers as every one of her senses filled with him.

She felt the short-clipped hairs at the back of his head against her fingertips, tasted the faint hint of port on his lips.

The familiar scent of lime wafted around her as she listened to the way his hands ruffled against the fabric of her dress while her eyes remained only half open, so taken with the moment was she.

When she had kissed Lord Bartley, she had kept her eyes wide open, noting how foolish the man appeared mere inches away from her, with his eyes closed.

But now, her eyelids felt heavy and her need to observe faded away as his large, warm hands wrapped around her back, holding her in such a way that he was trying to keep her.

It was rather romantic, she mused vaguely as his kiss deepened.

This was wildly different too. Where Lord Bartley had merely opened and closed his mouth, like a fish out of water, making it rather awkward as Grace had been kissed at , instead of partaking in as a partner, James’s kiss felt organic and seeking, as if she might hold some sort of answer or reaction.

Like he wished to discover something about her and for the life of her, she wanted to give him answers she did not have.

What would happen if she put her hands on him?

With a hazy determination, Grace lifted her hands and pressed them against his chest. A slight intake in his breath made her aware of her effect on him.

So, he was provoked by her touch? A detail to remember, she noted as his hand drifted up along her ribcage to her breast—

Oh .

It was Grace’s turn to gasp as the warmth of his hand sank into the fabric to the sensitive skin beneath.

Suddenly, her body felt as though it were being slowly set on fire as a heat spread across her skin.

She needed to feel his bare hand against her skin.

It was a wild, intrusive thought, but one of pure animalistic desire. One she had never experienced before.

Pressing against him, leaning into their shared kiss, Grace followed her own urgent need, but was pulled sharply out of her own mind when James’s hand came to her shoulders and pulled away from her. He settled her back down on the seat behind her before sitting back himself.

Blinking, confused, Grace stared at him slack-jawed, while they both breathed heavily.

His eyes seemed alight with an emotion Grace couldn’t name and his mouth was open slightly, his breath labored for some reason, as if trying to control himself.

She wanted to feel his beard against her cheek again, and leaned once more toward him, but he held her in place.

“Someone’s coming.”

Grace frowned, unsure or rather unable to comprehend what he was saying. But just as she was about to open her mouth, the carriage door swung open. The driver had done so, only to reveal Aunt Belle, who appeared both pleased and suspicious.

“Ah, there you are, my dear. And Dr. Hall, how curious to see you here. I suspect my niece required your help in retrieving my medicine?”

“I, I mean, we couldn’t find it,” Grace stuttered softly. Why did she sound so breathless? “That is to say, I don’t believe you took it from the house.”

“Really? My mistake then,” she replied, her attention fixated on James. “Are you all right, doctor? You look a bit unwell.”

Grace stole a glance at James whose mouth opened before shutting as he climbed out of the carriage. She leaned forward to watch him leave.

“I’m curious, Lady Belle, what medication were you so desperately in need of that you sent your niece out into the night alone to retrieve for you?”

“But she isn’t alone, Dr. Hall. She’s with you.

Which is rather fortunate, as I saw the Baroness Glengirth asking about you in the anterior of the opera hall.

” Belle shook her head. “She did not appear very pleased to be abandoned, but I reminded her that professional men have responsibilities and a duty to the public, which seemed to satisfy her for a moment, but I would not keep her much longer. She can be prickly when provoked, I’m afraid. ”

He seemed to stare at her for a moment before giving her a single nod.

“I see.”

“I doubt it,” Aunt Belle said beneath her breath as she climbed into the carriage, followed by Arabella, who curtsied.

“Good night, Dr. Hall,” she said before she entered the carriage.

With a final, heated glance, James closed the door rather soundly and walked away, leaving Grace in the presence of her aunt and Arabella, both of whom were watching her with open curiosity.

She swallowed.

“H-how was the rest of the opera?”

“Very interesting,” Aunt Belle said. “You wouldn’t believe who the hero actually turned out to be.”

“Wasn’t it the soldier?” Grace offered as the carriage took off. Although her mind was still reeling from what had just transpired between her and the doctor, she forced herself to remember some detail so as to appear undistracted. “The lowly one whom the duke kept calling a fool?”

“It was the soldier!” Arabella said happily, turning to Aunt Belle. “And you said she wouldn’t remember a thing about the opera.”

Grace gazed at her aunt.

“You said that?”

“Only because it was a very dull and obvious opera,” Aunt Belle said quickly, though a slight blush rose in her wrinkled cheeks. “So much so that we decided to leave a little early. I loathe when plays and musicales have such apparent plots.”

“I like it,” Arabella chimed in. “Especially when it’s a romance. Tragedies, however, can be as unpredictable as possible.”

“I don’t know about that.”

Grace was only partially listening to the two discuss what made for a good story, while her thoughts lingered back to the way she had reacted to James’s kiss.

Never in her life had she believed that she could respond to anyone the way she had to him.

Of course, her only comparison was Lord Bartley, but she had been so utterly uncharmed by the man, not to mention the fact that she hadn’t ever felt strongly about anyone her entire life.

For the better part of her adult life, Grace had felt different from her sisters and the majority of society.

She had never entertained the idea of companionship because she had never been able to form the sort of feelings that other people seemed to be able to do.

Her aunt and sisters had all loved and loved deeply, to the point where Grace had felt a fragmented sort of jealousy, for how could she be envious of something she didn’t understand?

And she still wasn’t quite sure what she was supposed to feel, but that kiss had awakened something she had never realized was within her.

Desire.

It was the oddest feeling when she realized exactly what she was feeling. She desired James. She wanted to be near him, to graze his beard with her fingertips, to press her body against his and feel—

Goodness . No, she couldn’t do that. She was incompatible. Wasn’t she? And surely, there might be a logical way to understand why her pulse increased whenever he was close, or why her skin would tingle if he should accidentally brush against her arm or hand.

Perhaps I might take notes on when and why I react the way I do . Yes. That seemed a practical thing to do. She would document her reactions and see if there was a way to map it out somehow, so that she might learn to understand it better.

Later that night, as she got ready for bed, Grace wondered if she might attempt a sort of experiment, to see if she would always respond the same way, or maybe if it was a temporary phenomenon.

For the rest of the evening, Grace lay awake in bed, unable to think of anything else and she wondered if perhaps she might settle her growing desires by tackling the entire event as a scientific experiment.

By definition, a scientific experiment was a series of steps within a controlled environment that would lead to a hypothesis.

What exactly she was hoping to learn, she wasn’t sure, but there was obviously some sort of physical reaction shared by the two of them and ever being the curious mind, Grace wanted to test it further.

Perhaps she would only enjoy kissing and nothing more.

Or maybe, it was that she was only attracted to men of a certain height?

But then that didn’t quite make sense to her.

Mr. Milton was just as tall as Dr. Hall.

Maybe she only liked men with facial hair?

But that couldn’t be true either, as Lord Bartley also had a mustache.

No, there was something about James in particular that caused Grace to react in a chemical way and she intended to find out why.

By the time she arrived at the pharmacy office the following morning, Grace had decided to explain her planned experiment to the doctor, having rehearsed what she was going to say in her mind all morning, but upon stepping out of the carriage, a paperboy on the far corner of the street shouted and distracted her.

“Three more missing in Gallowgate! Gates go up around Glasgow Necropolis to fend off grave robbers! Hear all about it!”

Grace frowned as a voice spoke behind her.

“G’morning, Dr. Grace,” Virgil said, causing her to jump. “Oh, I didn’t mean to frighten you.”

“Oh, no, you didn’t,” she lied, peering over her shoulder. “I was just listening to that paperboy. It seems more people have gone missing in Gallowgate.”

“Aye, someone is always missing in Gallowgate,” Virgil said as he opened the front door, allowing Grace to enter before him. He followed her inside. “It’s where a lot of people go to be forgotten as it were.”

“Forgotten? But why?”

He shrugged as he hobbled around the glass display case.