But he had been right there, all along, the one man she could not forget after just one kiss. Stepping forward, Audrey reached out to him and cradled his face between her palms.

‘You honor me, Sir.’

‘The hell I do,’ he retorted, but his own hands came up to slide around her wrists. ‘Well? Will you have me?’

She smiled then, moving forward, pressing herself against him. His breath caught in the most satisfactory way. ‘Will you be kind to me Kirkwood? Will you handle me delicately, shelter my tender emotions, spare my womanly sensibilities?’

‘I very much doubt it,’ he muttered, voice roughening. She had managed to lodge herself against him most agreeably and was pleased with the effect she seemed to be having upon him. ‘I’m more likely to rip your clothes off and bury myself in you.’

The admission was both shocking and delicious and heat surged through her. ‘They say you are a rogue, Sir, with no gentlemanly instincts at all.’

‘Oh I have instincts,’ he assured her. ‘In fact, I am suffering from a surfeit of them right at this moment.’

‘Oh dear,’ she murmured, raising her face to his. ‘Should I be alarmed?’

‘Yes, Miss Hathaway,’ he growled, enfolding her in his arms. ‘You should be terrified!’

His mouth descended, crushing her own beneath it and Audrey welcomed the sweet, savage pressure. She wound her arms around his neck and returned the kiss, mouth opening eagerly beneath his urgency, tongues twining, bodies aflame for each other. She felt no hesitation at this rough treatment, only a desire to be closer to him, to meet his fervor with her own. Long fingers splayed across her back, hot and hard through the fabric of her gown, holding her even closer while his erection pushed against her own softness, an antidote to the desperate longing that was swelling within her.

This was no undemanding, gentle love, she thought hazily. This was a storm that would likely pick her up and spin her around but oh, she wanted to be swept away by Kirkwood, to have him teach her everything he knew about his own version of rapture, to take her to a place where she knew, instinctively, they would be perfectly matched. This was the love she had been craving, had she but known it and this was the man she had been craving it with. Audrey melted and melded beneath the onslaught, returning his sweet hunger in full until her senses surrendered to the onslaught and the world span away…

… so much so that neither of them heard the sound of Millie hammering on the door until the girl herself was tugging at Audrey’s sleeve, sounding thoroughly exasperated.

‘Audrey! For heaven’s sake, will you please pay attention to me. Mama is coming, I tell you!’

The words penetrated at last and Kirkwood’s grip slackened, his lips leaving her own. She stared up at him, eyes heavy with desire. ‘Oh my goodness…’

‘Never mind that,’ her youngest sister said sharply. ‘Mr. Kirkwood, please step away from my sister before Mama comes in or she will know you have been kissing her. And believe me when I say that you do not want to be explaining that particular circumstance.’

Kirkwood blinked, but the words had a very bracing effect and he collected himself hastily. He took a quick step backwards, although his hands fell away with obvious reluctance, as if they wished to remain exactly where there were. ‘Miss Hathaway,’ he began.

‘Whatever you do,’ Audrey said in a low voice. ‘Do not apologize.’

He closed his mouth abruptly and smiled, a slow, sensuous smile that spread to his wicked dark eyes and did little to soothe the clamoring longing within. Audrey looked at her sister hurriedly and smoothed her hair. ‘Do I look respectable?’

‘After what I just witnessed, I doubt I shall ever find you respectable again,’ her loving sister observed cheerfully.

‘Do not say a word!’

‘As if I would want to tell Mama about that.’

There came the sound of Isabella’s and Mama’s voices in the hallway and the more piercing accents of Lady Allingham, all of them heading towards the breakfast room. They paused when they saw the three figures standing in the parlor.

‘Audrey,’ Mama said in some surprise. ‘Whatever are you doing in here?’

‘Well,’ Audrey began, wondering what to say. Millie was with them, of course but there really wasn’t any reason for the three of them to be in the parlor.

‘Lady Hathaway,’ Kirkwood said, stepping forward. ‘May I have a word with you?’

Mama looked surprised. ‘Why certainly, Mr. Kirkwood.’ She stepped into the parlor, Isabella and Lady Allingham following on. It would have been far better if Lady Allingham hadn’t followed, Audrey reflected, but there was no helping it now. Isabella gave her a quizzical glance and tilted her head in question. Audrey grimaced. She was uncertain what Kirkwood intended but wouldn’t put anything past him. Harry trailed into the room a few moments later and, just to complete the party, Beth and Roddy joined them almost immediately, having obviously been listening for the sounds of some disturbance.

She and Kirkwood shared a rueful glance. ‘We might as well tell them all at once,’ he suggested quietly. ‘Although if you would prefer to wait…?’

‘No,’ Audrey shook her head. ‘Go ahead.’

No matter how one looked at this, it was an embarrassing situation, being found standing in a parlor with a scandalous gentleman with only one’s young sister to make the situation respectable. But Audrey found that she did not have it in her to be shamed or shocked by the circumstances she suddenly found herself in. The most remarkable happiness had her in its grip and the weeks of painful introspection and uncertainty disappeared as if they had never happened.

She was going to marry Kirkwood. It would probably outrage Society and they were likely to be shunned by the ton in droves. Audrey did not care in the least.

Stepping forward, Kirkwood reached out and took her hand. ‘Lady Hathaway, would you care to sit down?’

Mama looked at Audrey’s hand, firmly held in Kirkwood’s. She headed for the nearest chair and sat down heavily. ‘Audrey?’

‘It’s perfectly all right, Mama,’ Audrey assured her. ‘In fact, it’s better than all right.’

‘Lady Hathaway,’ Kirkwood continued on with admirable aplomb, given the circumstances and the audience. ‘I would like to ask for your daughter’s hand in marriage.’

‘Oh my!’ Mama breathed.

‘What?’ Lady Allingham snapped. ‘What did you say?’

‘I find it hard to believe that you could have misunderstood but to recap, I have asked for Miss Hathaway’s hand in marriage,’ Kirkwood said, turning his head to regard his stepmother.

‘Good God, you must be mad!’ Lady Allingham said incredulously. ‘Offering for someone of Miss Hathaway’s status. As if she would ever dream of marrying somebody like you.’

‘Oh for God’s sake, Mother,’ Allingham said impatiently from the doorway. ‘Do stop this nonsense about his birth. Darius is practically royalty on his mother’s side. He is hardly descended from peasant stock.’

His mother switched her arctic stare to her son. ‘He is a bastard, Roderick. In case you have forgotten.’

‘You have never let me forget it for so much as a moment in the past twenty-three years.’

‘Thank you for your support, brother,’ Kirkwood said, before her ladyship could retaliate. ‘Believe me when I say, nobody knows better than I that I am punching above my weight but I love Miss Hathaway and intend to make her an unexceptional husband.’

Audrey smiled at this. She could not help it. The idea that Kirkwood could be anything but extraordinary was impossible to believe. ‘Mama?’ she said, turning to her parent. ‘You have said very little. I know this is a shock but please, say that you approve.’

Lady Hathaway hesitated, studying Audrey with troubled eyes. ‘I am not sure what to say,’ she admitted. ‘It is not that I have any objection to Mr. Kirkwood himself, my dear, but I am not at all sure this is suitable.’