Claiming His Wife by Golden Angel

cowardice.
    "Excuse me, my lady," she murmured to
the Countess, "I must visit the retiring room."
    "Of course, my dear, hurry back," the
Countess said, smiling benignly.  She was fully decked out in
all her best clothing, a glittering array of gold and ruby red,
guaranteed to attract attention.  Obviously, she was in alt
over finally having her eldest son about to be married.
 Bemused, Cynthia hurried away, sliding between the ladies and
nodding inanely as she passed.
    In her own dress of dark rose pink,
edged with cream, Cynthia knew that she looked quite attractive
tonight.  The color matched her nipples perfectly, which made
her feel wonderfully naughty, even though no one else was aware of
it.  Well, the Earl might be, but he certainly wouldn't say
anything even if he realized.  
    As she made her way across the room,
the frustrating man materialized at her elbow.
    "Where do you think you're
going?"
    Cynthia scowled up at him, not at all
intimidated by his low, threatening voice.  "Anywhere but back
there," she said, jerking her head back towards where his mother
was standing holding court.  The Earl's lips twitched as he
almost smiled.  Ha.  She knew he had a sense of humor in
there, even if he did tend to present his stuffiest side to
her.
    Well, stuffy when he
wasn't baring her backside, turning it bright red and then putting
his... well.  Now her own cheeks were starting to match her
dress as she looked up at him.  It wasn't like her to be
easily embarrassed, but she couldn't think about him doing that  without
blushing.  
    "You, of all people, shouldn't be left
unchaperoned for even a minute," he said, taking her hand and
putting it on his arm.  Since Cynthia didn't actually need to
use the retiring room, she didn't protest.
    "Then you can chaperone
me," she said, smiling up at him with such saccharine sweetness
that she knew he'd be suspicious.  She'd noticed that he was
always the most wary of her when she was behaving correctly.
 It set him on edge.  "After all, you seem unable to go
more than a minute without a female on your arm, it might as well
be me."
    The Earl's eyebrows raised and a
little gleam entered his eyes.  He really was devastatingly
attractive.  "Jealous?"
    "Hardly," she said,
airily, blatantly lying through her teeth.  It had surprised
her, actually, how possessive she felt of him.  The good news
was, she knew that he was just as bad and she intended to use that.
 "There are quite a few gentlemen who would be eager to make
up for your neglecting me."  
    They changed direction
with a suddenness that almost made her stumble, but the Earl caught
her with his arm around her waist, his grip tight, as he maneuvered
them towards to the doors to the outside.  Silent, imposing,
and completely in control, he ushered her out into the night.
 The darkness was broken up by the lights throughout the
gardens, a few shadowy figures moving in the distance along the
less well-lit pathways.  Couples, who were searching out
intimacy.
    Leading her onto one of
those darker pathways, Wesley was filled with satisfaction that he
no longer had to worry about her reputation.  Betrothed
couples were always given a certain amount of leeway, and with the
wedding day looming so close, they'd be given even more.  No
one would look askance, as long as he married the chit, and Wesley
had no intention of changing his mind about that.  
    Wesley knew that once they were
married, the rakes would be hovering... waiting.  His
soon-to-be wife was exactly the kind of treat they'd like to
indulge in, with her sensuous curves and eager passion; if he ever
made the mistake of letting her become a bored matron, they would
pounce.  However, Wesley had no intention of ever allowing
that to happen.  For once, he was fairly certain that Cynthia
was one of the few women in the world who would be able to satisfy
his baser urges and his need to indulge in them on a very regular
basis.
    Right now he was suffering,