With Love (Blackwood & Friends #1)

Chapter 13: Woodland Rendezvous

Chapter 13: Woodland Rendezvous

"You look piqued," Blanche said when Nicola returned to her companions.

The lingering rays of dusk cast the area in a dim molten hue and servants scuttled to light the multitudinous candles and lamps littering the grounds of the estate.

She was indeed piqued. Nicola placed a hand against her abdomen to quell the nerves stirring restlessly within and frowned. "I am feeling out of sorts," she explained and suddenly the fib came to her easily, how she would justify her disappearance. "I'll adjoin for a bit to freshen up and return shortly." Blanche's expression was concerned, but after querying after her wellbeing, acquiesced easily to allow Nicola the time she needed to meet with her brother in secret. The deception was relatively easy, but then why wouldn't it be? Nicola had never given her companion reason to suspect she was partaking in behaviour that was decidedly risqué... it was not something she had ever indulged before.

She didn't like keeping secrets from Blanche... but the idea of her ever discovering about her secret longings for her roguish brother was laughable. She was sure Blanche would find it as such, in any event, and she couldn't stand to endure the torment of her closest friend thinking she a fool.

Her next obstacle was to move unnoticed through the party and follow Jason's route. If she didn't know the Northwick grounds, she would be problematically lost, but she did so Nicola climbed the steps to the topmost terrace and veered to her right, the same way she had ventured the day of the Dowager Marchioness's visit. The trail that sloped from the stairs at the side of the manor house would fork and the right would link with the route Jason had taken if she had deduced correctly.

She had to move carefully in the foliage, mindful of her skirts as they gathered debris from the ground. Light was dimmer inside the woodlands, her eyes taking some time to adjust to the darkness, while the twinkling lights from hundreds of tiny candles and lanterns blinked and flickered through the leaves of the trees, which was why she did not see him at first.

"Gather your skirts, darling," Jason drawled from somewhere to her side, causing her to start and squeak in surprise.

Heart hammering with the fright he'd given her, Nicola scowled at him. He emerged from the shadows of a pine tree, his teeth white amid a sultry grin as he stalked her. "The sounds you make when you are startled," he mused aloud, his eyes glowing in the dark, "are positively adorable."

"If you continue to sneak up on me, I'll surely perish from fright," she admonished.

His eyes were glinting with mirth, but he simply held out his hand and repeated, "Gather your skirts, Nicki."

"Why?"

"I don't want to return you to the party with a soiled dress." He gestured to her train gathered in the soft mulch at their feet. "We don't have much time."

She snorted and hastily bundled the material in one hand, finding herself for the second time in two days exposing her stockinged legs to him, though it was decidedly darker this time with less for him to peruse. Once that was done, Jason grasped her free hand, his fingers clasping hers intimately, and with a look full of promise, he began to run.

Her protest died on her lips with a gasp, because too soon she was smiling and tripping into step behind him. It was a light trot, not too fast, but enough to ensure adequate ground was covered and he tugged her along, their feet light and sure over paths they had each taken plenty of times over, but never together. He stopped briefly to help guide her over a fallen log, holding her hand high and assisting her with her skirts, which made them both laugh, and then they were running again, deeper into the forest. The moment was magical and Nicola felt devilish and free, her feet flying underneath her and after his, while the world danced with shadows and twinkling ethereal lights, the ambient blue haze of dusk tinging the green world with its luminescence. The hushed laughter that they shared was natural, his hand squeezing hers with gentle encouragement.