She also kept the women away who only wanted to entice Sam. This was more of a political evening for Sam she told herself as she herded yet another romantic hopeful in another direction. Marabeth didn’t feel catty in her efforts to keep Sam away from the ladies with a hopeful eye. women if he needed to. following her mother’s instructions. She decided that he could socialize another night with these
She told herself she wasn’t being jealous, just practical and
Several long hours later, Sam stopped the conversation and turned to smile down at Marabeth. “Come with me,” Sam’s voice said close to her ear.
Marabeth turned and looked curiously up at him. There were several other people who wanted to talk with Sam and she didn’t understand what he wanted.
She found out soon enough when he spun her expertly onto the dance floor. “Don’t you want to talk with Lord Winters? I know he’s one of your primary supporters. It would be beneficial for your plans if you could increase his support.”
He pulled her closer and spun her, forcing her to hold onto his muscular shoulders and lean into him. “I know. But I wanted to dance with you,” he said.
“Why? This isn’t a night for dancing,” she said, looking around worriedly, keeping her fingers carefully away from his hair and neck. “You should be rounding up your supporters and convincing your opponents. This is the ideal scenario and you were doing so well.”
“And I wanted to dance with you. I was tired of talking with boring old men who think it is their right to tell everyone what to do. And you look beautiful.”
She followed his lead but wished she could escape. The hand holding hers was warm and strong and the one resting against her waist was creating havoc with her mind. “You should…”
“Stop,” he interrupted. “Just relax and dance with me. The arguments will wait a few more minutes. And I don’t think anyone would fault me for dancing with one of the loveliest women in the room,” he said and pulled her closer to his large frame.
Marabeth felt his legs brush against hers and she liked it too much. “I’m sure there are several women in the room who would like to dance with you. Perhaps you’d like to ask them,” she said, starting to pull out of his arms.
But he wouldn’t let her. His grip tightened and he only pulled her closer. “Why are you afraid of me?” he asked, looking down into her worried green eyes.
Marabeth quickly looked away. “I’m not afraid of you,” she said defensively. “I just don’t want to dance. You’re right, it has been a long evening and I’m a little tired.”
Sam twirled her to the edge of the floor, then quickly tucked her hand into his arm, escorting her off the dance floor and then out the door onto the dimly lit patio. There were candles placed around the edges of the patio but they didn’t penetrate too deeply into the night. Sam led her off the stone steps and into a pretty veranda that offered them a little more privacy from the guests at the party.
“What are you doing?” she asked nervously.
“I’m giving you a break, just as you asked,” he said and moved closer to her.
She couldn’t see his eyes in the darkness but she suspected that he might be laughing at her again.
“I didn’t mean that you needed to be with me,” she said and started moving towards the light again.
He laughed softly as his arm reached out and wrapped around her waist, pulling her against his body. “Relax. I promise I won’t bite,” he said. “At least not where it will show tomorrow,” he continued.
Marabeth instantly pushed against his rock hard chest but she was unable to put even an inch between the two of them. “This isn’t proper,” she said breathlessly, not because of her exertions but because of the feelings his body was creating within her.
“I know. But you’ll run away if I let you go. Besides, you feel very nice.”
“Minister…”
“Don’t even think about calling me anything but Sam,” he said softly. “And stop fluttering your hands around.”
Marabeth was too flustered. “What do you want me to do with them?” she demanded.
Sam laughed. “That’s a very provocative question but in deference to your nervousness, I’ll just reply that you can put them anywhere you’d like.”
“I’m not nervous,” she reiterated but finally settled her hands on his chest. It was where she wanted them to be anyway so she enjoyed having permission to leave them there.
“That’s better,” he said when she’d settled slightly. “Now, about your lips,” he started.
“We weren’t talking about my lips,” she said, her hands instantly pushing against his chest again in an effort to put more space between the two of them. “Please, we need to get back inside before people start noticing that we’re not in the ballroom.”
Sam didn’t bring up the fact that just about everyone in the ballroom had either watched them leave or had been told that the two of them had left together by now. The speculation had started the moment he’d entered the ballroom with her on his arm. He was sure that the press was already linking his name to hers and normally that would irritate him. But he liked being linked to her. In fact, he’d encouraged it which confused him on one level. He knew he’d have to go back in to the ballroom, but he’d been too distracted by her lips all evening. As she’d spoken to the various people, he’d been wondering if her lips were as soft as they looked with her pretty pink lipstick.
“You weren’t talking about your lips, but I’ve been thinking about them all night.”
His statement stilled her hands and she froze against his tall, strong frame. “Why?” she asked, her nervous eyes looking up at him.
“Because I’ve wanted to kiss them for a long time.”
Her eyes dropped to his mouth of their own free will. “No. We can’t do that,” she said breathlessly.
Sam ignored her, noticing the increased pulse at the base of her throat. He smiled slightly before bending his head to touch her lips gently. When she didn’t pull back, he touched them again, then again, eventually covering her lips with his, caressing them softly and finally coaxing a response from her. He felt her shiver when his mouth covered hers and absorbed it into his body, enjoying the feeling of her feminine shape against his masculine one.