Tammy Falkner - [Faerie 02] by The Magic of "I Do" Page A

spot from the toe of Finn’s boot. He stood up and surveyed Finn with a critical eye. “I believe you are presentable, my lord,” Simmons said.
    He was more than presentable. Presentable was a Christmas goose. He was the blasted chandelier in the middle of the ballroom, alight with a thousand flaming candles.
    Finn hated these gatherings. He would rather stay at home. If he stayed home, he could go and find Claire and entice her to talk to him. She’d been surprisingly absent all day. Finn had even gone to search her out at one point during the day, worried for her, but was informed by Wilkins that she had gone out to visit the apothecary with her new maid.
    What on earth might she need from the apothecary? And with what did she purchase it?
    “I gave her some of the household funds,” Wilkins had informed him. “I believe His Grace would have wanted me to do so.”
    Finn should have thought of her need for money and given her some of her own. He had plenty to spare.
    He looked once more in the looking glass, content with what he saw. He would go quickly to Ackley’s ball and find Katherine, and then ask her that fateful question. The question that could change the course of his life.
    He highly doubted that the child was his. But one could not be certain of such matters. The thought of having a child didn’t frighten him. The thought of having a child with Katherine did.
    Finn shrugged into his coat, took his walking stick and hat from Wilkins, and started for the front door. He’d called for a carriage before he came downstairs, and the staff at the Hall was nothing if not efficient. Wilkins opened the door, and Finn stepped out into the night. He turned back to look at the upstairs window. He very nearly turned around and went back inside when he saw a figure standing in the window upstairs, watching him leave. He couldn’t see her face, but he had no doubt it was Claire. He tipped his hat at her, and she raised her hand and waved.
    The footman opened the carriage door and Finn stepped inside. He leaned back heavily against the squabs. He didn’t relish this night, not in the least. He wasn’t looking forward to the confrontation with Katherine. He wasn’t even looking forward to the debauchery. He had only one woman on his mind, and she’d been on his mind for months. And now she was in his house. And he was gone. He sighed heavily.
    From the darkness on the other side of the coach, a throaty laugh erupted. Finn jumped and reached for the lamp. As he did, the person on the darkened side of the carriage came to sit beside him. He looked her up and down.
    “Who the devil are you?” he asked.
    “I can be whoever you want me to be,” she purred. She wore a black silk mask that tied behind her head. Her hair was a riot of black curls atop her head, held back by shimmering diamond hair clips.
    The scent of her reached up to tickle his nose. It was the soft smell of lemons and summer. He would know that smell anywhere. In fact, it invaded his dreams most nights, wrapping around his manhood and squeezing. Much like it was doing now. “Claire?” he asked.
    She laughed and tugged the mask from her face. “I thought it would take you longer.” Her lips formed a pout. And he immediately wanted to kiss her.
    Finn moved to tap the roof so he could call the coachman to turn around and take her back. But she reached over and covered his hand with hers, drawing it down into her lap. “Claire,” he warned. “You have to go back to the Hall.”
    “I’ll do no such thing.”
    ***
    Claire didn’t like the idea of him going to a den of iniquity. Not at all. And she was bound and determined that he would not go without her. She’d spent the entire day preparing for the ball. She’d even paid a visit to the apothecary to get tint for her hair. Her normal blond locks were now a sooty black. Her face was painted and her eyes lined lightly with kohl. She even had a tiny beauty mark on her left cheek.
    She looked up at