She raised her chin. Knowing that she risked disaster, she said the only thing that came to mind. I wanted to see where you sleep.
Surprise had him lurching back. What the devil?
She took advantage of the few extra inches of space to draw a breath, tangy with sandalwood. Turning red as a tomato would lend credence to her explanation. Please dont make me admit this.
He watched her like a snake watched a rat. Admit what?
Must I say? You put me to the blush. That at least was true.
Yes, you must.
She pressed her damp palms to her skirts. How shed love to punch him, but she had a horrible inkling that his jaw would be much harder than her fist. Dear heaven, help her to sound convincing. But not too convincing.
Hasnt a servant ever been besotted with you, my lord? To her surprise, her question emerged steadily.
Not to my He spoke very deliberately. Are you saying you have a penchant for me, Miss Trim?
He didnt sound pleased. She should be relieved that he wasnt ripping her clothes off. After all, her confession could be taken as an invitation. Yet again it struck her that he was a remarkably restrained libertine.
She struggled to appear bashful instead of scared out of her wits. Its embarrassing.
Im sure. He sounded skeptical, as well he might. Youve never seemed dazzled.
She turned her face away, staring at his hand spread against the doors rich mahogany. Like the rest of him, his hand was big and powerful and beautifully formed. Despite everything, she couldnt resist imagining that hand on her skin. His gold signet ring, visible symbol of his rank, gleamed evilly from his little finger. I have my pride.
Of course, he said drily.
She struggled to look humble and shy and innocent. All were true. Well, apart from the humble part. Her stepfather had frequently warned her that a mere sergeant majors daughter had no right to be so stiff-necked. Im aware of the gulf between us.
And it breaks your heart.
If only she could squeeze out a convincing tear. I cant help my feelings.
He didnt move closer. It just felt that way. Do you really expect me to credit this balderdash?
Her temper stirred. You underestimate your effect on an impressionable girl.
He snorted disbelief. More balderdash.
Damn him. A turbulent mix of desperation, anger and reckless bravado gripped her. Frantic hands grabbed the front of his shirt. Ill show you balderdash, my lord.
She stretched up until her lips crashed into his.
Chapter 7
Leath stiffenedeverywhereunder Miss Trims unexpected assault. He had to give her credit. Shed dare the devil. He hadnt expected her to take this absurdity about her tendre for him to this length.
But then, hed cornered her, hadnt he?
Her lips were soft and endearingly clumsy. She kissed like a young girl. This might be another ruse to disarm him, but he didnt think so. Even more unbelievable than her supposed infatuation, the glorious Miss Trim wasnt much good at kissing.
Which turned out to be a damned lucky thing. As it was, he was hard as an iron bar. If she demonstrated an ounce of skill, his sanity would dissolve completely.
Because he was still marginally sane, he caught her shoulders. For a moment, he reveled in her slender strength. Then with more difficulty than he wanted to admit, he pushed her away.
She panted as her lips slid free. Throughout the brief, urgent kiss, shed kept her mouth closed.
What She looked dazed, as if hed painted her world with rainbows. Imagine if hed kissed her back, taught her what to do.
Except that he refused to kiss women he didnt trust. And he most definitely didnt trust this one. Although the shine in her eyes, firelit amber, might almost convince him that she really was smitten.
She licked her lips again, slowly, as if tasting him. He bit back a groan and drew her closer, when good sense dictated that he throw her out on her delectable rump. Solving the puzzle of her presence was impossible when the wicked urge to have his way with her jammed his brain. He wasnt used to his head and his instincts being at odds. His head should be winning.
It wasnt.
I give you points for trying, he said, the hint of savagery directed mostly at himself. Her flinch stabbed him with guilt, although heaven knew shed asked for trouble.
Im sorry. Her slender throat moved as she swallowed. If you tell your mother I kissed you, shell let you dismiss me.
He was surprised that his mother had mentioned his attempts to send Miss Trim away. If she knows you came to my room, thats enough, he snapped and felt guilty again when she flushed with humiliation.
So youll win.
More easily than hed expected. He wondered why he wasnt happier. He should be dancing a jig, now that this conniving baggage had overreached herself. But his lips tingled from the pressure of hers. His head flooded with the lemon perfume of her soap, more familiar than it should be. Just the sound of her voice made him yearn.
He didnt believe that she wanted him. But by God, he wanted her. Except she hadnt claimed to want him, had she? Shed claimed a silly schoolgirl infatuation.
It would serve her right if he showed her what risks she took. Tossed her onto his bed and flung himself on top of her.
Except
Except in her face, he saw secrets and mysteries. But he also saw innocence. Whatever else she was, she wasnt experienced with men. That one awkward, incendiary kiss betrayed Miss Trim as a novice.
She played dangerous games.
He should send her away with orders to pack.
His hands tightened on her shoulders, holding her in place.
Why dont you tell me to go? she asked wonderingly. For once, she sounded like a bewildered young girl, not the woman whose actions tormented him with questions and whose presence banished his sleep.
You want to kiss me?
No, she said quickly, then less certainly, Yes.
She struggled to keep up the pretense of girlish adoration. Except that after shed kissed him, hed caught arousal stirring in her eyes.
Which is it?
She bit her lip and before he could stop himself, he bent to kiss her, to stop her torturing that luscious mouth. Her shocked gasp was a whisper of warm breath on his face.
His hands slid around her back, holding her as a lover holds a woman he intends to kiss. Thoroughly.
Knowing hed pay, knowing this was absolutely the last thing he should do, he brushed his lips across Miss Trims.
Nell still shook with reaction from her first kiss. The experience had left her confused and strangely frustrated. She wasnt sure shed enjoyed it, although it had been interesting.
She hadnt expected the heat and intimacy and sheer physicality of placing her lips on a mans. His mouth had been firm and he hadnt responded. Not that she was sure what she wanted him to do.
For a long moment, Leath watched her with an unreadable expression. His hands dug into her shoulders and she feared that he was about to shove her out the door. She was bizarrely reluctant to go. She braced for a summary ejection from his room, then tomorrow a summary ejection from Alloway Chase.
For a long moment, Leath watched her with an unreadable expression. His hands dug into her shoulders and she feared that he was about to shove her out the door. She was bizarrely reluctant to go. She braced for a summary ejection from his room, then tomorrow a summary ejection from Alloway Chase.
His hold softened in a way she couldnt describe. She stared up at him, transfixed, afraid. No wonder poor silly Dorothy had fallen under his spell. He was the most compelling man shed ever known.
Her skin tightened with anticipation. Slowly his lips skimmed across hers in a caress as different from her allout assault as satin from iron.
The kiss lasted no more than a second, yet flooded her with such longing that her knees buckled. She leaned back against the door.
He still looked uncompromising. His features were all hard planes: strong bones, jutting nose, adamantine jaw.
Yet his lips His lips had been softer than a feather.
She snatched a jagged breath and struggled to speak, but before she could, he gave her another of those sweet kisses. Did he linger a little this time? Taste her as delicately as hed sample a fine claret?
Her breath caught as he raised his head and regarded her with familiar concentration. To steady herself, she hooked her hands around his neck. That was
Lovely? Wrong? Frightening? Beguiling?
Heaven help her. Heaven condemn her. Shed started this. Now shed opened the gates to destruction on a level shed never contemplated.
One thumb trailed down the line of her jaw, leaving a tingling wake. His lips quirked in a faint smile that set her heart cartwheeling. The huskiness in his voice stroked across her nerves like silk. The clean, male scent of his skin surrounded her, too familiar in a man who should be a stranger. Youre not usually lost for words, Miss Trim.
Shed never been kissed before. Shed always imagined that whoever the lucky fellow was, hed use her Christian name. Still, something about the way his lordship said Miss Trim made her shiver with excitement. And God forgive her, lately when shed imagined kisses, the man kissing her had been Lord Leath.
Nell felt as if she toppled over a cliff. She should flee, forsake her quest for vengeance, forget that however unacceptable the attraction, she found this man so appealing. She should scuttle back to Mearsall and her dear, kind stepfather, and her dull existence, and be grateful that dullness promised safety.
You shouldnt have done that, she said shakily.
You kissed me first.
Two wrongs dont make a right.
She wasnt surprised when he laughed. Even she thought that she sounded absurd.
You seem new to the activity. I merely offered an alternative technique.
She thought shed blushed before, but this critique set her cheeks on fire. I dont go around kissing random men, my lord. I refuse to apologize for my inexperience.
Im glad. He caught her loosely by the waist. She was overwhelmingly conscious of those large hands holding her.
For my inexperience?
That you made an exception to your rule.
I suppose youre used to women throwing themselves at you, she mumbled, knowing she made a fool of herself. A man like Leath probably couldnt step outside without tripping over eager young ladies wanting to kiss him. Wanting more.
The idea of him doing more to her sent Nells heart hurtling into her ribs.
He smiled. How she wished that hed stop. That gentle curve of his beautifully cut lips set her pulses rocketing. If only life was so exciting for a politically minded marquess.
She wasnt deceived. Even disregarding Dorothys story, she couldnt see women ignoring his manifold attractions. Hed been angry when hed discovered her in his room. She sensed no anger now. Just perpetual waiting.
She backed away and bumped hard into the door. I must go.
His hands tightened. You freely entered the lions den, Miss Trim.
Stop calling me Miss Trim, she said crossly, bracing her hands against his powerful chest. She told herself to push him away, but her disobedient fingers curved into hard muscle. He was so wonderfully warm. Beneath her right palm, his heart beat like a conquerors drum.
The kiss had been intimate. Feeling the life pounding through him felt more so. What a mistake shed made coming here. Even if she left immediately, she and the marquess would never be strangers again.
Would you rather I called you Eleanor? he asked silkily.
Her eyes widened. Only my father called me Eleanor. Everyone calls me Nell.
I rather like the idea of kissing Eleanor.
I rather like the idea of going back to my room. She squeaked in horror. That sounded like a proposition. Alone.
So no curiosity?
She saw by his expression that the shake of her head lacked conviction. Im sorry I invaded your apartments.
Im not.
Shocked, she stared at him. Youre not?
I have a lovely woman in my arms and no particular plans for the rest of the evening.
Her stomach lurched in dismay. Dear Lord, at last she saw the seducer. And as hed so rightly said, shed put herself squarely in his sights. She shoved his chest. It was like trying to move a monolith. No.
No?
Droit de seigneur went out of fashion with the farthingale.
So you dont want to share my bed?
No. Although her blood beat hard and hot at the thought of having that big beautiful body as her plaything for the night.
Yet here you are. The edge in his tone made her shiver.
I told you why.
Yes, youre suffering a bad case of unrequited love.
She pushed at his chest again. Not love. Just infatuation.
Prove it.
Her wriggling stopped and she regarded him aghast. Im not a doxy. Bitterness seeped into her voice. I dont even know how to kiss, as you so ungallantly pointed out.
His laugh this time held the characteristic grim note. Briefly when hed kissed her, hed looked like a gentler, younger, kinder man. Now the purpose in his expression made her quake with nerves. And unwilling excitement. Shed never stood so long in a mans embrace. Next to Leath, she felt small and feminine. Powerless too, which should terrify her. After all, he threatened ruin, and there was nobody to save her.
Youll keep your chastity, although God knows you tempt fate.
I thought you were in the library, she said stubbornly.
No excuse.
So let me go.
His smile wasnt reassuring. Not until youve learned how to kiss a man.
She braced against him. I think Im better off not knowing.
Im appalled that a woman so lovely is untouched.
She narrowed her eyes. Compliments wont make me stay.
Perhaps not. But this might.
He captured her lips in a quick, commanding kiss. Odd how much he could convey without words.
You you flatter yourself, my lord.
Do I? Youre still here.
She gulped in air. She kept forgetting to breathe. Then when she did, Leaths musky essence intoxicated her, making coherent thought impossible.
Another inhalation. Only to realize that he no longer held her. His beautiful hands hung loose and open at his sides, although his rough breathing indicated disquiet.