‘Do you believe the curse exists?’
‘I know of at least two men who took possession of the necklace who met untimely deaths—one violently and the other died of a mysterious disease.’
A cold tremor trickled down Linnet’s spine. The stranger turned his dark eyes on her. She looked away, biting her lip—there was something unpleasant about what he said that put a different slant on the necklace. Telling herself it was all mumbo-jumbo, she shook herself and looked at him. The line of his jaw was hard and behind the cold glitter of his dark eyes lay a fathomless stillness.
‘It is an interesting tale, but I think it is just superstitious nonsense. I do not believe that beings can exact revenge from beyond the grave.’
‘Beings that possess unknown and seemingly evil qualities,’ he stated flatly, keeping his voice soft, knowing he was deliberately trying to make her question her desire for the necklace.
‘Nevertheless, it was all a long time ago and Egypt is a long way away. I am not afraid of such things. I refuse to let them scare me.’
‘Then does that mean you are unwilling to relinquish your claim?’
‘Yes.’
His voice was condescendingly amused as he tried not to look too deeply into her eyes, eloquent in the fear she was trying so hard to hide. He smiled. ‘Then I suggest we play for it. Would that be agreeable to you?’
Christian knew he should not give her the impression that he was a thief, that he should explain his reason for taking the necklace, which was completely innocent and that he was its rightful owner, but he found he was enjoying teasing her and could think of nothing that would please him more just then than to prolong their encounter. There was something about her that touched a hidden spot within him that he had not felt for a long time. It would give him no pleasure to have her arrested. No pleasure at all.
‘If you refuse to relinquish it to me, then I will have to. What do you suggest?’
‘A wager,’ he suggested.
Linnet’s eyes narrowed. If playing for the necklace was the only way she could secure it and put it back in its box, then that was what she must do. ‘What kind of wager?’
A leisurely smile moved across the stranger’s face. ‘By your actions you seem to be hell bent on self-destruction.’
Linnet’s eyes flashed with a feral gleam. ‘That is my affair.’
‘I agree, but you cannot deny that you have got yourself into an impossible situation. You are too reckless by far.’
‘What is life without a little danger?’ she replied wryly.
Christian laughed lightly. ‘My feeling exactly. So—let us play a game of chance. The best of three.’ Putting the necklace back into its box and placing it on top of the chest, he produced two dice from his pocket.
* * *
Raising her eyebrows, Linnet gave him an ironic look. The man was infuriatingly sublime in his amusement. She was self-willed, energetic and passionate, with a fierce and undisciplined temper, but her youth, her charm and her wit had more than made up for the deficiencies in her character. She was proud and spirited and so determined to have her own way that she had always been prepared to plough straight through any hurdle that stood in her path—just as she was about to do now. It dawned on her that she was making an idiot of herself, but her wits had been put somewhat out of sorts by their exchange so far. If she weren’t so desperate to replace the necklace that Toby had stolen, she’d cheerfully tell the man to go and jump in the Thames.
‘You even came prepared, I see.’ Linnet glanced at the dice suspiciously. Should she ask to inspect them? she wondered. On second thoughts, perhaps not. They looked quite ordinary, yet she was hardly an expert in these matters—Toby would have been able to tell if they were loaded at a glance. It would appear that she would have to trust this infuriating stranger.
The handsome stranger stepped towards a table. She followed, feeling his eyes intently upon her. His hands were the hands of a gentleman, his fingers long and tapering. But if he was a gentleman—a nobleman for all she knew—then what had turned him into a thief? She looked up at him, meeting eyes as black as his mask. He was tall, lean, muscular, giving the appearance of someone who rode, fenced and hunted. She recognised authority when she met it and his personality was so strong that she was certain that with a lift of one of his arrogant eyebrows, or a flare of a nostril, he could make one tremble with fear. She guessed him to be in his late twenties.
There was an aggressive confidence and strength of purpose to him. She detected an air of breeding about him, a quality that displayed itself in his crisp manner and neat apparel. His eyes, holding hers captive, seemed capable of piercing her soul, laying bare her innermost secrets, causing a chill to sear through her. She felt overwhelmed by his close presence and he seemed to invade every part of her. She thought it miraculous that she managed to keep her head.
‘Would you like first throw?’ he asked.
‘No, you can go first.’
‘I must point out that I never wager on uncertainties.’
‘That’s an arrogant assumption. Are you saying that I will lose?’
He bowed his head in deferential respect. ‘I would not be so bold. I would not dare. I suspect it would be more than my life is worth. All I am saying is that I intend to win.’
Clearly in no hurry, he caressed the dice in the palms of his hands and then rolled them over the table’s polished surface. They rolled over and over before finally stopping close to the edge, showing two and five. Next it was Linnet’s turn. Collecting the dice herself, she rolled them carefully, breathing a sigh of relief with the dice showing six and three.
‘The first roll to you,’ he said, scooping up the dice masterfully in his hands.
His second throw showed five and five. Linnet followed with a disappointing three and one. There was a certain sense of triumph in the look he gave her. He was confident. He believed he would win.
‘We are even,’ he said. ‘Well—this is it—the decider.’
Holding her breath Linnet bit her lip as she watched his throw. Six and five. Picking up the dice, she sent up a silent prayer, knowing in her heart that she wouldn’t match his high score. The dice seemed to roll for ever. At last they stopped rolling and showed double five.
‘Oh, dear,’ she said as disappointment swamped her.
‘Oh, yes,’ he mocked, scooping up the dice. Losing no time in claiming the necklace, he slipped it into his pocket along with the dice.
Linnet watched him, feeling anger towards the stranger for catching her, but most of her anger was directed against Toby for putting her in this position and also at herself for getting caught and being bested at the dice. She tightened her lips. Resentment burned in her breast and heated her cheeks. ‘I don’t suppose you would change your mind and take something else?’ she suggested, knowing it was a futile question, but hoping he would.
Behind the mask his eyes went darker than dark and his voice was soft but cutting. ‘No, I’m afraid not.’
‘What would you have done had I won?’
His lips curved in a slight smile. ‘As to that, little lady, you will never know.’
Christian saw the intensity in her eyes, the defiance to accept that she had lost and the ill-concealed anger. Her hands were clenched. He had watched her soft white hand as she had rolled the dice and he got the impression that this young woman was like two people—outwardly she was like the consummate actress, but underneath there was something else—something he now picked up on and it wasn’t the underlying steely quality he’d expected.
She was small and slender, her hands small like a child’s that could easily slip into a pocket—a necessary asset to a thief. This was not a woman who lost easily. ‘Of course you could choose something else to steal—although I wouldn’t advise it. Should you be caught and a constable called, then the consequences for you would be dire inde
ed.’
‘As they will for you, should you be caught with the necklace in your possession. I do not believe you have a claim to it, otherwise you would have taken it without rolling the dice. You are a thief, sir, and as likely to hang as any other thief.’
He laughed in the face of her ire. He knew he should enlighten her and tell her he was no thief. He should explain that his father had unearthed it in Egypt. Aware of the value of this precious object and knowing it was a target for thieves, he had approached Lord Stourbridge, also in Egypt, who was to return to England before him. He had given it to him for safekeeping and this ball to which Christian had been invited, with Lord Stourbridge’s lawyer’s permission, had been the perfect opportunity to retrieve it. Yes, he should tell her the truth, but he was enjoying her company and wished to prolong it a while.
‘Dear me. You have a strange preoccupation with seeing me hang. As a gentleman and a peer of the realm, I assure you that will not be my fate. You must know that London is a dangerous and corrupt city. Crime abounds and though the legal system has its limitations, allowing criminals to flourish, that does not mean that they cannot be caught. So have a care lest I inform Lord Stourbridge of your intention to steal from him.’
* * *
Linnet’s face blanched beneath the mask. The utter humiliation of being arrested and publicly conveyed out of the house by a constable, and subsequently brought before the magistrate and thrown into prison for thieving, would be mortifying. ‘I will not take anything else,’ she said quietly, the words almost sticking in her throat. ‘There is nothing else that I want.’
* * *
Having got what he wanted, Lord Blakely was surprised to find he was reluctant to leave his female thief. A vision of what she might look like without the concealing mask caught hold of his imagination. He knew nothing about her, yet the strength of his desire was unexpected. He was certain this young woman possessed a healthy concern for her skin and he felt that fear was the determining factor in her decision not to take anything else from Stourbridge’s collection.
‘The evening need not end here.’ He moved closer, his eyes appraising.
* * *
His voice was deep and seductive and brought a warmth to Linnet’s cheeks. She stood in shock beneath his leisurely perusal—and was she mistaken, or did his gaze actually linger on her breasts? His close study of her feminine assets left her feeling as if she’d just been stripped stark naked. The gall of the man, she thought with rising ire. He conveyed an air of arrogance and uncompromising authority which no doubt stemmed from a haughty attitude which was not to her liking. Recognising his obvious admiration, she suddenly became aware of the boldness in his eyes, his masculinity and the impropriety of being alone in this room with this stranger.
‘Please don’t come any closer,’ she murmured, her tone less commanding than she’d intended.
* * *
The huskiness of her voice entered Christian’s ears like a caress. It was as tempting and appealing as her body and the lustrous eyes looking back at him from behind the mask. Both aroused him in an unexpected way and this bewitching young woman aroused a hungering ache he hadn’t known in a long time. Lust and desire were collecting heavy and thick deep in his body and he sensed she could fulfil his needs and bring some brightness to his life after many months of darkness. The conviction was profound. He narrowed his eyes, mentally stripping her of her delectable gown, draping her instead in a diaphanous fabric that was so light her body would be open to his gaze. The thought warmed his body and encouraged his erotic thoughts. Alluring and provocative, she was a natural temptress. Christian had to fight the insane impulse to take hold of her lithe, warm, breathing form, crush it beneath him and kiss her soft, inviting lips. He wanted her and he had methods of persuasion and powers of seduction to call on if necessary. Thoughtfully he contemplated the young woman before him and, drawn by an urge that was stronger than reason and eager to see the fullness of her features, he raised his hand to remove her mask. Aware of his intent, she immediately shoved his hand away and backed away.
‘Please don’t touch me.’
His smile was slow, sensual and brilliant. ‘I would dearly like to see your face. I am more than willing to take you under my protection for the time you are here.’
‘I am perfectly capable of protecting myself,’ she retorted, shocked by his temerity, ‘and I do not intend remaining longer than I have to.’
‘Pity. I was already imagining an evening of pleasure.’
‘With a thief, sir?’
‘If that is indeed what you are,’ he said softly, ‘then yes.’
His eyes captured hers, a lazy, seductive smile curving his lips. His stare travelled over her before coming back to her face. He lifted one eyebrow slightly in a silent challenge. Something in his stare quickened her pulse. There was a sweet warmth in her chest. They stared at each other for a moment, with just two yards between them. Linnet barely realised she was holding her breath. Bowled over by the delicious magnetism of the man, she felt herself being drawn towards him, knowing she should step back and walk away, but she was too inexperienced and affected by him to do that. ‘You don’t even know me.’
‘No, I don’t, but I am willing to remedy that situation. What is your name?’
‘That is for me to know, sir. I do not intend sharing the personal details of my life with a perfect stranger.’
* * *
Lord Blakely tilted his head to one side and regarded her with a critical, masculine eye. He was becoming more intrigued by her by the minute. He wondered who and what she was. Earlier he had seen her with an older woman and assumed she was this young lady’s chaperon. It would appear he had been mistaken. An unprotected female roaming the passageways of Stourbridge House led him to think that perhaps she was an actress or even a courtesan, forced to earn her living as best she could. She had charm and feminine graces in abundance—eminently agreeable qualities in a mistress.
* * *
Linnet drew a deep breath. Those dark eyes seemed to see more than she wished him to see. She was aware that her body trembled slightly as she tried to figure out a way of extricating herself from this situation that seemed to be running away with her. This man seemed determined to detain her and she suspected he did not give up easily. ‘If you are suggesting what I think you are, then your proposal is most indecent. If you are here in pursuit of pleasure, then you must look elsewhere.’
Even as she said the words Linnet knew that because of the inferior role she had assumed he could not be faulted and the difference in their social status—if indeed he was a peer of the realm, as he professed to be—was an open invitation to seduction. Ladies did not infiltrate events such as this alone and with criminal intent.
‘I’m sure we could come to an arrangement that would suit us both. I assure you that you will find me most generous.’
‘I do not think I would care for your kind of generosity.’
‘Are you not tempted to know me better? I think you would find it interesting to discover more.’
‘I doubt it. You think too highly of yourself, sir.’
‘That is a failing indeed.’
He shocked her when he touched her gently under her chin. Linnet caught her breath sharply as he tilted her face upward and looked into her eyes.
‘Perhaps you are afraid, is that it?’
Her heart pounded at the light but sure pressure of his warm fingertips against her skin, but she managed to meet his gaze squarely. ‘I’m not afraid of you, sir. I’m not afraid of anyone.’
‘I’m relieved to hear it.’
He continued to peer down at her, into her very soul. A lazy, seductive smile passed across his mouth, curling his lips, and Linnet felt herself being drawn towards him, knowing she should step back and walk away, but she was too affected by him to do that. Feelings she had never experienced before began to appear within h
er and she could not deny that she was attracted by him. Belated warning bells screamed through her head and her eyes became fixed on his finely sculptured mouth. As he came closer still, to her helpless horror she knew he was going to kiss her.
When he reached out and took her hand, drawing her into his embrace, she knew she was trapped as securely as a rabbit in a snare.
Chapter Two
Linnet was mesmerised by him. He was standing very close. She could smell the sharpness of his cologne and feel his presence. Like a magnet, it was drawing her to him and she hadn’t the will to resist, nor did she want to. A smile played on his lips, curving gently, a lovely smile, and an errant wave had fallen across his brow. The heat of his closeness was making her warm and the feelings coursing through her body spoke of desire, not love, not even infatuation. It ached for him to touch her, her lips ached for him to kiss her. Her heart suddenly started pounding in a quite unpredictable manner. He was looking into her eyes, holding her spellbound, weaving some magic web around her from which there was no escape.
‘I—I should go,’ she whispered. ‘Please let me go at once.’
‘Not a chance,’ he murmured. With his arms around her he held her tightly against his chest.
The strength of his embrace and the hard pressure of his loins made her all too aware of the danger she was in, that he was a strong, determined man, and that he was treating her as he would any woman he had a desire for. Resolutely she squirmed against him. A strange feeling, until this moment unknown to her, fluttered within her breast and she was halted for a brief passing of time by the flood of excitement that surged through her.
‘It’s useless to resist me,’ he said huskily. ‘Relax. I’m not going to hurt you.’
The Governess's Scandalous Marriage Page 3