“Rand,” he said again.
Curse it, there was nothing he wanted more than to take her mouth. Kiss her senseless.
“Give me back my book, Lord Aylesford,” she said, her tone growing firm once more.
Willful chit.
He released her and stepped back lest his inner beast gave in to the need to taste her. “I will give it back to you on one condition: you agree to become my feigned betrothed.”
“You scoundrel!” she accused.
And she was not wrong.
He grinned and bowed. “You have until tomorrow morning to consider my proposal, Grace. If you deny me, I am afraid I will have no choice but to surrender this book to Mr. Winter.”
With that gauntlet dropped, he took his leave.
Chapter Three
“That miserable cur!”Pru said later that evening as the sisters gathered to prepare theirtoilettetogether before dinner.
Her tone of shocked indignation echoed through the chamber.
“He’s an unabashed thief,” Grace agreed.
Their lady’s maids were not yet in attendance, and it was the perfect opportunity for sharing confidences amongst her sisters.
Namely, that Lord Aylesford had stolenthebook.
“We must get it back from him,” Christabella said. “If he gives it to Dev…”
All four Winter sisters shuddered at once. None of them wanted to even contemplate the notion of their beloved, overprotective brother discovering they were in possession of the notoriously wicked volumes of bawdy literature.
“Allowing him to go to Dev with it is an impossibility,” Eugie said.
“Dev would have all our hides,” Bea, the youngest of the Winter sisters, added.
Though Bea was already betrothed, and Eugie was perhaps on her way to becoming betrothed to the Earl of Hertford—in spite of Eugie’s claims to the contrary—Dev would not allow any of them to escape punishment for such a daring violation of his edicts.
He aspired for them all to marry above their stations. And marrying above their stations meant they were required to act in strict accordance with societal mores. Innocent ladies were not permitted access to such forbidden words and pictures.
“Why did he take it?” Christabella asked then.
“Is that not clear?” Grace frowned, thinking of the ease with which the scoundrel had wrested the book from her grasp. “So that he could force me into doing what he wants.”
“What is it that he wants?” Eugie chimed in, her tone suspicious. “He is not a fortune hunter is he, do you think? Revelstoke is rumored to be quite wealthy.”
Aylesford’s father, the Duke of Revelstoke, was indeed rumored to be flush in funds. As his father’s heir, Viscount Aylesford should not be terribly in want of coin. Besides, he would hardly desire a betrothal he had every intention of breaking if that were the case.
“He does not wish me to marry him in truth,” she told her sister, who was suspicious of all noblemen after an odious baron had spread lies about her to damage her reputation. “You know that, Eugie. He would hardly want to break the betrothal if he were a fortune hunter.”
She and Eugie had discussed Aylesford’s madcap plan at length, and while Grace had initially been considering the viscount’s proposal—er,feigned proposal—she had quickly realized how dangerous engaging in such a farce could be for her.
Because he was more handsome than the devil, and he had more charm in his pinky finger than most gentlemen had in their entire bodies, and because she wanted very much to kiss him. In spite of all her common sense and excellent skills for rationalizing.
“More importantly,” Pru interjected next, “why did you take the book from your bedchamber? You knew the rules ofthebook, Grace.”
Yes, she knew the rules.
