But surely he wouldn’t.
Surely he couldn’t.
Surely seducing his brother’s woman was beneath even a true rakehell like Nando.
Wasn’t it?
“Maxim,” Nando called to him brightly, giving him one of the grins that favored his dimples.
And that was when he noticed Tansy was wearing his brother’s coat. Possessive outrage roared to life, leaving Maxim as a strangled growl.
“Why is Lady Tansy wearing your coat?” he demanded without preamble as he reached them.
“She was chilled,” Nando explained. “I was merely being a gentleman.”
“She should have fetched a wrap,” he snapped, wanting to tear the garment from her shoulders and replace it with his own.
He hated the sight of her in something that belonged to anyone other than him.
Tansy dipped into a curtsy, head bowed, refusing to meet his gaze. “Your Majesty.”
He wanted to snatch her up and carry her away and cover her with his body and kiss her until she forgot everything and everyone.
But he couldn’t do that, because he had just pledged himself to Princess Anastasia St. George. Every stroke of his quill had felt wrong. He’d hated making his mark upon the betrothal contract, the finality of it, knowing Tansy was watching.
“Lady Tansy,” he greeted in turn, forcing himself to be polite.
And still, she would not meet his gaze.
He had missed her. The realization was as potent as a blow.
“I would like a word with you, my lady,” he added, needing her alone.
Needing Nando to go elsewhere.
Needing, needing,needing. Just her. Only her. Had he ever needed anyone more? He frantically attempted to recall what it had been like, those early days with Mina. And try as he might, he realized with a pang, he could not. Too much time had passed. What felt like a lifetime. And he was a different man now than he had been then.
“I cannot fathom what must be discussed,” she said, her voice frosty.
She was angry with him; that much was apparent. But he couldn’t be sure of the reason. His absence? The signing of the betrothal contract? Perhaps both.
He ignored her protest and looked to his brother, raising an imperious brow. “Nando, if you’ll excuse us?”
His brother made a show of looking from Maxim to Tansy and lingering despite Maxim’s request.
“Now,” he gritted.
Nando glanced back at Tansy. “My lady?”
As if she required protection from him, Maxim thought, stung by his brother’s protectiveness where Tansy was concerned. He should be the one protecting her, damn it.
Tansy hesitated before nodding and slipping Nando’s coat from her shoulders. “Here you are, Your Royal Highness. Thank you for lending me your coat.”
Nando took the raiment from her and settled it back around her with an authoritative air. “Keep it, dear lady. I wouldn’t dream of you taking a chill.”
Maxim clenched his jaw so tightly that it ached, pinning his brother with a narrow-eyed glare as he sauntered past on the walk. Nando’s grin was smug. He knew damned well the effect his antics were having upon Maxim, and he was relishing it.
He waited for the crunch of his brother’s footfalls on gravel to retreat, followed by the sound of the door closing, leaving Maxim and Tansy alone. And then he eliminated the remainingdistance between them, going to her as he had longed to do from the moment he had crossed the threshold of the drawing room earlier and spied her across the room.
