A charming flush crept along her cheekbones. “It was not my aim to pay a call upon you.”
He didn’t believe her. Not for a moment. But he wouldn’t argue the point.
“Regardless, join me before my ennui becomes too much to bear, won’t you?” He retreated into the chamber, making an expansive gesture of welcome to her with his uninjured arm.
Her gaze flitted from his room to his face, then back again, her hesitation making him long to throw her over his shoulder and simply cart her over the threshold.
“I should not,” she demurred. “I have a great deal of correspondence to attend to, and it would hardly be proper for me to be alone with you now that you are no longer confined to your sickbed.”
She wasn’t wrong about any of that, and his intentions were the furthest one could get from pure, but Nando wasn’t going to allow that to get in the way of what he wanted. Which was Eleanora. He wanted her mouth on his, her sweet sigh ofsurrender. He wanted her curves pressed against him, her body giving in to temptation.
“My dear Eleanora, you cannot mean to say you would prefer to put pen to paper than spend a few moments conversing with me. I can assure you that I’m ever so much more riveting than an inkwell and an empty page.”
Her indecision was written on her lovely face. Shewantedto join him. His luscious spinster’s ice was melting faster than a snowball in a desert. She found herself drawn to him, and it nettled her, but she was helpless to stop the undeniable connection between them.
He was spared from her refusal when the sound of a door opening somewhere down the hall intruded. Her eyes went wide. She didn’t want anyone to see her here. Fair enough. He would bustle her into the privacy of his chamber. No one needed to know, save the two of them.
“Make haste before someone sees you,” Nando said urgently, keeping his voice low.
She swiftly crossed the threshold, and he closed the door at her back.
“Excellent decision,” he purred. “We wouldn’t want one of the servants to see you lingering in the hall outside my room and decide that the proper Miss Brett has been seduced by the evil prince.”
Her flush heightened, her countenance turning severe. “I am impervious to your wiles, Your Royal Highness. I would think that has already been made apparent.”
Quite the opposite, but he would allow her to keep her false sense of comfort for the moment.
“I was making a joke,” he explained, flashing her a conspiratorial smile. “Perhaps a poor one. Forgive me.”
Her shrewd blue gaze bored into his, and he couldn’t help but to note the stiffness in her shoulders—she looked as rigidas a marble statue. “Your apology sounds distinctly insincere. I shouldn’t be here.”
“And yet, here is where you are.” He couldn’t hide the smugness from his voice.
“Only until I can remove myself, whilst keeping my reputation firmly intact.”
Her cool voice did nothing to quell his ardor.
He had her where he wanted her. And despite all her blustering, she was exactly where she wanted to be as well.
“Tell me, what were you doing in this hall, if not seeking me?” he pressed, for he knew well that her bedroom was on another floor.
“I took a wrong turn.” Her chin went up in a little show of defiance he found utterly mesmerizing.
“Perhaps you took the turn you wanted to take,” he suggested, reaching for her hand. She jolted when he laced his fingers through hers, but she didn’t pull away. “Come and sit with me for a few moments, won’t you? I’ve grown weary of all this isolation.”
“You hardly seemed isolated when you invaded the drawing room during our dancing lessons.”
Her tone was arch, but her fingers remained entwined with his. Ye gods, she was delectable. He was beginning to think he was in love.
“No need to be harsh with me, my dear. My feelings are quite tender.”
“Tender feelings? You?” She gave a short laugh. “Is that another sally, Your Royal Highness, or do you think me an imbecile?”
“I would never think you an imbecile, nor would I jest about something so serious.” He stopped as they reached the seating area near the hearth, and he pressed her hand to his chest. “You see? I possess a heart just as surely as anyone else.”
Awareness flared in her eyes, and she kept her hand splayed on him, the warmth of her searing him through his shirt.
“I never doubted you do,” she said, sounding suspiciously breathless. “It was the noble sentiment you claimed to have that I questioned.”
