“Yourmistress, then. When you had one, that is.” Rhiannon popped the pineapple into her mouth.
It was juicy and delicious. But thinking about Richford’s other lovers left a sour taste in her mouth all the same. Why had she asked? She swallowed hard, the pineapple going down her throat like a lump.
“I’ve never had a mistress,” he said coolly.
She glanced back up at him, surprised. “But you’re a wicked rake.”
He gave her a small smile. “One who dislikes arrangements involving commitment of any sort.”
Rhiannon had the distinct impression he was trying to build a separation between them. Or perhaps manage her expectations. Was he warning her away from him?
“Then I am your first mistress,” she decided.
“You’renotmy mistress, minx.”
“Of course I am. You agreed to an understanding last night.”
“No, I agreed to relieve you of your virginity so that you wouldn’t do something foolish and give yourself to some callous cad who wouldn’t give a damn about your pleasure.”
She stabbed another pineapple with the tines of her fork and wondered if she should point out that he was behaving like a callous cad at the moment, his offering of breakfast aside.
“Does that mean I am free to find another lover for this evening?” she asked instead.
“Don’t even think about it, minx.”
“Why not? If you don’t want to bed me, then I’m sure I can find someone else who will.” Grinning, she chewed her pineapple, quite pleased with herself.
“I’ll beat any man here to within an inch of his life who dares to lay so much as a finger on you,” he said conversationally.
But the underlying current of menace in his voice told her Aubrey was deadly serious. The frustrating man. He had been so attentive last night, so considerate. His intentional coldness was discomfiting. She was baiting him, it was true, for there was no other man she wanted. Not here at Wingfield Hall or anywhere else.
Only the beautiful emerald-eyed rake currently glaring at her from the edge of her bed.
“I should think that would be quite detrimental to your club’s ability to attract new patrons,” she pointed out, stabbing a sliced strawberry and bringing it to her lips.
His gaze slid to her mouth. “I could not care less about new patrons at the moment. I’m too busy trying to keep a headstrong hoyden from ruining herself.”
She swallowed the sweet berry, then licked the juice from her lower lip. “What if it isn’t your job to keep her from doing so?”
He groaned. “Are you trying to kill me, woman? You are, aren’t you?”
“I can assure you that I’m not in the least bit homicidal.” She took up a raspberry next.
And that was when her grip on the bedclothes slipped, sending them pooling to her waist and revealing both breasts.
His expression changed, his eyes darkening with lust. “Bloody hell, Rhiannon.”
Could it be that she was having an effect on the cool, calculated rake? Emboldened, she left the blankets where they were, the cool air of the room making her nipples go hard.
She placed the plump red raspberry in her mouth and chewed. “Mmm.”
“Are you finished with breakfast?” he asked, his voice low and deep.
“Why?”
“Because I find I’m hungry for a second breakfast after all.”
“Oh?”
