Olivia, heading straight for them, couldn’t stop; she angled her skates sideways, windmilling her arms to try to keep her balance and avoid a collision, only for Dev to grab her elbow at the very last minute. He spun her around and her face collided with his broad chest.
“Eeeek!”
“Steady there. I’ve got you,” he chuckled. The cool scent of his cologne filled her nose as it pressed into the front of his coat and her fingers curled into his lapels as she tried to stay upright.
Just when she thought she was safe, her skates slid out from beneath her, straight between Dev’s parted legs, and she started to fall backwards, tugging Dev down with her.
He gave a strangled grunt of laughter. With astonishing strength, he thrust his gloved hands under her armpits and hauled her upright before her bottom could make painful contact with the ice.
Livvy gasped as he steadied her. His hands slid down, over her ribs, her waist, then settled on her hips as he ensured she was stable and heat rushed to her cheeks at the thrilling sensation of his fingers pressing into her. Even shielded as they were by several layers of clothing, his strength, his nearness, wasplaying havoc with her pulse rate. She wanted the feel of his skin on hers, his bare palms sliding over her waist, her thighs, her breasts.
“Oh!” She gasped, breathless from more than the close call. “Heavens! Thank you.”
The corner of his lips quirked as if he knew precisely the effect he was having on her. He bent forward, his lips close to her ear, so close that his cheek brushed hers. “My pleasure. Any time.”
Liv turned her head to hide her blush and the yearning look that probably covered her face, only to see Harry scoop his wife into his arms. Ellie giggled, then gave a breathless shriek as he whirled them both around in a dizzying circle, then dragged her close for a shameless kiss.
Dev’s hands were still resting at her waist, and she glanced back up at him as he gave her a tiny tug. He began to skate backwards in front of her, pulling her gently along in his wake, and she grasped both his forearms as they picked up speed.
“Stop looking at your feet,” he chided. “Eyes on me. I won’t let you fall.”
She did as he commanded and couldn’t prevent the smile that stretched her lips as she noted his clear enjoyment. His cheeks were pink with the cold, his eyes sparkling with infectious merriment, and the handsomeness of him took her breath away.
She’d never seen him so playful and so relaxed as here among his friends. She’d seen the rakish flirt, the stern duke, the hardened soldier. But this was a facet of him she found equally appealing.
After another half hour of skating, during which Dev managed to touch her in ways thatseemedinnocuous and perfectly chaste, but which nevertheless managed to keep her blood on such a slow simmer that she barely felt the cold, they all returned to the house.
The four men gravitated to the billiard room for a game, and the women went up to their respective bedrooms to get ready for dinner.
Chapter Twelve
Devlin chalked the end of his billiard cue as Lucien potted a ball in the corner pocket and Harry and Justin lounged in their chairs. He’d lost count of the number of times the four of them had played in this very room, and he sent up a silent prayer of gratitude that his friends had survived the horrors of the war relatively unscathed.
“So, what’s the news from town?”
"Do you remember that mysterious author ‘the Brazen Belle’?” Harry stretched his legs in front of him, closer to the fire. “The one who wrote a newspaper column eviscerating London’s most eligible bachelors a couple of years ago?”
“I do,” Dev said. “She mentioned poor Rhys Davies, once. Hinted he was doomed to fall victim to the famous Davies-Montgomery curse. He was livid. Said it was a load of rot.”
Justin frowned. “Didn’t he end upmarryingone of the Montgomery twins?” He had little patience for society gossip, despite his position as a duke. He was more interested in the state of the stock exchange and his business affairs. And his wife. “One of the ones who came back from South America?”
Harry grinned. “He did. That was the curse; to fall in love with his family’s sworn enemy.”
Lucien let out a soft snort of amusement. “A beautiful, witty, highly intelligent enemy. Poor Rhys. What a terrible burden.”
Devlin chuckled at his sarcasm, but Lucien’s comment made him realize that all three of his friends had married their own beautiful, witty, highly intelligent counterparts. Dev was the only one who hadn’t settled down.
Yet.
“Well, it appears that after a year’s hiatus, she—or he—is back with a vengeance,” Hary continued cheerfully. “And you, my friend, have the distinction of being her very first victim—I mean, subject—to start the year.”
Dev raised his brows. “Me? You’re joking.”
Harry shook his head, a delighted smirk on his face. An ex-thief himself, he loved any hint of gossip and impropriety, and he thoroughly approved of anyone who thumbed their nose at society’s rigid rules.
“What did she say?” Dev’s stomach gave an anxious lurch. Not merely about which scandalous rumors the woman might have mentioned—of which there were several to choose—but at the thought that Olivia might be reminded of all the ways he was an unsuitable match.
Now that she might be considering his offer, he didn’t want anything swaying her to refuse.
