She placed her fingers on his arm, feeling the quiver of iron-hard muscles.
"Yes," she said. "I'll go with you."
21
Tall flowering hedgessurrounded the winding path, night jasmine perfuming the brisk air. Overhead, stars blazed like diamonds cast across velvet. Triumph filled Gavin as he led Percy deeper into the dark garden. She'd just turned her back on everything she'd thought she wanted—for him. The notion made him feel taller than a mountain. He could win her heart; he could have all of her.
Beside him, she ambled along like some gorgeous fairy creature. The moon turned the curls piled atop her head to silver, and her blush-colored gown clung like petals to her slender form. The modest scoop of her neckline showed only the barest hint of a crevice. He wanted to nuzzle her there, to delve beneath that filmy fabric and lick her breasts all over. As his mouth pooled, he saw goose pimples prickling her skin.
Unbuttoning his jacket, he placed it over her shoulders. "There's a gazebo up ahead," he said. "We'll stop there."
She nodded. Kicking at pebbles as they walked along, she slid him a glance. "Why aren't you crowing about Portland? After all, you were right."
"About what?"
"About me being a silly chit who mistook infatuation for love," she said gruffly.
Her candor drew forth a surge of tenderness in him. Never before had he experienced this desire to soothe a woman, to protect her from all ills. "Come now," he said, "'tis not so bad."
"I feel like an idiot," she said.
His lips twitched. "You'll get over it. Blows to the pride don't last long."
She seemed to mull it over. "I suppose you're right. It certainly doesn't hurt anywhere else." Shaking her head, she said, "Why is it that you seem to understand me more than I understand myself?"
Because you're mine.The possessive certainty gripped him, yet he managed to say in calm tones, "I understand ambition. You're too spirited and intelligent to follow the herd. You need to find your own purpose."
She glanced at him. "Like you did?"
"As I did." Perhaps it was the dark or the intoxicating scent of her perfume that drew more out of him. "I wasn't always a successful business owner. There was a time when I barely scraped by, making a hard living in the streets. For years, I worked as,"—he cleared his throat—"a guard-for-hire."
A polite term for a mercenary. But there hadn't been many other options open to a scarred ex-criminal. If nothing else, the hulks had given him a talent for violence.
"No wonder you fight so well," she said. "How did you find that line of work?"
He cast her a swift glance; there was no trace of mockery or disdain in her expression. Could it be that she did not judge him for his past? "I hated it," he said. "But I invested every guinea I earned, and when I had enough, I bought the club."
The years of brutality had paid off; he'd never forget the feeling of walking into his own property for the first time. From that moment on, he'd vowed to dictate his future.
"You remind me of my papa," she said, surprising him yet again. "He came from poverty too and built an empire out of nothing." Her gaze dropped, and her slipper chased away another stone. "Whereas I grew up with every privilege and have done nothing of worth with my life. Sometimes I think I'm not much more than a spoiled miss."
Once, he had thought the same of her. Knowing her now, her courage and loyal heart, her untamed spirit… nothing could be farther from the truth.
"You have had material advantages," he said. "That does not make you spoiled."
She shot him a troubled glance. "Does being headstrong? In the end, the only thing Papa asked of me was to be a good daughter. To have the kind of life he could not, even with his fortune. That was his dream for me—for our family."
It all made sense now. Why Percy would try to be someone other than who she was. She'd tried to hide her true self not because of middling class hypocrisy, as he'd originally assumed, but because of... love. The desire for her family's approval.
"Your father wanted you to have a position in society," Gavin said.
She gave a forlorn nod. "With Nicholas' title, it should have been so easy. I have everything—money, access to the best circles. But I still couldn't do my family proud. Because I am a hoyden who has no business masquerading as a lady."
For once, the mention of Morgan did not affect Gavin. He was too angry with so-called polite society for making this lovely, sensitive girl ever doubt her own worth.
"There's nothing wrong with you," he said roughly.
The path came to a small gazebo. They entered under the sloping roof, and she went to look out at the dark vista. She kept her back to him, her gloved fingers trailing along the railing. "The truth is… they were right. I amnota lady."
