She could not breathe. She could feel only the flow of the brandy within her, and it was like a liquid fire. It was like the man, entering into all of her, making her burn with a sweet and startling desire to feel more, to know more.
“Mandy—” Damien began, and then he halted, clearing his throat.
Eric Cameron lifted his lips from hers, smiling. He set her gently back upon the seat and leapt down from the carriage facing Damien with no apology. His dark hair was somewhat tousled, slashing over his forehead. She could well see him as the pirate his ancestor had been, she thought, and then she realized that her fingers were at her lips and that she was trembling.
And that the warmth and desire were still with her. She didn’t even understand desire, she thought with pain and fury, and yet it was something there, living deep inside of her. And this dark traitor had awakened it.
A whore. Her father had called her a whore like her mother.
She didn’t believe it. She would never believe it.
He watched her. Damien was still, and she was silent, and it seemed that even long moments passed before Eric spoke to her again. “I have asked for your hand, lady. The offer still stands, should you need me.”
She managed to form words. “I cannot marry you.”
“And still, Amanda, I tell you, if you need me, I will be there. I will suffer your disdain, I will marry you knowing that you love another. Just don’t seek to betray me.”
“Betray you, sir? Pray, tell me what is there that I might betray?”
“Any man can be betrayed.”
“I do not betray you,” she lied smoothly.
“Good,” he told her. But he did not smile, and the look of steel remained about his eyes. He turned to Damien. “I will offer no excuse, Damien, for I would marry her, if she would have me.”
Damien didn’t jump to her defense. He looked from Amanda to Eric. “Why?” he asked politely.
Amanda and Eric both stared at him. “I’m sorry, Mandy,” Damien said. “But you were so very rude to him, from what you say yourself. And you’ve hardly been an angel this evening. Lord Cameron, I know that the world can be yours, so I am simply curious. Why?”
“Damien!” Mandy warned.
Eric laughed. “Aye, lad, she’s cruel and abrasive, but she’s truly the most beautiful creature I’ve ever seen.”
“But you cannot love me! You’ve admitted as much,” Amanda murmured desperately. No, he did not love her, but she felt the attraction more and more herself this evening. She might despise him for what he was, for what he knew of her, for all he had witnessed of her soul, but he fascinated her! She was drawn to his touch, she wondered more and more about the way his hands might roam, the places his lips might kiss. She reddened with horror. “You can’t just…”
He chuckled softly again, and the tone of it made her burn, as did the husky sound of his voice when he spoke. “Amanda, I can. Ah, lady, perhaps I do not love you. You most certainly do not love me. But as you boldly pointed out at our last meeting, lust can rule a man’s heart and soul and mind, and lady, you have driven me to distraction. I do desire you, with a fever scarce kept under control. Watch your kiss, lady, lest it go too far.”
“My kiss!” she cried.
“You do wound me to the soul. You kissed me tonight, do you recall?”
“Damien, can we please go?”
“Mm…surely,” Damien agreed, but he was grinning.
“Damien, now!”
Damien leapt up into the carriage. Amanda stared straight ahead, determined not to so much as glance Eric Cameron’s way again. She looked down to her lap, feeling a fierce burning inside her. She could not bear these feelings. She had loved Robert, she had been deeply in love. And she had never felt like this with him, so what could it be? Her father’s words returned to haunt her. She was a whore’s daughter.…
Her heart rebelled. She had seen the portraits of her beautiful mother, seen her gentle smile, the intelligence in her eyes. She couldn’t have been a whore. Amanda had never known her, but she could not believe such a thing.
“I remain your faithful servant, milady!” Cameron said.
Grinning, Damien waved to him and tapped on the carriage. Thomas clipped the reins, and they started down the street. They were very close to their destination.
The carriage swayed and she felt she was going to be sick. She stared across in the shadows at Damien, aware that he was watching her.
“He is twice the man Robert Tarryton is,” Damien said softly.
