Disgusted, Dorian added, “No, and to whit, I rescind that offer to come to the Club. I’ll be indisposed. See yourself out.”
The hard slam of the door was trite comfort to him as he strode further inside to find Evelina. If only she knew how close she had come to discovery and an unfavorable fate.
He strode into her room again. Her chamber smelled faintly of lavender, and he found her in bed with a book in hand.
“What in damnation was that?” he demanded. “Do you know the definition of hiding? Why would you dare even come out of your room? That was Carrington! If he’d seen you, you would have been trussed up like a chicken and thrown into the back of his carriage to go to God knows where! Think, girl!”
A flush tinged the curve of her cheeks. Her pearly teeth sank into her dimpled lower lip, a tell-tale sign of nerves. Her eyes flickered up, “I am sorry.”
“I had to tell him you were a whore,” he said brazenly. “He asked if he could come in toshareyou. I know you are smart enough to know what he meant.”
Her face flamed but her lips twisted with horror. “Oh god.”
“Yes, oh God.” He raked a hand through his already tousled hair. “If he had seen you, I would have been forced to do things that are slated for later in the plan.”
She hesitated in asking. “Like what?”
CHAPTER 6
“Iwould have been forced to kill him,” Dorian explained himself, a tad coarser than he’d liked. “But I need him alive for now.”
“Like you need me.”
He grasped her chin, the grip of his forefinger and thumb was firmer than he had intended. “I need youfreeandalive.”
Dorian did not mistake the flicker in her eyes the moment their skin met, those pillowy lips of hers parting with each breath, or the way her bosom had risen and fallen. She might not have recognized the welcoming signs of her own body, but he certainly did.
Satisfaction expanded his chest; he’d known the feral attraction between them was mutual.
“From now on, you will bloody well stay here where you’re safe.” For good measure, he dropped his voice to his powerful ducal tones, “That is final.”
“You cannot imprison me here.” The mutinous angle of her chin looked familiar.
“Sweetheart, I will latch you to the bedhead with a rope if I must,” Dorian threatened.
Evelina swallowed. “I would rather if you did not do that.”
“Then behave.” He chucked her beneath the chin—Christ, her skin was even softer than he’d imagined—and she gasped in indignation. “Brazen little chit,” he murmured.
“Keep your paws off me.” She swatted his hand away.
“Are you sure?” He asked. “With the way your body reacted to me, I think you want more of mypawson you.”
“No, I do not.”
Arching over her, he pressed his hand to the headboard and leaned in—she sunk to the pillows, eyes wide, her hands clenching the sheets at her sides.
“You want me, and you know it,” he ground out.
Her little tongue darted out, wetting her lips. Lust and anger mixed, driving her breath out in harsh rushes. “No, I do not.”
They both heard the weak fragility in her words. His eyes latched onto her and the incremental increase of her pupils made him smirk. “You don’t even know what you want, do you?”
He dropped his mouth and brushed his lips over hers.
Her responding gasp had him pushing forward, only to flicker his tongue over the seam of her lips and pull away. She was utterly discombobulated.
“That is what I thought,” he said, straightening. Brushing his fingers over her cheek, he murmured, “Do not leave this house, Evelina. Whatever you need, send a footman for it.”
