“The point is,” she said, more calmly, “I don’t trust you and I never will. However, at the moment we have a bigger dilemma. We need to get out of this dark room, which means we need to find your candle or return to the door and retrieve mine.”
“And in doing so,” he said, grasping her hand again, “we should go together. Besides, my candle is closer.”
His warm palm against hers made her body quiver. The dryness of her throat would be obvious if she tried to speak again, and she wasn’t about to explain herself to him. The quicker they could get out of here, the better.
Taking slow steps, she blindly followed. From the sounds around her, she could tell he was feeling his way along the wall of the bookcase, because occasionally a book would fall off the shelf. After taking about ten steps, he stopped and turned toward her. Thankfully, she caught herself before bumping against his chest.
“You never did answer my question,” he said.
He was close enough for her to smell his minty breath… which was entirely too close. “What—” She cleared her throat. “What question was that?”
“If you are still upset with me.”
She breathed deeply, trying to calm her growing ire. “I didn’t know that was a question, Your Grace. It sounded more like a statement.”
“You are correct, Miss Priscilla, so let me try it again. Are you still upset with me from when we met before?”
“Really, Your Grace, there is no use talking about this. It’s in the past, where I would like it to stay.”
“Please, call me Gavin.” He touched her cheek. “I believe we know each other well enough to be on a first-name basis.”
The stroke of his fingers against her cheek startled her, and yet the gentleness of the action had her heart racing out of control. She lifted a trembling hand to push away his touch, but when her fingers connected with his, he took her hand, lifted it to his mouth, and brushed a kiss across her knuckles.
“Cilla,” he whispered, “if you don’t mind, I would like to start over again. The man you met at your aunt’s party no longer exists. I have changed drastically since then.”
“Nobody can change so drastically.” Her voice warbled.
“Recent events in my life have made it happen, I assure you.”
She wasn’t sure she liked his nickname for her, but what bothered her more was the way he tried to charm her. Never again would she give him her heart. “Can a leopard change its spots? I think not, Your Grace.”
Chuckling, he lowered her hand from his mouth. “And now I’m a leopard? You think I’m fast and powerful?”
“Actually, I would like to retract that comment. Instead, if I were to give you an animal’s identity, I would label you a snake.”
He laughed, but she detected a hint of injury in his tone. If only she could see his face.
“Asnake? You think I’m scaly?”
“What I think, Your Grace, is that you are the lowest form of creature that slithers on the ground. You care not for other people’s feelings, only care about yourself and your pleasures.” She moistened her throat. “If you are looking for another woman to seduce, please search somewhere else. I will not be that foolish again.”
“You wound me, my Cilla. Will you not give me the chance to prove that I have changed?”
Was he actuallybeggingher? Perhaps it was a good thing he couldn’t see her face right now, because it was hard to keep the grin of victory from stretching her mouth from ear to ear. “I suppose. The first thing you could do to prove to me you are no longer the cad I remember is to get us out of this dark room—and without trying to make me swoon with your false flattery.”
“As you wish, Miss Priscilla.”
He continued in his quest to find the candle, and this time, she was more confident that he would get them across the large library without running into anything—and withholding his flirtations from her, which she suspected was the most difficult for him to do.
Taking small steps, she followed him, and gradually the room became a little brighter. At least she could see the outline of his body. But even once they reached the candle, she was certain there would still be shadows all around them.
Finally, they moved around a bookcase, and she could see the low flame of the candle. She breathed easier and pulled her hand away from his grasp. She took another step closer to the light, and something small and quick ran past her foot. Looking down, she only saw shadows. But shivers climbed over her. Was it arodent?
She shrieked and grasped Gavin’s arm, trying to use him to block whatever had scurried past her foot. He reacted by slipping his arm around her waist and holding her against him.
“What is amiss?” he asked.
“Something… something…” She shivered again, wanting nothing more than to get her feet off the ground in case the rodent decided to run by her again. “Something ran by my feet.”
