He’d taken the wrong approach with her from the start. Even during those brief weeks he’d courted her, he hadn’t taken the time to get to know her. He’d danced with her at a few balls and exchanged pleasantries with her, but he hadn’tseenher—not the truth of her.
Lady Eleanor Sutherland was not a woman to be bullied into marriage. But she might be courted into it. Coaxed. Persuaded.
Seduced.
He never expected to want her, and he damn sure never expectedher to want him.
But she did.
She’d gasped this afternoon when he kissed her palm, sighed when he took her wrist with his mouth. And tonight, that breathlessness in her voice, her blush—it wasn’t only from embarrassment. He knew the look of a woman flushed with desire.
Julian was right—he hadn’t thought this through properly. Force wouldn’t work with Eleanor, but where it failed, finesse would succeed. The flower didn’t force the bee to sip the sweet nectar. It lured it. Tempted it, until the bee couldn’t resist a taste. God, he couldn’t conceive of a more erotic challenge than to entice a woman like her, to arouse her to such heights she’d take him inside her. Just the thought of it set his blood on fire.
Once he’d taken her body, her hand would follow as a matter of course.
“You’ll have to come up with a better reason than that if you wish to persuade me into a truce, Mr. Wes—that is, Camden.”
Persuade her? Yes, he’d persuade her, to all manner of wicked things, but he couldn’t seduce a woman whose hands clenched into fists every time she saw him. He’d backed her into a corner with his threats, and now he had to find a way to entice her back out of it, or she’d fly at him with claws bared every time he approached.
“How shall I persuade you? What do you want?”
“I want to know why you want to marry me. Surely it would be much easier to choose a woman whowantsto marry you, so I assume you have some reason to want me, in particular. I want to know what it is.”
It was a shrewd question. She knew there was no hope of dissuading him from his scheme unless she understood the reasons for it. She had no hope of dissuading him at all, of course, but she couldn’t know that.
But Cam hesitated. He didn’t intend to hide the truth from her forever. Sooner or later, he’d have to tell her. Sooner or later, yes, but he’d hoped for later, after they were married. She’d hate him for it, but by then it would be too late. Too late for both of them, for she’d never forgive him, and he . . .
He’d have to live with the knowledge that he’d earned her hatred.
Something pierced his chest at the thought, something bitter and sharp, like regret. He swatted it aside. He had no use for regret. It was a paltry thing when weighed against justice.
Parity. The Sutherlands owed Amelia a decent life. He would see to it they paid. “A truce for the duration of the hunting party. I’ll reveal my reasons to you at its conclusion.”
She leaned toward him. “I have your word on this?”
He didn’t give his word lightly. When he gave it, he kept it. “You have my word.”
She leaned back against the settee and released the breath she’d been holding. “Then we have a truce. For the moment, that is.”
A moment was all he’d need. “I believe I’ll take my leave before you change your mind.” He rose from the settee. “Will you see me out?”
She remained seated. “One more point first, if you please. Your cousin will not accompany us to Lindenhurst.”
It wasn’t a question.
Cam hesitated, then inclined his head in agreement. It was for the best, anyway. Julian was far too interested in Lady Charlotte already.
Eleanor rose from the settee and followed him to the other side of the room.
Lord Carlisle looked up from the chessboard as they approached. “Off already, West?”
Cam nodded. “Yes, my lord. I’ve a few details to see to if we’re to hunt this week.”
Robert Sutherland glanced up from the chess board. “Good man.”
To Cam’s surprise, Lord Carlisle rose and extended his hand. “Kind of you to invite us to your estate. I’m looking forward to it.”
Cam shook the proffered hand, then turned to bow to the ladies. “I thank you for your invitation this evening, Lady Sutherland.”
