Page 28

Her chin went up. “Well enough.” She hesitated, too; it seemed neither of them knew what to say. “Thank you for your assistance tonight.”

“Assistance,” he repeated. It was dark in the hall, with only a small lamp left by the maid. The house was quiet, save for the occasional rattle of a carriage passing in the street outside. But even in the dim light he could see Angelique’s expression stiffen.

“Yes. Assistance.” She raised an eyebrow. “What else should I call it?”

He crossed the hall to stand in front of her. “I don’t give a damn what you call it,” he said. In the lamplight her skin was golden, her eyes as dark as onyx. She looked delicate and beautiful and strangely vulnerable, despite the somewhat scornful arch of her brow. “We’re in this together. I expect you would have done the same for me.”

“Of course,” she said evenly. “I am responsible for your safety.”

“That’s not what I meant,” Nate said, incredulous. “Responsible?”

“Oui. If anything were to happen to you, I would have to explain myself to a wide variety of people.”

“And those same people wouldn’t care if you were the one injured or assaulted.”

She gave a very Gallic shrug. “Not much. They would be very annoyed that they must find someone else to do my work.”

And Nate knew she was right, even if it made him want to punch someone. No doubt Stafford cared for her much the way he would a horse—no matter how valuable or well trained or useful, it was still just a horse. Perhaps that’s the way the man had to think, to be able to send her out posing as a servant among men who routinely abused their servants, knowing what those men would do to her if they discovered her true intent. Nate would never ask one of his sailors to do what he was unwilling to risk himself, and the thought of a man like Stafford expecting Angelique to risk her slender neck to save Nate, should he be endangered…

As he stood there mastering his outrage, she turned to the stairs again. “Good night, Mr. Avery.”

“Nate,” he said shortly. “And should you wish to know, I had no thought of responsibility or inconvenience when I acted. Whatever else you may think of me, rest assured I do not view you as nothing more than a useful tool to achieve my purpose.”

She stopped. Her shoulders, nearly bared by her gown, hunched a little, almost defensively. Again she turned back. “I know,” she said softly. Hesitantly she reached out and laid her fingers along his jaw, so lightly he barely felt the contact. “Thank you, Nate.”

He caught her wrist when she would have retreated. The softness in her face abruptly vanished, but she didn’t tense or pull away. He would have let go of her at once if she had. Instead he tugged her forward until he could cup his free hand around the smooth, warm nape of her neck. He hadn’t intended to kiss her, tonight or ever, but he’d certainly thought about kissing her, even before she looked at him with those shadowed eyes and touched his face.

So he kissed her.

He felt her sharp inhale of breath against his cheek, and her hand where it landed against his chest. But he held her anyway, pressing his momentary advantage of surprise. A tremor shook her body. And then, blissfully, she surrendered. The fingers pressed against him softened, then dug into his jacket to hold him to her. Nate released her wrist to wind his arm around her waist, and she threw that arm around his neck, clinging as if she would never let go. Her lips parted beneath his, and Nate felt the earth shift under his feet. She kissed him back with hunger and more than a little passion. Her mouth tasted of wine, and indeed he felt half drunk, upended and swept away. This wasn’t what he had expected—it was something far more dangerous…

He pulled himself back from the brink and lifted his head. In the split second before her eyes opened, he caught a fleeting glimpse of wonder on her face, as if something had taken her by surprise, but happily. Her lips were soft and slightly parted, her eyelashes long on her smooth cheek, and entrancing color stained her cheeks. He could only think he must look as awestruck as she did, and maybe even more so.

She recoiled and touched one finger to her lower lip. “Why did you do that?” she asked in a low voice.

She might be able to freeze a man with one look or cutting word, but she kissed like a temptress, like a woman who craved him as much as he craved her. “You know why,” he murmured, and reached for her again.

This time she braced her hands against his chest. Nate stopped trying to pull her back to him, but he didn’t release her.

“This is not a good idea,” she said. “It is, in fact, a very poor idea.”

“Kiss me again, and then you can explain why.”

“Stop,” she said sharply, even though he hadn’t done anything. The lace at the neckline of her gown fluttered with every breath she took. “I cannot— You cannot⁠—”

Nate made no reply. She meant she should not—which might be true, given her employer—and that he should not, which he thought was utter rubbish. Shouldn’t kiss a woman who dazzled and amazed him, who could mesmerize him with nothing more than a quirk of her lips, who drew him like a moth to the flame? Perhaps he shouldn’t, but that didn’t mean he didn’t want to, rather desperately. And if he ended up burned by it… Well, he knew that was a risk, and right now he was very willing to chance it.

“Then tell me you didn’t like it,” he said instead. “Tell me it disgusted you, and I’ll keep an honorable distance.”

Her rosy lips parted. Desire rose up, hot and sweet, inside him, and Nate realized too late he had just handed her a weapon to keep him at arm’s length forever. She would say it disgusted her, even if they both knew it hadn’t, and he would have to keep his word.

“I should not even have to ask. Don’t do it again.”

He wanted to growl in primitive satisfaction. She wouldn’t say it—she didn’t want to keep him away, at least not permanently. But at the same time she was afraid he’d kiss her again, and that her reaction would be even more revealing. Nate, on the other hand, knew without a shadow of a doubt that he wouldn’t be able to hide how it affected him. Even knowing how much it would leave him in her power, he didn’t think he would be able to step away twice. “I won’t,” he agreed, then added recklessly, “Unless we both need it.”

She went rigid for a split second, then raised her head to a regal angle. “Your needs, Mr. Avery, are your concern. And my needs…are mine. Only mine.”

She turned with a swish of her skirt and climbed the stairs. Nate stood and watched her go until she was swallowed by the Stygian darkness above. It was late and he had just been thoroughly rebuffed, but… Great God in heaven. She wasn’t immune to him after all. A hot tingle of satisfaction rushed through his veins, even as he reminded himself not to be dazzled.