Page 67 of Seducing the Marquess (Lords and Ladies in Love 1)

Devon closed his eyes and pulled her close. Cupping her face gently, he lowered his head and took her mouth in a tender kiss. Drawing back, he said, “Tell me why you left in such a hurry.”

When she attempted to pull away, his grip tightened. “No. Please, tell me why you left.”

With a burst of anger, she wrenched herself from his hold and jumped up, pointing her finger at him. “I will not stay in London and watch you visit a mistress.” She backed up farther, her hands fisted at her sides. “So, there. Now you can tell me what an improper wife I am to mention such a thing.”

When he grinned, she had the most unladylike urge to kick him in the shins. “’Tis not funny, my lord.”

His grin disappeared. “No, my love. ’Tis not funny at all. I do not have a mistress, Eugenia. I have not visited the bed of another woman since the night before we married.”

Her lip curled, and she drew back. “I do not wish to call you a liar, my lord,” she sputtered, “but my lord, you are a liar.”

Chapter Twenty

“Sometimes you just need to say ‘I love you.’”

Secrets of the Bedchamber, p. 200

Devon’s soft smile brought butterflies to Eugenia’s stomach. What game was this he was playing? And why in heaven’s name did her traitorous body respond thus when she was so very angry?

“No, my love. I am no liar, but I can understand your disbelief.”

He seemed sincere, but how foolish did he think she was? Based on last evening at the theater, it would be quite a leap for her to believe his words. She narrowed her eyes. “Not a difficult time, my lord. Impossible seems the better word.”

He shrugged, making her think he was not taking all of this seriously. He studied her, seeming to need the interval to gather his thoughts. “Like most gentlemen of our class, I maintained a mistress. However, much to my surprise, I found that I was unable to continue that relationship once I made the commitment to you.”

“But…”

He sighed, and one side of his mouth quirked up. “Margaret and I played cards.”

Eugenia shook her head and took another step back.

“’Tis true. And when she died, I felt sad, of course, at the death of a young woman, but also more relief than anything else.”

The man must think she was stupid. Had he truly felt relief, why in heaven’s name did he arrange to meet another light-skirt last night? A question she posed to him.

“Ah. So you did hear Cahill?”

The painful knot she’d experienced with Devon’s words as he’d accepted Cahill’s offer settled once again in her chest. “Yes.” Her voice was a choked whisper.

“Ah, sweetheart. Come here.” He reached out, and she stubbornly refused to move. He stood and stepped forward. She stepped back. He stepped forward. She stepped back and hit the wall.

Devon braced his hands on the wall, essentially blocking any escape. “The book.”

She shook

her head to clear it. “What?” They were in the middle of a most important conversation, and now he wished to discuss the book? Before she could put voice to her thoughts, he leaned in and took her lips in a warm and persuasive caress. His hands never touched her, but she felt tingles in her breasts and between her legs, with the strong urge to push her body against his. She wrenched her mouth away before she lost all sense.

“What has my book to do with it?”

Devon rested his shoulder against the wall and played with one of her curls that had come loose. She watched, mesmerized, as he ran the silky threads through his fingers. “Because, my love, I thought you had taken a lover.”

“A…what!” She drew in a deep breath. “You thought I had taken a lover?” She backed up, only to find herself wedged into a corner. “Has all your good sense left you, my lord?”

He walked toward her, like a powerful sleek animal stalking its prey, his eyes bright with anticipation of the kill. The tingling in her breasts and between her legs intensified. Her heart pounded, and all of a sudden there did not seem to be enough air to be had.

“Your gowns, Eugenia. Your touches, your glances, the very way you walked, talked, and most of all…” He stopped and cupped her cheeks with his large hands. “The way you responded to me in bed.”

Good Lord, if her temperature rose any more she would self-combust. He leaned in close and whispered in her ear, his warm breath giving rise to gooseflesh on her neck. “I liked it, my love. I liked when you touched me.”