Valiant (Gentlemen of the Order 3)

Miss Hart winced. “But she will be hurt, hurt I’ve not confided in her.”

“Whatever happens, you cannot mention the contract.” Did the countess know about the pact made between two privateers? Did she know about the cache of pirate gold? Either way, Evan’s task was to protect Vivienne Hart, and the less anyone knew of the hidden treasure, the better. “We’re in love. That’s all she needs to know.”

Her gaze drifted over his face, curious yet caressing. “I know how it feels to be in lust, Mr Sloane, no notion what it feels like to be in love.”

He knew next to little of the emotion. Nothing of paternal love, or the deep, abiding attachment shared by lovers. Nothing but what he’d read in poems. Nothing but the brotherly bond he shared with his colleagues.

“We will muddle through somehow.”

A sudden knock on the carriage window had Evan reaching for the blade hidden in his boot, but it was Ashwood who yanked open the door.

“You’ll not find the masked rider while cooped in a carriage.” Ashwood was dressed in a black domino, while his wife Eva clutched a crook and wore the garb of a shepherdess.

“It’s a masquerade, Ashwood, could you not be a little more inventive with your costume?”

“Says the man dressed as a pirate.” Ashwood doffed his tricorn. “It’s the best I could do at short notice, though at least we have matching hats.” His gaze drifted to Miss Hart, and he offered a warm greeting. “I’m one of the best enquiry agents in London, Miss Hart, though I am at a loss to put a name to your costume.”

“It’s a simple gown, not really a costume. I am not one for extravagance, my lord, and lean towards the understated.”

If it was a simple gown, why all the secrecy?

Ashwood offered his hand to Miss Hart, though his gaze dipped to her silver slippers. “Perhaps understated is best. At a masquerade, the more ostentatious the dress, the more one blends into the background.”

Evan reached for the blue velvet box on the opposite seat, itching to remove the lid. He alighted, waited while Ashwood introduced Miss Hart to his wife, and then handed her the box.

“Leave your cloak in the carriage. There’s always a crush at the cloakroom.” Equally, they might need to make a quick exit. And Evan wanted to see Miss Hart’s costume before other men had the pleasure. “If we’re separated, I’ll need to identify you amid the horde. I know I’m not looking for an Elizabethan courtier.”

“Based on the gold strands threaded through Miss Hart’s hair, I would wager she’s come as a Greek goddess,” Eva Ashwood said.

Ashwood laughed. “Based on the glint in Sloane’s eyes, she’s Aphrodite.”

“Peitho is the goddess of seductive persuasion,”

Eva challenged.

A blush as red as a berry stained Miss Hart’s cheeks. “I am neither Aphrodite nor Peitho, but I suppose I cannot hide beneath this cloak forever.”

She opened the box and removed an exquisite handheld mask decorated with blue and green spangles that sparkled like the surface of a sunlit sea. He should have known she would pick something alluding to their shared heritage, to their grandfathers’ love of the ocean.

Eva gasped. “It’s beautiful, Miss Hart.”

“Mr Sloane said to choose whatever my heart desired.”

Ashwood cast Evan a knowing look. “I’m sure he had no thought for himself when he made the generous gesture.”

Oddly, he’d thought of nothing but making her happy. Now, imagining the bounty of delights hidden beneath her cloak left every muscle tense with anticipation.

He took the empty box and placed it on the carriage seat, held her mask while she unbuttoned her cloak and slipped it off her shoulders.

Holy hell!

Evan gaped at the woman whose luscious figure robbed him of rational thought. Dressed in a satin cerulean blue gown with a silver diaphanous overskirt that shimmered in the muted light, Miss Hart looked like a delicate nymph burst from the sea. His hands throbbed with the need to explore every curve. His stomach muscles clenched hard. Oh, how he longed to capture this mermaid in true pirate fashion and plunder her senseless.

“Now I see why Mrs McCready feared you’d catch your death.” He’d likely expire, too, if his heart didn’t settle. “Though you look beyond beautiful, Vivienne.”

Her shy smile turned luminous. “I told Mrs Mulligan my husband believed a mermaid had saved his grandfather from drowning. That the least I could do was play to his fantasy.”

Oh, this woman played to every wild and wicked fantasy. “If I thought you’d come to my rescue, madam, I’d gladly throw myself in the Thames.”