“What do you have to offer in exchange, my lady?”
She bit her lip, and Damien felt his gaze drawn to her lush mouth. It required a herculean effort to harden his heart against her pleadings. Lady Wyndham was a celebrated beauty, and he had always been partial to beautiful women. Those dark eyes of hers were luminous enough to drown in, while her hair was a lustrous sherry color, shimmering with the gold and russets of autumn.
But she was calculating enough to have wed for title and property, and during her marriage she had run with a wild set. She could be cut from the same cloth as her wastrel brother and her late husband. Sir Roger was known to have squandered his inheritance while blazing a trail of scandal and debauchery, before meeting an untimely end. If rumor could be believed, his friends had been more than eager to console his grieving widow. Vanessa Wyndham did not seem as superficial and fatuous as other ladies of the ton, Damien admitted, yet she could be playing a role for his benefit.
While her striking eyes were wary, there was awareness in her gaze, a sexual awareness that told him clearly she felt the attraction between them.
“I fear I have little to offer you. My husband’s death left me in rather straitened circumstances,” she acknowledged quietly. “Our home was so heavily mortgaged that there was nothing left when it went to pay his debts.”
“You had best seek a rich husband then.”
He saw her grimace of distaste. “Even were I inclined to wed again-which I am not-there isn’t time for me to find a husband.”
“You do have a dilemma, it seems. But a beautiful woman like yourself can always take a lover. Or perhaps you already have one?” His tone was leading, curious.
Vanessa set her teeth. “I have no lover, Lord Sinclair.”
“Yet you are not above using your feminine charms to gain your ends. I expect the revealing gown you wore last evening was for my benefit?”
Vanessa flushed, but she held fast to her temper.
His gray eyes raked her from head to toe. “It should not be difficult for you to find yourself a protector. You have abundant charms with which to bargain. Use that lovely body of yours to advantage.”
“I am not a lightskirt, my lord.” She said it through clenched teeth, so fiercely that he had to believe her sincere.
Her indignation gave Damien pause. He was accustomed to women throwing themselves at his feet. To her credit, the lovely Vanessa had not tried to ply him with tears or devious tales. She wasn’t attempting to wheedle a favor from him. She was simply pleading honestly with him to let them keep their home.
He had to confess he admired her forthrightness, as well as her courage. He even admired her determined defense of her brother, however misguided it might be.
But it was unwise to allow himself to soften toward her. Vanessa Wyndham was clever, with spirit enough to be intriguing, and beautiful enough even for a man with his jaded, discriminating tastes. Under ordinary circumstances, he might enjoy pitting wits with her, perhaps even engaging in a game of seduction. But these were far from ordinary circumstances. Her brother had shattered his innocent sister’s life and would have to pay.
“Have you never done anything that you regret?” she was saying. “Aubrey was raised with no concept of responsibility. Our father was a poor role model for him.”
“An edifying tale.”
“My lord, my brother is merely a boy.”
His gray eyes hardened. “And my sister is merely a girl, whose life Rutherford callously ruined.”
“I am not excusing his behavior,” Vanes
sa managed more civilly. “But I should think you would wish to devote your energies to aiding your sister rather than seeking vengeance.”
“I have been devoting my energies toward that end.”
“Indeed? Did you not leave her alone in the country while you returned to London to your life of leisure?”
It was Damien’s turn to set his jaw. “I fail to see how it concerns you, Lady Wyndham, but I am in town to seek a companion for her, if you must know. My chief reason for coming was to investigate employment agencies and interview prospective candidates.”
And to visit your tailor. It was all Vanessa could do to hide her disdain. The mighty baron evidently didn’t wish to be bothered with his invalid sister, not if he planned to shirk his responsibility and palm the girl off on an employee. “Is that not rather coldhearted, to fob her off on a stranger?”
“Is it not rather unwise to antagonize me, Lady Wyndham?” he replied in a silken voice edged with steel.
Vanessa hesitated as she surveyed the storm gathering in his eyes. She had angered him, which was indeed foolish. Lord Sinclair was a dangerous man because of his implacable will. When he moved toward her slowly, it was all she could do to stand her ground. She was too aware of his body, the size and strength of it, of his raw masculinity.
He stopped before her, gazing at her hard. The heat and intensity in his eyes were unnerving. Then his tone dropped to a low murmur. “You are here alone, in a notorious rake’s bedchamber. I could have my wicked way with you, and no one would gainsay me.”
It was a threat, but somehow he made it sound like a sensual promise. Even more unnerving was the way his scrutiny shifted to her bosom. She could feel his gaze like a tangible caress, could feel her breasts tighten as if he had actually touched her.