“I am sorry for what your mother had to endure,” she said instead.
He shrugged. “I no
longer let such things bother me.”
But it had shaped him into the man he was, she was certain. She doubted he would be eager to debate the issue, though. After another moment, Raven turned her head away, feeling weariness overtake her.
Kell, however, only felt his own tension rising as he debated what to do for the remainder of the night. When the carriage arrived at his residence, he assisted Raven to alight and then escorted her up the front steps. A sconce had been lit to welcome them home, and the door was unlocked.
Kell opened it for her, then stepped aside to allow her to enter. But he was reluctant to follow.
“Where are the servants?” he asked, remaining in the doorway.
“I told them not to wait up for me since I would be so late returning.”
Another uncommon trait, Kell thought. Few ladies of his acquaintance would be so considerate of the servants.
She started to remove her cloak but then glanced back at him. “Do you not mean to come in?”
Kell remained exactly where he stood, knowing the wisdom of taking his leave at once. He’d watched Raven during the entire evening as she’d danced and charmed her way through her critical crowd of judges. She was all laughter and wit and vivacious beauty, demonstrating how she’d drawn half the male population of London under her spell during her Season. No wonder his brother had accused her of seduction.
He himself had felt an unreasonable spark of jealousy when he saw her working her wiles on the gentlemen present, even though he’d expected such a performance.
She was a temptress, pulsing with life and sensuality. And she was now his wife.
He had every legal right to stay with her.
The thought sent a searing heat shooting through Kell. He could spend the night enjoying the warm, exquisite body of his wife and no one would gainsay him-except perhaps Raven herself.
“To what purpose?” he asked, probing. “You said you didn’t want or need a lover.”
“No, I…I am not inviting you to share my bed, merely your house. I don’t like to think that I am driving you from your own home.”
Kell held her gaze, unable to look away. “It would be best if I left now. The play at the club may not have ended yet.”
“Perhaps so,” she murmured, her voice low. And yet she moved closer, as if drawn to him.
Kell felt every muscle in his body tighten at her disturbing nearness, his instinct for danger warring with the powerful need to take her in his arms. He knew better than to touch her, and yet…the impulse was unconquerable. Gently grasping her shoulders, he drew her against him.
A lightning stroke of desire surged through him. And from the darkening look in her eyes, he knew the fiery shock had touched her as well.
He tightened his hold-and felt himself swell with an immediate, throbbing erection.
Kell groaned silently, fighting the primal urge that was rampaging through him. He had to take care. Such hunger was dangerous, lethal. This woman could hurt him badly if he wasn’t careful.
Yet he couldn’t move. He gazed down into her crystalline blue eyes, seeing the color in their depths shift like richly hued gemstones. He felt as if he were drowning in her gaze, drowning in her alluring combination of fire and fragility, her vibrancy.
He wanted so badly to kiss her. To crush her mouth with his. Wanted to bury the ache of his arousal in the welcoming sheath that was made to receive him.
Kell inhaled sharply, shaken by the intensity of his desire.
Raven seemed just as spellbound. She reached up to touch his scar, and he felt something shift inside him…tenderness, lust, need. Desperate need.
His head lowered…
“So what have we here, big brother?” a snide voice drawled behind him.
Kell gave a start, while Raven froze. Turning his head, he saw Sean mounting the front steps.