Desire (Notorious 3)

“What makes you think I won’t fulfill them?”

“I cannot credit a man like you would concern yourself with a boy you don’t even know.”

Lucian answered mildly. “Your protectiveness toward your brother is admirable, Miss Caldwell, but I assure you, I am not making idle promises. Theodore seems extremely bright, and Dalton would be pleased to know he has a devoted admirer-and to encourage the boy’s interest in chemistry.”

Her expressive eyes turned troubled. “Even so, we don’t have the funds to afford a trip to London.”

“Circumstances can change,” he said cryptically. “Tell me,” Lucian added before she could reply, “has Theodore always been bookish?”

The question seemed to distract her, for her expression softened. “Always. It takes an exerted effort to lure him out-of-doors for a few moments each day. I don’t think it healthy that he locks himself away in a dark chamber with all those fumes and odors. But for some reason Theo finds his experiments fascinating.”

“I imagine it isn’t easy tutoring him in subjects that are beyond your ken.”

The slight flush on her cheeks was charming. “I do wish I were better equipped to teach him. We had to let our longtime governess go several years ago, and are not able to hire genuine tutors or send Theo to school as he would like.”

“He truly is eager to attend school?” Lucian asked, amused. “He must be a boy in a million.”

“He is,” she agreed with evident pride. “His greatest ambition is to become a scientist. He hopes someday to attend Cambridge to study chemistry.”

“Actually, that could be arranged.”

Her impatient look returned. “You are suggesting I believe in pipe dreams?”

“What if it were not a pipe dream? What if I were willing to fund your brother’s education entirely?”

She stared at him, suddenly wary once more. “What is your price?” she said finally.

“Must there be a price?”

“With you, I don’t doubt it, my lord. You have stooped to using extortion twice before-both times we’ve met, in fact. I am not so green as to believe your interest in aiding my brother stems purely from altruism. You would expect something in exchange for your generosity, surely.”

Lucian winced wryly at her poor opinion of his character, even though he couldn’t dispute her point about their encounters thus far. “Very well, if you prefer bluntness, my sweet firebrand… the price of my generosity is your hand in marriage.”

She backed up a step, clearly shocked.

Her retreat brought out the primitive male urge to chase fleeing prey in Lucian, but he forced himself to remain still, to keep his expression bland.

“You needn’t look as if I have suddenly sprouted horns, Miss Caldwell. I am asking you to marry me.”

“Marry you?” Her voice was breathless. “Why ever would you wish that?”

“Because I find myself at the point in life that I must wed and produce an heir,” he answered, almost truthful.

“But why me?”

“You don’t know?” His gaze swept her appreciatively, from her vibrant, momentarily tamed tresses, to her brilliant green eyes and lush mouth, her full, tempting breasts, her empire-waist gown that hid an enticing figure and slender, lithe legs… “You have only to look in a mirror to have your answer.”

She shook her head in exasperated denial. “I explained all that, my lord. The attraction you feel isn’t real.”

Lucian felt himself biting back a smile. The waves of attraction thrumming through him were very real. So was the heat, the lust he felt for her.

“I sincerely dispute that. It’s true I find your beauty alluring, but you have any number of attributes that are just as appealing. Intelligence and wit, for instance. And I’ve seen how you care for your brother. You would make a good mother, I think.”

Her exasperation only increased. “You have concluded that after, what? Three brief encounters?”

It did seem strange, his conviction that she was the bride he had been searching for. He had only just met her. Yet intuitively he knew a great deal about her. She had a fiery passion that could stir his blood. Doubtless she could be taught to be an exceptional lover. “Call it instinct, if you will.”

“I think your instincts have utterly failed you. There are countless reasons we would not suit. For one thing, I am not at all the sort to make a good countess.”