Scandals Bride (Cynster 3)

The swift glance she shot him was scathing. "I might have known you'd say it was my fault."

"You might have noticed I haven't. You were the reason I so promptly claimed the time, but… on reflection"-his gesture encompassed the woods through which he'd tramped-"I would have claimed it anyway."

She frowned. "Why?"

He studied her and wondered if he could ever explain to anyone how he felt about family. "Let's just say that I've a constitutional dislike of making rushed decisions, and Seamus laid his plans very carefully. He knew I wouldn't appreciate being used as a pawn to disenfranchise his family."

Her frown deepened. "Because of being a bastard?"

"No. Because of being a Cynster."

Her frown grew more puzzled. "I don't understand."

Richard grimaced. "Nor do I. I'm not at all clear, for instance, on why Seamus went to such lengths-such machinations-to get me here, into this bizarre situation."

She humphed and turned back to the window. "That's because you didn't know Seamus. He was forever plotting and scheming-like many men of wealth and position. Indeed, he often spent so much time making plans he never got around to the execution."

Richard raised his brows. "No wonder my father was sent here." Catriona looked her question; he met her gaze. "Cynsters are renowned for action. We might plan, just enough, but our talents lie in the execution. Never ones to drag our heels."

She humphed softly and turned back to the night. After a moment, she raised a hand and started drawing spirals on the cold pane. "I was thinking…" She paused; he could hear the grimace in her voice. "Seamus may have envisioned marriage to me as a penance-a sort of deferred punishment-with you paying the price in place of your father."

Richard frowned. "If he thought that, then the joke's on him. It would be no hardship to be married to you."

She turned her head; their gazes locked-everything else did as well. Time, their breathing, even their heartbeats. Desire shimmered, filling the air, heightening senses, tightening nerves.

She drew breath and looked away. "Be that as it may, you aren't considering it."

Richard sighed. When would she learn she couldn't sway him with her tone? "Think what you will. But the solicitor's left and won't be back for a week. I won't make my decision until then." He wouldn't be rushed, he wasn't impulsive-and he needed to know more. Of her, and why Seamus had made such an iniquitous will.

She humphed and muttered something; he thought it might have been "stubborn as a mule."

Pushing away from the mantlepiece, he strolled toward her, his footfalls muffled by the carpet. As he neared, she whirled, only just suppressing a gasp. She went to step back-and stopped herself. And tilted her chin instead.

Inwardly, he smiled-she looked deliciously ruffled, and it was he who'd done the ruffling. "Don't worry, I'm not about to pounce."

The gold flecks in her eyes flared. "I didn't imagine-"

"Yes, you did." He looked down at her, at her too-wide eyes, at the way her breasts rose and fell. Bringing his eyes back to hers, he grimaced. "If it eases your mind, as my host's ward and a virtuous, unmarried lady, you are effectively removed from my list of potential seductees."

He could follow her thoughts easily in her vibrant eyes.

"Ah, no," he murmured, "that doesn't mean you're safe with me." He smiled. "Just that I won't seduce you without marrying you."

She glared-at this distance, he could feel the heat. It stopped abruptly; an arrested expression filled her eyes. Then she focused on him.

"I just realized… Seamus only required you to agree to marry me, not that I agree to marry you. He knew I wouldn't agree; I'm under no compulsion to obey him." She frowned. "What did he imagine he'd achieve?"

Looking down into her upturned face, at her eyes, wide and puzzled, at her lips, warm and slightly parted, Richard fought down an urge to kiss her. "I told you-Seamus made a very thorough study of the Cynsters."

"So?" She searched his face, then his eyes.

"So he knew that, if I publically declare I'll wed you, I will."

Her eyes flew wide, then narrowed to green shards. "That's ridiculous! You can't simply declare we'll wed- I have to agree. And I won't!"

"If I decide to have you…"-he kept his words deliberate, pausing to let the qualification sink in-"I'll have to change your mind."

"And just how do you imagine doing that?"