A Reckless Encounter

Lady Leverton watched Celia with wide eyes and an expression of dismay, while Mrs. Pemberton had risen to her feet and snapped a command for her niece to stop that nonsense at once.

Colter reached Celia in two long strides, his glance at the startled Mario a warning the young man immediately understood. Silently he stepped back.

“What in hell do you think you’re doing?” Colter asked Celia softly, but she was obviously impervious to his anger or intimidation.

“Dancing, my lord.” A misty sheen made her face glow, and her eyes were very green and bright. “Is this not what you wanted? Your guests to enjoy themselves?”

She whirled away from him before he could reply, and he moved after her, catching her against the far wall, all too aware that they were being observed, that Santiago was grinning widely. Damn her! The little cat knew what she was doing.

The movements of the dance brought her close to him and she moved her body in a deliberate brush against his. Her arms swept upward, slowly and sinuously, to lift the mass of honey-colored hair away from her neck, then let it drop again as Marita had done earlier, a provocative ploy meant to entice.

“Stop it,” he said quietly, the steely note in his voice making her eyes widen at him, “or I’ll give you what you’re so prettily asking for. If that’s what you want, by God, I can oblige. Don’t tempt me!”

She came to an abrupt halt as the music ended, her chest heaving from her exertions, green eyes sparkling angrily at him.

“Oh, I’ve no doubt you will do just what you say, my lord. You seem quite adept at being an autocrat. Is that why you invited me here? You needn’t have gone to so much trouble. I was well aware of your inclinations before I arrived.”

“I think,” he said slowly, eyes narrowed at her, “that you know very well why I invited you here. Don’t pretend otherwise.”

“Yes,” she said in almost a whisper, lips slightly trembling, whether with anger or emotion he couldn’t tell, “I know very well why you invited me.”

“Then we needn’t delay any longer.”

15

All the noise, the music and the laughter, even Mrs. Pemberton’s shocked disapproval and her not so very quiet scolding of Olivia, faded into a blur of sound as Celia stared up at him. Here it was, the moment she’d been half expecting since she arrived, afraid of it yet anticipating it at the same time, strangely enough. Yet it was a shock, after all, for it wasn’t done quietly or privately, but in front of a dozen people and in full view of her cousin.

“Am I expected to fall into your arms now?” she hissed angrily. “Or can you wait until we are alone? Tell me what you expect, my lord, for it’s obvious you think I am eager for you.”

“Aren’t you?” He smiled at her angry hiss. “It wasn’t my idea to make a public display.”

“Display? I thought it was dancing.”

“Not the way you were moving. It was an invitation and I accept. Christ, you can’t be that naive to think I’m the only man here who wants you. Look at Mario. And Harvey. If you so much as give either of them the slightest nod of encouragement they’ll be more than happy to toss your skirts and take you against the wall. Isn’t that what you wanted to prove? That you’re desirable? You should be well satisfied with the results, for even old Santiago wouldn’t mind tumbling you if you gave him the opportunity. No.” His hand flashed out to grab her wrist, holding it tightly in a steely grip. “If you run away now, what have you proven? Only that you’re a teasing little gypsy like Marita.”

“If I stay, my lord,” she managed to say calmly, “I have the inescapable feeling that I’ll end up proving I’m as available as Marita.”

Lights exploded in the dark blue of his eyes, and his smile thinned. “Ever a surprise,” he said at last. “You waver between honesty and deceit at an alarming rate.”

“Do you expect me to deny my attraction to you? I admit I find you—seductive. I’m intrigued, and yes, I’m curious, too. Are you what you seem to be? Or are you only a charlatan beneath all your bluster.” She lifted one shoulder in a light shrug. “It would be intriguing to discover the truth, but not at the expense of my good reputation.”

“Take it from a man of experience, a reputation is as fleeting as the seasons, gone in an instant even if it’s undeserved. And a reputation is damn cold comfort on long winter nights.”

“Perhaps, but you speak from a man’s point of view, and as a member of the peerage. Even a bad reputation doesn’t keep you from being received in society.”

“Doesn’t it? Even an earl can be ostracized. But you aren’t really worried about your reputation. If you were, you wouldn’t have danced as you did tonight.”

“I hardly think that will keep me from being accepted in society, my lord. Unless you choose to make it greater than it is.”

“I’ll leave that to Mrs. Pemberton.”

Celia smiled. “I doubt she’ll betray her own niece, who was also learning the gypsy dances.”

?

??None of which matters.” His hand slid down her arm to her elbow, cupped it in his palm to turn her toward the others. “We can discuss all the reasons why you shouldn’t be here later, and then I’ll give you all the reasons why you should.”

There was no need to ask what he meant.