Page 9 of The Tempting of a Devilish Lord

“You’re still here then.”

She pushed up on her elbows. “Yes, I’m still here.”

Her cheeks were red and her eyes blue. All she needed was some touch of purple and she would practically be a rainbow.

A tempting rainbow.

Her slightly wide jaw held lips that were currently pursed with annoyance but were generous and her eyes were huge—so big he feared he might get lost in them.

Alex stretched out a bare hand. “Twist around and I can aid you down.”

“I think I’m stuck.” The woman lay her head back down, apparently resigned.

He frowned. “Your gown is caught?”

She rolled her head back and forth against the rock. “No, I cannot move. I’m not certain why. Maybe I should just stay here.”

“Ah.”

He recognized this. He’d seen it on his climbing expeditions. One could be perfectly fine then the next moment frozen in fear. Men who were entirely capable and experienced would find themselves on one particular bit of rock and suddenly they were frozen.

He eased out a breath. He supposed he was going to have to haul her down somehow. “Stay where you are,” he ordered and then realized the stupidity of such a command. “We shall get you down, do not fear.”

∞∞∞

LUCINDA HADN’T FELT fear until she had decided to sit on the rock while she got her bearings. Then it had swooped over her suddenly, pressing down on her chest as she surveyed the height of the rocks and the expanse of the land about her.

Now the situation was a hundred times worse.

No.

Athousandtimes worse.

Not only was she trapped upon a rock for no real reason at all, the gentleman who scowled at her down by the lake yesterday was now crawling his way toward her in an exceedingly predatory manner.

And could she bring herself to move from her silly, splayed position? Of course not. It was as though every limb had decided to glue itself to the rock. They were heavy and unwieldy and entirely disobedient.

As was this man. He should have listened to her and moved on. Mary-Anne would eventually return with aid. Though, Lucinda was not at all sure she wanted her mother to find out about this. It was about the most reckless thing she had done in five years and she did not want Mama to fear for her falling back into her old ways. Why did their mother have to insist on them staying here? Why did she think they needed the fresh air for their health? She and Mary-Anne were perfectly healthy people.

If one did not count feeling entirely hot and flustered at the proximity of this man.

The man’s shirt sleeves pulled against strong arms. When he’d rolled them up, she feared she might go into a faint—and she had never fainted in her life. He revealed slightly sun-kissed arms scattered with dark hair—dark hair that matched the color atop his head. Shiny, with a slight wave and perfectly cut, it matched his elegant attire and devastating good looks.

She should not admit that to herself, really. It would not help the situation. Here she was, splayed out like some offering to the birds, entirely humiliated, with her fate in the hands of a far too good-looking stranger. She had no doubt he knew that about himself too. After all, even the most average of men thought themselves to be quite something. This man no doubt imagined himself a god amongst mortals.

Unfortunately, he would not be wrong.

She lifted her head to peer at him then dropped it down again. What a terrible, terrible, embarrassing, awful situation.

What a ridiculous one too. Nineteen-year-old Lucinda would never have found herself stuck like this. She would have climbed the rocks, climbed down, and likely rescued the gentleman instead. But nineteen-year-old Lucinda had also been a fool and she could not allow herself to revert to that, no matter how much better that seemed than her current situation.

He neared and she tried not to look at him. From the corner of her eye, she caught his smile, and her heart gave a little flutter. His eyes were a rich brown, almost nutty. She cast her gaze upward, which from her angle was more like straight ahead, across the horizon. A huge mistake really as it made her incredibly dizzy. She reluctantly set her gaze on the only steady thing—him.

“What is your name?”

“Miss Lucinda Evans.”

“May I call you Lucy?”

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