Page 37 of The Paid Companion

She wanted to throw herself over the edge and sink all the way to the bottom of the mysterious pool.

Arthur took the pins from her hair, his movements so exquisitely intimate that she trembled. No man had ever taken down her hair.

And then his mouth was on her throat. She felt the edge of his teeth.

Lucinda’s remark concerning Arthur’s runaway fiancée drifted through her dazed mind.She was terrified of him.

Arthur cradled her breast in his palm. She could feel the heat of his hand burning through the fine green silk of her bodice.

She moaned softly and moved her arms up around his neck.

But instead of responding by tightening his hold on her, he muttered something soft and rueful, something that might have been a muffled curse. Reluctantly he raised his head and set her a short distance away.

He cupped her face in his hands and smiled wryly.

“This is neither the time nor the place,” he said. His voice was rough with passion and regret. “You hold a unique post in this household, but that does not alter the fact that you are a member of my staff. I have never taken advantage of any woman in my employ, and I certainly do not intend to make an exception with you.”

For a second she could not believe she had heard him aright. He still thought of her as just another member of his household staff? After that passionate embrace? After he had taken her into his confidence and asked her advice on how to conduct his investigation?

Reality slammed back, ripping apart the delicate web of sensual pleasure and desire that she had spun around herself. She did not know whether to be furious or mortified. Indeed, the mix of anger, frustration and embarrassment that swirled through her left her almost speechless.

Almost, but not quite.

“Forgive me, sir,” she said, layering each word with a thick coating of ice. “I had no notion that you viewed me as just another member of your staff—”

“Elenora.”

She stepped back, forcing him to drop his hands from her face. “And I would not dream of allowing you to violate your strict rules regarding your conduct toward females in your employ.”

“Hell’s teeth, Elenora—”

She gave him her most brilliant smile. “Rest assured, I will endeavor not to forget my place again. I certainly would not want to be responsible for putting such a high-minded employer in such an untenable position again, sir.”

His jaw hardened. “You are misinterpreting my words.”

“They seem quite clear to me.” She made a show of glancing at the tall clock. “Gracious, the hour grows late, does it not?” She sank into her most elegant curtsy. “If you have no further need of myservicesthis evening, I will bid you good night, sir.”

He narrowed his eyes in warning. “Damnation, Elenora.”

She spun on her heel, giving him her back, and walked quickly toward the door.

His stride was longer than hers. He got to the door ahead of her. For a frantic moment she tried to decide what she would do if he barred her path.

But he did not try to stop her from making her grand exit. Instead, he opened the door for her with a graceful flourish and inclined his head in a mocking bow.

When she swept through the opening, head high, she glimpsed his wicked smile out of the corner of her eye.

“When this affair is over, Miss Lodge, I shall, of course, be forced to terminate your employment in this household,” he said coolly. “When that day comes, I assure you, we will return to this conversation and consider carefully what course our association will take in future.”

“Do not depend upon having any such a considered discussion, my lord. I see no reason to offer again what has already been rejected once.”

She did not dare look back to see how he had reacted to that comment. Instead she forced herself to walk, not run, toward the stairs.

An hour passed before she heard the steady, muffled thud of his footsteps in the hall outside her bedchamber. The sound seemed to reverberate with the beat of her heart.

He paused at her door. The tension was unbearable. Would he knock softly?

Of course he would not knock, softly or otherwise. He had just made it very clear that he would not do any such thing.

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