Page 19 of Enticed By an Earl
“Yes, it is rather barbaric how women are treated as commodities rather than as people in their own right,” Castleton said with unusual strength. Dev had heard that very opinion expressed before and in a great many ways, he agreed with it. But to hear an earl who would one day be a duke express such radical ideas openly was unusual.
“It has been my pleasure to be acquainted with several stellar women who are as strong as any man and who have their own opinions about things as well,” Dev said. The fact that they had been his mistresses in the past was a detail best kept to himself.
Though he was not entirely certain why he wished to keep his past assignations a secret from Castleton. Or at leastsomething best kept in the past. Many men of his acquaintance bragged about their mistresses whenever they could, but Dev found himself not wishing to hurt Castleton in any way by…by insinuating that there had been lovers before him?
He grunted, shaking his head at himself. First Miss Dryden, now Castleton. His mind, heart, and, yes, body were well and truly confused.
“Have I said something wrong, my lord?” Castleton said, glancing anxiously up at Dev as they passed close to the edge of the water again.
“No, not at all,” Dev said, attempting to brush away his reaction. “I was just thinking about one of the ladies from the?—”
It hit him as if he had been struck square in the chest with a cannonball. The eyes staring questioningly back at him as he paused were the very same that had looked up at him from the steps of the dance the other night. The intelligence he saw in them was the same as well. As were the lips, the nose, and the line of the chin.
But no, it could not be. Dev had never heard of such a thing.
Except that he had. His bacchanals of the past had landed him in darkened clubs and secret rooms where the rules and order of society were inverted. He’d attended parties in Paris and throughout Italy where catamites and other shape-shifting entertainers had offered themselves up as treats for the nights. Why, even in London, at a certain club by the name of Perdition, he’d spent an intriguing evening with a young person who, by all appearances, was a celestially beautiful young woman, only to discover a rather impressive cock and balls between her legs when he’d taken her up to bed in one of the club’s private rooms.
He'd found that surprise to be a delicious lark, seeing ashe’d always enjoyed both the sausage and the roll. That sort of thing was not entirely out of the question in certain parts of London, but at a ball in his own home? In the person of the charming and soft-spoken Earl of Castleton?
How had he missed the truth? Now that he saw it, saw Miss Kitty Dryden standing right there in front of him in the person of Lord Castleton, he could not unsee it. The two objects of his fascination and obsession over the last week were one and the same.
“You clever bean, you,” he said, lowering his voice and leaning closer to Castleton.
One inhale of the man’s scent and Dev knew he was right. Castleton smelled of shaving soap, exactly what he’d noticed at the ball but had not allowed his brain to fit into place, as well as roses and lavender, though those scents were fainter now.
“My lord?” Castleton said, backing up quickly, the color draining from his face.
“There’s no need to pretend with me anymore,” Dev said, taking a step after him. “Your secret is safe with me.”
“Secret, my lord?” Castleton’s voice pitched high in his fright, giving away the game even more. “I have no secrets.”
“Yes, I believe you do, Kitty,” Dev said, smiling like the wolf that suddenly felt ravenous within him. It was a mark of something decidedly bent in his character that he should desire Castleton even more now that he knew what a lovely woman the man made.
“Truly, my lord, I do not know of what you speak,” Castleton said, raising his voice slightly and backing away as if he were a trapped animal.
Dev moved to pursue him but held himself back. Something was not right. There was too much fright in the way Castleton spoke and in his countenance. Moreover, Castleton glanced around in a panic, not as if he weresearching for some random threat, but as if he knew a threat was imminent and he was trying to keep it in his sight.
Dev stood straighter, looking around to see what Castleton saw. Unfortunately, he spotted the two men almost immediately. They were several dozen yards away with some of the people enjoying an afternoon in the park between them, but they were most definitely watching the two of them. Neither of the men looked particularly savory.
“You must tell me at once without lies,” Dev said, turning back to Castleton with deadly seriousness. “Are those men a danger to you?”
Castleton drew in a breath that hitched, like he might sob with fear. “They have been following me since I set out for a walk an hour ago,” he whispered.
“Have they threatened you directly?” Dev asked, the energy to protect Castleton as fierce as it had been when he’d thwarted the attack the week before.
Castleton shook his head tightly. “Not directly…but I feel as though it is only a matter of time.” He glanced back at the men, then around to see who might be eavesdropping, then whispered, “My father hates me. It is my belief that he has been attempting to eliminate me from the family tree so that my brother George, who is very much like him, might become the earl and someday the duke.”
That was all Dev needed to know. Without asking more, he was certain Castleton was telling the truth. The man was far too gentle and effeminate to hide his nature, and men like Bedminster only wanted rough, masculine sons to take their titles. There was as good a chance as any that Bedminster knew his son occasionally liked to go out in public as a woman, though Dev had a great many more questions to ask to ascertain whether that was something Castleton did regularly.
“Come with me,” Dev said, touching Castleton’s arm andnudging him into motion. “You cannot stay here with men like that pursuing you.”
“I do not know where to go,” Castleton whispered.
Dev was not entirely certain either. But when he glanced over his shoulder to see the two men following them, he knew that he needed to find some way to get his charming dance partner to safety.
Seven
Kit’s heart had been in his throat from the moment Lord Deveraux had looked at him with sly, understanding eyes and called him Kitty. Truly, he had been on edge far longer than that, since realizing he was being followed. Finding Lord Deveraux in Hyde Park had seemed like a miraculous stroke of luck in the moment. Who better to rescue him from the men who were following him than the hero who had rescued him once before? But the knowledge Lord Deveraux believed he now possessed was as dangerous to Kit as the men pursuing him.
