Page 17 of The Dangerous Love of a Rogue
There, he opened the door and stepped out into the tepid night air. The terrace, as he’d hoped, was deserted, like the ballroom.
He left the door on its latch, walked to the end of the stone terrace and leaned his buttocks against the top of the balustrade. He could not walk further; she would not find him.
Come on, little beauty, follow.
The dark walls of the house framed the windows and the view into the illuminated ballroom and beyond that to the dining room. From this angle he could see all the way to the table where she was sitting.
He withdrew a slim cigar and a match from the pocket of his evening coat, lifted the cigar to his lips and struck the match on the stone beside his hip, then held the flame to the tip of the cigar and sucked until the cigar caught alight.
At least he had an excuse to be out here if he smoked.
He let the smoke slide out of his mouth.
Miss Marlow smiled at her sister-in-law, the Duchess of Pembroke, nodding at something the other woman said. Then her face turned to someone else across the table, a gentleman, one of her uncles. She laughed. Pembroke spoke to her. She replied. He smiled. Her father approached, stopped, pressed a hand on her shoulder, leaned down and kissed her temple.
Drew took another long draw on the cigar he held between his fingers.
It was as unreal as watching a play at the theatre. Drew did not understand a family like that. They moved in a pack, a pride, like lions, closing in to defend and protect one another whenever the need arose, all the men prowling about their lionesses.
I really ought to be daunted.He was not. Very little dented either his ennui or his ego.
Mary did, though. Which was good. He did not want a wife who would bore him.
He sucked on the cigar again, relishing the flavour of tobacco in his mouth. He knew how to enjoy things. He’d learned to make the most of every little gift life gave him when he was young. He would enjoy making her his.
She stood, smiling at her brother then her father and walked away from the table, weaving a path through the other guests, stopping occasionally to speak.
Drew smiled, sensations dancing a bloody jig in his chest. Had his little fish taken the bait?
Drew’s heart beat a steady elated rhythm. He felt as though he had been dealt the most superb hand of cards, but there was still a risk that if he laid them wrong he’d waste their benefit. There was still a requirement for skill and caution. He must be careful.
When she reached the ballroom, instead of turning towards the open French doors, though, she disappeared through a door at the side of the room near the entrance stairs.
Drew urged her with all his will…Come to me!
Butdamn it, if she did not, he was not giving up; he would try again.
Drew lifted the cigar to his lips and sucked in the smoke, then looked up to the stars and blew out a circle.
The night was clear, a blanket of very dark blue with thousands of sparkling pinpricks of light. He loved the night. He loved storms. His soul had always turned to the dark and wild. As a lad he’d liked swimming in the dark. Afterwards, he’d lain on the ground, sometimes for hours, looking up at the endless black. Another world.
A small dark shadow flew like a dart in the air over his head. A bat. Now he had spotted one, he saw more. They were after the moths which had been drawn to the light spilling from the windows.
‘What are you doing?’
Her voice captured his senses. He straightened up to standing. His own moth had come to the flame. Her wings would be burned, but,God, he could not believe the exhilaration that coursed through his blood.
Her voice had come from the foot of the steps which descended from the terrace to his right.
He threw the cigar across the balustrade into the flower border below then walked towards her. ‘I am waiting for you.’ He descended the steps, feeling the tug of her presence pull at him as he caught sight of her pale lemon dress a few feet away.
She was six years his junior, but he’d never seen her behave in a girlish way. She had a serene grace, and she was kind, sensible and confident.
His eyes adjusted to the darkness.
‘Tell me where you have been. I have not seen you for days.’ Her eyes sparkled diamond bright as they caught a shaft of moonlight. They challenged him. His game of patience had been a brilliant hand.
‘I have been giving you time to make your choice. Does this mean you have made it?’
