Page 66 of Tempting the Scoundrel
Some foolish part of her liked when Nick called hersweetheart. That when the word rolled off his tongue, it made Alexandra flush as if he’d touched her. “How much is a secret worth to you?” she asked him.
“Depends on how well kept it is.”
“For instance?”
“For instance?” Nick repeated softly, coming to a stop. The corridor was dim, with only candlelight to illuminate his features. Alexandra had noted in Gretna how the shadows favored him, how they made his eyes glitter like the sky on a moonless night. Time had done little to change that; the darkness still caressed him like a lover. As he shifted closer, Alexandra felt the hard press of the wall at her shoulder blades. He dipped his head and breathed in her ear, “I would forfeit every pound, shilling, pence, and property I have to know your secrets. I would sell the clothes off my back.”
Alexandra’s breath caught. “Would you?”
Nick made some soft noise and turned his face from her. “Yes,” he said. “But you should not sell them so cheaply.”
If she wished, she could hold her cheek against his. She could slide her hands under his shirt to feel his skin, just like she did back in St Giles; he’d let her. Alexandra curled her fingers into her palm. Such a simple action that took so much effort. “Do you consider everything you have to be of such little value?”
“No.” His exhale slid across her shoulder. She thought she felt fingertips at her nape, but it might have only been his whisper: “I consider you to be worth everything.”
Were she not standing against the wall, Alexandra might have stumbled. His words sank into her bones, past the thorns she had erected around her traitorous heart. For beneath its protections, she was still so vulnerable.
I can’t. I can’t do this again. I won’t recover if it ends the same.
As if he heard those thoughts, Nick stepped away. “How about an easy secret, no payment required?” he asked lightly, avoiding her gaze. “What do the colored knobs on some of these doors mean?”
Of all the questions he could have asked to smooth over the moment, he chose to inquire about the red and blue doorknobs. And she, without even a moment to compose herself. Not one second.
Alexandra straightened, overcoming the urge to flee the corridor. “They’re . . . er . . . specialty rooms. Red, for those who like to be watched”—bloody hell, and now she was blushing—“and blue for those who like to watch.”
Oh, she was certain her cheeks were red now. Her entire face felt hot. For it wasn’t enough that she’d answered, now she wanted to know which room Nick would choose: to watch, or be watched?
Nick’s smile was slow. It sent a lick of heat between her thighs. “Do you have a preference?”
The flush spread across her entire body. “Of course not.”
“Very well.” Then he winked. “I’ll choose.” He grasped a blue doorknob and went inside.
“Nick.”
Alexandra muttered a curse and went after him. The room was smaller than some of the others she’d seen, but no less opulent. The dark furniture gleamed from the efforts of the Masquerade’s fastidious team of servants, and the air was lightly perfumed with the scent of roses. To her left, the four-poster bed beckoned, but Nick walked past it and dropped onto the chaise pushed to the far wall. There, in the middle of the wallpaper, was a sliding panel—currently closed. Was there a couple in the next room? Did he really intend to—
Stop it. Stop it.
Alexandra shut the door behind her. “We shouldn’t be in here.”
“If some toffs in the next room wish for us to take a look, I’ll give them what they want. Just this once.” He dropped onto the couch and crooked a finger at her. “Come here.”
The thorns around her heart were beginning to recede, driven by her some mad desire.It’s lust, she told her heart, burying it deeper behind sharp thistle and vines.It means nothing.
When she didn’t move, Nick draped his arm across the back of the chaise and asked, “You afraid?”
She watched his fingertip coast down the upholstery as if it were the long line of a lover’s hip. “Of what?”
“That you’ll like it.” Oh, he had a wicked smile. She’d forgotten the effect it had on her, how easily it made her picture him disrobed and beneath her.
Stop it. He is baiting you.
Furious with herself, Alexandra marched over to the panel.Get this over with.She grasped the panel and slid it open. The strength of her disappointment surprised her—the next room was empty.
“There,” she said, hoping the word passed as relief. “No one. Now let’s—”
Nick gripped her arm. “Wait.”
