Page 26 of A Wager With A Rake
“Brandy?”He moved to the sideboard to pour two snifters.
“Please.”Once he poured, she accepted the glass gratefully, hoping it would calm her rioting nerves.Their fingers brushed and pure sensation licked along her nerve endings, feeling his touch all the way to her toes.She almost dropped the glass.
Court didn’t appear to take notice and settled himself in his usual chair.“Are you in a losing mood?”he teased.
“Confident, are we?”Theodosia arched a brow before downing the remaining contents of her glass.She perched on the edge of the chair opposite him, desperately seeking the easy comfort between them while she swallowed her guilt and heartache.
His eyes gleamed, tempting and dangerous, in the flickering light from the candles.“Always.”
Court refilled their glasses.And Theodosia forced herself to only take a single swallow, while she watched Court shuffle and deal the cards for their first hand.
Theodosia scooped up her cards, heart pounding a staccato beat in her chest.She arranged her hand, pleased to see that fate appeared to be in her favor thus far.
They began, and Theodosia focused on the game at hand.They were silent for a while until Court finally broke the quiet with a tale from his days of travel.She did her best to smile when it seemed appropriate but kept her focus on the game and controlling the rising bile in her throat.
She won the first game for the evening, and then Court became more focused and quiet at the start of the second game.Both of them were aware of what was at stake if he were to lose.
One more win and she’d have Rosewood.An estate she’d never known but only cared about because it would secure her future.An estate that had been the source of pleasant childhood memories for Court, and one his father stupidly lost in a wager, the same as she’d set up to trick him into.Was she any better than her father if she did this to him?
As the last trick loomed, what should have been joy turned to immense dread.She was poised to win not just the hand but the entire wager.One more play and Rosewood would be hers.
But as she reached for her winning card, fingers trembling, the sour feeling overtook her entire body.Her conscience nagged at her that what she was doing was wrong.That she’d done what she always had and justified her actions because of the pain and wrongs done to her.
She could go on playing the part—the ruthless victim turned villain—until her dying breath, wrapping herself in her armor of bitterness and schemes.But where had it ever truly gotten her?No matter how many tricks she played, no matter how cruelly she wielded her wit, nothing had changed.Even if she won Rosewood, even if Court still came to her bed, where would she be afterward?
Alone.A state she had once convinced herself she desired.A state she had longed for, fought for.But deep down, beneath the layers of ice and defiance, she knew better.She wanted more.She always had.It was only fear that kept her from reaching for it—the fear that love had never worked in her favor.And hope had always left her broken.So she had pretended she didn’t want it, had told herself she was beyond such foolish, fragile dreams.
But the truth whispered through the cracks in her defenses, relentless and aching.
She wanted to know what it was to be loved.
With a choked cry, Theodosia flung her cards down upon the table and bolted from her chair.Tears blurred her vision as she fled the room, nearly stumbling in her haste.
“Tess!Wait!”Court’s voice echoed behind her, bewildered and alarmed.But she couldn’t bear to face him.Not now, when the tattered remnants of her conscience and all her insecurities fluttered mockingly within her.
She hitched up her skirts and ran for the stairs, seeking the sanctuary of her chamber.Not hers, she supposed.But Court’s longer stride ate up the distance between them.He caught her by the elbow just as she reached the top of the landing.
“What happened?”He turned her to face him, gripping her arms gently.Concern radiated from him as he bore a hole in her with his piercing gaze.“Why did you run?”
Theodosia shook her head miserably, her eyes welled with unshed tears.“I couldn’t do it.I couldn’t take Rosewood from you.”
Court’s brow creased.“Tess, I am a grown man who understands the consequences of making a wager.”
“Hang the wager!”The words burst out of her, vehement and raw.“I tricked you.This was my plan all along.I studied and trained to best you so that I could steal Rosewood.I used your desire for me against you to coax you into gambling the property that was rightfully yours if our fathers hadn’t been such imbeciles.”
She sucked in a shaky breath, the truth of it settling like a stone in her chest.Lifting her chin, she met his gaze squarely, her voice breaking.“I concede the bet to you, Court.Rosewood is yours.”
His eyes widened, shock and something else flickering in their depths.“Tess…”
She couldn’t bear the tenderness in his voice.It unraveled and unnerved her, left her defenseless against the onslaught of emotions battering her heart.With a broken sob, she flung herself into his arms, her mouth finding his in a desperate, hungry kiss.
Court gasped in surprise.Then, with a low groan, he yanked her flush against him, one hand fisting in her hair as he claimed her mouth with searing intensity.Theodosia melted into him, surrendering to the heat and hardness of his body, the intoxicating slide of his tongue against hers.
After several moments, he broke the kiss.“I… we can’t.You must know I don’t expect you to hold up your end of the wager.I wouldn’t have required it even if I had legitimately won.”He cupped her cheek with his hand, stroking his fingers along her jaw as he spoke.For a moment, she might believe he felt something more for her than friendship or desire.But it was her hopeful heart playing cruel tricks on her.
But every heated inch of her body wanted him.One night with him was better than none.If she were going to leave, she could at least take the memory of one perfect night with her.“Please.”She sighed, nipping at his lower lip.Raw need pulsed through her, hot and urgent.“I want you.I want this.”
“Tess…” She could hear the turmoil in his voice and how he also warred between doing the honorable thing and succumbing to what they both wanted.
