Page 48 of You Only Love Twice
"And yet you are," she accused. "Don't deny it. I saw it with my own eyes."
"Perhaps I'm enjoying Russia a little more now too."
Gemma's breath caught, but she didn't have time to reply, for he swept her into a quick shuffle that required her concentration. She'd never felt so off-balance before. Men were usually easy to wrap around her little finger, but every glint of those dangerous eyes assured her he wouldn’t be easy to tame.
"How precisely, are you acquainted with Prince Sergey Grigoriev?" she asked, because she had a job to do.
"Why would you assume I am?"
"Because he’s watching you quite intently."
Dmitri swept her around, capturing her wrists in both hands and leaning his mouth close to her ear. "It’s not me he’s watching. But you knew that."
A step forward.
A step back.
"Why areyouso interested in him?" he asked.
"I wasn’t aware I was."
"You must be," he teased, "because usually when a woman’s in my arms, she’s not asking questions about another man."
"He's a Prince of the Blood," Hollis breathed, slipping back into her preordained role. "What young lady of quality wouldn’t be interested in him?"
He tipped his head toward her. "True."
"Are you a friend of Sergey's?"
"No."
Interesting. "A relative?"
They looked a little alike, but the Russian court were fastidious about keeping their bloodlines pure, and—
"No."
"Do you know how to answer a question with more than one word?"
There. The faintest hint of warmth in his eyes. "Occasionally."
Gemma couldn't stop herself from smiling. Her real smile this time, not the seductive one she often fabricated. "You, sir, are an enigma."
And there was nothing she enjoyed more than a mystery.
"I'm nothing of the sort," Dmitri replied, sweeping her beneath his hand. The soft caress of his fingertips brushed her waist as she spun, his thumb stroking the silk there just long enough to make her realize
"I promise you won't remain a mystery for long," she retorted a little breathlessly, as she spun back into his arms.
The dying strains of theassahwhispered through the air, as they drew to a halt.
"It seems our time together is over."
Dmitri met her eyes, and his own twinkled. "I like to think it is just beginning. Until next time, Lady Beechworth."
"One presumes there is a next time."
"Oh, there will be."
