Page 20 of Dukes Are Forever
He brought her gloved hand up to his lips, and his voice turned to liquid heat. "Try me and find out."
Adele glanced around, but the idea of dancing with him intrigued her. They'd never danced. Barely even conversed in a rational manner. Peace.... What a fascinating concept.
It didn't make her lower her guard entirely.
She accepted his proposition with a careless shrug that extricated her hand, and set it on his arm. Far safer than having it beneath his lips. "Don't think I'm afraid of your consequences."
"No?"
"Intrigued," she admitted. "I've never seen you dance."
"I generally prefer not to."
"And now you're offering to dance withme," she mused. "One might say that's somewhat suspicious."
It all had to do with Devoncourt's kiss, she was sure of it.
But what to make of it all?
Malloryn had told her to make her own arrangements, yet his reaction yesterday when he tossed the photograph in her lap belied the instruction. And now, here he was, showing up at a ball and asking her to dance with him.
Curiouser and curiouser.
If Adele was a foolish young debutante, she might almost have thought him jealous.
But she'd long given away such ridiculous notions.
Her husband was up to something.
His gray eyes heated behind the black velvet of his mask. "Well, if I don't make a move, some other young buck might."
"There'd be more rumors swirling if people knew it wasyouholding me in his arms, than some handsome stranger."
"You think me handsome?"
The thought clearly amused him.
"To lie would only make me seem an idiot. You're a veritable product of Michelangelo's imagination, and you know it." Her fingers squeezed the muscled flex of his upper arm, which was hidden beneath his coat. "Carved of chilling perfection, radiant with an unearthly strength and power. Just as cold asDavidhimself and twice as untouchable. Indeed, one would expect to find more warmth in the statue's caress."
"Mmm." His head lowered, his lips brushing the curls in front of her ears. "But we both know that's not the truth, don't we, Adele?" His thumb stroked the pulse in her other wrist, a lash of sensation. "Or do you not recall yesterday afternoon in the carriage?"
Her pulse started to race. Of course she recalled it. How could she not?
The memory of his touch had haunted her all bloody night long, whilst he was off seeing to "some business."
"Perhaps I should remind you?"
"Perhaps we should dance?" she blurted.
There was that smile again as he led her onto the dance floor.
She'd never dared dream of finding herself in her husband's arms—dreams were for foolish girls, not those who'd tasted the darkness that could be found in one of the Echelon's ballrooms.
And yet, it was startling to realize how easily she fit there.
"Considering you prefer not to dance, you're very good at it," she admitted in a begrudging tone. Of course he'd mastered the art. He took the lead with a control and mastery that left her no choice but to keep up.
"My mother would have been pleased to hear that. She spent a fortune on dance tutors when I was a youth."
