Page 35 of The Duke and the Lady in Red
Clasping her hands in front of her, she said, “First, as we’ve been living here on only the promise of payment, you’ll pay what I owe on the lease of this residence through the end of the month so my companions have a place in which to live without fear of being cast out. Then we do, in fact, have a few other creditors who need to be appeased. Pay them all that is owed to them. And last, each afternoon, for one hour, I may return here unaccompanied.”
“You could pay off your creditors with the five thousand pounds.”
“No. I walk away with the five thousand quid intact. Any expenses that occur during the next week, you will cover without questioning or quibbling over the cost.”
“You’re not in a position to negotiate.”
“If I have accurately judged how badly you want what you want, I believe I am. I won’t give it cheaply.”
Had he truly told her only this evening that he wasn’t desperate enough for any woman that he had to pay to have her? She was going to take his last farthing, the little witch. If he possessed an ounce of intelligence, he’d tell her to go to the devil and to return his money. If he possessedanyintelligence at all—
Apparently he didn’t possess so much as a drop.
“Is one of those trunks yours?” he asked.
She nodded. “The red one.”
“My coach is at the end of the street. We’ll take your trunk with us.”
“You expect me to leave with you at this precise moment?”
“If you want to keep the money.”
“You agree to the conditions?”
It grated. “I do.”
“I require ten minutes inside.”
“No. I’ve made all the concessions I intend to make.” He signaled for his coachman to bring the coach forward. “We leave now or you immediately hand over the money. And even then I’ll likely report you to Scotland Yard. You should know that an old family friend is an inspector there, and I’ll have him hunt you down like a dog. As many a criminal can attest, he has the skills to do it.”
Bending down, she whispered something to the small gent. Avendale almost grabbed her arm and jerked her away. She’d held enough secrets from him.
As his coach came to a stop, she straightened and walked forward until she stood by the door. She arched a brow. “Your Grace?”
The dwarf stepped toward him. “If you hurt her, I’ll—”
“I won’t hurt her,” Avendale cut in. Sliding his gaze to her, he gave her his most devilish grin. “Causing her pain is the farthest thing from my mind.”
Sitting in the well-sprung coach, Rose wasn’t quite sure she trusted Avendale’s words or his smile. “I know you’re angry.”
“Angry does not even begin to describe my fury at being duped. Although I can hardly complain. I initially lent you the money to keep you near. Now you shall be all the nearer.”
He crossed over to her bench, crowding her, but she refused to be cowed. She met his gaze head-on.
“I ought to put you over my knee, hike up your skirts, and give your bare backside a sound thrashing,” he ground out.
“I believe you’ll find our time together more pleasant if I’m willing, which I won’t be if you’re going to cast out threats of bodily harm. I know you won’t see them through and it will merely serve to irritate me that you would think I would be intimidated by such poppycock.”
“I’m far more dangerous than you think.”
Reaching up, she cradled his bristled jaw with the palm of her hand. “I know precisely how dangerous you are.” It had been part of the reasoning behind her decision to leave quickly, not so much for fear he’d uncover what she was about, but fear that she was very close to giving in to the allure of him. “I suspect by the end of the week that I shall be more scarred, scored, and branded than you can possibly imagine. Even as I dread how much I will ache at the end of it, I believe I shall relish every moment spent with you. You hold the power to destroy the very essence of me, and yet here I am. Do your worst.”
“Damn you,” he growled. “Damn you.”
His arms tightened around her like strong bands as his mouth descended to claim hers. By now, she thought that she shouldn’t be surprised by the power of him, the force of her attraction to him, and yet it always took her a bit off-guard. Pleasure swept through her, hunger for him roared to the surface. Suddenly his bare hands were in her hair and she felt the weight of it as it began to tumble, down, down, down.
He knotted a fist around the strands. “Glorious, glorious,” he murmured as he rained kisses over her face before returning his mouth to hers. Within her, he ignited flames that began at the tips of her toes and rose ever upward.
