“I’d tell you it was the most ridiculous line a woman has ever tossed at me.”
“What if I told you I will be ruined tonight, even if you walk out that door?”
His face lost all expression. “Don’t tempt a rake, Leonora.” His voice turned thick. “My self-control isn’t as strong as you might imagine. And I am no gentleman.”
“You keep calling yourself a rake, but I have yet to see the proof.” She lifted a taunting brow. “Or is the title nothing but a mask you wear?”
His gaze grew hot. “Even if I were to ravage you to ruin, I wouldn’t do it here where anyone could walk in on us.”
Leonora grinned. “You wouldn’t be doing it here.” She reached out to a book and tilted it down, the shelf before her creaking as it slowly swung open.
His eyes widened in disbelief. “A secret room.”
“A secretreadingroom to be exact.”
He strode over, peering inside. “How do you know about this place?”
Leonora flashed a proud smile. She’d caught his interest. “I know a thing or two as well.”
Dark, turbulent blue eyes met hers. “You did think this through.”
“I didn’t decide the terms of my birth, Dare. No infant can. But I can decide my own source of ruination, and I refuse to let it be my birth. I don’t expect you to understand, but I’m a walking ruin already. I’m just asking you to do what rakes do best—ravage. Do you dare, Lord Dare?”
His reply came instant, “God, yes.” Then he cursed. “I’ve never seduced an innocent before. I don’t know if I can be gentle. I don’t know if I can be whatever you need me to be.”
A thrill shot up her spine. “I don’t need you to be gentle. I just need you to be you.”
“Now you are only provoking me.” He suddenly reached over to pick her up and toss her over his shoulder.
A gasp flew from her lips. “Dare! What are you doing?”
“Ravaging an innocent.” He stepped into the room, which was a smaller version of the library, only it had no windows. Rows of books lined the walls, and plush carpets adorned the floor. In the corner stood a desk with candles and a tinderbox.
He set her down. “This is pure madness, you know this.”
“Then let’s be mad together.”
He tucked a curl behind her ear. “I shall light some candles. By the time the last one is lit, if you are still here, there will be no going back.”
Oh, Leonora didn’t plan to go back.
Only forward.
Leonora pressed the door shut with aclick, sealing them inside. Her pulse thrummed. No escape. No second thought. Only ruin.
*
Could a mandie if his heart raced too quickly?
If that were possible, Dare was in trouble. Deep trouble. And yet, even though he knew he shouldn’t be doing this, he had still picked her up and walked into this secret room.
He was not strong enough to walk away.
He was notthatgood.
His temptress wanted him to ruin her, and he would oblige. Only, he couldn’t rid himself of the sense that he was the one about to be ruined tonight. She would ruin him. Not in any obvious way. No, what Leonora threatened was something far more dangerous. She would unravel him. Make him forget everycarefully placed wall, every vow to keep his heart unattached. His life untangled.
Once he touched her, there would be no undoing it. No forgetting the way she looked at him now—like he was something more than a rake, more than a man who played at seduction but never truly surrendered to it. She was toying with disaster, but so was he. And Dare had the terrible feeling that when the dust settled, he would be the one left in wreckage.
