How long would this spell last? A throb bloomed in the center of his chest at the unbidden question which had no business in his head. Because the answer came to him even more unbidden. The right course of action would be to stop here, to have no regrets, and to never tease and flirt with her again. If he didn’t...
“You know, my brother threatened to marry me off if I didn’t stay away from you.”
Dare stilled. Beg pardon? “He said as much?”
“He made a threat.”
“Is that what tonight’s is all about?”
She shook her head. “Nine parts no, one part yes. I don’t care to be threatened into anything. I shall ruin myself before I allow it.”
“Well, you are ruined now, little temptress.”
Her arms wound around his neck, her eyes sparkling down at him. “I was ruined the moment I was born unprotected by the parasol of the sanctity of marriage.”
So admirable, this woman.
Ah hell, damnation, and everything in between.
It was one ofthosenights. The kind where Dare felt in his bones sleep would not be his friend. How many times had these nights occurred? How many of them had he spent alone?
The number seemed to be infinite.
Of course, it would help if he had company, but he never wanted to stay longer with a woman than was necessary. Until this moment, when he didn’t want to leave. For the first time, he was tempted to spend the whole night with a woman. But his temptress wouldn’t have that, would she?
“Then my only question is this,” Dare drawled against her skin, so damn reluctant to end the moment he wanted to howl. “Was one moment of ruination enough or do you require another?”
Chapter Eighteen
“Well, this issurely a sight I never thought I’d see.”
Leonora jerked, her body tensing in surprise. For a moment... for a moment, she thought she was still naked in bed, a warm body pressing up tightly against her. The wild, intoxicating scent of him lingering. Mad whispers of all the ways it was bad to meet her in her chamber following her ruination...
But no. She was at the dining room table, toast in hand, staring out into the distance, which appeared to be a wall.
Dazed.
She looked to Heart and blinked again. The man looked no better than she had this morning when she’d woken up, limbs still entangled with a certain lord. “You can use this tone looking like you just crawled out of the gutter?”
He dusted off his coat before straightening his sleeves. “I was caught in a scuffle.”
“With whom?”
He stepped up and pulled a chair from the table, reaching for a piece of bread as he lowered down. “You don’t need to know.”
But I can suspect.
“I heard you attended the March ball last night. Alone.”
Instant, vivid memories of her indiscretion in the secret library flashed in her mind. She fought every single one back into the far corners of her thoughts to keep a heated flush from spreading across her face, all the while losing the battle to the heat clenching deep in her belly.
“And where did you hear that?”
Brooding eyes lifted to meet hers. “It would be quicker to tell you where I hadn’t heard it.”
Would it? “I did attend for a short while.”
“Did you seehim?”
