“No?” A candle blazed to life, revealing the dark, impossibly handsome gentleman as he moved to stand directly before her. “Then you did not deliberately follow me here from the ballroom?”
A flush stained her cheeks, as much from his proximity as from embarrassment. Despite nearing her six-and-twentieth birthday she had yet to have a gentleman pay her attention. And certainly none at such proximity.
It was…
Terrifyingly wonderful.
She sternly jerked her thoughts from such dangerous matters. “Of course not. I…I was searching for a maid to help mend a tear in my hem.”
“So you are a liar as well as a sneak.” Without warning he planted his hands on the wall, one on each side of her head, effectively trapping her. “Hardly attractive qualities in a young maiden. Tis no wonder you find yourself alone in dark corners while the other ladies have their pleasure in the arms of handsome suitors.”
She sucked in a sharp breath, wishing she had not when her senses became clouded by his sandalwood scent.
“How dare you?”
He chuckled softly and then brazenly lowered his head to brush his cheek over hers. “Quite easily.”
Dear heaven above. Anna shuddered as her entire body reacted to his touch. What was happening to her? Why did her lower stomach feel as if it were filled with butterflies? And why was her heart lurching against her ribs as if it wanted to leave her chest entirely?
“I am no liar.”
His lips touched a place just below her ear. “Then admit that you followed me.”
Something that might have been a whimper escaped her lips before she gathered what remained of her shattered composure.
“Fine. I followed you.”
He continued to nuzzle at her throat, almost as if he was tasting of her.
“Why?”
Anna struggled to think. “Because my aunt charged me to keep an eye upon my cousin, and when I noticed you slipping from the ballroom just moments after she claimed to be in need of the withdrawing room, I feared that the two of you had arranged a meeting.” Her lids slid downward as he discovered a particularly sensitive spot. Then, realizing his hands had left the wall to tug at the ribbons on the back of her gown, she forced herself to stiffen in protest. “And for your information, I remain in the dark corners because that is what is expected of poor relations.”
“Ah, so the mouse has teeth,” he mocked, giving her a light nip.
Anna gripped her skirts. It was that or grip the man who was tormenting her with those tiny, relentless kisses.
“I am no mouse.”
“No, you are quite right.” He pulled back to study her flushed countenance, his fingers tugging at the bodice of her gown to reveal the tight corset beneath. “You, querida, are far more a shrew.”
Anna was oblivious to the insult. Hardly surprising. She was alone in a bedchamber with a strange man, half na**d, and while her mind was telling her to be terrified, her body was shivering as if she were wracked with fever.
For the first time in her life she was being seduced by a master. And she was helpless against the rising tide of passion.
“It is obvious that Morgana is not here,” she husked. “I must return to the ballroom.”
“You fear that your absence might be noted? That you might have rescued your cousin’s reputation only to sacrifice your own?”
“There is no one to notice if I am missing or not.”
Something dark and powerful stirred in the dark eyes. “Dangerous words,” he whispered.
Anna gave a strangled cry as her gown drifted to the floor and he reached to pluck the lace cap from her head.
“My lord. Stop that.”
He groaned as her hair tumbled down her back, his fingers running a restless path through the thick strands.