Reckless - By Anne Stuart Page 0,95

caution to the winds. And yet he seemed to be doing just that. A romp between the sheets at a notorious gathering was one thing. With a pillar of the church and a vengeful Lina around there was a good chance he'd be forced into marry her.

So why was he taking such a chance?

He said he'd been mad with wanting her. The madness she could believe. The wanting was more of a question. He'd let her go last night, and she still wasn't sure who'd won that particular battle. If she thought she'd proven she could walk away from him, she'd failed. He might be convinced she was invulnerable. She knew she couldn't think, couldn't eat, couldn't sleep. All she could do was long for him.

No, he must be lying about how much he wanted her. Once more he was trapped someplace without a more beautiful, experienced alternative. But he was such a lovely liar that she was willing to believe him.

Just as she'd believed him when he told her they were both trapped in the room near the abbey, and he'd lied about that as well. He could have had anyone else, and he'd chosen her.

In the end, his reasons didn't matter. This was her choice, her decision. She wou1d have him, for an hour, for a day, for as long as he wanted. She was tired of lying to herself.

The servants looked at them curiously as he pulled her through the house. It was a huge old place, with whole wings of it shut down. He seemed to know his way around it—within a few minutes they were climbing higher and higher into a part of the place that clearly hadn't been occupied in decades.

“Where are we going?" Not that it mattered. She would follow him anywhere.

“The children's rooms," he replied. "Unfortunately Montague hasn't been able to fill them." He glanced back at her. "We used to visit Montague's family when we were young. My sisters and I were relegated to the nursery, while my brother got to sleep in the main part of the house. I was very jealous." "You have an older brother?" "No," he said. "Not anymore. He died." Of course he did, she thought, stricken. He wouldn't be Viscount Rohan if there was an older son to take the title.

She didn't make the mistake of saying she was sorry—his voice precluded sympathy. Clearly it was a pain that still clung to him.

He pushed open the door to a room shrouded in shadows and Holland covers, and pulled her in, closing the door behind them. He dropped her hand, and they stood there in the darkness, unmoving.

"Why did you come with me?"

A trickle of fear danced in her belly, and for a moment she wondered if she was going to be sick again. He'd been toying with her, seeing how far she'd come, and now he was going to laugh at her and tell her he'd never wanted her, that this was revenge for leaving him last night. She panicked, and before he could strike the first blow that would devastate her she managed a cool laugh. "I was bored."

She could see his responding smile, seeing straight through her. "So was I... Aren't we glad we have each other to keep us entertained in such a tiresome place?" He took a step forward, and without thinking, she backed away, the uncertainty still moving through her body.

"It's not going to work if you do that." he said softly.

"Maybe that's a better idea."

"Coward," he said. He took another step toward her, and she took another one back, coming up against the closed door. He leaned forward and brushed his mouth across hers, so gently it seemed as if she'd imagined it. "Poor Charlotte,” he whispered. "You're as bad as I am.”

"What do you mean?" Her voice was only a thread of sound as his mouth traced the line of her jaw, ending up just beneath her ear, against her throbbing pulse.

"It's a waste of time to keep fighting it. We're doomed. We may as well give in." His hands were in her hair now, and she heard the hairpins fall on the floor as her neat braids fell loose around her.

"Turn around, Charlotte."

"W-why?"

"Because I want to unlace your dress."

"Is that strictly necessary?"

He laughed against her throat. "Yes, it's strictly necessary. I want to see you naked. I want to lick every inch of your body. Turn around."

She turned. His hands were on her back, and she shivered,