An Unexpected Earl (Lords of the Armory #2) - Anna Harrington Page 0,62
as every pair of eyes in the crowded room turned toward them, then raked over her, down her ruined gown and wet hair to her sopping slippers. The room exploded in a series of whistles, lewd cheers, and shouts.
She spun around to flee—
Pearce’s hand clamped over her wrist, keeping her in place.
Despite the icy-cold water that dripped onto the floor around her feet, her face flushed with heated embarrassment. “I’ve changed my mind. I’d rather face the truth.”
Pearce arched a brow. “That you’re the unmarried sister of an MP who stumbled into a Wapping riverside tavern after midnight with a former soldier?”
“Stop making the truth sound like that!”
He slid her a sideways glance. “You mean like the truth?”
The glare she gave him was murderous.
“We don’t have a choice. We have to get off the streets so we won’t be seen, and you’re freezing cold. This is the best place to—”
She yanked her arm away and spun on her heel.
Oh no. That little hellcat was going nowhere!
He grabbed her around the waist, lifted her off her feet, and tossed her over his shoulder like a sack of grain. He carried her inside the tavern and through the crowded room, where the men nearly fell over themselves with laughter. Fists pounded in amusement on the tables, so hard that tankards of ale and pewter plates bounced on the planks.
Startled, Amelia gave a gasping cry. “Put me down!”
“No.”
“This instant!” She began to kick her legs and hit her tiny fists against him as she dangled down his back.
“Stop that.” Pearce slapped her bottom to make her behave, which sent up a new round of laughs from the crowd, and carried her across the room to the bar that guarded the stairs leading to the rooms above. “A private room, if you please.”
The barkeeper tossed him a key. Pearce caught it in one hand and slapped her on the bottom with the other when she started to kick again.
“Send a messenger boy up to the room immediately,” he ordered. Then he fell easily into the local East End city cant he’d come to know since he’d begun to haunt the Tower Hamlets by adding, “Hot splash and good, plenty of both. Toss in a gold watch.”
“Aye.” Not bothering to hide his laughter at the sight the two of them made, the barkeeper gestured for the bar wenches to jump to it and fetch what Pearce had ordered.
He carried her up the stairs, ignoring the slaps of her hands against his buttocks and clamping an arm around her legs to keep her from kicking him in the stomach. But a well-placed elbow to his left kidney caught him off guard.
“Damnation, woman! Stop that.”
“Then put me down!”
“Very well,” he muttered, kicking open the door. He strode inside and tossed her onto the bed.
She landed with a stunned bounce, her mouth falling open. “That was not what I meant!”
He shot her a look that told her he’d brook no argument. He was long past the point of tolerance. He yanked at his wet silk cravat to tear the thing away from his neck before it choked him. Then he tossed the black cloth to the floor and peeled off his wet jacket.
Her eyes grew wide. “What are you doing?”
“Undressing.” He dropped the jacket away and began to work at his cuffs. “And so are you.”
“No, I’m not—and stop that!” She waved a hand at his discarded jacket. “Put that back on!”
His last thread of patience snapped. “Take off that dress, Amelia,” he ordered, “or I’ll strip it off you myself.”
Fifteen
Amelia blinked. He wanted her to—
“No!” she blurted out and clamped her arms over her bosom. “Absolutely not.”
Through gritted teeth, Pearce offered up a curse so fierce that she flinched. “Why the hell not?”
“Why the hell should I?” she shot back, refusing to be cowed. If he thought she would simply take off her clothes and let him have his way—
But of course he thought that. For heaven’s sake, she’d done nearly exactly that at the ball.
He pointed at her skirt where the wet material wrapped around her legs like a second skin. “Because you’re soaked through to the bone and freezing. I didn’t save you from those men tonight just to have you die of fever.”
She fought back a grimace. He’d had no intention of removing her clothes to seduce her. Oh, she felt like an utter goose!
Gathering what little pride she still possessed, she lifted her chin. “I’m not cold.”