Earl of Gold (Lords of Scandal #7) - Tammy Andresen Page 0,22

wanting to taste more of him.

He groaned, tightening his hold. “Penny,” he said, then kissed her again. “I want—”

The carriage pulled to a stop.

He turned his head and looked at the window. “We’re here.” Then he carefully lifted her from his lap and set her back on the opposite seat just as the door to the carriage snapped open.

What? Where? His words began to penetrate the fog in her brain but that only seemed to create more questions.

What did he want? What did she want?

Her mind raced as she brought her hand to her face. She’d better decide and fast because the world, it seemed to her, had begun to move very quickly.

Chapter Seven

Penny’s hand fitted securely in his arm as they made their way up the stairs to the duke’s residence. He stood straighter, as he led her up the stairs. He liked having her tucked next to him.

Logan stared at the group assembled in the entry in greeting, muscles tensing as he pulled Penny just a bit closer.

He knew Daring, of course.

His duchess stood next on Daring’s right, a statuesque redhead with a warm smile on her lips. But she wasn’t the person who was making Logan cagey.

To the duke’s left were, not three, but four tall men. Each of them handsome in his own way. Logan pulled Penny into his side yet again.

Because they were all staring at her.

Possessive need shuddered through him. He’d just had this woman in his lap, pressed against his body.

He gave his head a slight shake.

He didn’t have a right to be possessive. He had a plan. Though that plan didn’t involve kissing her either. But he hadn’t been able to help himself. She’d looked so tempting reaching out to him. And something in her voice had called to him.

Besides, she needed protection from these men regardless of his future plans. Because they all looked like wolves who’d discovered the prize lamb.

“Goldthwaite,” Daring said, his voice calm and confident. “It’s good to see you. Thank you for bringing Miss Walters.” The duke’s gaze swung to Penny. “May I introduce my wife, the Duchess of Darlington.”

Penny curtseyed while he bowed. “Your Grace.”

The duchess held out her hand. “So good to meet both of you.”

Daring cleared his throat. “And this is the Duke of Devonhall.” He gestured toward a dark-haired man with sharp looks and keen eyes. He held an air of danger that made Logan want to tuck Penny behind him as Devonhall’s gaze took in every detail from her thick brown hair to her slippers just peeking from the bottom of her dress.

Devonhall’s gaze slid back up and Logan could swear that the other man’s eyes settled on her full lips, slightly puffy from his attention in the carriage. Damn it all to hell. Why’d he have to kiss her right before these introductions?

“Goldthwaite.” The man hardly looked at him. His gaze now fixed on Penny. “Miss Walters. A pleasure.”

Penny gave a tiny nod as she curtsied, her fingers tightening on his arm. “Your Grace.”

“And this is the Marquess of Milton.” Daring gestured to the next man in line. His dark hair fell in rakish waves, his cocky smile telling Logan that the man was used to beautiful women falling at his feet and he expected Penny to do the same.

“Miss Walters,” Milton murmured, his eyes darkening in a way that made a growl form in Logan’s throat. “I had no idea that the mistress of an orphanage could be so…young.”

A man with unfashionably long blond hair, pulled back at the nape, stepped forward. “I had no idea one could be so pretty.”

Daring cleared his throat. “The Baron of Blackwater.”

Penny nodded next to him. But his entire body tensed. Blackwater. The boy who’d made his life a living hell. But then his brow scrunched again. This was not the future baron he’d attended school with. The eyes were different. The nose. This was a different man. A younger brother perhaps? What had happened to Sirius? The boy who had tormented Logan day in and day out while he attended Eton?

The new Baron of Blackwater glared back.

Logan looked back at Penny as he pushed these thoughts aside. They were here for a purpose. Yet, he’d never wanted to work with men less.

And that was saying something because he preferred being a lone wolf as a general rule but if they kept looking at Penny like that, he’d tear them limb from limb.

He drew in a deep breath.

He was rapidly losing sight of the