When a Rogue Meets His Match - Elizabeth Hoyt Page 0,62

parting in innocent invitation.

It was all Gideon could do to stifle a groan.

“Well!” Lucretia said loudly—Messalina actually started. “I don’t suppose there’s any dessert? An entire week with Julian and Quinn and not a tart or syllabub in sight. You would not believe the awful inn we stopped in last night. We were served a dinner of cabbage soup with bits of gristle and a wine which I swear had turned to vinegar. And the bed!” Lucretia shuddered. “I don’t think the linens had been changed this year. I spent the night in a chair before the fire.”

She ended this rant by biting aggressively into a slice of apple.

“I’m so sorry you had to endure such privations,” Messalina said gravely. “And I’ll be sure to have dessert for tomorrow’s supper.”

Lucretia sniffed. “See that you do.”

Her tone was light and bantering, but her gaze was still suspicious when she glanced at Gideon.

He sighed. It would take more than one meal to win Lucretia to his side. He’d need many, many meals to make the little termagant stop glaring at him as if he enjoyed maiming kittens.

Then Messalina looked at him with dancing gray eyes, her mouth pursed sweetly to keep from laughing.

She was worth all the trouble in the world.

* * *

“That will be all, thank you, Bartlett,” Messalina murmured later that night. She sat at her dressing table, stroking a sleeping Daisy as the maid moved around the room and Gideon sat before the fire. He fingered a glass of wine and seemed rather strained. Perhaps the fight with her brothers bothered him more than she had realized.

“Shall I summon Sam to take the dog?” Bartlett asked, straightening from the chest of drawers.

Messalina started and turned to look at the lady’s maid.

Bartlett’s return gaze was knowing.

Messalina cleared her throat and tried to seem properly sedate. “Yes. Please call Sam.”

She glanced through her lashes at Gideon, only to find him watching her. Lit by the flickering fire he looked particularly demonic tonight.

Which she didn’t find seductive at all.

Bartlett peeked out of the room and called, “Sam!”

The boy must’ve been very close, for he was in the room in seconds. “Ma’am?”

Messalina smiled down at him. “I think Daisy is ready for bed. Mind you take him into the garden before you put him in his basket by the kitchen fire.”

“Yes, ma’am!” Sam was entirely earnest. He obviously took his job seriously. He cradled the puppy carefully as he left.

Bartlett stood by the door. “I’ll just see to Miss Lucretia, shall I?”

“If you please.”

Bartlett nodded and quietly closed the door.

Which, of course, left Messalina alone with Gideon in the bedroom.

She took a breath. He’d not slept with her the past couple of nights. Perhaps he’d leave.

She glanced at him as she fiddled with the ties to her wrapper.

Gideon was taking off his waistcoat, his coat and neckcloth already removed.

Perhaps not.

She stared as the waistcoat was tossed to a chair.

He wore only shirtsleeves and breeches now.

The white linen provided a contrast to the darker skin at the top of the parted shirt. As she watched he refilled his wineglass from the decanter on the table and took a sip, tipping his head back.

She saw his throat work and something within her heated.

She looked away and met her own reflection in the mirror over the dressing table. Her cheeks were pink, her lips wet, and her eyes were a little wild.

She inhaled. “Thank you.”

“For what?” Gideon asked from behind her. She met his eyes in the mirror as he strolled closer with two glasses of wine in his hands.

Her mouth twisted into a rueful smile. “For bearing with my brothers—and Lucretia’s conversation during dinner.”

Gideon’s gaze slid away from hers. “They’re family. You can’t control what your family does or believes, and besides. They were right.”

Messalina turned in her chair to face him. He was so close her knees bumped his legs. “You think so?”

“Yes.” His lips quirked, drawing her eye. They were curved, one side drawn up in a wickedly sensuous smile. “Your brothers seek only to protect you, and your sister is rightfully wary of me.”

He handed her the second glass of wine.

She absently took it and sipped. The fruity taste spreading warmth through her.

She asked, “You’re not angry that I sent Lucretia to bring Julian and Quinn here?”

He snorted. “I would’ve been surprised if you hadn’t found some way to send for reinforcements.”

Messalina bit her lip, thinking almost guiltily about her letter to Freya. She still hadn’t received a reply, which made her