Her Mystery Duke (13 page)

No, by damn, that was
it. He was going to pay Jeanne a visit and demand that she voice her refusal to
his face. The decision seemed so fitting, so inevitable. Why hadn’t he thought
of it before? He reached into his pocket and withdrew a stack of pound notes,
then tucked some of them into Violet’s low cut bodice.

She lifted one
artificially arched brow.

He gave her a little nudge
off his lap. “Not tonight.”

* * * *

Jeanne blinked
sleepily. An apparition stood before her. An apparition reeking of stale brandy
and cheap perfume.

David.

Here, after midnight.
Maybe she was still dreaming. She leaned against the door, closed her eyes and
shook her head. Determined to awaken fully, she opened her eyes.

He was still there.
His dark blue cutaway coat and white satin waistcoat clung to his hard-muscled
chest and flat stomach. A gentleman dressed for the evening and handsome as the
devil.

A flash of lust
tingled through her. Despite her sleepy mind, her nipples took notice and stood
up. Her mouth dried with fear. Oh lord, he was trouble. More trouble than she’d
initially anticipated. Disturbing her peace, her privacy. Drunk and reeking of
some whore he’d likely bedded earlier in the evening at that! This was exactly
why she had never let any of her lovers visit her at her garret. One inch
given…

“I knew it.”

His lazy smile seemed
to make his sensual mouth even more so. “Knew what, darling?”

“How did you get in
here? They lock the door at ten.”

“The young maid was
happy to allow me in.”

Jeanne scanned his
handsome, well-attired form once again. Of course he’d persuaded Patty to let
him in. Mrs.
Pillmore
would expect
twice or maybe three times the usual percentage she demanded from the others
when she heard.

“You shouldn’t be
here.” She made her voice as firm as she could manage.

Arrogance hardened his
expression. “I wouldn’t be here if you had simply treated my man of business
with respect and also signed the contract.”

Her mind jolted fully
awake. “Take your contract and go straight to Hades for all I care.”

She moved to close the
door but he slammed his large, broad hand against it.

The sound, the gesture
sent her heart thudding. She wouldn’t show surprise or fear. She refused be
intimidated on her own threshold. She glared at him.

He stared back with a
resolute expression. “Damn it, you’ll hear me out first.”

She lifted her chin.
“I don’t care to hear anything you have to say.”

Those green eyes were
made even more brilliant by the contrast of thick, black as midnight lashes.
The light from her candle highlighted the angles and planes of his face. He was
simply gorgeous. And for the long moments he held her gaze, she was in danger
of being transfixed, of forgetting herself.

“Jeanne.” His voice
was soft, seductive. “Ah, Jeannie, don’t be so hard with me.”

His use of “Jeannie”
should have vexed her. But instead, a warm sensation blossomed deep in her
chest. Still, she didn't trust it and she didn't trust him. “Please just leave,
now.”

“I am not leaving
until you hear me out.”

If they continued
quarrelling in the corridor, the neighbors might complain to the landlady. She
really had no choice. With a sigh, Jeanne opened the door wider and let him in.

She closed it softly
then turned to face him. “Well?”

“Why did you tear up
the agreement?”

“That contract.” She
scoffed. “I have never been so insulted in all my life.”

“Insulted?” He drew his
dark brows together and fixed her with a stern stare. “But I only want to give
you some security.”

“Only if I agree to
never, ever attempt to find out who you really are or to contact you.”

“I have told you.
There is no place for you in my life. What did you expect from me?”

“I didn’t expect to
treated as though I were the lowest, vilest whore.”

“I haven’t treated you
like a whore.”

“You’ve suggested that
I am not to be trusted to respect your privacy—that I would throw myself into
your life like the worst sort of scheming woman. I've had men who paid me who
treated me far better."

“They let you continue
living in a hovel.” He made a sweeping gesture about the chamber. “And yet you
judge they have treated you better.”

“They courted me with
soft words. They never so crudely said, ‘I want to put my cock inside you.’
They never said, ‘Get away from me and never return.’” She mimicked his most
arrogant manner.

“You prefer a
dishonest approach?” A slight smile gentled his expression and he appeared to
appraise her. “You are not as wise and hardened as you pretend.”

She bristled. He did
not
know her. “I am as wise and hardened
as any harlot you could have known.”

“Hardened harlots
cannot afford such stiff-necked pride as you have displayed. A hardened harlot
would have snapped up the offer of a house and carriage.”

“I value my
independence.”

“I ask for nothing in
return for my offer.”

She curled her lip up.
“Ha! You would feel that I were bound by obligation.”

“I would not.”

“You would feel at
liberty to visit whenever you wished.”

“That’s ridiculous. I
never intend to see you again.”

She folded her arms
over her chest. “You are here now.”

“I only came to hear
you refuse my offer to my face.”

“I refuse it. Now
please go.”

He leaned back against
the door, his whole body seemed to sag and his features took on a pained,
pinched expression. “Jeanne—”

“You are most free
with my given name.”

He raised his brows.
“It’s like that, is it?”

She compressed her
lips and hugged her arms tighter. “I am afraid it is. Especially seeing as I am
allowed to know nothing of you.”

“Miss Darling,
then—please, reconsider.”

“I don’t see why it
should matter so greatly to you.”

He snapped to
attention with such alacrity that she stepped back. He came closer and stared
down with a gaze so intense she fancied he might burn her. She caught her
breath. Those gorgeous eyes…

“Why should it matter
to me,
Miss Darling
? The very devil
if I know.”

“Then forget me.”

“I cannot.” His tone carried
a wealth of torment. “You haunt my dreams. I cannot concentrate on my work. I
worry about what you are doing. Are you safe? Are you comfortable?”

“No one has worried
over me since my mother died, sir. I am quite capable of looking after myself.
You needn’t trouble yourself any longer on my account.”

“Let me look after
you. Let me care for you.” He touched her cheek.

His touch sent sparks
of delight along her skin. Currents of delight flowed through her, giving her
shivers that made her nipples tighten. Images flickered through her mind. His
large body pressing hers into the featherbed, holding her down, restraining her
movements. His strong, sure hands parting her legs. His fingertips touching her
folds that were becoming increasingly swollen, slicked with wetness …

She shook herself.

What was the matter
with her? She should rebuff him. Push him away. However, his gaze filled with
sincerity and need. Why should he look at her with such need while he spoke of
taking care of her? She didn’t know, but she also couldn’t look away.

She attempted reason.
“You are tired.”

“I am. However, I
cannot sleep.”

He did look tired. No,
more than tired, world-weary. Her heart panged with such sympathy, the
sensation shocked her. Why should she feel sympathy for him? He’d insulted her,
invaded her privacy. Yet she found herself putting her hand over his and
pressing it close. “Go home and go to sleep. Forget about me.”

“I will not sleep.”

“Nonsense. You should
have some warmed wine. Tell your valet to put some soothing herbs in it.”

“I have tried
everything. No amount of herbs is going to help. I cannot sleep until you
relent and say you will allow me to care for you.”

She let her hand drop
away from his. “I don’t understand this depth of concern.”

“Jeannie, darling, you
know I am quite foxed.” “Yes, you’re reeking of it…and you smell of a brothel.”

A twinkle entered his
eyes. “Well, that didn’t do any good, either.”

“Didn’t it?” She
injected false, sweet sympathy in her tone, though why she was playing his
game, teasing with him, she didn’t have the faintest idea.

“The women there were
not quite as lovely as I remembered, though I was just there and had a fine
time a two months ago.”

Gladness swelled
within her chest. She couldn’t deny it, couldn’t help a small smile. “Something
happened to change your mind since then?”

“Something did
indeed.”

Her face ached. She
was grinning at him like a silly chit. He smiled, too. The last of her
opposition floated away. She should have reached for it and held on to it but
she suddenly didn’t have the will.

He lifted his hand
from her cheek and brushed a spot high on the crest of her cheekbone with the
tips of two fingers. “You have ink smudged on your face.”

She touched her face.
“I fell asleep, writing at my desk.”

“So, you don’t sleep either?”

“I sleep in the
daytime.”

“But not much lately.”
His voice resonated with tenderness. “You have shadows under your eyes.”

“Yes, not much
lately.”

“I shall tell you
something,” he said in a confessional tone.

“Are we sharing
secrets now?”

“Yes, I think so but I
probably wouldn’t tell you if I weren’t so damned foxed. You must promise not
to hold it against me later.”

“Yes, of course.”

“I care for you.”

His tone resonated
with such emotion. She could feel the ache of it in her chest. That tone and
the meaning of his words, crashed over her like a splash of icy water,
dispelling the playful mood. With her heart thudding and her mouth gone dry,
she searched his face.

His gaze was serious,
he wasn’t teasing. He believed it.

But they didn’t know each
other and it wasn’t possible. “David, please do—”

“I don’t know how
deeply the feeling goes. I don’t intend to find out. I have no time for a
mistress.” Regret echoed in every syllable. The aching in her chest rose to
form a lump in her throat. As though she were just as regretful as he. Which
was ridiculous. She had no wish to be any man’s kept woman. The key phrase
there was “kept.” Kept waiting on his needs.

“I simply have no
time,” he repeated, more firmly and with less emotion.

Suddenly, she understood.
He was just as protective of his peace as she was her own, and just as afraid
of the emotions developing between them. He had not intended to insult her with
the contract. He may even have been trying to protect her in a way. Sympathy
overcame her indignation and sense of threat.

“I once cared for
someone else,” he said.

“
Thérèse.”

“Yes,
Thérèse.
I
t ended badly. For her. I had no control
over what happened to her, yet it haunts me. I want to do what I can to ensure
that you don’t come to—”

Unable to bear
listening any further, she spoke over him. “I have always looked after myself.
I do not need a protector.”

Passion flashed into
his eyes. He cupped her face. The move was so abrupt that it made her startle.
“It must be so exhausting for you to be brittle against the world. I would
adore softening your harsh edges. I want to take away your worries.”

He devoured her with
his gaze, as if he would possess her by the intensity of his stare alone. For
some odd reason, it hurt her to see that need. She caressed his hand where it
lay on her face. “I don’t want to invade your life, David.”

“I have already
invaded yours. Isn’t that the problem between us?”

“It’s not a problem.”
She tilted her face and stood on her tiptoes so she could lean closer, so that
he could feel her breath on his lips. “Not tonight.”

The pupils of his eyes
dilated, turning his gaze dark. “You should be careful with such invitations. I
have told you, there’s no place for you in my life.”

“Just one more night
cannot hurt either of us. You must promise to never come back and I shall
promise never to intentionally compromise your privacy. It is perfectly safe.”
The last sentence rang patently false in her ears. She smiled at him to cover
over her discomfort.