of respect for her refusal to be intimidated. He had made grown men crumble with one withering glare, and yet she stood her ground.
Brianna Quinn might still be intruding into places that she did not belong, but his usual desire to throttle her had become a very different desire.
One that included having her spread naked on that nearby bed as he tasted every inch of her ivory skin.
“Surely you have not forgotten how dangerous it is to challenge me?” he husked, shifting to press the hard muscles of his thighs against her. He choked back a groan at the feel of her delicate, perfectly curved body beneath the heavy cloak. “I can never resist a dare.”
She shuddered, her eyes darkening with awareness. “Let me go, Edmond.”
A taunting smile touched his lips as he deliberately rubbed his aching erection against the soft swell of her stomach. The realization that she was not indifferent to his touch only intensified his surging need to be inside her.
“Tell me what you are doing here, or I will open this door and announce to the entire ball you are in attendance.”
Expecting her to falter beneath the threat, Edmond was unprepared when she lifted her hands to give him a sharp shove. He felt it no more than he would the brush of a butterfly, but it was enough to distract him so that she could slide away and walk toward the door.
“Fine, prance me in front of the entire crowd if you desire, I have nothing left to lose,” she said, tossing off the cape to reveal the pink ball gown that was cut to expose the soft curve of her breasts. Seeming indifferent to Edmond’s heated gaze locked on her plunging neckline, she yanked open the door and turned to glare at his distracted expression. “But be assured that, as soon as I am revealed, I will scream loud and clear that you are no more than an impostor.”
It was a bluff. It had to be, Edmond told himself as he stormed to her side and waved his hand toward the door. No woman was foolish enough to willingly toss away her future with such disregard.
“Let us test that theory, shall we?” he said smoothly.
Her chin tilted as she stepped into the hall. “Let’s do.”
Hearing approaching footsteps, Edmond had no choice but to grab her arm and yank her back into the room. He slammed shut the door and turned the lock, before turning to her with impatient fury.
“Have you taken complete leave of your senses? You will be ruined,” he hissed furiously.
Brianna wrapped her arms around her waist, her face pale. “Unless I can convince Stefan to help me, I am already ruined.”
“What the devil are you talking about?”
“First, I demand that you tell me why you are pretending to be the Duke of Huntley.”
He muttered a foul curse. “Brianna, do not try my patience any further. Confess why you seek Stefan.”
“Or what?” she demanded. “You will hit me?”
Edmond slowly narrowed his gaze. He was a gentleman who had developed the sort of skills to obtain the information he desired, whether it was from a cutthroat, a corrupt politician or the beautiful wife of a foreign ambassador.
If one method did not work, he was quite adept at changing his tactics.
The fingers gripping her arm eased to run an intimate path upward, lingering on the pulse that raced at the base of her throat. Heat exploded through his body at the feel of her smooth, silky skin. It was just as it promised: heated ivory.
“And mar that beautiful skin?” he demanded, giving in to the impulse that had been raging through him since he had first kissed those lips. With one graceful motion, he had her off her feet and was crossing to the bed. Ignoring her struggles, he tossed her onto the feather mattress and swiftly followed her down to cover her slight frame with his much larger one. “I have a far better means of acquiring what I desire.”
Her eyes were wide, shimmering like the finest emeralds in the firelight, her hair spread over the pillow in a breathtaking cloud of autumn flame.
“Edmond, what are you doing?”
He gave a bemused shake of his head. “When did you become such a beauty, ma souris?”
Scowling in fury, Brianna futilely struggled to wiggle from beneath his large body.
“Damnation, this is not funny.”
Edmond sucked in a sharp breath at the feel of her squirming against his taut muscles. Mon dieu, the minx was driving him mad. How was he supposed to recall that she was currently the enemy when his body was on fire?
Unable to resist temptation, Edmond lowered his head and buried his face in the curve of her neck. He breathed deeply of her lavender scent, shuddering as the tantalizing aroma filled his senses.
This was how a woman was supposed to smell, he realized in startled pleasure. Sweet and feminine, rather than drenched in the cloying perfumes so many ladies preferred.
“Tell me why you are here, Brianna,” he whispered as his lips brushed the hollow beneath her ear.
She gave a soft shriek as her body jerked in reaction to the gentle caress.
“Edmond, halt this at once,” she whispered, her hands clenched in the folds of his cloak.
Closing his eyes to better savor her exquisite taste, Edmond trailed his lips down the line of her jaw.
“Tell me.”
“No.”
He nipped her chin, his hands traveling along the narrow line of her waist and then slowly back up, inching ever nearer the delectable curve of her breasts.
“Brianna, I will not halt until I have the truth.”
The green eyes flashed with fury and a darkening awareness she could not entirely hide.
“I came here to speak with Stefan.”
He stole a brief, possessive kiss, before reluctantly pulling back to regard her with a narrowed gaze.
“Concerning what?”
“Stefan is my guardian. I need him to assert his rights and take me from the home of Mr. Wade.”
“Your stepfather?” Edmond had never met the man who had married Brianna’s mother, Sylvia. He knew little more than that the man was the son of a common butcher who had managed to make a fortune in the West Indies, a social-climbing mushroom who was well beneath the notice of most of the ton. Sylvia had been desperate, he’d supposed, to find the means of paying her gambling debts, and would no doubt have married Beelzebub himself if he’d offered. “Why?”
“That is something I would prefer to discuss with Stefan.”
“I did not ask what you prefer, ma souris,” he growled. “Answer the question.”
“Thomas intends to take me to Norfolk on Friday.”
Edmond made a sound of disgust. How typically foolish. Was there ever a woman born who did not allow herself to be ruled by flights of fancy rather than common sense?
“And you risked utter ruin because you have no wish to leave London society?” He gave a shake of his head.
Without warning her hands lifted to smack against his chest, her face flushed with fury.
“I do not give a bloody hell about London society, you wretched man,” she gritted. “Indeed, if I never had to spend another night in this horrid city I would be delighted.”
“Then why the devil are you so desperate to avoid Norfolk?”
She squeezed her eyes shut, almost as if in pain. “Please, do not do this, Edmond,” she whispered.
Edmond stilled, realizing that there was far more to this than a mere feminine whim.
“Brianna?”