Page 35 of Dare to Risk it All

A sudden commotion outside the room they were in made them both freeze.

“Hell! Not again,” Raphe cursed, pushing away from her. “Quickly,” he urged, pulling her upright as they scrambled to adjust their clothing. They were badly rumpled, and Greer was frantically coming up with a good excuse for why exactly she was alone with a notorious rake, when there was the soft glide of wings accompanied by a discordant screech.

“Cock! Oooh, what a big one!”

Raphe choked, scrambling to fasten his trouser buttons as Greer snorted with amusement. The wretched parrot flew low over their heads, and the next moment, the dogs burst in upon them.

“Look out!” Greer yelled, as Thorn careened past a small inlaid table, making it lurch sideways. The chinoiserie vase atop it shook violently and toppled.

Raphe lunged for the vase, fumbled it, and lunged again, falling to his knees with a muttered curse, but grabbing the thing before it smashed to pieces.

“Oh, I say, good catch,” Greer said, clapping his effort and grinning.

Raphe rolled to his back and lay there for a moment, still clutching the vase as he got his breath back. Growling and barking came from the far side of the room where the parrot had landed on the curtain rail and was marching up and down, throwing insults at the dogs and bobbing its head excitedly.

“Thorn, Thorn, Thorn in my ar—”

“Good heavens,” Greer exclaimed over the din the dogs were making. “That parrot has the worst vocabulary I’ve ever heard.”

Raphe snorted from his position on the floor. “Belonged to Bainbridge’s mother. She taught it as many filthy words and phrases as she could to annoy the duke, and Lady Beauchamp has been continuing the tradition. I’m certain it’s learned some new ones,” he mused.

“I expect Arabella is helping,” Greer said, chuckling at the thought before moving to stare down at Raphe. “Are you getting up, or shall I leave you there?”

“You certainly ought to leave me alone,” he muttered gloomily. “I damn near ruined you.”

Greer shrugged. “Ah well. The night is young yet, there’s still time.”

“I didn’t mean—” he spluttered as she took the vase from him.

“I know that, silly. I was teasing you,” she said, giving him a swift grin.

Raphe huffed and got to his feet, adjusted his clothing and then bellowed at the dogs. “Silence!”

They all stopped at once, wagging their tails guiltily whilst furtively sending longing glances at the parrot.

Raphe raked a hand through his hair, not looking at her. “I must get these idiotic dogs to the stables. If I take Thorn, the others will follow me. You’d best get back to the ballroom and pray to god no one noticed you’ve been missing.”

Greer watched him as she did her best to tidy herself, well aware he’d sunk himself into gloom over what had happened between them.

“I don’t regret it, Raphe,” she said, reaching out and taking his hand.

To her disappointment, he did not curl his fingers about hers but moved away, putting distance between them.

“Well, you damn well ought to.”

“Don’t say that.”

“Why not?” he sneered. “It’s the truth. Christ, Greer, we don’t love each other, and I can’t possibly marry you. I won’t. I never want to marry, so stop throwing yourself at me because I’m not interested. Or are you just after a quick tumble? Is that it? You want a taste of wickedness before you go on and marry a decent fellow? If that’s it, say so and I’ll oblige, but you should hold yourself in higher regard than that. I’m not bloody worth it, and you ought to know better than to trust me. I’ll say anything to get what I want. Surely you understand that by now?”

Greer jolted at his cruel words. She told herself that he was being deliberately hard to protect her; she knew that, but his words stung all the same. The pleasure he’d given her had been indescribable, but for her, there had been more than that. She’d felt he’d cared for her, that it had been about more than physical gratification, but perhaps he was telling her the truth now. This was why he was so dangerous, after all. He could get women’s clothes off them with ease. Perhaps she was just the next in line because she was close at hand. The depressing thought made her eyes burn, and she turned away from him before she made a fool of herself.

“Greer—”

“And this is the famous Venus of Urbino,” came a strident voice as a group of people wandered into the room.

Greer gasped as three sets of eyes fixed upon her, and then Raphe. She recognised two of the ladies as Bainbridge’s aunts, who looked delighted by the possibility of having walked in on a tryst. The third woman’s eyes were cool and full of disgust, however, and Greer did not know who she was, but recognised trouble when she saw it. She looked to be exactly the kind of purse-lipped harridan who disapproved of her on principle.

“Miss Cadogan,” the woman said, satisfaction dripping from the words. “Like mother, like daughter, it appears. I would have thought you might have more sense than to slip away with a man like that. Surely, you know the baron is good for nothing but ruination?”