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For a moment, he let himself imagine the splendor of satisfying the constant ache to possess her. The wonder of caressing the round of hip and provocative thrust of breasts beneath him, worshipping that velvet skin with his hands, his mouth, revealing to her the powerful release he knew awaited them both.
He couldn’t remember ever craving a woman this badly, wanting to wind his arms and legs around her and bind her to him. To taste her, inhale her, absorb the essence of her into his skin, like a potent elixir that would cure the ills of isolation and loneliness that still plagued him deep within.
At the same time, he felt this powerful need to make her laugh, to shield her from unpleasantness and protect her from maggots like Wofford and Sir Harry.
Maybe from himself.
Hands shaking with the ferocity of the emotions she roused in him, Will took a deep breath, realizing he hadn’t heard a single word of the gushing compliments being paid him by the attractive young matron before him.
A matron who was well curved, full-bosomed and sending him every possible signal that she wished to discover if his reputation as an excellent lover was justified.
He vaguely remembered from their introduction earlier that she had an elderly husband secluded away at some country estate. Voluptuous, interested, available—she possessed all the attributes that normally would have prompted him to smile back at the invitation in her eyes.
It was not the vow he’d taken to remain celibate while looking about for a rich wife that prevented him from responding. With a jolt of panic, he realized Madame LushBosom, who was now leaning forward so he might have a better view of her assets, didn’t tempt him in the least.
Curling his hands into fists, he made some excuse and walked away, leaving the woman gazing after him with a slightly piqued frown. Needing solitude in which to cool his overheated mind and body, Will escaped onto the balcony beyond the ballroom.
It appeared, he thought as he wrapped his fingers around the chill stone of the balustrade, that his first instinct had been correct. It would be safer for him to avoid Allegra Antinori.
But he knew in his next breath that he wouldn’t. And the wicked amusement he derived from aggravating Lynton by pursuing her no longer played any part in that decision.
Besides, Miss Antinori might have her heart set on winning Lynton’s…but Will was certain Lynton had no such designs on his ward’s. He’d watched them carefully tonight without ever seeing on that gentleman’s face anything like the admiration and affection so nakedly visible on Miss Antinori’s as she’d gazed at her guardian in the park. Perhaps Lynton was more circumspect in concealing his emotions than the passionate Miss Antinori, but Will didn’t believe that was the reason for the man’s lack of ardor.
Lynton’s expression while Colonel Jessamyn conversed with his ward denoted approval and gratification—as if he were showing off a well-schooled colt. Where Will was inspired to almost snarling rage when Sir Thomas Reede bent over Miss Antinori’s hand, his leering eyes trying to peer down her bodice with an insolence that made Will want to land him a facer, Lynton appeared not to have even noticed the baronet’s effrontery.
Her guardian treated Allegra, Will concluded, like a valuable prize—but one he intended to award to some other fortunate contender.
Whereas if she were Will’s to guide and protect, he could never persuade himself to give her up.
Will didn’t know which of them was the bigger fool.
With his mind in turmoil, perhaps it would be best not to seek out Miss Antinori again tonight. Sighing with exasperation, Will wheeled around, stomped off the balcony and headed across the crowded ballroom floor.
Deciding to evade the pursuit of Madame LushBosom—and put off to another evening the chore of trying to charm one of Lucilla’s “suitable” maidens—he would visit the refreshment room for another free glass of his hostess’s excellent wine before returning to his rooms.
He’d proceeded a few paces into the hallway when a touch to his shoulder made him stop.
“My, my,” the amused voice said. “So absorbed in your reflections were you, my lord, I thought you had gone deaf. I nearly had to run to catch up with you.”
Pouty pink lips curved in a smile, the low-cut bodice of her black silk gown drawing attention to the rapid rise and fall of her full breasts, Sapphira Lynton stepped around to face him. Slowly she slid her hand from his shoulder down his sleeve before tucking her hand under his.
“Shall we have a glass of wine? I wasn’t able to penetrate the ranks of your admirers earlier to tell you how much I enjoyed your performance.”
“Did you indeed?” he asked, resisting the urge to pull his hand away. Already disliking her for the way she treated Miss Antinori, he resented even more this obvious attempt to use her sensuality against him.
Though she’d flirted with him before—as she flirted with any man who came within her orbit—Lady Lynton had never before singled Will out. Wondering why she’d chosen to do so now, Will decided it would be wiser to swallow his distaste and play along. Perhaps he could find a way to scare her off persecuting Miss Antinori—or winkle out of her any other schemes she might be hatching to embarrass or discredit Lynton’s ward.
“So ardent and unusual a piece,” Lady Lynton was saying as she led him into the now nearly deserted refreshment room. “I’ve heard you write music. Was it your own composition?”
Will knew instinctively Miss Antinori wouldn’t want him to share anything about her father with this woman. Especially not the work the maestro had composed for the courageous, beautiful lady who’d defied her family and deserted her world to marry him.
Did Miss Antinori know he’d played it just for her?
“Still abstracted, my lord?” Lady Lynton recalled him, the tiny frown on her forehead signifying she wasn’t pleased at receiving less than his full attention.
Before he could dredge up some insincere apology, she continued, “’Tis no matter. Come, let us sit and chat.” After the footman handed them each a wineglass, she linked her arm in his and led him to a small sofa in the far corner of the room, strategically placed behind a pillar and hidden by a screen of plantings.
The furniture’s location suggested it had been set there to encourage just such discreet encounters. Lady Lynton’s familiarity with it indicated this might not be the first time she’d availed herself of the arrangement. Storing away that observation, Will waited for her to speak.
With an arch smile, she said, “After you’ve gone to such lengths this evening to impress the lady, I imagine I can guess who occupies your thoughts. You must know I fully support your ambitions!”
“And which ambitions might those be?” he asked.
“Come now, you needn’t be coy,” she chided, tapping him with her fan. “I noticed your interest in Lynton’s Tall Meg of a ward before tonight. I mean Allegra, of course.”
So she thought he had played this evening simply to impress Allegra? He supposed that was part of it. Treading cautiously, he said, “And if I were attracted to the lady, what interest could that be of yours?”
She took a sip of her wine, then slowly licked an errant drop from the tip of her lip. Watching his reaction from under her lashes, she said, “I might be in a position to…further your aspirations. I could, for instance, arrange for you to visit the house while Allegra is home alone. A dark night, a candlelit bedchamber, no hovering chaperone…well, I imagine an attractive gentleman of your vast expertise would have little difficulty persuading her to give you what you desire.”
The images she conjured up flooded over him. Allegra his, coming to him clad in nothing but a silk night rail, her lustrous dark hair unbound. Teasing and tempting her until passion glowed in her dark eyes as she came into his embrace. His fingers, clumsy with eagerness as they worked the ties of her garment…
It took several seconds for his indignant brain to wrench control back from his rampaging senses. In the aftermath of ardor, shock knifed through him. Had Lady Lynton truly meant what he thought she had?
Hardly able to credit such a thing, he said, “What exactly are you suggesting?”
She laughed softly. “Oh, I think you know exactly what I am suggesting. Do not fear. I would make sure you were not…interrupted, so there would be no unpleasant consequences afterward.”
Though Allegra had told him Lady Lynton disliked her, Will could scarcely believe this woman graced with the beauty of an angel really wished him to commit so devilish a deed: to ravish a gently bred maiden under her roof.
“Why would you wish me to do this?”
She tossed her head. “A man of your breeding must have recognized at first glance, as I did, what she truly is. I’ve tried to encourage only the sort of men she deserves, like Wofford and Sir Harry, to seek her out. But—” she gave him a seductive smile “—clever girl that she is, she seems to prefer your company. If you were to keep her…occupied, I could relax my vigilance, knowing that she wouldn’t be able to use those siren’s looks to gull some respectable gentleman into offering for her.”
“And why is that so important to you?”
“I should think that would be obvious,” she replied impatiently. “An Italian menial’s trollop daughter trying to jump above her station and marry into the ton—why, the very notion offends! Lynton would recognize her for what she is, too, if he weren’t so blinded by a mawkish attachment dating back to his youth. Of course, my late husband encouraged him by tolerating the girl and her wretched family. Why, I cannot imagine.”
