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“There is a secret part of me that is thrilled to hear it because I…I think of you too, every day, I’m afraid.”
Yet there was nothing in her expression to say that she was afraid or wary, more captivated. The gentle simmer of desire blazed into hot, powerful lust, and he almost stumbled. He spun her into a few more graceful glides, silently completing the sensual waltz. She sneaked a peek at him from beneath her incredibly long lashes when he led her from the dancefloor. There was a question in that provocative stare, yet it was one he could not answer.
This was a first for him, wanting someone this badly that his entire body seemed to ache with it, and beyond that ache, he liked and admired Lucinda. Unexpectedly he felt as if there was a glaring flaw in his aversion to romantic attachments. He hadn’t ever thought of what if he found someone he craved to be with.
“Dance with me again,” he demanded, staring at her.
“Right now?” she asked with a small, shaky laugh.
“Yes.”
There went that smile again, which said she also found him fascinating. “Yes.”
A quadrille started, and when they walked back out together on the dance floor, a whisper of curiosity swept through those who observed. Alexander was uncaring that speculations might now link their names together in the scandal sheets and on the tongues of gossipers.
He danced with her three times, and when he reluctantly bid her good night and made his way to his carriage, Alexander was coming to the realization Lucinda Darby was one woman it might be impossible to stay stop thinking about.
An hour later, he sat before the fire in his library, staring at the roaring fire with a glass of whisky in his hand. Sleep would elude him this night. He took a sip of the drink, appreciating the burn that went down to his belly. Alexander thought of his brother’s earlier words, wondering how much his parents’ bitter marriage had shaped his view of the relationship and how much belonged to his own experiences with the opposite sex. He scoffed, for whatever had shaped how he felt, all faded in the background with the yearning he felt to know the viscountess.
What am I to really do about you Lucinda?
* * *
Ping.
That odd sound in the silence of her chamber had Lucinda turning over from her pillow and glancing sleepily around. She’d only retired to bed a few minutes ago and had not yet fallen asleep. A quick scan of her bedchamber did not reveal the source of the noise. As she was about to snuggle back against her pillow, it echoed in her chamber again, and she snapped her gaze to her window.
Ping
Goodness, gracious. Lucinda quickly shuffled off the bed and hastened to the windows. Peeking down, she could see the tall figure of a gentleman standing in the gardens. Knowledge bloomed through her, and her heart started dancing inside her chest. She opened the window, and the earl peeked up. Anticipation washed over her in a wave of hot, sensual awareness. Her lips curved into a delighted smile. “My lord…I am astonished.”
Alexander made a sound of amusement.
“As long as you are not appalled, I am content,” he said drily. “Are you alone?”
Lucinda swallowed tightly. “Yes.”
“May I come up?”
Oh God. She stared at him, noting the smile had vanished from his mouth, and he returned her regard with unflinching intensity. That gaze said he wanted to ravish her, and she was not at all certain what she felt about this new development. Yet the words that spilled from her were, “Yes, of course.”
She was about to suggest that he give her a few minutes to head downstairs when the dratted man used the trellis and creeper running on the wall to climb the side of her house and haul himself over her balcony.
Lucinda stepped back, giving him the space to dip and come into her bedchamber through her windows. “You have curious skills, my lord.”
“I have climbed into a bedchamber or two,” he admitted with a wry grin. “It is more of a useful and licentious skill.”
“I gather you were once a rake about town.”
“In my younger years.”
“Oh, how decrepit you are,” she said teasingly, for the man was terribly handsome with an impressive physique and perhaps not a day above thirty.
The humor in the air vanished under his unwavering regard. Lucinda fisted the front of her nightgown, unable to understand the nerves quaking in her belly. “You look like a hungry wolf, one who…”
Her voice trailed off as his lashes lowered, and he fixed his gaze on her mouth. she delicately cleared her throat. “When we parted at the ball, I had not expected to see you again so soon.”
“I could not sleep.”
