Page 10 of The Duke of a Thousand Desires

Starlight sculpted his scowling face. “Ravenna, please stop. I am trying to decide what to do.”

“About me?”

“About us,” he said gravely. “You are right. This is a ruinous situation. You have been seen alone with me.”

“You do have something of a name. A wicked one at that.”

“Do I?” he said, his interest clearly not engaged.

“’The Duke of a Thousand Desires.’”

He responded with a blank stare. She wasn’t sure he’d heard her or whether he’d learned to ignore the unofficial title.

He stepped back as someone called her name. From what Ravenna could see in the commotion David had retreated at the same time. Perhaps he was attempting to disappear altogether. She understood why. Simon was a formidable man. She had yet to recover from his charge through the darkness as her defender. It would be unwise to antagonize him.

Thank goodness he was her ally.

She took uncertain comfort in his authority. He had never given her reason to doubt his intentions. Unlike David, who hadn’t cared whether he shamed her and yet had the gall to be embarrassed by their Welsh ancestry. David considered his English mother’s ancestry to take precedence over his father’s Celtic heritage.

Simon’s voice deepened with urgency. “We have to make a pact. From now on I shall take care of everything that happens. We shall agree to the terms later.”

A pact? With Simon? It sounded like an omen of the most exciting sort. And infinitely dangerous.

He leaned into her again. Her heart missed a beat.

“Under normal circumstances,” he said, his mouth hovering above hers, “a pact like this would be sealed with a kiss.”

“But?” Good heavens, was she encouraging him? She was pleasantly bewildered by the possibility. Her pulse beat in triple-time as she waited. She could feel the tension in his muscles, the pressure of his fingers against the small of her back. Dark temptation stilled her thoughts. “What were you saying, Simon?” she whispered. “I can’t agree to unknown conditions. And I can’t see how a kiss can help anything.”

“It would help explain our peculiar position.”

“Could you be more specific?”

“Right now we appear to be a pair of star-crossed lovers.”

“Lovers?”

He shook his head in caution and withdrew his hand from her waist. Ravenna wondered whether their gathering audience had noticed this subtle interplay. He managed to look mildly annoyed, as if he resented being caught. It was an act, she realized. “Do you have a plan?” she inquired hopefully.

He nodded. Then he uttered the two words no woman with a whit of sense would ever obey: “Trust me.”

His hard chin brushed her cheek as he started to turn. From out of the air another hand, her brother’s hand, descended on Simon’s shoulder and forced him around.

Simon surrendered without objection, murmuring, “Not a word,” and released her.

Not a word. Not an explanation. Not a kiss. Just a pair of star-crossed friends, one of whom had dodged a bullet, the other who had murder in her heart for the man she had promised to marry in three weeks.

Guests and members of her family surrounded Simon like a swarm of wasps. For the second time in minutes he had become a target. And Rhys appeared to be leading the attack. Rarely had she seen such fury in her brother’s eyes. He didn’t understand what had happened. Neither did she.

She opened her mouth to suggest restraint from all parties, sneaked a glance at the duke’s intimidating profile, and thought the better of it.

She couldn’t hear his terse exchange with Rhys, or if he’d had a chance to mount a defense at all. But it seemed to her that Simon had taken charge, and if she knew what was good for her, she would have to wait, along with everyone else, to find out how intended to handle the situation.