Another soft chuckle from her. “I suppose you are much accustomed to midnight masquerades and are no longer entertained by them.”
“Not for the last five years. I have been in the countryside. Kent.”
“Why?”
“Family duties and responsibility.”
“I gather you take them seriously for you to eschew frivolities and fun for so long,” she said softly, and with a touch of admiration in her tone.
“I do.”
“What kind of companion did you seek tonight?”
Robert thought about how much to share with this interesting stranger, wondering why he would trust his intimate thoughts to her. Yet he had not indulged in a conversation like this in years. He liked it. Felt enlivened by the entire affair. “How honest can I be?”
“Are you suddenly shy?” she asked in a tone rich with warm amusement. “I assure you, I am aware ladies and gentlemen alike attend masquerade balls to indulge in their wicked sides, the sides they would normally leave to languish and collect dust motes.”
Detecting the wistful hunger in her voice, Robert was struck with the sudden desire to fulfill her needs. And perhaps in doing so he might fulfill some of his needs, soothing the chill of loneliness that had lived with him for five years. “Should I confess it to you your sensibilities will be shocked.”
Her soft laugh was one of curiosity and want.
“I daresay no one has ever tried to shock them before. Please do your worst; I am made of stern stuff.”
Robert was becoming increasingly charmed. “I am glad I listened to my cousin, or I would have missed meeting you.”
“Clearly you procrastinate to spare my sensibilities. My good sir, I came here tonight to find a rake likeyou.”
“And you are so certain I am a rake, hmm?”
“A gentleman would have returned inside the instant I sat unwittingly in the dark beside him,” she said huskily.
“Very well then,” he drawled. “Will you be my lover for the night?”
Her sigh was one of reliefandpleasure. There was no hesitation or doubt in her. Here was a woman who knew what she wanted and was about to take it. “Come here,” he murmured.
“Forgive me, but I need to see your face.”
“What does it matter? Thisisa scandalous, secret meeting.”
“I've always envisioned my first tryst to be with an ideal gentleman with perhaps blue eyes and certainly with all his teeth.”
Robert laughed, enjoying her sense of humor and her forthrightness.
“I have all my teeth.”
“Good. Are you tall, handsome, and perhaps a little dangerous?”
God. This woman captivated him. His attraction was solely based on her humorous wit and sensual confidence. A tug of lust, something he had not felt in years, pulled him sharply toward her. He stood and held out his hand. “Come with me.”
When she did not touch him, he said dryly, “I am reaching out to you.”
There was that laugh again, such a refreshingly confident and full sound. He felt her gloved hand touching his thigh and she searched for his hand. “Too soon,” Robert murmured, “but not to worry; you will eventually be touching me there.”
Chapter 4
The gentleman she had been shamelessly bantering with stepped away from Sarah and the darkened gardens. She did not like the fierce burn of excitement that was blossoming through her; it felt too visceral. Walking toward the main house, he reached up to one of the small trees and removed one of the strung lanterns. She had teased he should be tall, handsome, and perhaps a bit dangerous. With almost an alarmed shiver touching her spine, Sarah saw that he was.
He came toward her, his every step languid and confident. His clothes were faultlessly tailored to his lean, graceful physique, and he cut quite a dashing figure in his black trousers, well-fitted matching jacket, and an exquisitely designed burgundy waistcoat. Midnight black hair complimented his lean, strong features, and in the darkness his eyes glowed like burnished gold. With a pang, she acknowledged in any other situation a gentleman like this would pay her little to no attention. She tried to recall what the guide said about flirtation and kisses; however, her thoughts blanked when he held out a gloved hand.