He wondered fleetingly if he had heard correctly. But from the challenging way she stared at him, he knew she had really said such words.
“As you are without a ring, and I assure you, it would be impossible for you to obtain one, I must give you the secret code.”
As expected, she straightened. “There is a secret code to gain entrance? I have not heard of this, and I now believe you are simply jesting with me.”
Lucan smiled at her excitement. “There is such a code. Once you mention it, it gives you carte blanche. Only five people know that word, my lady.”
She grinned in apparent scandalized delight. The way he watched for the laughter to shine in her eyes and the curve of her lips was damnably irritating.
“And what token must I give to learn this code?” she asked archly.
His gaze dipped to her lips, which she was biting worriedly between her teeth.
“Are you thinking of kissing me, Lucan?” she blurted.
He snapped his gaze to meet her curious stare. “No,” he answered tersely.
“You have been looking at my lips,” she pointed out. “And I would happily surrender a kiss for the secret code, not that I will ever be able to use it.”
As if on cue, his gaze dropped back to her lips, and he had to forcibly glance away from their beckoning lushness. Lucan smiled at the humor dancing in her eyes. The minx was teasing him. What was it about her that was so enticing?
He was only eleven years older, but the gap in their experience made him feel ancient, like a despoiler of innocence. He gritted his teeth. That was exactly what he was setting himself up to be, even though he wanted nothing more in life at this moment than to kiss her again.
He felt doomed.
…
The play restarted and Constance’s fingers laced with Lucan’s, her heart beating in anticipation. She held her breath, hoping he would kiss her and uncaring that Charlotte would return at any moment. Constance had spied her stopping at Lady William’s box, several rows below their balcony, and had prayed Charlotte would stay there for a while. Lucan spoke so freely when they were alone, and Constance wanted nothing to interrupt it.
“Will you ignore my assessment, Lucan, or do the gentlemanly thing and confess the truth of my statement? Or is it possible you are afraid for me to have the secrets to Decadence?”
Subtle challenge lit his eyes. “You are a fearless little thing aren’t you?”
Before fear could rule her and common sense won out, she spoke. “I only thought you might want to kiss me again.” She had caught him several times glancing at her lips, and each time tension had seemed to tighten his frame. It had occurred to her after a while, that maybe he had been thinking about their kiss in the conservatory as much as she had.
“You play a very dangerous game, Lady Constance.”
She faltered at the undercurrent in his voice. “I am being too bold, aren’t I? Young ladies do not tease gentlemen about kissing them.” She hesitated and then pressed on. “I never figured you to be so prudish; you are after all the Lord of Sin.”
He threw back his head, and she loved that she made him laugh. Was she insane? This was the second time she had made such inappropriate remarks. It was as if he brought out the worst in her, or was it the best? She only knew she was certainly behaving in a most scandalous fashion. A voice in her heart whispered that it was because of her illegitimacy. She was not proper at all, so why should she pretend?
She searched for a safe topic before she did something as reckless as pulling his head down to hers to kiss him. She wouldn’t be able to bare the hurt when he rejected her. “Isn’t Her Majesty’s theatre grand? I think your cousins would be thrilled to be here.”
“They are too content with learning the secrets of Woodbury Park for anything in London to appeal.”
“The Woodbury Park?”
“Yes.”
It was a magnificent estate, and well known to her, possessing some of the finest acreage in Hampshire. Sitting on two hundred acres of prime grounds, with one hundred rooms, and with a lake revered for its wealth of fishes, the estate had been coveted. The earl that had owned it before had had to sell it to cover his debts. Her brother Anthony had a love for purchasing old estates and restoring them and had wanted Woodbury Park, but someone had purchased it before he had been able to make an offer. “It is a beautiful home. I certainly understand their happiness to stay in the country. I feel most relaxed and unburdened when I am surrounded by nature and such effortless beauty.”
His eyes dropped to her lips, and his sliver orbs blazed with an indecipherable emotion.
“Indeed,” he murmured.
“I really do believe you are thinking of kissing me, Your Grace,” she said on a whisper, heat curling through her at his soft chuckle and intent regard.