toward the park gates, following a short distance behind the cabriolet. The wind rose just as they passed through the gates and lifted a curl of Beth’s golden hair about the edge of her bonnet. Christian’s body tightened instantly. He could picture her as she’d been at the ball last night, her full lips pursed with interest, her eyes dark with unasked questions.
The wind lifted the tormented curl and pulled it along the edge of her bonnet, a golden banner. Christian thought of her hair, of her porcelain white skin and how it would look against his own darker coloring. His body tightened even more, his groin aching ever so slightly. Damn, but what he would give to see her in his bed, divested of her finery and trappings, nothing between them but unbridled passion.
Shaking his head a little at his own foolishness, Christian adjusted his seat in the saddle. Lucifer tossed his head and whickered as if laughing.
Christian leaned forward and said into the horse’s ear, “I am not amused.”
Beth’s vehicle reached the outer loop of the path. Christian nudged Lucifer forward as a noticeable stirring of motion began at the side of the pathway. A small number of men—about five in all—who’d been rather listlessly sitting upon their mounts or leaning against their carriages, surged forward like ants scurrying from a kicked over anthill. They leaped upon their horses andclimbed hurriedly into their carriages and then they merged, mingled, and dashed toward the cabriolet.
Christian frowned. He’d expected suitors, but…only five? A woman with Elizabeth’s fortune alone could count on at least twenty suitors in the park on any given day.
It was odd in the extreme.
What made the situation even more curious was that the five men surrounding the cabriolet were all known to be seeking a woman of fortune. What was afoot? Besides fortune, Lady Elizabeth was beautiful and the daughter of a blasted duke, for heaven’s sake! Surely there were men who would wish to court her based on those pronouncements rather than her dowry?
Christian glanced at Lady Elizabeth, but could detect no nuance in her person to show her feelings at being left in such thin company. By Zeus, he needed to find out what was occurring here.
Lady Elizabeth laughed at something her companion said, the sound drifting back with the wind to land delicately on Christian’s ears. The curve of her pink lips seemed to beckon him forward, though he could not get near her on the narrow path due to the horses crowded about the cabriolet.
A flash of impatience flared, and suddenly, despite the fact that it complicated his plan, he found that he wished every man in sight to Hades. The reaction was so instantaneous, so thorough, that he drew up, frowning.
Somehow, perhaps because he needed her for his plans and had been listening to reports of herexistence for the last six months, he’d begun to think of Elizabeth as…his. He stiffened in his seat. What the hell was he thinking? That sort of thing could lead to a far more serious relationship than he cared to claim. So why was he sitting here, battling a most uncomfortable and unfamiliar surge of bitterness? A feeling almost akin to jealousy?
Unconsciously, Christian tightened his grip on Lucifer.
The horse shied in reaction. Cursing a little, Christian fought to bring Lucifer under control, though he never stopped watching Beth. She’d seen the approaching suitors and was now leaning forward to say something to her coachman—perhaps urging him to move onward. But if that was her intent, it was too late; the pathway that wended about the park was blocked before she even made the first turn.
Damn them all to hell and back, the bounders. His only option now was to separate his quarry from her erstwhile fortune-seeking entourage. It was rather like trying to extricate a particularly juicy piece of meat from the jowls of a pack of salivating wolves.
Fortunately, Christian was more wolf than any of the
The wind lifted the tormented curl and pulled it along the edge of her bonnet, a golden banner. Christian thought of her hair, of her porcelain white skin and how it would look against his own darker coloring. His body tightened even more, his groin aching ever so slightly. Damn, but what he would give to see her in his bed, divested of her finery and trappings, nothing between them but unbridled passion.
Shaking his head a little at his own foolishness, Christian adjusted his seat in the saddle. Lucifer tossed his head and whickered as if laughing.
Christian leaned forward and said into the horse’s ear, “I am not amused.”
Beth’s vehicle reached the outer loop of the path. Christian nudged Lucifer forward as a noticeable stirring of motion began at the side of the pathway. A small number of men—about five in all—who’d been rather listlessly sitting upon their mounts or leaning against their carriages, surged forward like ants scurrying from a kicked over anthill. They leaped upon their horses andclimbed hurriedly into their carriages and then they merged, mingled, and dashed toward the cabriolet.
Christian frowned. He’d expected suitors, but…only five? A woman with Elizabeth’s fortune alone could count on at least twenty suitors in the park on any given day.
It was odd in the extreme.
What made the situation even more curious was that the five men surrounding the cabriolet were all known to be seeking a woman of fortune. What was afoot? Besides fortune, Lady Elizabeth was beautiful and the daughter of a blasted duke, for heaven’s sake! Surely there were men who would wish to court her based on those pronouncements rather than her dowry?
Christian glanced at Lady Elizabeth, but could detect no nuance in her person to show her feelings at being left in such thin company. By Zeus, he needed to find out what was occurring here.
Lady Elizabeth laughed at something her companion said, the sound drifting back with the wind to land delicately on Christian’s ears. The curve of her pink lips seemed to beckon him forward, though he could not get near her on the narrow path due to the horses crowded about the cabriolet.
A flash of impatience flared, and suddenly, despite the fact that it complicated his plan, he found that he wished every man in sight to Hades. The reaction was so instantaneous, so thorough, that he drew up, frowning.
Somehow, perhaps because he needed her for his plans and had been listening to reports of herexistence for the last six months, he’d begun to think of Elizabeth as…his. He stiffened in his seat. What the hell was he thinking? That sort of thing could lead to a far more serious relationship than he cared to claim. So why was he sitting here, battling a most uncomfortable and unfamiliar surge of bitterness? A feeling almost akin to jealousy?
Unconsciously, Christian tightened his grip on Lucifer.
The horse shied in reaction. Cursing a little, Christian fought to bring Lucifer under control, though he never stopped watching Beth. She’d seen the approaching suitors and was now leaning forward to say something to her coachman—perhaps urging him to move onward. But if that was her intent, it was too late; the pathway that wended about the park was blocked before she even made the first turn.
Damn them all to hell and back, the bounders. His only option now was to separate his quarry from her erstwhile fortune-seeking entourage. It was rather like trying to extricate a particularly juicy piece of meat from the jowls of a pack of salivating wolves.
Fortunately, Christian was more wolf than any of the
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