Notorious Pleasures by Elizabeth Hoyt Page B

belly.
    “Careful!” Large, masculine hands grasped her arms, pulling her back against a hard chest. “That’s a long way down.”
    “Thank you.” Hero’s pulse still fluttered in her throat. “I’m fine now.”
    “You’re sure?” Reading’s voice was deep and somehow intimate in the still night air. He hadn’t loosened his hold on her.
    Below them, Mandeville and Phoebe had halted on the small platform where the stairs turned.
    Mandeville looked up. “Coming?”
    His face was shadowed in the dark, but Hero caught an edge to his voice.
    She pulled and Reading let her arms slide from his grasp. “Yes, we’ll be there soon.”
    Mandeville nodded, turning and continuing down the stairs.
    “You’re late,” Hero murmured as she carefully stepped down.
    “Why must everyone tell me that?”
    “Because you seem to be continually late?”
    “Don’t you think I’m aware of the time and my tardiness?”
    “No,” she said clearly and distinctly as if speaking to a slow child, “because if you knew the time, you wouldn’t be continually late .”
    Behind her Reading exhaled a laugh. “Touché, my Lady Perfect.”
    “Don’t call me that.”
    “Why not?” His breath seemed to stir the small hairs at the nape of her neck. “Are you not perfection itself?”
    She repressed a shiver. “Whether I am or not, I’m certainly not yours .”
    “Pity,” he whispered.
    They were at the turning in the stairs and she stopped suddenly. “ What did you say?”
    “Pretty.” He raised innocent eyebrows at her. “You and your sister are very pretty tonight.”
    She stared at him and for the life of her didn’t know what to think. His pale green eyes were shadowed behind a black half-mask and domino, and what she could see of his expression was relaxed—but his hand was fisted by his side. Suddenly she was out of breath, the sensation of falling making her sway.
    “Careful,” he whispered tenderly.
    Her eyes dropped to his lips, wide and sensuous, framed by the black of the mask covering his upper face, and she wondered wildly what he tasted like.
    “Do hurry, Griffin!” Lady Caro called from the bottom of the stairs.
    Hero turned jerkily, glad the dark hid her face from those below. She descended the remainder of the stairs, very conscious all the while of the large male shadowing her.
    “Glad you could join us, Griffin,” Mandeville drawled when they reached the bottom.
    The rest of the party was gathered by the stone dock where two low boats were drawn up. Lady Caroline wore a sapphire dress and half-mask that complemented Lord Huff’s deep blue domino. Lady Margaret wore yellow with pink embroidery and bows. Her escort, Lord Bollinger, a slight young man, was in a black domino.
    “Phoebe, this is Lord Griffin Reading,” Hero said rather breathlessly. “Lord Griffin, my sister, Lady Phoebe.”
    “I’m so sorry to keep you waiting,” Reading said as he bowed gallantly over Phoebe’s hand. “Please forgive me.”
    “Not at all.” Phoebe darted a nervous glance at Hero. “There’s nothing to forgive. You’ve arrived just in time.”
    “Then let us proceed,” Mandeville said. “Huff, would you like to take my sisters and Lord Bollinger in that boat and we’ll take this one?”
    Lord Huff nodded once. “Good plan.”
    “My dear?” Mandeville held out his hand to Hero.
    She took his hand and stepped gingerly into the barge. Lanterns were affixed to tall posts at either end of the boat, and the long benches were covered in soft cushions.
    “Comfortable?” Mandeville asked her.
    “Yes, thank you.” Hero smiled at him. He really was quite solicitous of her welfare.
    “Watch your step,” Reading said as he helped Phoebe inside. “Wouldn’t want you to have to swim the river.”
    Phoebe giggled as she sat next to Hero. “Oh, this is wonderful! The river is like a fairy kingdom at night.”
    Hero looked over the water. Lights lit it here and there, coming from boats like theirs, the