[Samuel Barbara] Lucien's Fall(Book4You) by Unknown Page A

you deaf? Get up."

    Very slowly, he dampened his lips with his tongue. And in a voice rasping almost unrecognizably, he said, "I would love to oblige you, dear lady, but I do not believe it will be possible for me to move."

    With a disgusted sigh, Madeline held out her hand. "I’ll help you."

    "Oh, not even a hand will do." He had obviously aimed for an amused, sardonic tone, but the last words were a deep ragged whisper. He closed his eyes.

    Madeline made a move toward him. He opened his eyes suddenly. "Please unless it is your pleasure to torture a man—do not put your hands on me."

    She frowned. "Am I to leave you here to starve, then?"

    "Your cook gave me a potion the last time. Ask her for me what it is."

    "A cure for your excesses? You might simply try drinking less." Her gaze fell on his lashes, lying thick and black on his face. A hard line of tense muscle corded from temple to jaw, and there was a faint, unhealthy flush on his skin. He looked feverish and in pain.

    Holding up her hand, she said, "I only want to touch your head. I’ll not jolt you, I swear." Without waiting for a reply, she gently opened her hand against his forehead. His skin felt taut and overly stretched, and she thought him a little feverish.

    He tensed at first, but eased. She felt the tension flow from him. "The music," he said. "This is the price I paid for it."

    "The music?" Madeline said, touching his temple, his cheekbone.

    "Yosef told me it would ask a price." He lifted one hand and put it over hers, pressing her palm closer against his head. "Your fingers are so cool."

    "It is a fever, Lord Esher."

    "No." He opened his eyes, and for a moment, Madeline had the impression that light sharded there as if on Juliette’s prized crystal goblets. "No," he repeated. "It is my punishment."

    "For overindulgence?"

    He gazed at her steadily. She saw him swallow. Under her hand, the bones of his face seemed fragile. "Yes. The music."

    Almost absently, he pulled her hand down and pressed a kiss to her palm, then tucked her hand under his chin. She felt the prickles of dark, unshaved beard against the back of her wrist, and the sensation was oddly, sharply erotic.

    Violently, she yanked away. "I’ll go for the cook."

    He moaned, and as if the motion had sent him completely off balance, he rolled to one side. His hair tumbled black and thick and glossy around his face, over his shoulders.
    Madeline clasped her hands together.

    As he slowly braced himself on the bench and struggled to his feet, she found herself staring at his legs, lean and long and muscled beneath the tight, dark breeches, and his buttocks, so firm and round, and his long, elegant back. With a sense of horror, she realized she wanted him with a surprising force. He seemed to know it. He found his footing and turned to face her. The cambric shirt gaped, open to the waist, and Madeline felt a blaze of shock jolt her at the intimate view of his chest and stomach. Her entire body reacted with a ripple of heat and longing.

    His chin tilted sardonically, and even though his mouth was drawn in some pain, he was unbearably desirable, standing there like that. "It’s in your eyes, Madeline," he said, still with that ragged edge in his voice. "All that passion you want to deny. Do you think it would be the same for me to kiss you as it is with your marquess?"

    She took a step backward and found the hedge at her back. Branches stuck her. "I should not forget, Lord Esher, that you still need my assistance to leave this maze."

    "Do I?" The careless, aloof expression flickered, and Madeline watched as he lifted an almost involuntary hand to his head. His shoulders seemed bowed with the weight of his head. Still, his lips twisted. "I’ve practiced. I know how to get out."

    Torn between wanting to help him and needing urgently to escape him, Madeline found her feet frozen in place. "Are you so sure?"

    He moved with excruciating slowness to point vaguely at one of the