A Gentleman's Wager (11 page)

‘A pity you haven’t the nerve,’ he said. ‘I think I might have enjoyed it.’ He glanced back over his shoulder at her and smiled unguardedly, inviting her to share the joke. Bella felt her anger dissipate as his arrogance briefly receded, leaving only his attractiveness. Unexpectedly, her desire quickened. She stepped closer to him, drawn by the faint musk of his skin and the heat of his hands and thighs.

‘If the room isn’t suitable for guests, what are you doing here?’

Vaughan brushed the hair away from his eyes and regarded her. ‘Sulking,’ he said.

‘About what?’

‘It’s none of your business.’

Bella felt the sudden rebuke like a slap in the face, and even felt the sting in her cheeks as blood rushed back to them. She wondered how to trick an answer from him. Perhaps it would explain to her why everyone was behaving so oddly.

‘Take some advice, Miss Rushdale. Leave Lucerne alone. He’ll do you no good.’

Her nose and brow wrinkled into a frown. Vaughan pressed a cool finger to her parted lips to silence her. His touch was gentle and seductive, and reminded her of last night’s muddled dream. Bella slapped his hand away. ‘Don’t be absurd. I’ll do no such thing.’

‘That’s a shame, else we might have been friends.’
There
was a deep melodic note to his voice that hinted at future sorrow and the loss of something far more intimate than friendship. He stared down at her as if he could read her thoughts. A tingle of excitement formed in the pit of her stomach and raced through her breasts and throat. He stepped back and perched on the window ledge. She followed and stood between his parted thighs, drawn by she didn’t know what: perhaps the scent of his body, so inadequately masked by his rich aromatic perfume, or perhaps his extraordinary heat.

‘Are you trying to trap me?’ he asked.

‘Of course not.’ She took three quick steps back, then looked at the floor in embarrassment.

‘Come here.’

‘Why?’

‘Come here.’ He reached out to her. His index finger brushed the centre of her palm, echoing a sweet response at her core. She felt confused. A moment ago, she’d been ready to thump him. He brought her hand up to his lips and kissed each fingertip. The last finger he nipped with his incisors, sending a prick of pleasure-pain through her over-eager body. His arm slipped around her back. She groaned longingly as their tongues danced a heated tango. His heat was so fierce she thought it would consume her.

In the distance, the clock struck the hour.

Bella parted from his embrace reluctantly. She’d never experienced anything quite like that before. His kisses stayed on her lips like the taste of wine.

‘Does this mean you’ll stay away from Lucerne?’ he asked.

‘No.’

He drew a finger across her rosy cheek and laughed. ‘We’ll see.’

The echo of his laughter still filled her ears when she sat down at the dining table. Lucerne, immaculate once more, sat at the head, while to her right Captain Wakefield was wearing the aura of a thundercloud. He was facing Louisa, but didn’t even fake a smile. Opposite Bella sat Charles, whose tiresome anecdotes drew threatening glares from all quarters. Vaughan sat at the far end by Joshua. They ate to the accompaniment of him tapping his nail against the rim of his glass and the low growl of the wind outside. Nobody seemed in any mood to talk.

Bella suffered the oppressive atmosphere until she spotted her brother trying to sneak off furtively during the cheese course. She followed him out into the hall then picked up her long skirts and sprinted across the parquet floor. The clatter of her heels echoed in the alcoves. She arrived at the bottom of the stairs in a swish of fabric. ‘Joshua.’ The aged timbers creaked as he halted on the landing and turned to meet her.

‘What is it, Bella? I’m in a hurry. I told Lucerne I’d only be a moment.’

‘What’s going on?’

‘He’s challenged me to billiards.’

‘Not that,’ she snapped.

Joshua cocked his head nervously. Worry lines creased the shadowed skin around his eyes. ‘What, then?’

Tall and hawklike, he stared down at her like a bank clerk, but the austere gaze that worked on his employees at the mine had no effect on Bella, and never had. She knew that her brother would give in to her. She stepped closer to him and met his contracted pupils with a fierce glare. ‘Oh, don’t pretend to be innocent. Something happened last night, and I’ll bet you were privy to it. Why else would you send us home for a night?’

‘I went into town.’

‘Like hell you did.’

‘All right,’ he sighed wearily. He knew well enough when to capitulate, and sat down on a nearby stool. ‘What is it you want to know?’

‘Why has everyone spent the day hiding, and why did Lucerne come home looking like he’d been mud-wrestling with the Brown Man of the Moors?’

The merest flicker of a smile twitched Joshua’s lips. His angular features were contemplative. Bella stared at him.

‘We played a joke on Captain Wakefield last night. He didn’t see the funny side and is still smarting. It’s put people at odds with each other.’ He blinked slowly, thoughtfully. ‘I think Lucerne and Vaughan had a row.’

Bella bit her lower lip. That explained Vaughan skulking about in the morning room. She allowed her brother to stand.

‘And no, I don’t know what it was about,’ he added before she asked. ‘Can I go now? Lucerne will be waiting.’ He stalked across the landing towards his room.

‘Wait a moment, what was the joke?’ Bella called after him. She lifted her hem to follow him but heard a footfall on the stairs below her and turned to find Louisa ascending.

‘Please, Bella, I need to talk.’ Her lip trembled slightly, and the glassy sheen of imminent tears glittered in her eyes.

‘All right.’ Bella stared at the door that had closed behind her brother. ‘Let’s go to your room.’

Lucerne heard footsteps behind him as he leaned over the billiards table to line up a practice shot. ‘About time, Josh,’ he remarked, before hitting the ball with a crack. He’d been waiting at least five minutes. As he received no reply, he straightened and glanced over his shoulder. Vaughan glared back. He was standing in the doorway,
and
his face was a mask. Only his eyes betrayed his smouldering rage, and Lucerne realised that Vaughan wasn’t prepared to let what he’d started in the churchyard drop.

‘My apologies.’ Vaughan’s tone was crisp. ‘I didn’t realise anyone was in here.’

Lucerne took a sip of wine from his glass, and watched his friend. The dusky grey velvet suit worked well against his skin, and showed off the sable ringlets that lay luxuriously across his shoulders. The frosting of crystal beads around the edge of his coat might have appeared excessive on another man, but looked magnificent on Vaughan.

‘You’ll take a turn at the table with me.’

‘I’d rather not.’

‘Pardon?’ Lucerne deliberately placed his glass on the baize then sent the nearest ball ricocheting around the table. It dropped into the left centre pocket. ‘Do I have to remind you that you’re a guest in my house?’

Vaughan’s back stiffened and his shoulders came up. ‘Perhaps my lord would prefer it if I left.’

‘Don’t be stupid,’ snapped Lucerne. He didn’t want Vaughan to leave, but he didn’t want to deal with his friend’s sour feelings either. He’d never asked for this. ‘What’s your problem, anyway?’ he said tightly.

‘You know what my problem is, Lucerne. What’s yours?’

Lucerne raked his fingers through his hair. Frustration always made him fidgety. ‘I don’t have one beyond your attitude.’

Vaughan sneered. His expression became vicious and spiteful. ‘Of course not. The society darling, Viscount Lucerne Meyrick Aherne Marlinscar, doesn’t have any problems. Just don’t demand satisfaction from him.’

‘That’s enough!’ Lucerne slammed his fist down on the
itable
. The balls jumped and the white fell into a corner pocket.

‘Not yet, it isn’t. I haven’t finished. Just because Wakefield’s content to be your lapdog doesn’t mean I am. I remember the night in Rome as vividly as you do. I know what I felt, and you, my lord, are more transparent than you think. I’m tired of your evasiveness and affectations; I’d like to hear the truth from your lips for once.’ He brushed aside Lucerne’s protests with a wave of his lace-shrouded hand. ‘I bid you goodnight,’ he snarled, and stalked out of the room.

Lucerne turned back to the billiards table. He tossed aside the remaining dregs in his glass and refilled it with brandy. Vaughan’s remarks had cut to the quick. No one else would have dared to provoke him like that, and yet Lucerne didn’t want to send him away. He prayed Vaughan wouldn’t leave of his own accord, but he had no elegant solution to their dilemma, and the memory of Vaughan’s kisses still lingered through the taste of the brandy.

Joshua hurried back to the billiards room with his cues over his shoulder, but pulled up sharply within sight of the door. Vaughan stood just over the threshold with his back to Joshua and, judging by Lucerne’s clipped tone from within, he’d caught them mid-argument. After the fiasco at the ball he had no further desire to mediate for anyone, so he quietly stepped into the drawing room to wait it out.

Only a moment later, he heard the door slam. He watched Vaughan storm towards the front door and throw it open, then disappear into the night. Joshua grimaced to himself, waited for the space of a few breaths, then walked briskly into the room. Lucerne was holding a cue in one hand and a glass of spirits in the
other
. From behind he appeared perfectly at ease but, when their eyes met, it was clear to Joshua that beneath a face of calm Lucerne was furious, and probably well on the way to becoming seriously drunk.

Bella closed Louisa’s door quietly behind her, opened her eyes wide and sighed theatrically. She’d spent the better part of an hour calming Louisa’s immediate fears. She felt sure that Wakefield’s feelings hadn’t changed suddenly, despite his frostiness at dinner. As Joshua said, he was probably just brooding over whatever prank they’d played on him last night. She paused at a window to look out on the night. The wind was still howling across the moors, bending the trees, and she could see rain clouds massing to one side of the bright moon. The brewing storm perfectly framed the mood of the household. Perhaps when it broke so would the atmosphere inside.

She let the curtain fall.

Two minutes later she was creeping out of the open front door and heading for the path towards the stables. To the left of the gazebo, a heavy iron gate guarded the entrance to the grotto. She’d never been there – it had always been too overgrown – but she’d heard the gardeners clipping it back on her first morning at Lauwine. A quick examination confirmed that the padlock was missing. Bella brushed the orange flakes of rust from her fingers and gave the gate a shove. It swung open with an eerie creak.

The moonlight barely penetrated the dark avenues. She used the cool brush of waxy leaves against her open palms to guide her as she walked blindly into the unknown. The darkness felt limitless after the closeness of the house. After several turns, the crunch of gravel beneath her feet stopped abruptly and the high hedges
gave
way to enough moonlight to reveal a small paved courtyard surrounded by tall pines on three sides, and on the fourth by a brick folly. At the centre of the yard lay a pond, like a mirror with verdigris edges, and overhung by a gnarled cherry tree. It was bright enough for her to see how the algae had spread away from the lip to choke the life from the water lilies. The water was brown, and she looked for the ancient carp that was said to swim in its depths, but it was too dark to make out any detail.

The reflection of the folly rippled as a shadow parted from the arched doorway. She looked up. Vaughan stood by the ivy-covered trellis with a half-smile, half-sneer just visible on his lips. Clearly she wasn’t the only one who’d come out to escape the house. The breeze that was making gentle waves on the surface of the pond also lifted his sable curls, swirling them about his shoulders. He took a few steps towards her, until he was close enough for her to see the moonlight reflected in his eyes. Suddenly it darkened as the grey clouds scudded across the moon. They were moving in fast. She sniffed at the air and noticed the faint taste of rain for the first time. Vaughan turned away, paused to look reflectively at the pond, then walked back into the folly.

Bella found her thoughts at last.

‘Arrogant bastard,’ she murmured. Still, she couldn’t ignore the obvious invitation. She squared her shoulders, then pursued him into the oak-panelled interior.

He was waiting in the darkness at the far end of the lamp-lit room, half hidden like a ruffian. She measured the distance of mosaic floor between them, then stepped across the cold tiles. Earth and debris scuffed under her feet, and he lifted his gaze at the sound. Mockery danced in his violet eyes.

‘Miss Rushdale, what happy circumstance.’

Bella came to his side as her thoughts settled into
composure
. He would not have all the upper hand. He had caught her off guard earlier, but this time would be different. She met his dark eyes defiantly, and watched him pout in response.

‘What would you have of me?’ he asked.

She watched him part his lips and slowly lower his dark lashes over his eyes. The gesture was so deliberate and vain it was astonishing. It was also deeply seductive. She fought down the tide of desire that threatened to upset her poise. Perhaps the power of his self-assurance drew her, or something equally intangible.

‘Why did you warn me away from Lucerne?’

For a brief second, rage showed in his eyes like a splinter of diamond. He seemed about to storm past her, out into the tranquil night, but then he mastered himself. His body relaxed and he exhaled his anger.

‘Always Lucerne! Is that the only reason you followed me in here, or was there something more?’

He leaned close to her as he spoke, so that she could feel the warmth of his breath and she watched his mouth descend. He grazed her bottom lip and held it. The taste of him released her memory and she answered his kiss, while her arms moved to pull him closer. She clawed at him urgently, then slipped her hands under his coat as he drew her deep into his kiss. Nobody had ever kissed her the way Vaughan did. He made her lips burn with a heat that washed straight to her cunt.