Devil Disguised (17 page)

The next dance was called and she found herself securely held in Brian’s arms. He asked, “Have I told you how beautiful you look this evening?”

She grinned and shook her head. “No, Lord Adair you have not.”

His eyes widened. “I did not?”

She giggled. “I believe you said that I was stunning.”

“Ah. You are correct. But, you are both stunning and beautiful.”

She blushed under the scrutiny of his gaze. His voice turned serious. “Lord Cavanaugh has hardly taken his eyes off of you tonight, but I can hardly blame him. You are the most enticing woman here.”

Taking a deep breath to steady her nerves, she tried to change the subject. “Thank you for the compliment, Lord Adair, but I want to remind you that you did promise to tell me some interesting tales about my uncle.”

He smiled, but held the intensity of his stare. “I did. Very well, but I must warn you Charles and Duncan were quite notorious. You must have heard the story of the incident with Lord Holbrook?”

She shook her head.

He leaned in closer and whispered, “I will tell you what I know if you agree to follow me outside after this dance.”

She swallowed to hide her gasp, but nodded her head.

He said, “Duncan was having an affair with the Lady Holbrook and her husband found out. Somehow, Charles discovered Lord Holbrook had set a trap for Duncan and rushed to help him. Charles got there just in time to warn Duncan, but as they were leaving the house, Lord Holbrook pulled out his gun and shot at Duncan. He missed Duncan, but hit Charles in the shoulder.”

Lily gaped and felt the color drain from her face.

“I see you have not heard the tale. Obviously, your uncle has recovered and somehow he remains friends with Duncan. It was a very short time after that when Duncan met the Lady Fiona with whom he would become engaged.”

Lily stiffened as she heard the music ending.

Brian took her arm and said, “This is good timing. You look like you could use some fresh air.”

He led her outside. The cool air did feel refreshing and she inhaled deeply. Trying to clear her head, she placed her hands on the rough ledge of the massive stone terrace that ran alongside the home. Closing her eyes, she took another deep breath smelling fresh cut grass and cologne. Her breath hitched as Brian’s fingers trailed down the exposed skin of her back. She turned towards him and his left hand cupped her face as his lips descended on hers.

She opened her mouth to meet the passion of his kiss and he pulled her into him. His tongue glided over hers and she did her best to enjoy the kiss as she tried to forget everything else. He was a very handsome man and knew
how to kiss, but she kept comparing him to another. She pushed lightly on his chest and he released his hold.

Smiling, he moved to kiss her again, but she stepped back and whispered, “Lord Adair, please take me back inside.”

He nodded. “Of course, but please call me Brian.”

Lifting his arm, she wound her arm through his and replied, “All right, Brian.”

They walked back inside the salon and she took another deep steadying breath to prepare herself for the rest of the evening.

UNCAN KEPT HIS
eyes fixed on the French doors that led out to the terrace. If Lily did not return soon, he would walk outside to find her. Charlotte stood next to him, but he was not paying attention to her prattling words. He excused himself to get a drink even though he knew the next dance had begun. Forgetting whom he was set to dance with Duncan watched as Sir Peddington searched the room, likely for Lily.

Sipping the whiskey in his glass, Duncan glanced again at the terrace doors just as they opened. The couple entered the room and Duncan clenched the glass he held, trying not to imagine what Brian had been doing outside with Lily.

Rushing over to them, he looked at Lily and said, “There you are. The next dance has already begun and Sir Peddington was wondering where his dance partner was, but now we know.”

She blushed and hurried over to Sir Peddington as Brian held out his hand and said, “Duncan.”

Duncan did his best to smile as he shook the proffered hand. “Brian.”

Brian looked over at Lily and said, “She is a beautiful woman. I would like to call on her.”

“She is very busy tending to my sister and you cannot court her, Brian. She is set to be betrothed when she returns to London.”

“That is a pity, but she is not engaged yet.” Brian grinned and began to walk away from Duncan.

“Wait, Brian,” Duncan called out.

Brian turned. “Yes?”

“I could not help but notice Lil - Lady Montgomery looked pale while you were dancing with her. Please tell me it was because of some inappropriate comment you made and not from her true ill health.”

Brian chuckled. “Neither. I told her the story of how Charles was shot. It appears she knew nothing of the scandalous tale. It is fascinating how little she seems to know of those around her.”

This struck a nerve. “Stay away from her, Brian.”

“Never. Not unless she is the one asking me to stay away from her, but after what we just shared, I am guessing that is not going to be the case.”

Duncan instinctively stepped towards Brian and clenched his fists.

Brian noticed the aggressive gesture. “You want to protect her from me, but who will shield her from you?”

Brian turned on his heel and walked away from him.

Duncan walked outside as anger began to consume him. Protecting Lily was becoming much more of a challenge than he ever anticipated, but guarding her from his own desire was becoming the greatest challenge of all. Well, at least she now thought he was an ass maybe that would make things a little easier.

He shook his head and took a deep cooling breath. He was nearly certain the recent incident with the carriage was not an accident and he knew some of Lily’s outlandish behavior was her way of dealing with her fear. He had wanted this evening to be a pleasant one between them, but she constantly provoked him and he secretly relished it. Inhaling again, he turned to go back inside because the evening was far from over.

The next dance was called and after he kissed the hand of the woman he had just danced with, he turned to look for Lily. She was looking at him while the man next to her was trying to get her attention. He did his best to keep his features impassive, but she was so tempting in her dress that he simply enjoyed watching her. Her figure was perfection and somehow the dress made her angelic features sultrier. The bronze color of the dress somehow made the gold of her hair richer and darkened the deep blue of her eyes.

Her gaze remained locked on his as he approached her and said, “I believe you are set to dance this waltz with me.”

She smiled and wrapped her arm through his as they went to the dance floor. When the music started, he pulled her against him and his thoughts scattered as her body made contact with his. They had never danced together
before and he realized this would have been the way they would have typically met. She was about to say something, but glanced down instead.

He seemed at a loss for words himself, but decided he could not ignore what happened earlier. “Lily, you tend to bring out a nasty side of me. I have told you of my past by your insistence, but I truly do not like to recall those moments. This evening was supposed to be a pleasant one for you and I hope we both can enjoy the rest of it. I will do my best to not bore you and to not show you my hind quarters.”

She held in her laugh and bit her bottom lip before she said, “In truth, you never bore me and I have already seen your bottom.”

He nearly missed a step in the dance as he snapped his mouth shut. When had she ever seen his backside? Then, he remembered it was the night she had awoken him because of the intruder. She grinned, licking her lips and he was nearly undone.

Leaning forward, he whispered, “I hope you enjoyed the view.”

He did not expect her to respond, but she said, “I did. Very much, in fact.”

He almost missed another step in the dance as she grinned.

Looking down, she blushed bright red before she said, “I think it would help you to talk about your past so you can move on from it. I know it is difficult, but I discovered that talking about what happened to me in my own past helped me immensely.”

He was about to speak when he realized the music had stopped and they were the only couple still moving. Releasing his hold he stepped back and said, “Until later, Lily.”

He turned and went to get another drink before he danced with his next partner. Another waltz was called and he saw Charlotte approach him as he watched Lily move again into Brian’s arms.

Charlotte said, “Duncan, you really should try not to stare at Lily so much. People are beginning to gossip.”

He said, “You know I do not care what people think.”

“I know of no such thing. You care very much about what others think. If you did not care about what others thought, you would not be living in Brentwood,” she returned harshly.

“Leave it alone, Charlotte.”

“Leave it alone or leave Lily alone? I am not sure what you are doing with her, Duncan, but I can tell you my brother has set his sights on her and we both know what that means.”

He felt his eyes narrow as he looked at Charlotte. “I have already warned him to stay away from her.”

Charlotte laughed and said, “Of course you have, Duncan. But, I may be able to get the point across to my brother better than you can. I may be willing to do that if you would invite me to dinner more often.”

His gaze left Charlotte and he watched Lily laugh with Brian. Keeping his eyes on Lily, he responded, “I could invite you to dinner every night and you would still not speak to your brother about Lily. I am well aware of the
games of manipulation you can play, Charlotte, and I have never hid my intentions from you.”

Looking at Charlotte he said, “What we do is entertaining, but I have never mislead you. I will not marry you. Stop trying to pursue me and do not come over for dinner until you receive a written invitation. Am I understood?”

The music stopped and Charlotte did her best to hide her anger. “Yes, Duncan, you are clearly understood, but I look forward to the day when you will come crawling back to me after Lily is gone. I once warned her that you would ruin her and break her heart.” She chuckled. “But, I forgot to warn her about my brother.”

She spun away from him as Duncan searched the room for Lily’s gaze, but he did not see her.

He was interrupted in his search as a servant approached him and said, “My lord, a messenger is here for you.”

He walked out of the room and heard the message he expected; Eleanor was in labor and they needed to leave. Walking back into the salon he searched again for Lily. After realizing she was not in the room, he took a deep breath and went out onto the terrace. In the dim light, he saw several figures and waited for his eyes to adjust to the darkness.

Not seeing her immediately, he walked out farther onto the terrace and turned to face the house. He saw her against the corner of the home. Brian was holding her as they kissed, but she appeared to be pushing against his hold. Duncan darted forward and pulled Brian’s shoulder back as utter surprise registered across his features. He shoved Brian away from Lily as she wiped her mouth and looked frightened.

Brian started, “Duncan, what the hell are you doing?”

Duncan glared. “I told you to stay away from her.”

Turning towards Lily, Duncan held out his hand. “A messenger arrived. It is Eleanor. We need to leave.”

She did not even glance at Brian as she placed her hand in his and they went back into the house. They rushed past startled guests and made their way out to the waiting carriage. Duncan glanced up at the coachman and said, “Get us home quickly, Peter.”

Duncan assisted Lily into the carriage and banged on the roof as he sat down across from her. The carriage rolled forward instantly. She looked nervous. “Is Eleanor all right?”

“She has gone into labor. We need to be there.”

Lily fidgeted. “Of course. We do.”

“Yes, we do.” Duncan stared at Lily and her swollen lips. He tried to push the thought of what she had been doing with Brian out of his head, but her mussed appearance made it impossible.