A Gentleman's Wager by Madelynne Ellis Page B

lingered in the woman’s embrace, and she muddled the next few dance steps then came to a halt. She looked around in confusion, then fled the floor pursued by a tumult of emotions.
    A firm hand caught her wrist; she glanced sideways and met her dance partner’s open-faced concern. ‘Leave me,’ she pleaded. Vaughan shook his head, and wordlessly led her into the deserted drawing room. He found her a chair and she collapsed gratefully into its arms.
    ‘You appear to have had a shock,’ Vaughan speculated. ‘A drink will help you recover.’
    Louisa pressed her palms to her eyelids to seal in the tears, and sighed. She felt slightly sick, almost faint, and wanted to be alone, but she didn’t want to rebuke his kindness. She took two sips of the port he brought her, then changed her mind and drained the glass. The sticky sweet liquid numbed her sense of betrayal.
    ‘More?’ he enquired.
    Louisa followed him to the side-table and watched him refill the glass, which she drained quickly. ‘Thank you.’ She tried to say more but her voice failed her.
    ‘It’s my pleasure. The least I could do.’ He smiled faintly, just turning up the corners of his warm red lips.
    A strand of his long dark hair fell forwards over his face. Without thinking, Louisa brushed it aside. Vaughan caught her hand and placed a kiss in the centre of her palm, which somehow soothed her wounded pride. She looked up at him, surprised to find him staring back at her intently.
    ‘You remind me of someone,’ he said. ‘It’s your eyes, and your smile. Yes, you have the same smile.’
    Louisa found herself smiling despite her feelings over Frederick. ‘Someone you’re close to?’ she asked.
    ‘Reasonably so. Emily was a great love of mine.’
    ‘Is she here with you?’
    ‘Ah, no.’ Vaughan’s expression grew dark. He turned away from her slightly and bowed his head. ‘She’s dead.’
    Louisa’s heart fluttered in her chest; she felt his loss as though it were her own. He was standing so close to her, and his dark eyes glittered with such sorrow that her own anguish over Frederick seemed to melt away. When he tilted her face and touched her honey-blonde curls as if lost in memory, she didn’t resist. Not even when his fingers brushed the hot skin of her cheek and traced a line across the soft curve, to her parted lips.
    ‘My lord,’ she whispered, and placed a gentle hand on his arm. He shifted his stance, bringing them closer together. An odd sensation trickled down Louisa’s spine. Not fright, but something similar: anticipation.
    His eyes glinted in the soft light like the jewels on his rings. A gleaming gold hoop earring shone through his hair. The touch of his lips was dizzying. It felt like hot syrup sliding down her throat, enveloping her. Moreover, that same wet heat was soon spreading to the sensitive place between her thighs. Louisa clung to him, opened her mouth to his tongue and returned his darting touches. She felt none of the nervousness she’d experienced with Frederick. Vaughan made her feel totally at ease, so that she felt encouraged to caress him through the fabric of his breeches.
    Vaughan felt his cock stir and rise like a charmed snake in response to her hands questing curiously under his shirt.
    Really! This was too easy, but then the line about the fictitious Emily normally won them over. Still, her endeavours to find out what lay beneath his clothing surprised him; he’d taken her for an innocent, but she was clearly more knowing than he’d assumed, if not more experienced. No matter, it gave him a chance of some entertainment, and put him a step nearer to securing the wager. He hadn’t thought to complete half the task in one night.
    He released her lips and traced the curve of her earlobe with his tongue, then left a trail of feather-light kisses down her neck. With practised ease, he edged the fabric off her shoulder, revealing milky soft skin lightly dusted with powder. ‘Hush,’ he soothed, as he