In the Heat of the Bite by Lydia Dare Page B

I were you,” Sir Ralph said as he grabbed his arm.
    Matthew gritted his teeth. “Do what, Sir Ralph?” he forced out.
    The man chuckled. “Throttle the cad. You can’t do that. Not here at any rate.” He shook a finger at Matthew. “And no matter how much you might want to. Hell, I want to do it on your behalf. That fellow always did have a sense of entitlement. Never did like the whelp, nor his father. He’s much more trouble than he has ever been worth, both him and his brothers who are following quickly in his dissolute footsteps.”
    Matthew fairly seethed as Miss Sinclair waltzed with the fortune-hunting, debauched Radbourne. Every smile she bestowed on the viscount made Matthew angrier. And his mood grew darker as he waited for the set to finally end.
    Sir Ralph nodded toward the dancing pair. “Once he bows, you can go claim your dance with the lady. But do watch your tongue. It wouldn’t do either of you any good if she slapped you again.”

Five
     
    Rhiannon knew quite well she was looking into the glinting eyes of a Lycan as Archer Hadley, Viscount Radbourne, led her around the floor.
    “I believe he’ll rip off my head if I don’t relinquish you soon,” Lord Radbourne said with a dramatic sigh. “Or at least make a good attempt at it.”
    “I doona ken who ye’re referring ta, my lord,” Rhiannon said succinctly, drawing on every lesson of decorum Aunt Greer had ever tried to drill into her head.
    “Oh,
ye ken
exactly who I’m speaking of,” he laughed, mimicking her accent to near-perfection. “That man hasn’t taken his eyes off your backside the entire time I’ve had you on the floor.”
    Rhiannon felt heat creep up her face. “He most certainly has no’ been starin’ at my backside,” she hissed quietly.
    Lord Radbourne chuckled. “What
did
you do to deserve such devotion from the man? From what Cait tells me, you just arrived in Town last night. I can see how you could win hearts quickly, but twenty-four hours is rather fast, even for a beauty like you.” His amber eyes twinkled with mirth. “It would take me at least a fortnight to fall in love with you.” His eyes slid down her body languidly. “Well, maybe half that.”
    Rhiannon tripped over his toe. Or her toe. She wasn’t certain which. But he just clutched her more closely to him and drew her back into the dance.
    “Don’t look now, sweetheart, but the unlucky earl is barely holding himself in check,” Radbourne said.
    He spun her so she could see Blodswell around his shoulder, and the man did, indeed, look as though he could consume her in one bite. After he killed her dancing partner, that was. The thought sent shivers down her spine as memories of a different night and a different vampyre flashed in her mind. To shake the image away, she turned her attention back to the dark-haired, amber-eyed Lycan.
    “Are ye enjoyin’ this evenin’?” Rhiannon asked, biting back a grin.
    “More than you could ever know,” Radbourne said. “I came tonight at Cait’s request. To help your entrance into society. But with that dress, and…” his gaze slid down her again, before he drew his eyes up and grunted, “the rest of you, I needn’t have bothered. The only reason your dance card is empty is because no one had time to pencil in his name before I stole you away.”
    “Are ye always so direct?”
    He shrugged. “I assume so. Does it bother you?” He looked down at her as though the answer was suddenly important.
    “No, I appreciate yer candor. I believe I could talk ta ye all night.”
    “Would that it were true.” Radbourne sighed. Then the music stopped and he bowed low before her, his eyes narrowing slightly when he stood back up and said one word, “Blodswell.”
    Rhiannon glanced over her shoulder. There he was, the regal vampyre. He bowed low to her as well. She’d never been paid so much favor in her life.
    “May I have this next dance, Miss Sinclair?” the earl asked.
    If she refused, she