Wolfishly Yours by Lydia Dare Page B

merely sounded distraught, at least to her own ears. “And I wasn’t listening.”
    He snorted. “Yes, you were. You’re already plotting to use Lady Sophia’s circumstances to your advantage somehow. Did you think you could coerce her into helping you escape to a port and then onto an American-bound ship?”
    She hadn’t even considered such a thing. If he wasn’t standing so close to her, she’d have stomped her foot. But he might consider that to be childish. Did she care about his opinion? She sighed heavily as the truth hit her. Yes, she did care about his opinion, which was both mildly disconcerting and inconvenient. “I merely wanted to understand how the lady thinks,” she murmured. “I can’t figure her out.”
    “And you must ‘figure her out’ before you can befriend her?” he asked.
    “It helps,” she mumbled.
    He chuckled lightly.
    “I’m happy you find it amusing.” She itched to hit him. Much as she did with her brothers, but in a completely different way.
    “Lady Sophia could use a friend,” he said softly. “Though I think that’s the last thing you’d ever consider.”
    Livi’s face warmed, all the way to her ears. “No, it’s not,” she said quietly. Then she sniffed.
    “But her circumstances are almost as dire as yours. Even more so.”
    “Truly?” she couldn’t help but ask. The lady was a conundrum.
    He nodded once. “You might find an ally in her if you gave her half a chance.”
    “Have you found an ally in her?”
    “Good God, no.”
    His response made Livi want to laugh. It was so genuine. Or at least she thought it was. How much of him was real? And how much was him playing the part of the gentleman everyone expected him to be? Was he feral at heart? She’d love to find out.
    He jerked a thumb toward the stairs. “To bed, Miss Mayeux?” he asked.
    Her heart skipped a beat. “I should think not,” she blurted out, without even thinking.
    He laughed again. “I was referring to you going to your bed. And me going to mine.”
    Livi stepped toward him and slowly stroked her hand down the front of his jacket. She let her voice drop down to a sultry purr. “Somehow, that doesn’t sound nearly as entertaining,” she said.
    He stiffened beneath her hand.
    She turned to go upstairs, but quick as lightning, his hand shot out and wrapped around her waist, drawing her flush against him. “Don’t play with me, Miss Mayeux,” he growled. His warm breath blew across the shell of her ear. His head bent, and his whiskers rubbed her temple as he spoke, he was that close. His voice rumbled across her skin like warm water, every bit as fluid, but not nearly as soothing. The hairs on her arms stood up. She stiffened her spine and pushed back from his embrace. It was like trying to press against stone. So she decided to try a different tack.
    Livi stepped up onto her tiptoes and whispered in his ear. “What makes you think I’m playing, Mr. Hadley?” Then she gave him a little shove, which must have startled him, because he released her and reached for the wall to steady himself. She couldn’t keep from giggling as she ran toward the stairs. He didn’t follow. And she wasn’t certain whether she was happy about that or really, really sad.

Six
    With both of his elbows resting on the breakfast table, Gray held his head in his hands. If only he could get the throbbing in his brain and the ringing in his ears to stop. No more gin. Ever. What the devil had he been thinking? Perhaps he hadn’t been thinking at all. That was a definite possibility in hindsight.
    “Good morning,” came Miss Mayeux’s overly cheerful voice.
    For lack of anything intelligent to say, Gray grunted in way of greeting.
    “Ah, head aching from a wild night of debauchery and imbibing, is it?”
    Gray opened his fingers wide enough to see her. “Shh.”
    An impish grin lit her face. “You need to eat sausage and drink a raw egg yolk.”
    The very idea turned his stomach. “Stop talking.