Page 61 of Black Widow

Lady Lewin gaze sharpened, a determined glint in her eye. “Why don’t you call on me in a few days? I can delve into my library and try to come up with a list. I suggest you do the same with the books you’ve alreadycollected.”

Trying to take heart, Amelia nodded. It was what she’d been doing, but her focus had been on demons. If Lady Lewin was correct, then none of her meticulously listed research had anyrelevance.

They spoke a half hour more until there was a commotion at the door. People began to whisper and throw them sidewaysglances.

Amelia didn’t need to be told what had captured their attention. Gideon had arrived. Hurriedly, she rose, preparing to excuseherself.

Lady Lewin gave her a knowing glance before turning in her seat, craning her neck to see across the room. “No need for explanations, my dear. If I had that man at my beck and call, I’d head for the nearest orangery aswell.”

Dumbstruck, Amelia stared at her, embarrassment flooding hercheeks.

Lady Lewin was too busy looking at Gideon to notice her chagrin. “My, my,” the older woman breathed, snapping her fan open and waving it over herself. “Look at those shoulders. I imagine that’s what gladiators used to look like in the Romanarena…”

Amelia choked back unwilling laughter. Face flaming, she bid Lady Lewin a hasty goodbye. It would do no good to deny the affair at thispoint.

Despite her entreaties, Gideon insisted on appearing at every event she attended. Though he would never do more than give her a civil greeting before their avid audience, people had inevitably noticed when they would disappeartogether.

She had insisted on not being seen with him, and the earl had obeyed her instructions to the letter. However, he always managed to find that one moment when no one was watching to waylay her. Once, he’d snatched her in the empty hallway outside of the ladies receiving room at the Trent rout. At the Kenneth ball, he’d managed to grab her from an alcove just a few steps away from the crowded dancefloor.

This time, Amelia got no further than the hall outside the ballroom. She was looking for a footman to fetch her cloak when Gideon appeared at her back, his hands burning through the delicately embroidered organza cloth at herwaistline.

“Come with me,” he whispered in herear.

“No,Gideon.”

Her protest fell on deaf ears. He rushed her to a narrow hallway and through a series of darkened rooms before tapping on the wall, revealing an opening in an otherwise unexceptional oakpanel.

“A hidden door!” she said, enchanted despite herself. It was just like a Mrs. Moorenovel.

“Shh,” he chided with a flash of his whiteteeth.

Amelia bit her tongue when she saw where theywere.

The room opened directly off the main ballroom. The only thing that hid them from view was an ornate metal grillwork she had barely noticed from the otherside.

She would never have imagined there was a room behind that decorative screen. Between it and the ballroom proper was a wide corridor encircling the entire room. At the sides were private alcoves where couples would retreat for a few moments of privacy, but this small space was completely obscured by the screen and its repetitive floralpattern.

It was the perfect place to observe the ball in secret. Gideon led her to the front of the room so they could observe the milling crowd. The low strains of a waltz rose andstrengthened.

“The band is just behind that pillar,” he whispered into her ear. His lips pressed to the side of her neck, making her shiver. “That is why no one is standing so close to the screen. But I would advise you to be quiet as you can be. You tend to lose yourself when I’m buried deep insideyou.”

He couldn’t be serious. Amelia opened her mouth to protest, but Gideon silenced her with his lips. His tongue teased, robbing her of her goodsense.

It was always this way when they were alone—and sometimes when they weren’t. Gideon could send her into flames with the lightest of touches or a single smolderingglance.

Cool air on her chest alerted her to the fact her bodice had beenundone.

“My lord, we must stop.” She could see the whirling couples on the dance floor. What if she cried out in her passion? She couldn’t trust herself withhim.

Amelia trembled in his arms as his hot mouth closed over the taut buds of her breasts. He circled her waist with one arm. Holding her upright, he lathed and bit at her nipple, pulling up her skirts with his otherhand.

She melted against him, her resolve in cinders. Being in Gideon’s arms was worth the loss of her pride, which was somewhere down around her ankles along with herdrawers.

Amelia raised her arm and curled it around his neck as one of Gideon’s big hands palmed her breast. His sheer size was exciting, the way he could hold her, lifting her as if she weighednothing.

But Gideon didn’t enfold her in his embrace. Instead, he turned her away from him, placing her hands on the crossbars of the screen. His mouth flamed up her neck, holding her still when she tried to turn to himagain.

“Don’t move,” he ordered, using his knee to nudge her legs fartherapart.

---