Page 38 of The Trouble with Anna

He spun her faster, his hand firm on her waist as he whirled them along. She matched his long steps, as light as a sparrow as she skimmed across the floor.

She was a graceful dancer, remarkably so. All her movements were fast and light, from the way she walked to the way she rode, even the neat flick of her wrist as she drank her tea.

Why hadn’t he noticed before? He’d been fooled by her ugly clothes and how she hid herself when the way she moved told the true story. Her quickness, her bravery, the exhilaration. If only he had noticed—

What? You would have gathered her up and married her?

Even as the room continued to spin around him merrily, something inside him went dark.

Was this woman really going to be his wife? Every time he stepped closer, she shied from him. He still only saw her in jagged bursts, little streaks of lightning that flared and went out. It was infuriating, how little he knew of her still and how much he was beginning to want.

I don’t want a damned thing!he yelled inside, even as he clutched her close.

Anna must have thought he was challenging her, because her eyes sparked and she leaned farther into the turn, almost running as the music spun faster and faster.

Julian chased her, and when he caught her, he would—

“Very good! I think you’ve got the hang of it!” yelled Charlotte. “What an excellent teacher I am!”

The music crashed to a stop and Julian let Anna spin right out of his arms. For a second, her glowing eyes were all he could see. He wanted to haul her back to him, pull out that wretched bun, and…

“We’re done for the day.” His voice was harsh in the sudden silence.

Anna’s smile fell away.

“Thank heavens!” cried the Dowager. “Tea at last!”

Anna watched Julian stride out the ballroom door without another word to anyone. Her skirts were still swaying, her ears rang with the pianoforte’s dying chords, and her waist burned where Julian’s hand had been, but he was gone.

“That went rather well,” said Charlotte.

An odd laugh bubbled up in Anna. “That wentterribly.”

She streaked down the hallway. “Lord Ramsay!”

He turned the corner, but Anna ran after him. “Lord Ramsay, wait!”

Julian stopped, steadying her as she stumbled into him, and then let her go, correct to a fault. “Is there something I can do for you?”

“Yes! You can tell me why you’re angry.”

His face darkened. “I’m not angry!”

“Then why did you rush off?”

“I have business to attend to. Elsewhere.” His voice was clipped and flat, and she knew that he was lying.

Anna stared up at him. “I don’t understand you. One minute you whisper nonsense at me, and the next you act as if we’re strangers. I’m not a toy! You mustn’t play with me.”

Something hot and glittering flared in his eyes and he took herby the arm and hustled her to the nearest room, closing the door behind them. Anna pressed herself back against the wood as he leaned in, his forearm up over her head and his face just inches from hers.

“What if I want you to play with me? What if I think about these games of ours all the time?”

There was no air in the room, or perhaps Anna was still breathless from dancing. Either way, her lungs couldn’t get enough air.

“Stop!” She raised a hand between them. “I don’t like this hot and cold. I don’t know the rules!”

Julian caught her closest finger in his mouth and bit it, and when he scraped his teeth over the pad of her finger she felt it in her belly. He bit the plump flesh at the base of her thumb, and then nudged her hand out of his way with his chin to kiss her, hard, fast, and a little angry.

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