Page 11 of Enchanted By the Lyon
“Then you know of his work. Do you have a favorite verse?”
He took a step closer and her heart melted a little more when he spoke in a hushed tone.
‘She walks in beauty, like the night
Of cloudless climes and starry skies;
And all that’s best of dark and bright
Meet in her aspect and her eyes;
Thus mellowed to that tender light
Which heaven to gaudy day denies.’
“She Walks in Beauty,” she murmured as she felt captured by his gaze.
“Much like yourself, Mrs. Vaughn… Cassandra,” he replied in a husky voice that sent shivers racing through her body. Hearing her name pass his lips was almost her undoing again.
There could be no mistaking his flirtatious nature dispelling any thoughts of a marriage between them and covering her with a heavy blanket of disappointment. She quickly realized she had fallen into his trap far too easily since her emotions were too raw where Lucius was concerned. She had to remember he already had a mistress waiting for him. If she wasn’t careful, she might just fall prey to such an arrangement and not a marriage that was her ultimate goal. She held back the anger that threatened to overwhelm her and bit back words she might regret if she let this situation continue.
“Lord Blackthorn—”
“Call me Lucius,” he replied with a wicked grin.
“Why would I call you by your given name? And for that matter, I did not give you permission to call me by mine,” she huffed hoping she didn’t come off like a shrew.
“Friends tend to call each other by their given names…” he said with a shrug.
“I was not aware that one conversation made usfriends, my lord.”
“It could be the start of wonderful friendship. After all, your friends are married to my friends. We are bound to run in the same circles in the future,” he answered with another smirk making her assume he was thinking of another sort of relationship with her than mere friendship.
Snapping open the fan again, she waved the device in front of her to cool her flaming face and to stop herself from slapping the charming smile from his handsome face. The arrogant cad! “I believe, Lord Blackthorn, that you are still in an arrangement with another lady,” she said in as icy a voice as she could manage.
He gave a light laugh. “I am not asking you to take her place, Cassandra. I merely suggested a friendship form between us.” Something shifted in his gaze as he watched her that still sentthrills over her skin, in spite of herself. When she snapped her fan shut, he reached over, and with one of his fingers traced her cheek. “Just lovely.”
She stepped back and watched as a frown marred his brow. Obviously, this man wasn’t used to being rejected. Well. This would be the first lesson he would learn about her and most likely it would be one of many.
“Lord Blackthorn… just because I have lived in a part of town that is known to men such as yourself for housing many of Society’s mistresses doesn’t mean I am interested in any form of a relationship with you—or any other man, for that matter.” The last thing she wanted was for him to think of her as only his latest conquest. Now she strode around him to put some distance between them. It didn’t take him long before he was once again too close for her to ignore him.
“You’re angry with me…” he stated the obvious.
“Clearly!” His close proximity made her struggle to breathe and she shook herself out of her angry thoughts. No, she wasn’t angry. Instead a wash of being let down by his character flowed over her. He could be so much more. She knew it deep inside and decided to voice her thoughts aloud. “Perhaps anger isn’t the correct emotion I am feeling toward you. It’s more like disappointment.”
A frown formed across his brow. “That is somehow even worse, my lady. I would not wish for you to think ill of me,” he urged, reaching for her hand.
She yanked her quaking fingers from his grasp. “Then you should look at me with a little more respect. I am not interested in becoming your latest…plaything, my lord,” she said through clenched teeth.
“Call me Lucius,” he insisted again, instead of listening to what she was attempting to convey.
“Have you not heard a word I’ve just said?”
“I’m trying to change your mind since I seem to have failed your expectations of my character and my intentions,” he said with a teasing wink. “I only suggested we become friends… Anything more… well…”
Friends? Anything more?His entire demeanor more than told her what his words were saying as to his desire to become more than friends. If she was wrong, she was a bad judge of men and she’d had her fair share of disastrous relationships in her past.
A frustrated sound that was very unladylike erupted from her lips before she remembered this was the man she had been drawn to for months. Did she honestly expect him to meet her and fall madly in love with her at first sight? Not likely, and she best change her methods if she wanted to keep his attention for more than a brief liaison.
