Page 16 of The Secrets He Keeps

Lowering himself to his knees, Erik sat back on his heels as he set the two glasses on the stone hearth. In a silent gesture, he extended his hand for the bottle, which she promptly handed off to him. After opening and pouring, he set the bottle aside and offered a snifter to the lady, who immediately lifted it in a toast.

“To cold winter nights and fine liquor.”

“And even finer company,” he added.

Her smile was fleeting as she lifted the glass and nearly drained it in one swallow.

Erik followed suit, then topped them off with another pour before settling into a more comfortable position. Then he turned his openly assessing focus on his unexpected companion while she directed her gaze toward the fire. She had to sense his blatant perusal but it did not appear to discomfit her in the slightest, and he was glad of that since it was not his intention to distress her. He simply found himself too fully intrigued by her to try to conceal his curiosity.

Curiosity and longing.

He couldn’t deny that part. It was inseparable from his increasing feelings for her.

No doubt, she was very accustomed to men staring so keenly, though he suddenly hated the thought of being just one among likely countless admirers.

With a tilt of her head that was both haughty and coy, she slid a glance in his direction. “I assume since I was shown up here so directly, my visit did not interrupt anything important you might have been tending to.”

Erik chuckled. “Not unless you count the silent cursing of winter weather to be important.”

She made a rough sound of disgust as she lifted her glass for a drink. “I abhor this time of year.”

“That is a strong statement.”

“But a true one. Everyone bustles about promoting this ridiculous façade of good cheer and a generous spirit, when any other time of year, they are selfishly devoted to personal pleasures and hedonism. It’s all so bloody false. And wretchedly dull.”

“I take that to mean you do not celebrate the Christmas holiday.”

“Only as I must. Christmas is best enjoyed by children and the faithful. I am neither.”

“But you do have plans for tomorrow?”

She sighed and turned back to the flames. “My brother is insisting I join him and his family for a holiday dinner. He’s being rather stubborn about it actually. Very annoying.”

“Dinner does not appeal to you?”

She finished the amber liquor in her glass before reaching for the bottle to replace it. “Dinner is fine. I’m simply dreading everything that goes with it. Family is not my forte.”

“They’re a bunch of arseholes?” he prompted in a dry tone.

Her laugh was short but rich and real. “Oh, my brother is definitely an arsehole. But a tolerable one most of the time. His life has undergone some drastic changes recently. Good changes, I suppose, but they’ve prompted this unprecedented attempt at creating some sort of holiday tradition.”

“There is nothing inherently terrible about tradition. Not when you understand that tradition is what you make it.”

She slid him a skeptical glance. “Is that so?”

Erik swirled his brandy as he thought back to the pleasures of his childhood. “My troupe was made up of people from all over the world. We all brought our own beliefs and faiths with us. We found a way to blend these things into new traditions we shared together. Growing up with such freedom and non-judgement showed me how people from differing backgrounds and experiences can come together if they simply prioritize compassion and mutual respect.”

She studied him silently from beneath the heavy sweep of her lashes. Erik remained still under her perusal as he stared intently back at her. The intelligence and bright calculation he admired so genuinely were ever present in her green gaze but there was a softening there as well, though it could simply be attributed to the brandy.

The woman was intimidating, to be sure. Self-assured and independent in ways many women were not. Clever, passionate, distrustful, arrogant, and mysterious. It was a singular experience to attempt the seduction of a woman who refused to let you know where you stood. Though he sensed her attraction to him and was delighted she’d chosen to come to him tonight, he knew better than to assume either of those things meant anything in regard to whether or not he would be successful in his endeavor.

She was too cynical and far too unpredictable.

But he was becoming more and more determined to know her. Not Madam Pendragon, who ruled London’s world of sexual delights and pleasures untold. Erik wished to know the girl who’d left home young to claim sovereignty over herself and her future. The young woman who’d dreamed of having it all and having it all under her dominion.

With a depth and intensity that surprised him, he wanted the woman seated before him to find him worthy of not only her intimate time but also her most secret thoughts and unspoken dreams for the future. He was not a man to do anything half-measure and he’d known almost from the very start that he wanted this woman for everything she was, including those elements she carefully kept hidden from the rest of the world.

As his thoughts continued to swirl through the unsettling emotions she inspired, a small knowing smile curved her lips. “You’re all the same, you know.”

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