Page 28 of Enticing the Devil

Lady Anne’s gentle voice lifted Beynon’s gaze to where his partner stood in the doorway. Though there was a calmly pleasant smile on her face, he noted a flicker of fire in her blue-green eyes. There was also something...new in her demeanor. It was a subtle sort of irritation. Or perhaps it could be better described as disdainful antipathy.

Despite the ridiculous and humiliating situation he found himself in at that moment, he couldn’t help but feel a reluctant twinge of gratitude for her sudden appearance as Lady Mayhew stumbled back a step and quickly righted herself. The look she gave Beynon before she turned to greet the other lady suggested she remained undaunted.

“Lady Anne,” the woman replied with a wide smile. “I’m afraid Mr. Thomas and I had a little collision. Nothing to worry about, however,” she added with a laugh and a wave of her hand. “The gentleman gallantly saved me from a disastrous fall.”

Without replying to the transparent explanation, Lady Anne continued forward, shifting her attention to Beynon. With a gentle tilt of her head, she asked, “Do you have the list of items we’re to hunt down, Mr. Thomas?”

Still fuming over the other woman’s attempt at seduction, he simply lifted the scroll rather than reply.

“Excellent.” She paused then quite deliberately turned to give her back to the other woman in the room—inciting a gasp of shocked affront—as she lifted her hand. “Shall we begin the hunt?”

Following her lead by completely ignoring Lady Mayhew, he stepped forward and Lady Anne slipped her hand into the curve of his elbow. They strode from the room in tense and awkward silence. The embarrassment of being caught by her in yet another compromising position with Lady Mayhew only heaped on top of the anger which had yet to dissipate.

In his distraction, it took a moment for Beynon to realize the lady at his side was subtly guiding him across the hall toward the front door. Once outside, they continued around the house to the west where a cobblestone courtyard separated the large manor house from the estate’s stables. Only then did she slow their steps and finally release his arm.

Turning to face him, she seemed quite determined not to meet his gaze as she looked pointedly at the scroll in his hand instead. “Is that the list?”

Her curt tone was very different from the soft, melodic way she typically spoke, and for some reason, it triggered in him a fierce and sudden urge to defend himself.

“I did nothing wrong.” The words tumbled roughly from his mouth before he could stop them.

She stiffened but didn’t look up from the scroll she’d unrolled. After a brief pause, she said, “There’s no need to explain.”

“I wasn’t explaining,” he growled, realizing his anger was still coloring his responses. “I’m just saying it wasn’t me.”

Slowly, she lowered the scroll and lifted her chin so she could meet his gaze. She took another long breath then replied, “And I’m saying there’s no need.” Her voice was low but firm and the blue of her eyes seemed darker than usual. “I know you’re aware that I heard you over the wall that day. You tried to dissuade her then. I also had a clear view of her little performance just now. I know you did nothing wrong, Mr. Thomas.”

For a second, he got the oddest sense the woman was angry on his behalf. But then she glanced back down at the scroll and gently arched one fine eyebrow. “Now that we’ve wasted more time on the issue than it deserves, can we begin?”

Beynon glowered at the crown of her bowed head. She declared the matter finished, so that was it? What if he had more to say?

“I don’t think so,” he replied in a rough growl. When she looked up at him with a glint of confusion and subtle wariness in her eyes, he continued, “Perhaps we haven’t spent enough time on the matter. Perhaps I’d like to know why some people feel as though they’re entitled to treat others as objects for their personal amusement.”

She blinked in that way she had, where her lashes gave a quick flutter and her eyes widened at the same time.

“I...” she began, but then didn’t seem capable of going on.

He was aware his current display of wrath might be seen as out of proportion to the incident, but he didn’t care. He was just so damn tired of it all. London society had already decided he was barely better than a brute, so why should he bother trying to prove otherwise?

He narrowed his gaze and lowered his voice. “I know what people say about me. The idiotic moniker they’ve given me.” Welsh Devil. His mum would expire if she ever learned of that. His stomach turned. “And Lady Mayhew isn’t the first to seek me out in such a fashion. In the last months, I’ve received countless similar demands from others of her kind.”

“Her kind?” Lady Anne asked quietly.

“Selfish. Rich. Unable to imagine anything they want shouldn’t be laid at their feet. I know exactly what they want from me and I assure you it’s not a round of pleasant conversation or a turn about the ballroom. Women like her see me less as a man than as a beast,” he added gruffly. “Something unpredictable and frightening to chase away their boredom, even if only for a few hours.”

The lady bravely met his gaze though he suspected he looked every bit the uncivilized devil they believed him to be. There was a quiet intensity to her steady stare. Then she pressed her lips together before speaking in an even tone that barely rose above a whisper. “You’re saying they want...” She paused and a tiny scowl formed between her brows. “They want to use you as a diversion...as a plaything.”

Her simple acknowledgement burned a path through his core. Anger threatened to rise again in its wake, but he held it at bay. Barely. Lady Anne thought she understood. She’d barely brushed the surface.

“Some of them want to use me,” he agreed, his voice heavy. But then he lowered his tone even more. “Others want to be used by me.”

In her obvious innocence, she couldn’t possibly grasp the full meaning of his words. But the shock in her eyes and the blush that colored her cheeks suggested she wasn’t totally oblivious either.

“I’m sorry,” she murmured softly and he could see she meant it.

Unfortunately, her compassion only angered him further. With a growl of frustration, he closed his eyes and heaved a breath meant to disperse the pressure in his chest. He opened his eyes again to pin Lady Anne with a dark stare.

“I don’t want your pity,” he snarled. She parted her lips as if to refute his comment, but he spoke first. “I want to be left alone.”

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