Page 45 of Seducing the Knave

Apparently, her avid interest did not go unnoticed.

“If ye’re hungry, there’s more’n enough to share.”

“I’m fine.”

She wasn’t even sure why she resisted his offer. Defiance just seemed an instant response when in the company of this man. A response that clearly wasn’t serving her well, she acknowledged as her stomach clenched in revolt.

Extending the turkey leg across the table toward her, his gray eyes were full of challenge and humor. “Have a bite, princess,” he urged, “before ye faint of hunger and I’m forced to carry ye to me bed.”

She instantly leaned forward to sink her teeth into the meat. The act felt oddly carnal as his eyes glinted and his mouth curved into an intimate smile. “Good girl.”

The warmth that had been triggered by the wine transformed into a sudden blast of heat and she couldn’t seem to look away from his steady gaze.

“Are ye going to tell me why ye’re here?”

“I’ve nowhere else to go,” she noted quietly.

His voice was a smoky caress. “Ready to admit ye need me?”

She ignored the swirl in her center and gathered the last remaining scraps of her pride to hold his gaze as she blatantly lied, “No.”

His responding chuckle was no less than she expected, but the sound rolled through her in the most intimate way.

Glancing down, she noted a particularly enticing mushroom glistening with butter. Before she could reach for it, Max snatched it in his fingers. Disappointed, she looked up to see him offering it to her.

She blamed her hunger and the effects of the wine for how quickly she leaned forward to take the mushroom from his fingers. As an array of earthy, buttery flavors mingled on her tongue, Max brought his fingers to his mouth to lick the drips of butter that had been left behind. Elle watched with a wicked fascination, her low belly twisting with heavy heat.

“What do ye need, then?”

His voice was a contradiction of rough and smooth. The texture of it wreaked havoc with her senses. It took her longer than it should have to pick up the lost thread of their conversation.

“A place to stay,” she said hopefully. “Surely, in a...house this size, there’s a spare room I can make use of until I figure out what to do next.”

Using his fingers, he tore a bite-sized morsel from the turkey leg as he replied, “Me extra rooms ain’t fer ye.” Elle watched as he took the bite of meat from his fingers with his teeth. “But yer welcome to share this one. With me.”

She blinked and lifted her gaze to meet his, dark and glinting with that predatory gleam.

Then she took a deep, steadying breath before exhaling slowly. “I won’t share your bed.”

He tore another piece of turkey and offered it to her across the table. His pewter stare was steady, his smile subtle. “I didn’t say ye’d have to.”

Finding it impossible to resist the offering of food even though it came directly from his fingers—or perhaps because of it—she leaned forward and accepted the savory bite.

His eyes flashed with silent intensity.

“If I stay here,” she noted firmly, “it will be under certain agreed upon conditions.”

“Such as?”

He offered another bite.

She took it.

“First of all, considering you took advantage of my obvious desperation and fleeced me out of a proper fortune in our previous negotiations, this time around, you’ll be helping me out of the pure goodness of your knavish heart.”

He lifted his brows but didn’t argue that point, extending another buttery mushroom to her lips. She took it without thinking then closed her eyes to savor the flavors before licking the butter from her lips. When she opened her eyes and her gaze met his, the sensual heat in his stare caught her breath. She simply couldn’t look away.

“What else?” His tone was dark and intimate.

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