Page 20 of The Marquess and the Maiden

He couldn’t take it any longer. If she were with a man, he damned well needed to know. She was going to be his wife, and he had the right to know how the hell she was spending her time. He braced his cane on the floor and gently opened the door.

Harriet stood over someone with a parasol aimed at their throat. She’d stripped off her dress and wore only her pantaloons, chemise, and corset. Her breathing was labored and her expression fierce. His mouth went dry. Lust pounded through him.

“What the devil is going on in here?”

She started, dropped her “weapon.” “My lord!” She held out a hand to her companion, who turned out to be her lady’s maid.

His eyes scanned the area around them. The mattresses were still spaced together on the floor to make a patchwork pillow. There was the parasol and then some other weapon-looking thing, an exceptionally thin blade that was now piercing into one of the stuffed figures.

“Were you hiding in a storage room?” she asked. Her labored breathing caused her magnificent breasts to move up and down. A delicious flush splattered her skin, and perspiration gleamed at her temples and above her lip. He wanted to lick it off. He moved closer.

Her lack of clothing didn’t seem to be bothering her, but it was distracting him to near madness. This much of her exposed creamy flesh and all he could think about was removing the rest of her garments so he could feast on her delectable curves.

He eyed her maid. “Leave us!” Then he moved his gaze back to Harriet.

“Harriet?” the maid asked quietly.

“Go, Lottie. We’ll be finished talking in a few moments.”

“But, my lady, your dress.” Her eyes lowered to indicate Harriet’s state. She handed the dress to Harriet, which she then held up to her chest.

The maid left them standing in the cavernous ballroom. Harriet still stood on top of the mattresses, and he was damned close to tossing her backward onto them.

Anger rolled off her in hot waves. “You hid in there to spy on me?”

“I did.”

“You don’t even bother to deny it?”

“What purpose would that serve?”

“I don’t know. But this is just like you to hide in wait and spy on me. You’re so damned accustomed to getting whatever you want, whenever you want it.” She shook her head. “You allow that unquenchable greed to dictate every move you make, regardless of how it affects anyone else. Any promises or agreements shoved to the side.”

“This has nothing to do with greed.” Though wanting her certainly did. He wanted her at the moment with such intensity, he was surprised he hadn’t pounced on her yet.

“Of course it does. You have no ability to tell yourself no, no strength of will to walk away from something you want. You were curious about what I was doing, and despite our agreement that you would not ask questions, you came to get precisely what you wanted.”

She doubted his ability to control his urges and desires; he’d show her precisely how much control he had. When this was over, it would be her begging him. “Are you going to tell me what all of this is about?” She was sexy as hell when angry. He gripped the top of his cane tighter to rein in his desire.

She tilted up her head and walked off the mattresses, brushing past him. “I am not.”

“I’m not an idiot, Harriet.” He followed her.

She wiped the sweat off her forehead and neck with a rag. The hair along her nape and face was damp, and it drew him closer.

“I never suggested you were.” She turned to face him and started, not realizing he had closed the distance between them. He took a step forward. She took a step backward.

Granted he hadn’t figured everything out, but he recognized enough of what was before him and, combined with the latest scandal reverberating through Society… it was easy enough to put two and two together.

She backed against the wall behind her and froze, her brown eyes wide.

“I read the article. Are you part of this group of ladies who fight crime? Is that what you’re doing here, practicing?” he asked.

She sucked in a breath, confirming everything, but said nothing.

“That is quite a dangerous activity for a genteel lady.”

“I have training and can protect myself.”

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