him, even knowing she didn't plan to go further. Why hadn't a man like himself been attending masquerades every bloody week?
'I am that man.' He took her by her tiny waist and lifted her onto the table along the wall.
'Scot, put me down!' she cried, but he could tell she was excited, well past intrigued now. 'Why did you do that?'
'I want to be face-to-face with you when I kiss you for the first time.'
Finally, his words drew a small gasp from her lips. 'Are you always so arrogant?'
'Aye, always.' He wedged his hips between her legs.
'You need to let me down,' she said, even as she hesitantly ran her fingertip over his arm—as if she'd struggled not to but hadn't been able to help herself. 'I've no time or use for handsome rakes with smooth words.'
His lips did curl then, pulling on the tight skin of his face, forcing him to recall that he didn't smile—and that he was no longer handsome. 'How do you know what I look like? This mask covers most of my face.'
'You have a powerful body and a seductive smile. Gorgeous eyes,' she said in a breathy voice that made his shaft throb. 'You said you've a sense for certain things—well, I appreciate handsome men. An aficionada, if you will. There's a reason I spied you out tonight.'
'Is that so?' When she nodded, he said, 'Tell me your name.'
'That defeats the purpose of a masquerade, does it not?' she answered, repeating his words. She placed her gloved hand on his chest and let it rest there, as if she couldn't decide if she should push him away or clutch his shirt and draw him to her. He caught her hand, rucking the glove up to bare her wrist, then placed a kiss on her satiny skin there.
She shivered, tugging her hand back until he released it. 'Look at you, Scot. You're a practiced seducer, if I've ever seen one.'
'Practiced?' For the last decade, his flirtations hadn't been practiced—they'd been nonexistent. And before that, he'd never needed to seduce.
Impulse had made him kiss her hand.
So where did the sodding impulse come from?
'Yes, practiced. That kiss to the wrist is a perfect communication. The brush of your lips demonstrates that you'd be gentle and sensual in bed. The firm hold on my hand as you placed it indicates that you'd be masterful at the same time.'
Gentle? He thought back. Had he ever beengentle ? Right now, he recognized he had no desire to be so with her. He wanted to grind his hips against her, rubbing his erection at the juncture of her thighs to proudly show her how fierce his reaction was.
'I've met a lot of your kind,' she said. 'Know that I'm invulnerable.'
'I take that as a challenge,aingeal . I'm going to be inside you tonight, and I'll remind you of your words when I have your legs wrapped round my waist.'
'Oh, Scot, that won't happen.' She shook her head, and a few glossy curls tumbled free, bouncing over her shoulder.
'You're obviously no innocent.' Which puzzled him, since he knew she was upper class. She must indeed be a jaded thrill seeker like Jane Weyland and her crowd. 'Why no' spend a night with me?'
'You don't think I'm untouched? Why?'
'You looked like you could have yawned at the scene we found in here. No' many innocents would be unfazed by the sight of a prostitute giving a man a below job.'
'Well, whether I am or not is incidental. The fact remains that I'm here to find a husband—not a lover. And I've no time for dalliances.'
'Make time. If you're in London to find a husband, seems like you might no' be so disdainful to an unmarried man like myself.'He didn't have time for this. Tomorrow he would leave town to hunt Grey, and for the first time, the call of a kill like that wasn't as strong as the call of a woman.
She laughed then, a seductively sultry laugh that made him yearn to kiss her. 'You are so unreachable, you're not even a remote candidate.'
He tensed. 'Based on what little you know of me?'
All humor gone, she said, 'I know enough to suspect that you would use me and never look back. And I'm not condemning, just stating a fact.' Her guileless blue eyes were suddenly inscrutable. 'I think we have a lot in common, you and I.'
Chapter Four
'In common? Then you're achin' for us to tup, too.'
Maddy grinned then. She simply couldn't help it. 'And just like that, you disarm me.' There was something about his rough—markedly rough—around-the-edges demeanor that appealed to her. Who was she fooling? Everything about him appealed to her, from his rumbling brogue to his muscular body to his peculiar fixationon her .
'I want to do more than disarm you.'
Her smile faded. The Scot wasn't giving up, and she regretted leading him on. She was behaving foolishly, like a normal girl of twenty-one might, when she didn't have that luxury. Ever-practical Maddy felt herself closing down, the barbs sharpening, the walls going up. 'My friends have probably begun to look for me by now. I need to get back to them.'
His brows drew together. 'You're truly…leaving?' He sounded baffled, as if he had no idea what to do with this.
'And you're truly not used to being turned down?'
'I'm no' used to being in a position to be.'
'You never pursue women?' she said in a doubtful tone.
'Never.'
'So I was the lucky first?' Normally she would roll her eyes at comments like these and take them for what they were—verbal attempts to get into her skirts. But there was something about the way he said them, as if they were significant to him, as if they were not only truths but new and unwelcome ones.
And as if he blamed her for them.
'Aye.' He exhaled. 'You are the first.'
'It's a shame that on your first sally you're going to fail.'
His dark eyes narrowed. 'And you call me arrogant? What makes you think you can dismiss me?'
'Becauseyou are the one who soughtme out.'
'And I dinna do it in vain.' He placed his hands against the wall on either side of her head, then leaned in as if to kiss her. 'I'm taking you from here tonight.'
Though she was dying to know what his lips felt like, she pushed against his chest, striving to ignore how rigid and big the muscles there were. 'Not a chance of that, Scot. There's no chance in hell I'll leave with you…'She trailed off as he drew in closer.He's going to kiss me right now! Her breaths shallowed, and her eyelids nearly fluttered closed in pleasure at his clean scent and the heat emanating from his body.
She licked her bottom lip, and he noticed, giving her a wicked grin just as he was about to reach her. She couldn't stifle a soft whimper—
Whistles rent the air.
She froze. 'Are those police whistles?' she whispered, her lips inches from his.
'Aye,' he murmured. 'I'd wager you'd like to leave with me now.'
The entire building quaked as the crowd began to flee. She felt the vibrations through the table under her bottom, and the fog of desire cleared in a rush.Self-preservation, Maddy!
'Must go now!' Ducking out from under him, she hopped down, then dragged the chair from the door. Just as she was about to dash off, he grabbed her skirt and yanked. 'Let me free!' she demanded over her shoulder.
'Can you no' hear the chaos outside? You doona stand a chance of getting past the police, but you'll likely be
