Page 27 of A Relentless Rake

“Thank you for the dance, my lord,” she said politely, certainly more to fill the silence between them than from gratitude.

“My pleasure.” And it was. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d danced with such a graceful partner, one who moved in his arms as if she were made to be there. “Are you enjoying yourself this evening?”

“It’s been very…interesting.”

He chuckled. She’d meanthim. “Then I hope the rest of your evening is just as memorable.”

She silently studied his profile during their promenade.

His chest tightened. Had she figured out that he was the masked man? The moment she did, everything would change—

“Are you really here because of your sister?” she asked bluntly.

Relief pulsed through him. “Yes.” Not a lie. Hewashere because Elizabeth had asked him to attend.Partially. “She’s the unmarried sister of an earl and possesses a large dowry, and every fortune hunter in London knows it. She finds it comforting to have me here.”

“And you’re unable to deny her anything.”

Not a question, he noted. He nodded as his gaze drifted across the floor to find his sister dancing with his friend Merritt Rivers.

Her eyes followed his. “She’s beautiful.”

He twirled her through a tight circle. “You remind me of her.” He needed to charm Miss Everett into trusting him if he had any chance of gaining any more information. Yet flattering her came easily. And honestly. Beneath the glow of the chandeliers, she was simply… “Beautiful.”

“You’re wrong, my lord.” Her voice emerged surprisingly husky. “We don’t look anything alike.”

“I do believe, Miss Everett, that you and she are the exact same size.” How he was able to keep a straight face, he would never know. “And share the same taste in gowns.”

She frowned, obviously noticing that Beth’s pink dress looked nothing like her blue one. Yet she let that pass and commented instead, “Your devotion to your sister is admirable.”

“So is yours to your brother.”

She looked away over his shoulder. “I wondered if you remembered our meeting at the Royal Society.”

“How could I have forgotten?” He stared at her mouth as she bit her bottom lip. For a mad moment, he wanted to swoop down and capture that lip between his own teeth, right there in the middle of the dance floor, and suck at it until it softened. “A brilliant and beautiful woman like you—never.”

Her cheeks pinked deliciously. “Your lordship—”

“Alec,” he insisted, far too informally. “My name is Alec.”

Her pouty little mouth tightened with irritation, yet that only made him want to kiss her even more. “I could never be so familiar with you, my lord.”

“A shame.” His deep voice lowered an octave into a simmering purr as he pulled her closer in his arms. “Because I certainly want to be far more familiar with you.”

Her eyes flared. “The impropriety of what you’re—”

“Oh, most likely.” He laughed at her consternation and pulled away from her, back to the proper distance. “I’ve made a habit of avoiding propriety. Just ask my family.”

Her eyes darted to his mother as she danced with the Duke of Wembley, an old family friend and widower. A man, Alec had to admit, for whom the countess truly held affection, and he for her. Yet after six years, they were still no closer to matrimony than an occasional waltz. If Alec needed proof that there was no room for love within the peerage, he only had to look at them.

“I don’t have to ask them,” she replied stiffly. “I’ve heard of your reputation.”

“Baseless rumors.” He turned her gracefully in a circle. “Did your brother accompany you this evening?” he asked and changed the conversation into an unwitting interrogation. That was why they were both here, after all. “I’d welcome the opportunity to discuss his work with him.”

Her eyes flitted back to his. Their sharp blueness jolted through him, straight down to the tip of his cock. “No, he’s at home.”

“Some other time, then.” He nodded toward the other side of the room. “How do you know Lord and Lady Gantry and the others?”

“They’re patrons of the school.”