Page 2 of The Duke and the Darkness

Which was she, lady or courtesan? She was certainly dressed for an evening of pleasure. Her midnight blue velvet gown draped teasingly off both shoulders, giving the impression that a slight shrug might send the entire bodice slipping away. Oh,what a damn shame if that happened…to bare to his eyes the full breasts beneath, whose rounded tops were just teasingly visible beneath the satin-edged neckline. A small tilt of her head as she watched the dealer accentuated the length of her elegant neck, encircled by sapphires as blue as her eyes.

She wasn’t simply beautiful.

She was raw temptation.

Yet unlike the courtesans, she paid no attention to the men around her in the hell who stared as if she were a delectable feast they wanted to devour as greedily as the roasted pheasant in the dining room. Instead, her attention remained fixed on the cards as the dealer placed them in front of each player.

The hand played out, bets were wagered on each card, and Devlin won.Finally.

He eased back in his chair. “I haven’t seen you here before,” he said to the woman, unable to resist engaging her in conversation. “How are you finding Barton’s?”

Not looking at him, she curled her red lips as if in faint amusement at a private joke. “It’s everything I was told it would be.”

“And what were you told?”

“That it’s home to ruffians, blackguards, libertines of all kinds…” Her gloved fingers sorted the money she had placed on the table before her. “And those are just the women.”

He chuckled and turned toward her on his chair as the dealer placed down the first round of cards. She shone like a blue diamond, putting the handful of other women in the club to shame. Already, he was certain, bets were being placed over which man would be fortunate enough to leave with her.

He didn’t blame them. She was stunning…and strangely familiar. He knew her, but how? “And how are you finding the men?”

“Entertaining.” She doubled her bet on the next card. “Intriguing.” Then doubled it again on the next. At that, two of the other players dropped out of the hand, unwilling to match her wager. “Challenging.”

He suppressed a smile. She might as well have been describing herself. When she won the hand and two hundred pounds with only a pair of tens, he realized exactly how much of a challenge she posed.

Finally, the evening had become interesting.

They played on, the stakes growing steeper with each card. The winnings divided themselves fairly evenly around the table, but one of the other players left the game, claiming the play had grown too rich for his accounts.

The dealer paused the game to bring out a new deck of cards and exchanged a few words with the club manager.

An attendant appeared at the table. “Another drink, Your Grace?”

“Please.”

“And for you, ma’am?”

She eyed Devlin’s drink. “What are you having?”

“Cognac.”

“How very Continental of you.” Her eyes gleamed as she turned them on the attendant. “I’ll have the same. Please bring the bottle and a second glass.”

The attendant looked questioningly at Devlin, who nodded his consent. Then the man hurried away to fetch the brandy.

She tossed in a handful of coins as the dealer laid out the next hand, bringing the opening wager higher than it had been all night. “I didn’t realize I needed a man’s permission to drink here.”

Devlin would have said that pique drove her bet, if not for the cold control in her voice. He explained, “The brandy is from my private stock.” He matched her wager. So did the other threemen at the table, and the next cards were laid down. “I keep a case here for my own use.”

“You often spend evenings here, then?”

He noted wryly that she didn’t thank him for the brandy. “A few.”

“Playing games?”

His lips curled. She made gambling sound like a children’s afternoon in the park. “Something like that.”

“Are you any good?”