A Bright Particular Star (14 page)

“D
oes your family live in London
?”
asked Sophie.

Lucius Grey shrugged his broad shoulders.
“
Not on a regular basis.
My estates are in Hertfordshire
.
”

“
What is the name of your property?
”
said Theo.

“
I doubt it is of sufficient consequence
to be known to you,
”
said
Mr
Grey with a smile that robbed the rebuff of any offence.
“
I have been spen
ding more time in Bath of late
.
I have business interests there and that is ho
w I met Peregrine.
”
H
e rose
in one lithe movement
, and, giving a bow, observed,
“
I shouldn
’t
intrude on your company further.
You plan to leave first thing in the morning, I presume?
”

“
After breakfast.
We hope to reach London by nightfall,
”
said Theo.

Grey nodded.
“
I, too, plan an early departure, but I hope to s
ee you both again tomorrow
.
Now, if you will
excuse me, I must seek out
Bowyer.
”

“
You haven
’t
told me how you arranged private shooting practice at Manton
’s
,
”
said Theo.

For an instant, amusement
gleamed in
Mr
Grey
’s
eyes.
“
C
ert
ain contacts organised it
.
I
t is not an arrangement open to eve
ryone.
”

“
Curious,
”
observed Theo, staring at the door when it had closed behind their visitor,
“
never heard of anyone having private sessions at Manton
’s
before.
He was reticent abou
t his background
too.
”

“
He doesn
’t
give much away, even to Perry,
”
acknowledged Sophie.
“
Perry is certain he is wealthy though.
”
She
looked at Theo.
“D
o you believe what he said about deciding to travel at the last moment?
”

“
No, I think he has tracked us since Bath.
”

“
And his explanation about following me?
”

“T
here may be some truth i
t in, but I don
’t
believe it
’s
his main reason.
”

A shudd
er ran through Sophie.
“
I’m
a little afraid of
Mr
Grey. He
’s
the most unfathomable man
I
’
ve ever met.
I wonder what
his
real
reason
is
for being
here.
”
She
sighed and
rubbed her
forehead
.
“
As if I didn
’t
have enough problems thinking about P
erry and
Eudora, and James.
”

There was a tremor
in her voice.
All at once, the consequences of her impetuous flight were crowding in on Sophie.
She felt hunted, confused and for the first time
apprehensive about the future
.
From a distance, s
he heard Theo murmur her name
and
when he repeated it in a more imperative
voice
she turn
ed
to
wards
him.

He was very close and
his
warm breath, pleasantly
laced with
cognac
,
caressed
her as he spoke.
He
studied her features
for a long moment
and t
hen traced one
fingertip
down her cheek
.
The gesture, seemingly meant to be reassuring, sent
her
senses soaring.
She felt the heat emanating from his body and breathed
in his now familiar, tantalising
ly
mas
culine scent of sandalwood
and fresh linen.

A
s
if drawn
to him
by an
invisi
ble
thread, she moved
nearer
.
Part of her recognised she was behaving like a want
on, but
h
er body
wouldn
’t
obey
her mind
; it
seemed determined to
defy reason and good sense. H
eady excitement was chasing away self-control.

Fascinated, her
gaze skimmed his face,
absorbing every detail.
A lock of hair had slipped over his brow and she
could see the dark sweep of
night beard
along
his jaw
line
.
His brows were drawn
together, not in anger but as
if he was battling
some other emotion, while
his eyes glittered with an
intensity which made Sophie catch her breath.

Her gaze slid
to his mouth
.
He had a beautiful mouth.
She had never thought of a man
’s
mouth as being beautiful before, but she could think of no other su
itable description
.
Well defined, perfectly formed and sensuous, it could have been carved by a master sculptor.
D
esire
pooled in the pit of her stomach
until it was
a
lmost a
physical ache
.

She wanted
to smooth
the
crease f
rom
between
his brow
s
, to feel the
abrasion of his
bristles beneath her fingers
and
to trace the lines of his strong features
.
Her hands wanted to
explore and
linger
,
t
o know every inch of him
and enjoy
the look
in his
eyes
as she did so
,
b
u
t
while that journey of discovery might
satisfy
her curiosity, it
would not
be
enough
to sate her passion.
She wanted more.
She di
d not know
what she wanted
precisely
,
only
to begin
with
she
longed for
his arms about
her and his lips
on
hers
.

His breathing grew
suddenly
ragged.
He cupped her face
in his palms
, his touch cool against her heated chee
ks.
“S
ophie,
”
he murmured again
.
“D
euce take it
, Sophie, I—
”

H
is mouth de
scended
and
a
ll
S
ophie
’s
senses
centred
on him
.
S
he
exulted
in the
inti
macy of the moment
, in the way his strength and maleness engulfed her
.
H
er
fingers
trail
ed
over his
chest
,
committing
the ridg
ed, muscular planes
to
memory
.
In a h
aze of pleasure
she wondered
what it would be like to be
held
against it
and her breath quickened in anticipation
.

The
sound
s
of
a carriage arriving in the yard
intruded
in a brutal fashion
.
Th
eo,
his
lips
almost touching hers
, hesitated
.
He
drew in a sharp breath,
closed his eyes
and his hands fell
away
from her face
.
A
n
almost imperceptible groan
grazed
past
his lips before he
jumped
to his feet
and strode away.

Sophie
,
dazed and
staring at his retreating figure,
was too honest not to admit to disappointment.

S
he had wanted his kiss.

She had
wanted him
.

To cover her confusion, she
dipped
her head, looking
down at
her hands
and realising
they were shaking
.
Indeed,
her entire
body was quivering, but whether it was with passion
or
frustration,
or both,
she could not be certain
.

It was
then
t
he enormi
ty
of what had happened hit
her.

She was going to meet her childhood sweetheart and y
et she had
nearly kissed a man she had
only just met
!
C
onscience berated her
…
now
Theo
would add
a lack of morals
to
her
list of
faults
.
Flushed and
a little
disorientated
,
s
he put up her chin,
hoping
he had not
realize
d how much those
moment
s
had
affected
her
.

“
I’m
sorry,
”
he
was murmuring
.
“
I should never have
touched you…not in that way.
It won
’t
happen again.
”

Sophie
tried
to marshal her thoughts and re-focus her gaze
. Theo stood
at
the window
with his back to her, his shoulders set in a rigid line.

“T
here is no ne
ed to apologise,
”
she managed to whisper
.

“
Yes
,
there is,
”
he returned
in low, fierce accents
.
“
You
’
re in my care until I give you up to Verney.
”

She
went toward him, putting out her hand to touch his arm
, but thought better of it.
He
was staring out
into the twilight.