Surrender (15 page)

 
Assuming he can claim her without

doing so."

Lucas grinned." It happens all the time.

Surely you have been out in the world long

enough to know that, Victoria."

 
I know it." She sighed, sounding

exasperated." Don't misunderstand me.

I am well aware that most men do not

go into marriage out of a feeling of love.

They generally go into it out of necessity,

either to ensure themselves of an heir or

to get their hands on a fortune or both."

 
I have always found love to be a very

vague and totally insufficient reason for

doing much of anything."

She studied him through narrowed

lashes." You sound very cynical, my

lord, but I suppose that is only to be

expected from a man who is proposing

to try for what is nothing more than a

sordid, scandalous affair."

Lucas shook his head ruefully." I fear

you are confused, Victoria. You forbid me

to talk of the honorable estate of marriage

and then in the same breath accuse me of

being cynical when I speak of having an

affair with you."

Victoria bit off what sounded like a

very unladylike oath." You are right," she

conceded." It's this business of being an

heiress that confuses matters. Annabella

tells me I am extremely skittish on the

subject; too wary by half."

Lucas smiled gently, taking pity on

her obvious dilemma." Always looking for

danger in the nearest hedge?"

 
I suppose so," Victoria said.

 
Not a bad policy, all things considered."

 
It has certainly been a very practical

policy for me," Victoria acknowledged.

 
Because it has seen you safely into

spinsterhood?"

 
Beast." But her mouth curved back into

an amused smile." You are quite right,

however. I am a spinster and glad of

it. Furthermore I intend to keep things

that way."

Lucas's attention wandered from the

cacti to a spectacular yellow-gold bloom

he did not recognize. The flower, touched

here and there with deep purple, flared like

a crown from the green stalk that held it.

He moved toward it, drawn by the shade

of gold which reminded him of Victoria's

eyes. He cupped the regal bloom in one

hand and studied it." After what happened

between us in the garden last night, you

will never convince me that you intend to

live your entire life without exploring your&

own passions victoria.

You are like this flower, lush and sweet and full of

passionate promise."

She grinned." Really, my lord, you

needn't get carried away by a flower.

I understand your background is in the

military world, not the literary one."

 
Sometimes a man can learn more of life

when he is surrounded by death than he

can from all the poetry of the ancients.

Even if you did manage to ignore your

womanly passions for the rest of your days,

I doubt that you could ignore your own

intellectual curiosity."

 
Curiosity. You think you can talk me

into an illicit affair by appealing to my

intellectual curiosity? How very original."

 
It makes perfect sense to me. Any

woman who can work up an admiration for

beetles and cacti must certainly entertain a

few scientific questions concerning her own

physical nature." He inclined his head in a

small, elegant bow." I offer myself to you

in the interest of intellectual inquiry, Miss

Huntington. I'm hoping you will not be

able to refuse."

Outraged, Victoria stared at him for a

few tense seconds and then the mirth

appeared in her eyes. In a moment she

was laughing so hard she had to grab a

post for support.

Lucas watched her, his hand still cupping

the yellow-gold bloom. He was fascinated

by her wholehearted amusement. She did

not giggle in that annoying way young

woman so often did, as if trying to imitate

tinkling bells and rippling brooks. Victoria's

laughter was full of life and warmth. It

made him want to pull her into his arms

and kiss her until he converted the humor

in her into the passion he had tasted last

night.

He could do it, Lucas thought. He knew

from the way she had responded in the

garden that he could make her feel desire.

And he would use that knowledge, along

with her quest for adventure, to seduce her.

In the end she would be powerless to resist

him. As he had told her in the garden, she

would not easily find another man who

could offer the bait he was holding out.

And once he had her locked safely in

his arms, it would be only a short step to

marriage. Victoria might speak daringly of

engaging in an illicit liaison, but he knew

that she would find it difficult to actually

conduct an affair that threatened her aunt's

as well as her own position in Society. She

was, after all, a young woman of excellent

breeding and she knew both the rules and

the risks that governed the world in which

she lived.

Society required that young women of

her background save their illicit affairs

until after they were wed and had given

their husbands an heir. After that, many

wives felt free to pursue their own romantic

interests so long as they were discreet. Their

husbands, who generally kept mistresses

before and after marriage, did the same,

not always so discreetly.

But as Lucas watched Victoria's laughter

fade slowly back into a glowing smile, it

struck him quite forcefully that he did

not intend to let his unsuspecting future

bride tread the usual social path from altar

to marriage bed to a string of discreet

affairs.

He had always known that he would

never be one of those men who overlooked

his wife's infidelities. It was not in his

nature to share the woman he considered

his own. But the possessiveness he felt was

far beyond what he had expected to feel

toward the woman who would one day

bear his name.

Once she was his, Lucas decided,

Victoria would remain his and his alone.

Social conventions be hanged. He was not

going to share this half-wild, unpredictable

creature with any man.

 
My lord, you are impossible. Utterly

impossible." Victoria wiped the moisture

from her eyes and shook her head, still

grinning." Imagine offering yourself in the

spirit of intellectual inquiry. How very

altruistic. How very noble. You are far

too generous."

 
I shall do what it takes to win you."

 
And just how am I to be won, my

lord?"

 
With adventure and excitement and

passion. I will give you all of those things,

Victoria."

She looked at him, her decision in her

eyes." I will pick and choose among them,

taking only as much of any of them as I

wish and paying for them as I wish."

He inclined his head in acquiescence,

quietly satisfied with the victory." That is

your prerogative."

She hesitated and then impulsively took

one step forward, reaching out to touch

his sleeve." Lucas, do you mean it when

you say you want me, just me, not my

money?"

He lifted a hand to stroke the fine line

of her jaw." I want you."

 
I cannot promise you anything," she said

with grave honesty." I enjoyed your kisses

last night, but that is as far as it should

go and we both know it."

He covered her fingers as they lay on

his sleeve." I understand. Don't concern

yourself with promises now. Together we

will find out just how far this liaison of

ours will go."

She did not move for a moment. She just stood

there gazing up at him with a

barely suppressed longing that made him

want to pull her into his arms. It was not

the promise of either passion or reckless

excitement he saw in her beautiful amber

eyes now, but something else, something

sweet and vulnerable, an altogether heart

wrenching look of hopeful expectation.

 
If you're very sure this is what you want,

if you're sure this will be enough," Victoria

said," then I accept your offer to be my

midnight companion."

Lucas exhaled deeply." Then the bargain

is sealed." He leaned down and brushed his

mouth lightly across hers. She trembled at

the touch and Lucas wanted simultaneously

to soothe her and pull her down onto the

tile floor and make passionate love to her.

Before he could deal with the conflicting

emotions, she was slipping out of reach

and thrusting a small piece of paper into

his hand.

 
What's this?" he asked, frowning at

the elegant writing on the paper." A

gaming hell? A brothel? A race meeting?

A gentlemen's club?"

 
Those are the first items on my list,"

she informed him.

 
What list?" Then it hit him. He had

seriously under-estimated his opponent, a

mistake he rarely made.

 
Bloody hell. You expect me to take you

to a gaming hell and a brothel? Good God,

Vicky, be reasonable. A nighttime visit to a

fair or the dark walks of Vauxhall Gardens

is one thing. It is quite another matter to

sneak you into a brothel or take you to a

gaming hell. You cannot be serious."

 
You are wrong, my lord. I am very

serious," Victoria said, unyielding.

He looked at her and saw that she was.

 
Damn it, Vicky. This wasn't quite what I

had in mind."

Victoria dismissed the protest." Thursday

night would be an excellent time for our

next adventure. I will no doubt see you

at the Kinsleys" ball earlier in the evening

and we can make our final plans. In the

meantime"

Cleo Nettleship's voice broke into Vic

toria's instructions." Vicky, dear, are you