A Rake's Ruin (Devilish Lords #1)(29)

He glanced over at her again, not caring that his inattention to the baron most likely bordered on rude.

He wanted to be by her side, but not like this. Tonight’s attempt at courtship felt like a step in the opposite direction. He would rather be without her than with her in this way. To be so close but shut out…It was a physical pain.

His grip on her elbow tightened unintentionally. The thought of not having her in his life was a close second in terms of agony. Bloody hell, what had happened to him? One minute he’d been a perfectly reasonable, independent man of means. The next he’d become a needy, aching, poetic dandy.

Clearly he had been bewitched.

The witch in question glanced up at him, most likely because of his tight grip, and he forced himself to relax. Claire was his fiancée. She would be his in every sense of the word.

But though that eased some dark, possessive need he’d never known he’d had, it did little to change the fact that he didn’t just want her hand in marriage.

He wanted her heart. He needed it, for without her heart the marriage would be meaningless. It would be like this party, a show of unity that extended only so far as the empty air between them.

“Will you excuse us?” he said to the boring baron, interrupting his speech and garnering a surprised stare from Claire as well.

Perhaps that had been a bit too abrupt. Still, he managed a smile as he gently led Claire away from the man. “Pardon us, but I am afraid my mother might need me.”

Galwin couldn’t remember a time when his indomitable mother had required his assistance in any way. Since their father had fallen ill last year, she had not only run the household, but the family’s property as well, with an iron fist. Though the title was still held by their father, and would become his brother’s in the near future, their mother was the true head of this household for all intents and purposes.

“Is your mother all right?” Claire inquired, all polite curiosity.

Damn, but he hated that polite interest. He needed more from her and he needed it now. Otherwise, he might lose his mind once and for all.

“She is fine, I imagine,” he said as he smiled at curious passersby. He steered her unerringly toward the back of the home. Surely this family had a garden of some sort. All he needed was a moment alone with the woman he loved. Hell, he would settle for a moment in public with the woman he loved, if she would arrive.

But the woman who was here with him tonight was not the woman of his heart. She was the woman of his worst nightmares. To be shackled to a woman who had such spirit and passion, but who kept it from him?

No, no. Something had to be done.

At last! A conservatory opened to their left and it was blessedly empty. Claire’s steps faltered as he led her there.

“Where are we going?” she asked, her voice irritatingly placid.

“Somewhere where I might have a word with my future bride,” he said.

“We could talk right here.” Her voice was still even as they crossed the foyer where several couples lingered, but he thought he detected a note of fear. He scowled down at the top of her head. That would not do.

Soon enough they were inside the conservatory and he quietly shut the door behind them, ignoring her soft gasp of alarm. Turning to face her, he held out his palms in an innocent gesture. “We are engaged to be marry now, Claire. Surely our reputations will survive if we are caught alone.”

She stared at him for a moment and then…there it was. A crack in that implacable demeanor.

He caught a spark of anger. “Have we not caused enough damage with our rash actions? Must we tempt fate like this?”

He tried to match her scowl and failed. Despite her censure and her obvious distaste for being alone with him, he was disproportionately pleased to see a genuine response. He would happily accept her anger over her apathy.

He took a step closer and noted the way her eyes darkened ever so slightly at the closeness. Some tightness eased in his chest. She felt it too.

He’d known she was attracted to him but seeing it now gave him hope. She wasn’t so unaffected by him as she pretended to be. Not physically, at least. But what about her heart?

Her crossed arms and irritated frown weren’t exactly encouraging, but at least she wasn’t pretending to be a simpleton. He loved that frown to an inordinate degree.

“Why are you grinning at me like that?” she asked.

His smile widened. “Was I smiling? I hadn’t noticed. I was just thinking how much I love your frown.”

Her frown deepened and uncertainty flickered over her face. “You are teasing me.”

He edged closer and saw her flinch, though she held her ground. “I am not in jest. I love when you glare at me like that. I also adore your laugh, I worship that mischievous twinkle in your eyes when you are mocking me, and I would lie down at your feet and beg if it meant I might be graced with more of your passionate kisses.”

She widened her eyes in shock.

Yes, he loved her shocked expression too. He loved everything about this woman as long as it was genuine and true.

“That was…That is, your words are—”

“Disgustingly poetic?” he said, offering a rueful smile. “Syrupy sweet, perhaps?”

He caught a flicker of a smile, there and gone as she pressed her lips together as if to contain it. “Something like that.”

“They were also true.” He met her gaze and held it. He needed her to see that he was being honest.