Wicked Temptation (Regency Sinners 6)(15)

“Not yet,” he dismissed.

“Why not?”

“I have it in mind to reopen the initial investigation,” he explained, “in which it was concluded that one of these eight ladies was guilty, before taking such a drastic step as openly accusing anyone.”

Pru’s brows lifted. “You believe there might have been a mistake?”

“I am saying it is a possibility,” he replied guardedly.

Titus believed any mistake that could have been made in that initial investigation might have been deliberate as a means of diverting the attention away from the real traitor. Until he was sure, either way, he intended to proceed with caution.

He intended to ensure Pru did the same.

By physically restraining her, if necessary.





Chapter 6


“For goodness’ sake, stop scowling. We are on our way out to dinner, not approaching the gallows!”

Titus, seated opposite Pru in his carriage, now shot her a belligerent glower from beneath his lowered brows, evidence he was completely unamused. They both knew that the gallows was exactly where the lady found guilty of treason would go.

Pru looked beautiful this evening in a deep purple mourning gown suitable for attending a private dinner party, with a matching cloak about her slender shoulders and the hood pulled up to cover her golden curls.

It was a beauty and elegance which did not improve Titus’s mood in the slightest, when where they were actually on their way to was dinner at the Duke of Stonewell’s London home.

Titus should never have allowed Pru to flirt and cajole him into accepting Stonewell’s invitation on behalf of both of them. But, as he had learned these past two days since he’d revealed all to Pru in regard to The Sinners’ investigations, he was totally unable to withstand either Pru’s demands or her cajoling.

She should have been accompanied by her maid this evening, of course, but had explained the omission by informing him that young lady now had an aversion to traveling anywhere by coach or carriage. Understandable, when the last occasion the maid had done so, the carriage had caught fire and she had almost been killed.

Being completely alone with the beautiful and tempting Pru was not the best way for Titus to start an evening that already promised to be fraught with tension.

Not only was he suspicious of Nik’s reasons for having extended the invitation to Pru as well as himself, but he did not trust the excited gleam now in Pru’s eyes either. “I am well aware of where we are going,” he snapped. “I only hope you will keep your promise to me to behave yourself.” That promise was the price she’d had to pay for his accepting the dinner invitation on their behalf.

It was not the only reason Titus had decided to accept.

To his discomfort, he had been unable to stop thinking about Pru since he’d kissed and spanked her two days ago. Nor could he dispel the ache he felt to do both those things with her again. To spend a whole evening in Pru’s company, even at Stonewell’s home, was a temptation Titus had ultimately been unable to resist.

He eyed Pru warily now as she rose to cross the carriage and sit down on the upholstered bench seat beside him. “What are you doing?”

She turned fully to face him. “I thought to reassure you I shall not embarrass you this evening.”

He was not fooled for a moment by the earnestness of her expression. “You did not need to sit beside me to do that. Nor is that reassurance the same as promising to behave yourself.”

Pru was well aware of that, but how could she uphold such a promise? Moreover, one she believed to have been made under the duress of Titus refusing Stonewell’s dinner invitation if she did not make that promise. She would have promised him anything if it resulted in her being able to dine with the Duke and Duchess of Stonewell this evening.

She fluttered her lashes. “But I would embarrass you if I did not behave myself.”

“You will end up over my knee having your bottom spanked again if you continue flirting with me,” he warned.

Pru sat back on the seat with a flounce of her cloak. Obviously, Romney was not in the least fooled by her attempt at innocence. “And then you would have to explain to your friends why I am unable to sit down at the dinner table!”

He gave a grin of satisfaction. “I believe I might safely take a guess that several of those friends take delight in administering that same…brand of chastisement to their wives.”

“Then you are all barbarians!”

He nodded. “Unrepentantly so.”

“Bully.”

“Witch.”

Her lips thinned. “I believe I dislike you again after you treated me so abominably two days ago.”

“That is a pity.” Romney turned in his seat, the long length of his thigh now pressing against her own. “Because I like you, and your bare bottom, very much.”

Pru felt the bloom of color in her cheeks. “You are not a gentleman!”

He chuckled. “And you, thank God, are not a lady.”

She frowned her curiosity. “Do the other Sinners…really do to their wives what you did to me?”

“Will you think less of those ladies if I say yes?”

“Less…?” Pru’s brow cleared. “How well do you know my mother?”

Romney looked taken aback. “I assure you I have never—”