Lord Fox's Pleasure. Helen Dickson

be a lie. But under no circumstances would she allow him to kiss her again. It was unthinkable. Besides, that came under the category of abandonment and wantonness, which she must staunchly guard against where he was concerned. He was dangerous, and she knew there were not many women who could resist a virile man like him. Not when he was over six feet tall, lean and muscular, with hair as black as jet and as shiny as silk, and a face as handsome as a storybook hero.

      ‘No,’ she said in answer to his question. ‘Besides, I’ve had enough kissing during the last twenty-four hours to last me a lifetime—and if you must know, if that’s all there is to it then I can’t see what all the fuss is about.’

      Lucas quelled his shout of laughter, but with mirth gleaming in his eyes he took her arm and walked on, shaking his head in disbelief at the absolute naïvety of this girl.

      As they walked along Prudence glanced up at him tentatively. ‘Was Thomas very angry?’

      ‘I would be lying if I said he wasn’t.’

      She sighed deeply, mortified that she had thoughtlessly left the house unaccompanied and without telling anyone where she was going, rousing Thomas to such a rage when he hadn’t been in the house twenty-four hours. She looked at Lord Fox with mute appeal, the prospect of facing her brother’s wrath nerve-shattering. She decided there might be much to be gained if she were to appeal to her companion’s better nature.

      ‘Do you have to take me to Thomas? Can you not say you couldn’t find me?’ she wheedled. ‘When I appear I could say I had been in the courtyard all the time.’

      Lucas’s handsome mouth twitched in a smile. ‘And for this could I expect some kind of reward?’

      ‘If you like. I would accept your apology for making a spectacle of me yesterday,’ she offered magnanimously.

      He frowned. ‘Is that all? Your generosity astounds me. I would call that a bribe. However, that is not enough to tempt me, Mistress Fairworthy. It will take more—much more than that,’ he murmured, his eyes resting on the soft swelling of her breasts where the low-cut gown revealed the mysterious little valley between them.

      Angrily aware of what his words and his look implied, instinctively Prudence put up her hands, wishing she’d had the presence of mind to bring her shawl. ‘You will get nothing more from me, Lord Fox,’ she uttered scathingly. ‘You can go to the devil for all I care.’