Page 10 of Chloe and the Devil (Regency Spinsters Alliance #2)

CHAPTER TEN

Lucien knew from the devastating realization in Chloe’s expression and the way she quickly pulled up her chemise and the bodice of her gown to cover her bared breasts that she had also forgotten the very existence of her father during the past few minutes.

He mentally thanked his butler for having the foresight to take Gabriel to Lucien’s study. A room which was situated down the opposite hallway off the main entrance hall to the library, where Lucien and Chloe were now alone together. Meaning that Chloe should be able to leave without her father realizing she had ever been here.

“Tell the duke I will join him shortly.” Lucien answered the butler but kept his gaze focused on the pallor of Chloe’s cheeks. “He will not learn of your visit from me,” he assured her once he had heard Fortune leave.

She looked at him with pained eyes. “And I am grateful for that.”

“Do not be,” Lucien bit out. “It is as much for my benefit as it is yours.”

She raised a hand to cradle the side of his face. “Lucien, please do not regret the pleasure we have found together.”

He turned his face to place a kiss in the center of her palm. “My only regret is that we were interrupted at all,” he acknowledged ruefully.

Chloe gave a shaky smile. “I feel the same way.”

Lucien continued to gaze into her eyes for several long seconds, needing to reassure himself Chloe was as sincere in her claim as he was.

Not that he should ever have doubted it to begin with. Chloe had always been truthful as a girl, and she had carried that candor into adulthood. “Once your father leaves, it is my intention to go out and interview his lawyer and his clerks, the tailor, followed by the seamstress and her assistants.”

A frown darkened her creamy brow. “What are we going to do about my blackmailer’s demands?”

Lucien had almost managed to forget about the blackmailer during the past few minutes. Almost. “You will do nothing; I shall be the one to go to the park at midnight.”

“Will you take the money with you?”

He shook his head. “I am positive this bastard will have no idea you have confided in me. Consequently, they will not be expecting to be confronted by a man rather than a woman they believe to be without defenses.”

Her eyes widened in alarm. “Perhaps I should come with you in case they should become violent?”

Lucien gave an anticipatory smile. “I am hoping that might be the case. It will increase my pleasure when I punch the bastard on their devious nose. Not that I need any added incentive to do that.” His expression darkened. “His behavior is inexcusable.”

“Can you be sure my blackmailer is a he?”

“I am sure of nothing except that whoever they are, they will regret ever stealing from or trying to blackmail you,” he bit out harshly. “But I want to see you again before I go to that assignation.” After this conversation, he saw no further point in trying to deny his need to make love to Chloe again.

Her cheeks became flushed. “I shall be at the Blakeleys’ ball this evening.”

“Then I will attend too, and hopefully there will be the opportunity for us to be able to meet again in private.”

Her gaze was searching. “Is this all a dream?”

Lucien shook his head. “It is the culmination of months of wanting each other.”

“Years, on my part.”

His expression softened. “On mine too, if I am being honest.”

Her beautiful face lit up with joy. “Really?”

“Really,” he confirmed heavily. “A part of me wishes it were not so because of the complications it is sure to cause for us both. But I can no longer deny?—”

Chloe’s fingers pressed against his lips, silencing him. “Please, do not voice a single word of regret for what we now are to each other.”

He raised one dark brow. “And what is that?”

“Lovers,” she stated without hesitation.

Lucien could find no argument with that description. They were indeed now lovers. Lovers who would meet tonight, and every other night, if he had his way.

But first, he must speak with Chloe’s father.

* * *

“Are you feeling quite well, child?” Chloe’s great-aunt prompted on the carriage ride to the Blakeleys’ house that evening. “You have done nothing but fidget since we entered the carriage.”

Chloe had been in a state of nervousness all afternoon, as she wondered if Lucien, despite his having said so, would even come to the ball at all that evening.

Her uncertainty was not only because he would have had time to think over, and regret, what the two of them had done together in his library that morning. But also because he’d had to spend time with her father immediately afterward.

That would not have been easy.

Her father, to Chloe’s relief, had acted his normal indulgent self toward her when he returned from Lucien’s home later that morning. If he had seen her at Hellsmere House, or even suspected that she had visited Lucien alone, then she felt sure her father would have behaved very differently.

Which was not to say Chloe did not feel a certain amount of guilt for deceiving her father. But her love for Lucien and her need to see and be with him again far outweighed any feelings of regret she might have felt toward her father by now being in an intimate relationship with his best friend.

That knowledge alone made her feel like squealing out loud in happy delight every time she thought of it. At the same time, it gave her a deep thrill of happiness down the length of her spine that invariably settled as arousal between her thighs.

As a consequence, Chloe was feeling far too excited at the thought of seeing and being with Lucien again to be able to sit still in the carriage.

With the wedding now only two days away, her father and Lily had decided to spend a quiet evening together at St. Albans House. Chloe had a feeling that “quietness” would include lovemaking, but as she hoped to be doing the same thing with Lucien this evening, she could not fault them. Indeed, why should she when the couple would very shortly be married?

Chloe was worried about Lucien meeting alone with her blackmailer at midnight. Of course she was. But she also knew they had hours before then, and Chloe wished to spend that time in Lucien’s arms being made love to.

But before she could seek him out, she was accosted by Amanda and Juliet, two other members of the Spinsters Alliance, as soon as she entered Blakeley House and handed her cloak to one of the waiting footmen. Georgiana was not there, of course, still being in mourning for her father.

“I will be waiting in the ballroom,” her great-aunt informed Chloe before leaving the three young women alone to talk.

Chloe knew this was Lady Hammond’s way of saying she was going to spend time with her own group of friends.

“Rose is here,” Amanda told her in a rush.

“But she is accompanied by the Dowager Countess Kingswood and her son, Rose’s betrothed,” Juliet added with relish.

“And looking most unhappy about it,” Amanda grimaced.

“Poor Rose,” Chloe sympathized.

“She would have no need to be so if she would only be honest and tell the earl she has no wish to become his wife,” Juliet reasoned.

“The earl is both rich and handsome,” her cousin reminded.

“Those things should not matter if she does not love him,” Chloe dismissed.

“Which she does not,” Juliet acknowledged.

All the time they had been talking, Chloe had been casting surreptitious about the crowded entrance hall and down the hallway to the Blakeleys’ ballroom in search of a tall and distinctive gentleman with dark hair.

Lucien.

She had not caught so much as a single glimpse of him. “Do either of you know if…if the Duke of Hellsmere has arrived yet this evening?” she finally felt compelled to ask.

Amanda and Juliet gave her knowing glances. No doubt because Chloe’s earlier confession regarding her written fantasies meant the other two young ladies were not fooled for a moment by her affected air of disinterest in whether or not the duke was here this evening.

“As you know, he does not usually attend balls, so there is no reason to think he will attend this one,” Amanda dismissed. “Unless you are privy to information to the contrary?” She arched a teasing brow.

Chloe felt the warmth of the blush which was no doubt now coloring her cheeks. “I saw him earlier today, and he mentioned he might attend.” She knew her attempt at a dismissively blasé tone had failed when the other two women burst out laughing. “You are both impossible!” she admonished.

“And you,” Juliet tapped her playfully on the nose, “are far too easy to read.”

Chloe startled. “I am?”

“To the two of us, yes, and no doubt to the other members of the Spinsters Alliance,” Amanda teased. “But I doubt your father, and most definitely not your great-aunt, can do so as easily. Not on this matter, at least.”

Thank goodness for that! Otherwise, she doubted her father would have allowed her out of the house this evening!

“Speak of the devil…” Juliet drawled as she looked over Chloe’s shoulder.

Chloe turned quickly. Just in time to see Lucien—the man she had also occasionally called the Devil in the past but now called lover—as he stepped into the Blakeleys’ house. His expression was one of haughty disdain as he handed his cloak, hat, and gloves to the butler before turning to survey his surroundings and the people present.

The moment his gaze landed on Chloe, that expression changed. His eyes became so warm, they almost appeared to smolder, the firmness of his lips curving into an affectionate smile Chloe was sure many in Society had never seen before.

The nervousness she had felt earlier regarding whether Lucien’s behavior would have changed toward her by the time they saw each other again this evening instantly dissipated. It was obvious from his warmth and that smile meant just for her that they had not.

“Oh-ho, what do we have here?” Amanda speculated.

“Hush,” Chloe admonished with a brief but quelling glance before returning her attention to Lucien as he walked purposefully across the entrance hall toward her.

“That is our cue to leave them alone, I believe, cousin,” Juliet murmured.

Amanda gave a snort. “But I would so much rather stay here and be entertained than return to the ballroom and have to once again fight off the attentions of those young gentleman interested only in our maternal grandmother’s fortune.”

“I am sure you are underestimating your own charms,” Chloe dismissed distractedly, her gaze fixed upon the tall, dark gentleman making his way so determinedly toward her, despite the many attempts by other guests to waylay him.

Attempts Lucien brushed off without so much as bothering to politely make his excuses, his piercing gaze never wavering from Chloe’s as he continued toward her without hindrance.

“Come, cousin,” Juliet encouraged. “Much as I agree with you, I do not think Chloe would thank us if we were to continue standing here gawping at her and Hellsmere.”

Amanda gave Chloe a quick hug. “I expect to be a bridesmaid,” she whispered before releasing her.

A statement guaranteed to dampen Chloe’s excited anticipation in being with Lucien again.

Because she doubted there would ever be a wedding between the two of them for Amanda to be a bridesmaid at.

Loving him and being Lucien’s lover was one thing. But Chloe was under no illusion that he would ever love her back or wish to make their relationship a permanent one.

To think any other way would only be opening herself up to further heartbreak when Lucien ended their association.

As he surely would.