Page 20 of Enchanted by the Lyon (The Lyon’s Den Connected World #93)
Clara opened and closed her mouth several times before she clamped her lips shut. But it was the this conversation isn’t over look she tossed him that made Lucius know he’d be hearing more from her after the ball unless he could find another way home. Bloody hell… he needed another drink!
Leopold, thankfully, escorted their mother into the affair leaving Lucius freedom to enter by himself.
He quickly transformed his features to appear disinterested by the looks the single women in the room began to give him.
Their false smiles and battering eyes they showed him only added to his already foul mood.
This , along with his mother’s nagging, were the main reasons he stayed away from these events as much as possible.
No woman saw him for anything more than his title and what they could get from his fortune.
Was that so difficult for his mother to comprehend?
And then, he saw her and everything in his body relaxed, as if Cassandra alone could make things right in his world.
She was stunning in a pale blue gown that reminded him of a warm summer sky and he swore he could feel the heat of her body pressed up against his own as it did that night at the Lyon’s Den.
Jewels sparkled from her neck, ears, and at one gloved wrist as the reflections from the candles above made them glimmer.
He still couldn’t fathom why she had such an effect on him but maybe—as difficult as it was—it was time to admit he just might have actual feelings for the lady, besides wanting to bed her.
He’d never felt this way about any other woman. Even his past feelings for Marsha paled in comparison leaving him with the impression that perhaps what he had felt for Marsha wasn’t love at all.
Then it dawned on Lucius that Cassandra wasn’t alone.
He watched her laughter brighten her face as she held onto the arm of his erstwhile friend Valentine.
The reality of the situation and the past conversation with Mrs. Dove-Lyon suddenly hit him.
If the Black Widow of Whitehall had her way, those two would marry.
In fact, he would lose this woman unless he did something that went against everything he’d claimed he wanted out of life: To remain a bachelor.
Now, with Val at her side instead of himself, he was starting down the green-eyed monster of jealousy, and it was about to consume him.
Such an admission told him everything he needed to know of his feelings for Cassandra.
Could he really stand by and watch the budding romance between Cassandra and Val blossom over the entire season?
Lucius inwardly groaned. He didn’t think he could stomach it, nor could he hide himself away in the country.
Not with his debt still remaining unpaid to Mrs. Dove-Lyon.
He would either have to let the woman go or admit that this attraction he had for the lady went beyond anything he had every experienced before.
Her words back at the Lyon’s Den ran through his head again.
I suppose such an offer for someone like me should be appreciated, my lord, but I must decline .
And the way the tears had glistened in her green eyes…
Now that he had time to speculate on the matter, he began to realize Cassandra had feelings for him too.
God, how he must have hurt her. Offering to create an arrangement like she didn’t matter to him at all…like she was any of his mistresses, who he’d finished up with and virtually tossed aside when he became interested in another. What kind of callous cad was so heartless?
Me, I suppose. He felt a flush of shame.
Another unfamiliar emotion. But never mind that—what mattered was could she ever forgive him?
He supposed his apology would require more groveling than he had ever done in his entire life if he wanted to pursue something between them.
His gaze followed the couple as they made their way through the room and his feet began to move as well.
The ballroom was brimming with guests, and he lost the pair for a moment until he saw them taking their place on the other side of the dance floor.
The musicians began to play, and Cassandra appeared as though she was enjoying herself as she expertly performed the patterns of the dance.
Then their eyes met and her face quickly fell, along with her body, as she stumbled briefly before she resumed her place in line and continued the dance.
Perhaps that he had such an effect on her might play to his benefit. He recalled her words about upping his game and decided it might be beneficial if he also took a turn about the dance floor. He was about to make his way across the room when a voice interrupted him.
“She’s a beautiful lady, if not a bit tarnished. They’ll let anyone these days into a ball reserved for the elite,” a man’s voice all but sneered.
Lucius turned to face the gentleman who had once been a close friend and who now—because of the man’s vile character—was an enemy, and adversary. “You should be careful who’s name you besmirch, Forbes. Mrs. Vaughn is the dear friend of those in the nobility who would take offense.”
“Coming to the lady’s defense? How unusual. But, she did know how to please me in bed when she was my mistress years ago,” Hollingsworth declared with a sly, knowing grin.
Lucius stepped forward, enraged the man would admit he had taken Cassandra as a lover in the middle of a ballroom. He clenched his fists at his side, and struggled not to punch him. “I should call you out for—”
The viscount threw his head back and laughed.
Forbes was only too happy to have a chance to irritate Lucius given their past, not that it was Lucius’s fault that Forbes had no sense for business investments.
“I can see I hit a nerve. Good. I’ll call that a bit of payback for all the strife you’ve caused me in my life. Enjoy the evening, Blackthorn.”
His nerves were rattled by the knowledge that his worst enemy had taken to his bed the one woman he had begun to want in his life and made Lucius regret he couldn’t make Forbes pay for what he had said.
But there was no point letting the man get under his skin and as far as Cassandra was concerned, he had already known to what lengths she had needed to take in order to survive.
It wasn’t as though Lucius was ignorant to the fact that she had taken other lovers. He had done much the same even though Society tended to look the other way when it was a man taking a mistress.
Ignoring the anger that had briefly consumed him, Lucius returned instead to the idea of getting Cassandra’s attention by dancing with one of the more-than-available ladies.
He scanned the willing wallflowers who hoped to gain his attention before he strode in their direction.
He put on a smile hoping he could manage to get through the ordeal he would have to put himself in just to gain the lady who was slowing weaving his way into his heart.