Page 39 of The Devil in Her Bed

It mattered. It mattered so bloody much.

“Not.Him.”

“I never assumedyouslept with Lord Kenway,” she said flippantly.

“Dammit, woman, this is no time for japes.” He was so utterly affected, his accent almost slipped. “Is he or is he not yer lover? Tell me or…”

“Or you’ll what?” She stood highlighted by the night sky, moonlight shimmering off the scarlet silk of her gown that did nothing to dim the vibrancy of her hair. She might have been an ancient goddess, demanding her blood sacrifice.

One he might have been eager to give, if she were who she claimed to be.

She licked her lips, her eyes affixed to his mouth as she repeated the question. “Or you’ll what, Lord Drake?”

“I’ll leave.” It would have been a ridiculous threat, if he didn’t see the answering lust in her eyes.

“The door is right there.” She called his bluff.

Damn her.

Instead of making good on his threat, he strode forward, gripping her arm. “Promise me ye willna be with him.” Not the man who was responsible for the Mont Claire Massacre.

“I’ll make no such promise, and furthermore, I’m still stymied by the fact that you would presume to care. We are almost strangers, you and I, regardless of the intimacies we’ve shared.”

Chandler stared down at her, transfixed. With her slim nose flaring and glare snapping with emotion, her energy crackled around them as if she could pluck it from the ether and use it against him. She wouldn’t be seduced. She wouldn’t be intimidated. And she packed one hell of a powerful punch for a woman so slight.

For anyone, really.

So how did he get through to her?

Chandler changed tactics, trying something he almost never did.

The truth.

“Francesca… Ye don’t know me, but I’m a monster. I am a man with dubious contacts, limitless legal protections, and power in almost every corner of this city from the lowliest rookery to the very throne room, do ye ken?”

Her eyes flared, and she nodded, but she remained silent as if she knew he wasn’t finished yet.

Power, he remembered, was something she was attracted to. Seduced by.

“I’m dangerous, woman, can ye not see that? I’m a wealthy man whose currency is not just money but secrets and blood. Do ye understand what I’m saying to ye?”

“Stop asking me that, I’m not an idiot.” She tried to pull her arm out of his grasp, but this time he didn’t allow it. “Are you trying to frighten me?”

“Yes, dammit!” He shook her a little. “Because ye should be frightened.”

“Of you?”

“If that’s what it takes.” He released her and made to run his hand through his hair before he remembered the wig and let his fist fall to his side. “If a man like me tells ye to stay away from Luther Kenway, ye should obey.”

“Oh. Bey?” Her jaw jutted forward, and a stubborn line appeared between her brows. Her own small gloved hands knotted into fists. “Obey?” she repeated with no small amount of incredulity.

“He’s a criminal, Francesca. If I’m any kind of monster, then he’s a nightmare. One of which you could never conceive. He’ll rip ye apart just to see what ye have inside.”

Instead of afraid, she looked… intrigued. “How do you know this?”

“He’ll go through ye like a tempest, leaving nothing but devastation in his wake,” he pressed on, ignoring her question. “Women are not people to him, they’re not even whores. They’re just… insects. Butterflies maybe, to be skewered and displayed in a shadow box.” Unable to keep himself from touching her, he seized both of her shoulders, this time with the tender restraint she deserved.

“Please.Please, if ye never follow another man’s edict in yer life. Just heed this one. Never be alone with Lord Kenway. Not for a minute. I will not allow—”