Wolfishly Yours (9 page)

“Ah, here’s your mother now!” Lady Sophia clapped her hands together. “Lady Radbourne, I think we should start with a waltz. What do you think?”

Gray’s mother stepped into the music room and nodded with the enthusiasm of a child about to get a sweet. “Wonderful idea, my dear. I think Holmesfield would agree.”

Holmesfield could go hang. Gray shook his head. What the devil was wrong with him? He didn’t have any reason to be jealous or sullen. Livi was nothing to him… Except that there was something about her he truly enjoyed. Something about her irreverence. There was something freeing in that she was aware of his Lycan heritage and what it meant. Perhaps her Lycan blood just called to him. After all, he didn’t know any other girls with Lycan fathers.

“Are you all right, Grayson?” Lady Sophia asked, an urgent tone to her voice, shaking him out of his reverie.

“Why wouldn’t I be?” Gray stood a little straighter.

“She’s been calling your name for the last two minutes,” Archer replied with a frown. “Now I’m concerned. Are you all right?”

“Perfectly,” he clipped out. What else could he say? “Let’s get this over with, shall we?”

Lady Sophia’s blue eyes darkened with annoyance, but she nodded. “Brilliant idea.” Then she turned to Livi. “This is actually a very simple dance, though it’s still considered scandalous in some circles due to the proximity of the dancers to each other. There are three beats and you should follow the lead of your partner.” She glanced back at Gray and gestured him forward. “Do you mind, Mr. Hadley?”

Would it matter either way? Gray heaved a sigh. Things would go easier if he just got on with it. So he stepped toward his tutor, bowed, then placed his right hand on the small of her back. At the moment his mother began to play Weber’s “Invitation to the Dance,” Lady Sophia placed her hand on his upper arm. “You’ll stand like so, Livi. Now Mr. Hadley will take his first step toward me with his left foot and I’ll step back at the same time.”

On the beat, Gray did exactly that, stepping forward once and then to his right. Excellent partner that she was, Lady Sophia followed effortlessly.

“You’ll make a quarter turn for each of the three beats, and you’ll essentially move around as though you were in a square, stopping in each corner. So, think of the steps as ‘right foot back, left foot side, right foot stop. Then, left foot back, right foot side, and left foot stop.’”

“I count to three on the beats,” Archer added. “Count it with the music. One, two, three. One, two, three.”

Gray grumbled, “I had no idea he could count that high.”

“Mr. Hadley,” Lady Sophia admonished. “Do behave yourself.”

She had no idea how well-behaved he was being at the moment. Gray scowled at her. As pretty as Lady Sophia was, he’d rather be in Archer’s shoes. And he wasn’t at all pleased with the fact that his brother was about to sweep Livi into his arms.

Silently, they continued the steps a few more beats, and then Lady Sophia stepped out of Gray’s reach and turned back to Livi and Archer. “Now it’s your turn. Step into the middle of the room.”

Gray backed up and leaned against the wall, hoping he gave off an air of nonchalance as Archer placed his hand on Livi’s back. Gray watched her nervously smile up at his brother.

“I don’t think I have any rhythm,” Livi said.

But Lady Sophia paid her no attention. “Listen for the beat and follow Lord Radbourne’s lead.”

Archer stepped forward and Livi stumbled backward, her arms flailing wildly before she fell on her very shapely derriere.

“What the devil is wrong with you?” Gray boomed before he bounded off the wall at the exact moment his mother rose from the piano bench with a gasp. Gray was hovering over Livi in the blink of an eye, offering his hand to her. “Are you all right, my dear?”

Her face flushed the color of a tomato, but she took his hand anyway. “Thank you, Gr—Mr. Hadley.”

Gray glared at his brother. “You’re supposed to be helping her, not sending her crashing to the ground.”

“How was I to know one step would send her flailing? I’ve never taught anyone to dance before,” Archer returned hotly.

“Maybe by using your brain,” Gray growled.

Archer threw up his hands. “I don’t have to put up with this nonsense.” Then he turned his glare on Lady Sophia. “Not from him. Not from you. You want to write a nice little dossier for Eynsford? Be my guest. But I am through with dancing and musicales and soirees and everything else you come up with to torture me.” He started for the corridor in a huff.

“You are a beast, Lord Radbourne!” Lady Sophia called to his retreating back.

“Something on which we can finally agree,” he retorted before vanishing from view.

Livi’s mouth fell open in surprise when both Sophie and Lady Radbourne bustled from the room after the viscount.
Bon
Dieu
! What in the world had just happened? “I warned him I didn’t have any rhythm,” she muttered.

Gray squeezed her hand, the one he was still holding after helping her back to her feet. “It’s not your fault Archer is an arse.”

Blasted dancing. No wonder Papa had never thought it was worth her learning. If she never danced again, she’d be happy. “It’s not his fault I’m dreadful at this.”

Gray chuckled, and the warm sound fluttered across her heart. “You’ve taken one step, Livi. I hardly think you can say you’re dreadful.”

“I wouldn’t even call it a step. I fell flat on my arse, Gray.” She looked up at him, finding his dark eyes twinkling at her.

“So you did,” he agreed. Then he pulled her into his arms, much closer than Lord Radbourne had done. “You shouldn’t ever let anyone else ever hold you like this.” He took a step forward, making her take a step back. Then he directed her one step to the left, and then he paused a beat before leading her into another step backward. “See,” he said with a grin, “you’re doing beautifully now.”

She followed his lead, stepping to the right. “I’m dancing?”

“Who needs music?” He turned her toward the left.

Apparently no one. Livi stared up at him, and he took her around the music room as though she’d been dancing all her life.

“I’m holding you closer than I should, but doing so, I can lead more easily. Tomorrow, whichever lucky fellow finds you in his arms will be much farther away than I am. So close your eyes, get a sense of the rhythm of the steps, and you’ll be fine.”

Obediently, Livi did close her eyes, following his lead with each step. “Lord Radbourne said you wanted to dance with me.”

“Any man would.”

“Will you dance with me tomorrow?”

“I don’t think that will be possible.”

Livi opened her eyes to look at him. Why not? “Are you not going to the Assembly Room?”

“Lady Sophia has made it quite clear that I am.”

He didn’t want to be seen with her in public? Was that it? No matter that it felt as though she was improving in her steps; perhaps she was truly abysmal. “Am I that bad?”

He chuckled. “Why would you think such a thing?”

“You don’t want to be seen with me?” she suggested.

Gray shook his head. “That is hardly it, Livi. It will be better for you, for your chances on the marriage mart if you’re not seen with me.”

She did stumble then. He caught her with a hand at the small of her back. Her breath hitched at the contact as he pulled her flush against himself. “Are you all right?” he asked, his voice soft and silky, raising gooseflesh on her arms. She shook off the feeling.

“I’m clumsy as a newborn colt,” she said as she blew at a lock of hair that had fallen across her forehead. Evidently, her hair had taken a tumble when she’d landed on her backside.

Gray reached up to brush her hair back, loosening his arms from their hold around her as he did so. The heat of him was suddenly replaced by the chill of the room. She shivered lightly as he tucked her hair back with a loose pin. “Cold?” he asked.

Not very likely. Not with him standing so close. Not with him holding her in his arms. “No,” she said with a heavy sigh.

“Frustrated?” he asked casually.

“Quite.” She inhaled deeply, taking in the sandalwood scent of him. She impulsively wanted to bury her nose against his cravat and take him in.

“I would give my right arm to know what you’re thinking right now,” he said softly as he tipped her chin up. His dark eyes twinkled.

“I would give my right arm for you not to know what I’m thinking right now,” she breathed.

His eyes darkened perceptibly as he regarded her from below lowered lids.

It was a good time for a change of subject. “Will Sophie come back with your brother?” she asked as she stepped back from him. He let her go, looking at her with a half smile, as though he knew what he did to her. He probably did.

“I highly doubt that Archer will be back. He’s having way too much fun vexing poor Lady Sophia, not to mention Mother.”

“This is all sport for him, is it not?”

Gray thought about it for a moment. “I’m sure he didn’t mean to knock you to the floor. He’ll most likely find you to apologize later, but his pride is probably as bruised as your bottom at the moment.”

“I feel certain you’re not supposed to be talking about my bottom,” Livi replied as she rubbed at it absently. She hadn’t really landed that hard. But it smarted, none the less.

“I would volunteer to kiss it and make it better.” He appraised her face much too closely. “But that would be even more inappropriate.”

Bon
Dieu
! She could see now why he was known for his scandalous behavior. If he did this with every lady of his acquaintance, he probably had them swooning into a dead faint and landing directly in his arms. Heat crept up her cheeks. She was probably as red as a ripe strawberry. She put her hands on her hips. “If you think me some common tavern wench, Mr. Hadley,” she said, taking great care to use his formal name, “you are sadly mistaken. Do take care with your offensive comments.”

He grinned unrepentantly at her. “Offensive?” His gaze slid slowly down her body, doing odd things she didn’t understand to her belly. “I highly doubt you found my comment offensive.”

“Because I’m a hoyden?”

“Because you enjoyed it.” He stepped closer to her and pulled her back into his arms, his hand on the small of her back. She clutched at the lapels of his jacket. “Hardly tame now, am I?” He untangled her hands from their frantic clutch of his lapels and placed one on his arm.

Was that what this was about? Her remark about him being tame? “Did I bruise your pride, Gray?”

His brow shot upward in surprise.

“It’s just you’re not quite like the other Lycans of my acquaintance.”

“Shh. Just dance with me, Livi,” he said softly.

Then he began to move. His leg went forward, his body so close to hers that they moved as one. Her leg went back along with his.

“Now look at me,” he quietly encouraged. She did. And immediately wished she hadn’t. Something hovered in the depths of his gaze, something hot and unsettling. Something that made a most delicious shiver creep up her spine. His pace quickened as he led her around the floor. He counted silently for her, his lips barely moving as he whispered, “One, two, three. One, two, three. One, two, three…” She couldn’t look away from him. If she did, she would break the spell. She should break the spell, but drat it all, she was dancing. And she was enjoying it. Just a few minutes more couldn’t do any harm, could it?

He moved so effortlessly, like he’d been spinning ladies about the dance floor since he was in short pants. “When did you learn to dance, Gray?” She was growing a bit breathless at the exertion.

He cleared his throat before he spoke. “I feel like I’ve never danced before, Livi Mayeux.” One corner of his mouth quirked, his grin a bit self-deprecating. “In fact, I feel as unwieldy as a newborn colt myself.”

“Clumsy,” she corrected.

“I most certainly am not clumsy.” He chuckled loudly, the sound warm and rich as it hung in the air between them.

“No, I’m the clumsy one.” He wasn’t counting for her anymore. He was talking. “Will I be expected to dance and carry on a conversation tomorrow night? All at the very same time?”

“That depends on the dance, your partner, and how much he’s enthralled by your beauty.”

She snorted. And immediately regretted it. “Apologies,” she murmured. “Sophie would flay me for that.” She tried to get past it. But it was damn hard with him looking down at her with that quirky grin. The one that made her heart skip. “Can you hear it?” she whispered without censoring her words.

“Your delicate little snuffle?” he said with a laugh. “Yes, I heard it. I’m not deaf, you know.”

She hadn’t been referring to that social blunder. She was referring to the frantic beat of her heart.

He continued smoothly, “I think it’s adorable. And hope you never, ever become too cultured to do it.”

If he were one of her brothers, she would slap him. But he wasn’t. There were so many different social restrictions at play here. And she didn’t know which way was the right way to continue. “May I speak my mind with you, Gray?” she asked, her voice full of more emotion than she’d intended to share.

“That is my most fervent wish,” he said.

And she believed him.

“I’m scared to death.” The words just rushed from her mouth. They came out harsh and without any care.

His hand spread on the center of her back, his fingers widening as he pulled her slightly closer to him. He held her against him as he continued to waltz. He hadn’t counted for quite some time. And she was dancing as though she had been doing it her whole life.

“You’re not scared of
me
, are you?” He looked slightly taken aback.

“Terrified,” she whispered back. She may as well be honest. “Admit it. I know you can hear it.” She squeezed his bicep. “My heart, you dolt. You can hear the beat of my heart.”

He stopped dancing, which momentarily unsettled her. She fell against him. A moment before, she wouldn’t have thought she could get any closer to him. But now she was. Much closer. “I assumed the rhythm of your heart was because of your excitement to find out you’re such a beautiful dancer after all.”

“You know that’s not the case, but thank you for trying to preserve my feelings.”

He swiped a hand down his mouth, an act of frustration if she’d ever seen one. And she’d seen plenty with her brothers. “I think we should stop our lesson now.”

“Stop?” She sounded like an addled parrot, even to her own ears.

“Yes, stop,” he said firmly. He stepped several paces back from her and spun to look out the window.

“Are you vexed at me, Grayson Hadley?” she asked, punching her fists into her hips. She’d opened up, told him what she was feeling. He’d said it was his most fervent wish. How dare he dismiss her so easily?

“I’m not vexed,” he said to the window. “I’m…” He stopped and shook his head fiercely.

“You’re…” she prompted him to continue.

“I’m intrigued, Livi.”

Livi’s heart kicked up again.

He spun back to face her, his look harsh and direct. “I’m so intrigued that all I can think about is the beat of your heart, and I want to search your body to find all the places where you’re ticklish. All the ways to make you giggle and, yes, even snort.” He stalked past her toward the door.

Where the devil was he going? “I never took you for a coward,” Livi taunted, hoping to say something that would make him stay.

“And I never took you for a whore. So, don’t entice me to treat you like one.” And with that last comment, he turned on his heel. But then he turned back at the last moment. “Know this well, Livi. If you give me even the slightest bit of encouragement, I’ll act upon it. And I am the last thing your grandfather, and probably your father, wants for you.”

“What about what I want?” she whispered.

“How far have your wants gotten you? You’re stuck in England, far from your home, searching for a life your grandfather wants you to have.” He tilted his head and said slowly, enunciating each word, “So much for your wants.”

***

Gray stared into his tankard, wondering where his ale had gone. Damn it all, he needed another just to take his mind off Livi. Just as he lifted his head to catch the tavern wench’s attention, a hand clapped him on the back with more force than was necessary. It was a good thing his tankard was empty.

“Have you even had a chance to sober up after last night’s indulgences?” Nathaniel Hayburn, the Marquess of Lavendon, dropped into the seat across from Gray’s.

“Bugger off, Lavendon.”

The marquess chuckled. “Charming as ever, Hadley.”

“Well if you don’t like my company, you don’t have to stay. I don’t recall having invited you to join me.”

“I didn’t say that I don’t like your company. Besides, we are relations of a sort these days, aren’t we?”

Not really. Lavendon was Wes’ brother-in-law, not Gray’s. No matter how similar they looked. Gray gestured to the taproom at large. “This place is well beneath your usual fare. What brings you to lower yourself to this point?”

Lavendon shivered dramatically. “Hiding from my grandmother. What else?” Then he grinned and leaned forward in his seat. “Radbourne said Sophie Cole is in Bath with the rest of you.”

“She
is
Mother’s companion. Where one is, the other can usually be found.”

“And you sound so happy about it.” Lavendon laughed again. “I would gladly take her off your hands, you know.”

“You mean Mother’s hands,” Gray corrected. “And I’d be glad to see her go. Perhaps you could make her a
proper
offer this time around.”

Lavendon shook his head. “And give the little minx that satisfaction? Hardly. She had her chance to be my marchioness well before her fall from grace. Besides, I’m patient. She’ll come begging soon enough.”

Lady Sophia beg? Gray doubted she’d ever done such a thing in her life. She could be living on the streets without two farthings to rub together, and she’d still possess a refined air of superiority. “Do let me know when that happens.”

Lavendon sat back in his chair and gestured for the barmaid. “As long as it’s not blue ruin, I’ll have whatever Mr. Hadley is drinking.”

Gray nodded at the woman. “I’ll have another as well.” And he’d need it. If not to keep his mind off Livi, then to block out Lavendon’s ramblings. The marquess could bluster with the best of them, and he looked as though he was prepared to stay the rest of the evening. Just Gray’s blasted luck.

“Your turn. Why are you hiding here, Hadley?”

Because it was that or sit in his room and think about all the ways he could take Livi’s virtue. “I’m not hiding. It’s just better than being at Holmesfield’s.”

Lavendon nodded. “Almost word for word what Radbourne said last evening when we left the card tables.”

“Well, we are brothers.”