Dark Rider

  “Then he shouldn’t have chosen it.” She glanced around the foyer. “Where is he?”

  “He went on ahead to Carradine Hall to make sure everything was in order. He asked me to bring you. Lani and Josette are waiting in the carriage.” He frowned. “I don’t believe he meant that gown for this type of occasion.”

  She knew the occasion he had meant her to wear it. When she came to his bed. In spite of its simple Empire lines, it was the gown meant for a temptress. The scarlet color alone shouted bold sensuality, the deep square neckline revealed the upper curves of her breasts. “It’s what I’m wearing.”

  “Has Lani seen you?”

  “No.” She had deliberately delayed dressing until she knew Lani would have no opportunity to find out in advance. “She thinks I’m wearing white. I changed my mind at the last minute.”

  He took the black velvet cloak she was carrying and draped it around her shoulders, carefully fastening the button at her throat. “Well, let’s at least spare Jared the first shock when you walk into the ballroom.”

  “I can’t wear a cloak all evening.” Yet she did not want Lani to see the gown until they reached Carradine Hall. She might insist Cassie go back and change. She drew the cloak about her and moved toward the door. “Shall we go?”

  “You’ve been very docile of late.” His hand cradled her elbow as she moved down the steps toward the carriage. “I’d be curious to know why you chose this occasion to break the pattern.”

  The footman opened the door of the carriage. Bradford glanced at Lani, resplendent in her yellow silk gown and white velvet cloak, and then smiled. “Ah, that’s it, you’re going into battle. I always knew I had a fondness for you,” he said in a low tone in Cassie’s ear. “I hope a battle won’t be necessary, but no one is worth fighting for more than Lani.” He helped her into the carriage, then climbed in after her. “It’s going to prove an interesting evening.”

  Lani smiled and reached for Cassie’s hand. “You’re late. Is all well?”

  Cassie clasped her hand nervously. She didn’t know whether this was a wise move or not. Jared would be angry, and she might do damage to Josette. It might all be for nothing. Perhaps Lani would not need championing at all. Oh, well, she had made mistakes before, and she would not back away now. She smiled at Lani but did not answer directly. “You look glorious tonight. Like a queen.” She said with sudden intensity, “You are a queen, Lani.”

  Lani chuckled. “You must have been talking to Bradford. He claims I could rule this harsh England.”

  “It would certainly be a more interesting country if you did.” Josette grimaced. “You can’t imagine how stultifying this ball will be tonight.” She settled back on the seat with a sigh. “Not at all like Jared’s and Bradford’s parties.”

  “Which you were never supposed to observe,” Bradford said.

  Josette giggled and told Cassie, “My nurse used to fall asleep and I’d creep down and watch from the landing until Jared caught me at it one night. He was very angry.”

  “He would have been angrier if he hadn’t caught you at that particular moment. Such parties are not for the delectation of innocents.”

  “An orgy,” Josette confided to Cassie with relish. “Bacchanalian revels. Everyone seemed to be having a perfectly splendid time.”

  “May we talk of something else?” Bradford asked plaintively. “The subject of my wicked past is making me a trifle uncomfortable. Did you ride Morgana today?”

  Josette obligingly accepted the turn of conversation and started to chatter on her favorite subject for the remainder of the journey.

  Carradine House was ablaze with light. Lanterns hung from the trees bordering the long driveway that led to the stately brick manor house, revealing carriages of all sizes and description on the grass. Liveried coachmen moved briskly, tending their vehicles, or merely lolled in conversation with other servants.

  “There’s Jared.” Bradford’s gaze went to the open doorway as he got out of the carriage. “And our sweet hostess.”

  Cassie involuntarily tensed as the footman helped her from the carriage, and she caught sight of the two at the top of the steps. Carolyn Carradine was smiling up at Jared, glowingly lovely in pale-blue silk. Jared, in dark evening clothes, was no different from the Jared she saw every day. He always looked lean, graceful, slightly dangerous, and as wickedly handsome as a pagan god. It was no wonder that the gargoyle was staring at him as if she wished to eat him for dinner, Cassie thought with annoyance.

  “Cassie?” Bradford said.

  She hurriedly stepped aside so that the footman could help Lani and Josette from the carriage. Then she watched Lani approach their hostess for the evening with graceful dignity.

  “Good evening, Lady Carradine.” Lani smiled at the woman. “How kind of you to invite me to your home.”

  Lady Carradine displayed perfect teeth returning her smile. “It’s my pleasure.” Her gaze ran over Lani’s gown, which was revealed when she shed her white velvet cloak and handed it to a waiting footman. “And what a lovely gown. You look quite like a sunburst.”

  The words could have been construed as a compliment, and the woman’s tone was cordial. Perhaps it was not going to be as bad as Cassie feared.

  Lady Carradine turned to Josette. “Take your chaperon to meet Lady Huntley. I’ve told her to act in my place while I finish greeting my guests. Her daughter, Joan, was just saying how much she missed you at school.”

  Josette muttered something distinctly uncomplimentary beneath her breath before she shrugged off her cloak. “Missed a pincushion to accommodate her pricks, maybe.” Then, as she met Jared’s warning gaze, she pasted a smile on her face and took Lani’s arm. “Come along. Surely Lady Huntley is not nearly as rude as her daughter.”

  Cassie watched Lani cross the crowded ballroom. As she passed, the men and women turned to stare at her. Well, who wouldn’t look at her? She was more beautiful than any woman in the room.

  “Don’t be shy, my dear. Take off your cloak and run along and join them.”

  Cassie turned to see Carolyn Carradine aim a glowing smile at her as she placed a proprietary hand on Jared’s sleeve. “We’ll join you and your stepmother shortly.”

  “Very well.” She straightened her shoulders and then rid herself of her cloak.

  She heard Lady Carradine’s shocked exclamation and Jared’s sharply inhaled breath. After handing the cloak to the footman, she looked around to see two bright patches of color on Lady Carradine’s cheeks. “That gown is totally inappropriate in a young girl. It’s … it’s—”

  “A sunset?” She lifted her chin in defiance. “If Lani’s gown is a sunburst, surely mine goes a step further.”

  “It goes a good deal further,” Jared said grimly. “I’d like a word with you, Cassie.”

  “But Lady Carradine says I must run along and meet Lady Huntley.” She shrugged. “If you wish to speak with me, I suppose you may come with me.” She started across the ballroom.

  Jared was walking beside her, looking straight ahead. “Why, damn you?”

  “At least I didn’t wear a sarong. It did occur to me.”

  “All you had to do was behave with a little decorum for one evening. Was that too much to ask for Josette?”

  “I’ll behave with decorum as long as these people treat Lani with courtesy.”

  “Has Carolyn indicated in any way that she won’t?”

  “Not yet.” She glanced at him. “But we’ve just gotten here. I don’t trust her.”

  “So you come to the most circumspect ball in England looking …”

  “Like a harlot?”

  “I didn’t say that and I didn’t mean it.”

  “That’s why you gave me this gown. You wanted me to look like one of your lady birds. Well, here I am.”

  “And every man in the room is wondering if he has a chance of luring you into his bed.”

  She was suddenly tired of being on the defensive. She smiled tauntingly. “It’s a pos
sibility. I’ve been without a man for a long time, and you were an excellent tutor.” She turned to him and said mockingly, “Come, Jared, introduce me to your friends. Let me choose a man to pleasure me.”

  He went white. He had been angry a minute ago; now he was a step beyond. “Damn you to hell.”

  She had never seen him more dangerous. She didn’t care. She felt as she had when she and Kapu had swum through rapids, too late to stop, too exciting to turn back. She had to go on. “Why are you so angry? You would bed your Carolyn without a second thought. Perhaps you’ve already done it tonight. Don’t I have the right to choose my own—”

  “No, you do not.” His voice was hoarse with searing intensity. “You no longer have any choice at all. You’ve just forfeited it.”

  “By wearing a gown you chose? By telling you a woman is not a slave? I think not. Go back to Lady Carradine. She will say anything you wish her to say.” Her pace quickened as she approached Lady Huntley. “I assure you I don’t mind your abandoning me. I’ll make my own way with these people.”

  “I’m tempted to do it. Any of these women could cut you to the bone with one remark.”

  “Why would you care?”

  “Oh, I would care.” He smiled savagely. “It’s a privilege I reserve for myself.” He stopped before Lady Huntley, Lani, and Josette. He took Lady Huntley’s hand, and his smile became totally ingratiating. “Ah, how delightful you look tonight, Amanda. That color always becomes you. May I present my kinswoman, Cassandra Deville? You’ve already met her gracious stepmother.”

  “Something’s wrong.” Cassie watched worriedly as Lani was taken by Lady Huntley from one group to the other, leaving Cassie and Josette to their own devices. “I don’t like this.”

  “What is it?” Josette asked.

  “I don’t know.” Lani was smiling, but she had the frozen expression she had worn when suffering Clara’s worst abuse. “Can you find out?”

  “It will take time. These people are not fond of me, either. Can’t you ask her?”

  Lani had committed herself to this ball to help Josette. Cassie knew Lani would not complain. “No.”

  Josette shrugged. “Then I’ll find out.” She drifted off into the crowd.

  Cassie immediately felt isolated without Josette’s comforting presence. She was surrounded by strangers—glittering, alien. She wanted to run away. The women’s glances were shocked and disdainful, and the men did not meet her eyes at all. Her gaze searched the crowd for Bradford, but he was deep in conversation with a golden-haired young man in a corner.

  And Jared was once more standing beside Lady Carradine in the foyer.

  She met his gaze and recognition rippled through her. How could he dare look at her with such lust and possessiveness when he stood beside that woman? Her desolation was submerged by a flare of anger. These fine ladies would not accept her, but their men should not prove difficult. Men were seldom guided by anything but their bodies. She had no experience at the game herself, but she had spent years watching Lihua practice her mating skills. She deliberately looked away from Jared and sought out the golden-haired young man to whom Bradford was speaking. She waited until she caught his eye, then smiled.

  The young Adonis broke off what he was saying to Bradford.

  Good. She half lowered her lashes and ran her tongue lightly over her lower lip.

  The young man was coming toward her.

  She slanted a quick glance at Jared. Yes, no doubt about it, he had witnessed the little charade, and it had infuriated him. She felt a surge of fierce satisfaction. It would not hurt to goad him a little more.

  She looked around the room to choose another man.

  “Stop watching her, Jared,” Bradford said in a low voice as he handed his nephew a glass of punch. “You’re causing more stir than she is. After all, it’s only a gown.”

  “You know better.” She was a scarlet banner that every man in the room wanted to claim. And the bitch was deliberately dipping that banner in invitation. Neither she nor Lani could dance, but that did not hinder pursuit. The two women were at opposite ends of the room, but both were surrounded by men vying for attention.

  Let me choose a man to pleasure me.

  “That crystal goblet is going to break if you put any more pressure on it,” Bradford observed. “You’ll get a nasty cut.”

  “Then take the damn thing.” He thrust it back into Bradford’s hand. “I didn’t want it anyway.”

  “It was better to have a goblet in your hand than a sword.”

  “I didn’t have a sword.”

  “That didn’t mean you might not acquire one.” He took a sip of punch. “Tell me, whom are you going to call out? Young Fred Monteith? He appears very ardent. Or the Earl of Tempkar? No, he couldn’t put up a very satisfactory fight. He must be almost seventy.”

  Jared shot him a sour glance. “You appear to be in fine spirits.”

  “Actually, I’m not at all happy at the way things are proceeding,” he said. “But not because of those hounds baying at the moon. It’s probably just as well they’re causing a distraction. I don’t like the set of Lani’s mouth.”

  “What?”

  “When she’s upset, she holds her lips a little tighter and turns her head with a quick, jerky motion.” He frowned. “Things aren’t going well.”

  “I don’t see any sign—”

  “But, then, you can’t see anything but a scarlet gown and your own lust. It might do you well to use your head instead of your nether parts for thinking.” He turned to look at him. “Did you ask Cassie why she wore that gown?”

  “I didn’t need to ask. Defiance has a voice of its own.”

  “And she probably wouldn’t have told you the truth anyway.” He nodded at Lani. “Cassie wouldn’t let her be alone even if it meant being ostracized herself.”

  “Very noble.”

  “But you don’t want to believe it.”

  “I believe she loves Lani.”

  “I’m weary of arguing with you,” Bradford said finally. He put his glass down on the banquet table. “I have to go to Lani. She’s definitely upset.”

  “And you think she’ll tell you why?”

  “Probably not. But she’ll know I’m there supporting her. Please refrain from glaring for the rest of the evening. Some of these guests think I raised you with a modicum of manners.” He started toward the groups surrounding Lani and Cassie. “And you might repair the damage you’ve done by ingratiating yourself to our hostess again. If I’m wrong and all is going splendidly for Lani, we want it to continue.”

  Jared moodily glanced across the room at Carolyn Carradine. She was holding court of her own, smiling brightly, talking quickly, too quickly. She was furious. He should follow Bradford’s injunction and go to her.

  You would think nothing of going to bed with her.

  He felt another rush of fury as he remembered Cassie’s words. It was true; he had considered the necessity of bedding Carolyn to keep her well-disposed toward Lani, and it would have meant nothing to him. Why should it be otherwise? Carolyn knew the rules, but she had overestimated her influence with Jared.

  Sexual desire for him lasted for only the moment and then was gone.

  Until Cassie. Until that damnable little savage had come into his life and then had the temerity to tell him she would take another man with the same ease as she had taken him.

  Christ.

  He wanted to kill her. No, he wanted to kill every one of those libertines gathered around her like bees around honey. If he stood here much longer watching her, he wouldn’t be able to keep himself from going over there and— He turned on his heel and strode across the ballroom toward Carolyn.

  The evening was like a pennant shredded to pieces on a battlefield. He would have to retreat and try to save what he could. He would be charming, smooth Carolyn’s ruffled feathers, and perhaps all would be well.

  If anything could go well on this damnable night.

  “I have to talk to
you,” Josette murmured in Cassie’s ear after she had insinuated herself into the crowd around Cassie. “Slip away from them and come to the punch bowl.”

  “I tried to do that an hour ago,” Cassie answered, exasperated. When she had started this game to annoy Jared, she had not realized how irritating she would find it. “They just offer to get me what I want. How do I get away from them? I feel … I feel … smothered.”

  Josette chuckled. “I’ll help.” She raised her voice. “Faint? Oh, dear, we must get you outside for some air.” She slid a solicitous arm around Cassie’s waist, dug an elbow into the stomach of one of the young men who had stepped forward in concern. “Sorry.” She whisked Cassie to the French doors a few yards away and out into the garden. She closed the doors with a flourish. “Done. We’ll probably be safe for a few minutes.” She shivered. “If we don’t freeze to death first.”

  Cassie drew a deep breath of cold air. “I don’t care. Just so I don’t have to go back in there. What strange mating rituals you have here. The men do nothing but gather around and stare and say sweet words. They don’t even listen. Every time I tried to speak of something of interest, they just laughed.”

  “Kapu?”

  “The Earl of Tempkar said I should get a nice little mare so that I would come to no harm.” She snorted in disgust. “They’re all idiots.”

  “No, but they think we are,” Josette said. “And they’ll be coming out here any minute. I must speak quickly.”

  “Lani?”

  She nodded. “Lady Carradine has given Lady Huntley the task she can’t do herself.”

  “Which is?”

  “Subtle insults, little cuts that bleed but don’t kill. Lady Carradine evidently prepared the way ahead of time. Outwardly she shows her support for Lani and then lets one of her minions stab her and disavows any responsibility. If Lani complains, she’ll tell Jared she did everything possible, but that some people are just intractable.” She added grimly, “It’s much the same indirect way she finds to punish me. She chose an excellent substitute in Lady Huntley. She’s almost as competent at cruelty as her daughter.”