LITMIR.BIZ

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were to blame for the humiliation at her debut, but she couldn’t uncouple them from that time in her life. The years when she’d tried so hard to be good, to be quiet, to curl herself into a tight, impenetrable ball and go unnoticed.

      Instead of going unnoticed, she’d made herself a spectacle, mowing down the crowd at Almack’s.

      “Won’t you introduce us to your friend?” Thomasina swept an unsubtly flirtatious glance up Gabriel’s armored figure. “What a fine figure you must strike at the Round Table.”

      “At any table.” Tansy giggled.

      Penny seethed. “It wouldn’t be a masquerade if I gave him away, now would it?”

      “I suppose we’ll have to tease it out of him,” Thomasina said. Was it Penny’s imagination, or did her gaze linger on his codpiece?

       Get your eyes off him, you vulture.

      She chastened herself for entertaining a thought so mean. It was unkind to vultures.

      “But you should be dancing, Lady Penelope,” Tansy said. “Our brother is here. I’m certain he’d stand up with you.”

      “That’s kind of you, but I don’t wish to dance this evening.”

      “What a shame.” Thomasina smiled. “How is that hedgehog of yours? Not still with us, I suppose.”

      “Actually, she is. Going on ten years now.”

      “By now, I’d wager she’s in good company. You must have a houseful of dear little waifs.”

      Tansy latched on to her sister’s arm. “Oh, Tommy. Remember the frog?”

      As the sisters laughed, Penny wanted to inch backward until she disappeared into the shrubbery.

      “What a sweet thing you were,” said Thomasina. “Always so fond of God’s lesser creatures. What’s the latest beast in your collection, I wonder?”

      “Me.” Metal clanged as Gabriel flipped the helmet’s visor. “I’m her latest beast.”

      The Irving sisters choked on their laughter, then swallowed it hard.

      He took a clanking step forward, towering over them. “Let me tell you, Lady Penelope has her hands full. I’m vicious. Untamed. I won’t come to heel.” He leaned forward, lowering his voice to a growl. “And I bite.”

      He turned, and—confronted with the wall of hedges—stormed through it like the Ottomans breaching the walls of Tyre. Once he’d cleared a path with his armored body, he extended a gauntlet, inviting Penny to follow.

      She put her gloved hand in his shining one.

      Rather than leading her through, he pulled her to him, slid his hand to her backside, and lifted her off her feet, keeping her slippers free of the trampled shrubs.

      Her beast in shining armor.

      As he carried her through the hedge, she waved farewell to the bug-eyed Irving sisters. “It’s been lovely seeing you.”

      Once he’d toted her a short distance from the pleasure garden, he set her down. After several moments of increasingly comic difficulty, he yanked the helmet off his head and chucked it aside with a curse.

      Penny went to retrieve the helmet.

      “Leave it,” he said.

      “It belongs to Ash.”

      “Exactly.”

      His face was the red-purple shade of beets, and his dark hair stood up at wild angles. In the darkness, he looked every bit as wild and dangerous as he’d just professed to be.

      Penny took his face in her hands and gave him a firm kiss on the lips. “Thank you. That was magnificent.”

      “It was stupid. If rumors reach your aunt—or worse, the society column …”

      She helped him remove his gauntlet. “We can’t do anything about that tonight.”

      “I knew this was a mistake. I can’t abide this society shite.”

      “The Irving twins have always been obnoxious.”

      “It’s not only them. It’s all of it.” He stared at the scene of torches and merriment. “This is why I despise the aristocracy. The only way they survive is by holding themselves above the rest of the world. And it’s not enough for them to sneer at the poor, or to abuse the working class. They have to turn on their own, as well. They’d mock you just because you don’t like to waltz and you keep a pet hedgehog.”

      “You laughed at the hedgehog,” she reminded him. “Understandably so. It’s amusing.”

      “It’s an amusing story. It’s not who you are.” He unbuckled a shin plate and shunted it to the ground with such force it bounced off the turf. “You’re worth a thousand of any lady there.”

      “Let’s leave, get you into some proper attire, and find ourselves some dinner.” She stroked her fingertips over his brow. “I can tell from the pulsing vein in your forehead, you’re hungry.”

      “I’m always hungry.”

      “My only regret is that we’ll miss the fireworks.”

      “You want fireworks?” He cocked his eyebrow. “I can give you fireworks.”

      Well, then. Penny could scarcely wait.

       Chapter Fifteen

      It wasn’t the most lucrative of Gabe’s investments, but there were times when owning one of the largest hotels in London came in useful. This was one of those times. For one thing, he kept spare clothing in his private suite, and thus was able to shed that ridiculous suit of armor.

      For another, it offered a uniquely impressive location for a private dinner overlooking the fireworks display.

      “Careful.” He led her by the hand, helping her up the last few rungs of a ladder and guiding her onto the rooftop verandah. “We’ll be able to view the fireworks from here.”

      “Yes. I should think we will.” The awed hush in her voice thrilled him, as did the way she clutched his arm. “I feel like I’m floating in one of those hot-air balloons.”

      “I have the servants coming up with dinner soon.”

      “Thank you.” She squeezed close to his side. “This is so much better than that silly masquerade.”

      She walked to the verandah’s wrought-iron fencing and propped her forearms on the rail, gazing out over the London sprawl. The breeze plucked at her hair, teasing a few golden locks from their pins.

      Gabe joined her. “I still can’t believe the nerve of those sisters.”

      “Pity their parents,” she said. “One Miss Irving would be bad enough. They had two in one go.”

      “I don’t pity them at all. If you like, I could ruin the whole family for you.”

      She turned to him. “What?”

      He shrugged. “It might take a few years, but I know how to be patient. It’s only a matter of discreet inquiries here and there, paying attention to patterns. Somewhere there will be debts, unpaid taxes, poor investments—with luck, blackmail payments. No matter how impressive the family estate, there’s always a loose brick somewhere. Every man has his weakness.”

      “I know they do.” She lifted an eyebrow. “I’m still looking for yours.”

      Cheeky girl. She had to know she took his breath away.

      God, she was lovely in moonlight. She was lovely in sunlight, for that matter, and in the pouring

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