Clockwork Blue (53 page)

He studied her, surprised by her bravado.

She cupped her hand around her mouth to whisper,
"
I wouldn
'
t be caught dead in the thing. I merely bought it to appease dear
Nicola
. She really is lovely and so very delightful that I
'
m afraid if she knew how lacking her hats are, her spirit would be crushed.
"

Malcolm
adopted one of his worthier bullying techniques.
"
I tell you that you
'
re dead wrong. Her hats are no different than ones I
'
ve seen in London.
"

"
It
'
s also just like a man to not notice the fashions.
"

She laid her gloved hand on his forearm and leaned close.
"
I
'
ve been thinking the problem over. You
'
ve got to gently direct her toward something else, something in which she can excel. Perhaps painting. She seems to have an excellent sense of color.
"

If he wasn
'
t mistaken, the woman was advising him on what to do with his wife! No one ever counseled the Black Falcon as if he were a friend. The situation was so unexpected, so foreign, he didn
'
t know what to do.
"
Madam, there
'
s going to be a ball at the Viscount Hathaway
'
s.
I want to see you wearing your new hat.
"

"
My lord, have you heard what I
'
ve said? It won
'
t matter if
I
wear it. Good grief, it
'
s a veritable junkyard
! I thought I might be able to salvage something, but it
'
s hopeless.
"
She shook her head.
"
No, it will only make me a laughingstock at the ball and seal
Nicola
'
s demise as a woman who has a very indulgent husband. I would not want either of us to be an object of mockery. No, I won
'
t do it.
"

He gave her a look that had made generals quake.
"
Have you forgotten that I know your husband
'
s background?"

"
I have not, my lord. And your fierce facade won
'
t fool me anymore. I know all about your compassionate nature. But your secret is safe with me,
"
she whispered and gave him a conspiratorial wink before waltzing toward her carriage.

Stunned, he stared as the town coach rumbled away. Frowning with confusion, he turned, barely aware of a wagon rumbling past as he crossed the street and stepped back into the salon.

"
What
'
s wrong, my lord?
"

He scarcely noted
Nicola
'
s expression.
"
Lady Celeste was acting quite strange.
"

"
In what manner?
"
She bit her lip.

Pacing, he sought words to describe the encounter.
"
She
was...
ah, that is, I don
'
t quite know how to explain it.
"

"
Try, my lord.
"

He looked up at the ceiling, flummoxed.
"
Er, she acted
... flirtatious, but that
'
s not re
ally the word for it. S
he said something about me being compassionate, for God
'
s sake. In short, she acted bloody
friendly
to me.
"

"
Oh, my. That is strange. It must be quite distressing to have a person act agreeable. I wonder what has happened.
"

"
I don
'
t know, and I
'
m not certain I like it.
"

"
Perhaps it
'
s a passing thing. All will be normal in the morning.
"

"
I most certainly hope so,
"
he said, still scowling. He looked at
Nicola
and thought he saw a t
winkle of amuse
ment in her e
ye
s, but then she turned to her hats and her expression clouded.

"
So, did Lady Celeste tell you how much she loves her new hat?
"
With a bright expression, she turned toward him.

He halted in his pacing. What the devil was he supposed to say when nobody seemed to like her designs?
"
She
loves
your hats,
"
he prevaricated. But why? Certainly not to spare her feelings. He had never worried about anyone
'
s feelings—at least, not for several
ye
ars. In fact, he couldn
'
t remember the last time.

"
Lady Celeste loves my hats?
"
his wife asked, surprised.
"
What did she l
ike? The way I clustered the gears with the steel shavings
?
"
She smiled then laughed, her relief obvious.
"
I wondered if the
gears
were
too much, but now I realize how ingenious of me it was to think of it.
"

"
Bloody hell, it wasn
'
t the
gears
she liked,
"
he muttered.

"
It wasn
'
t? She didn
'
t like the
gears
?
"
Her lower lip trembled, and his heart lodged somewhere in his stomach.

"
She marveled at your choice in
... color,
"
he blurted, then
admonished
himself. Better to tell her the truth, so she could get used to the idea and focus her energies on something else.

"
So she liked the flowers.
"
She clapped her hands enthusiastically.
"
Wonderful news, my lord. I
'
ll make more of them right away.
"
Tapping her chin, she cocked her head.
"
Perhaps I
'
ll put a variety of small toothed cogs on the next hat instead of
flat gears
.
"
She bustled toward her workroom and pulled out an array of ribbons and flowers.

He trapped her busy hands in his own.
"
Stop.
"

"
What?
"
Her look was so bewildered he felt lost. What was it about her that made him feel like an addlepated fool? Why did he feel so off-balanced when he was around her?

"
It
'
s time,
"
he declared. Time to say her hobby was a fiasco.

"
Time?
"

He drew her close, savoring the womanly scent of her. She continued looking at him with wonder and curiosity mixed with dread. Such lively, fascinating e
ye
s. God, how could so much energy and light be bottled up in one woman? He couldn
'
t crush her enthusiasm. But he must.

"
My lord? Time for what?
"

Her perky breasts entranced him as much as the bright aura that surrounded her. He backed her against the table, throwing caution toward the iridescent cloud from which she had surely floated down to earth.
"
For making
babes
.
"

Nicola
had been prepared for a denunciation of her talent. Instead,
Malcolm
backed her against the table, lifted her upon the flat surface and kissed her.

All memory of her disastrous day disappeared as she felt his tongue in her mouth and his hands in her hair. The tinny clink of hairpins sounded on the table.
Malcolm
tasted wild and dark and incredibly rich.

He nuzzled her neck, his hot breath causing shivers of excitement. Then those wicked lips traveled lower, over the muslin of her bodice and to h
er heart, beating as fast as pixie
wings. The heat of his breath permeating the fabric was more erotic than if he kissed her skin. He continued then, moving lower, unerringly finding her hard nipple and gently biting it through the cloth. Cool air hit her thighs, and she realized he
'
d hiked up her skirts. Then his strong hands moved up her legs to the very heart of her.