Excerpt from One Night
Of Sin
“Go away, you fiend!”
“No,” he panted
cheerfully, gaining on her. Still dressed for the ballroom, he splashed
through puddles as he gave chase, determined at least to learn her
name.
With a small yowl of pure feminine frustration, she rushed over to
the nearest storefront, a haberdasher’s, and picked up the only
weapon she could find. Snatching the long-handled candle-snuffer off
the wall, she whipped around and swung it at him. “Stay back!”
“Oh-ho!” he laughed as he approached slowly. I like this
girl. “What are you going to do with that thing? Put my lights
out?”
“Keep your distance or I’ll brain you! I’ll do it,
I will!”
He disobeyed, of course. “Easy, kitten--”
“Don’t you ‘kitten’ me!” Whoosh! The
metal bar sang through the air in her grasp. Her dark tresses flew;
the dirt-streaked skirts swirled around her trim figure as she swung
her weapon with admirable ferocity straight at Alec’s head.
He ducked, his fencer’s reflexes yanking him under the arc,
but the nearness of her miss left him astonished. Women had been threatening
to kill him for years, but none had actually tried it before. “Jesus!”
he exclaimed, then started laughing. He couldn’t help it.
“Don’t you dare laugh at me, you coxcomb! A hero’s
blood flows through these veins, I’ll have you know!”
she cried in wrath, trying—rather adorably, Alec thought—to
scare him away. “My father fought beside Nelson at Trafalgar!”
He held up his hands. “I surrender, don’t hurt me!”
“Ugh, you--” Another massive crash of thunder cut off
her words and sent her darting under a nearby awning of one of the
shops that lined the darkened street.
Alec followed eagerly, but when he joined her, she was already in
position to defend the small rectangle of dry territory she had claimed.
With her weapon at the ready, she begrudgingly allowed him to step
under the cover of the striped tin awning.
The shadows were deeper in their shelter. He smiled wickedly at her
as he approached.
“Well, isn’t this cozy?”
The warm rain drummed upon the awning’s painted tin, dampening
the sound and casting an air of intimacy over their taut standoff.
The girl backed up a step uneasily, adjusting her grip, more than
willing, it seemed, to try again to break his head if he made one
false move.
Alec was on his guard and half smitten—but that meant nothing.
He was known to fall in love six or seven times a day. Beautiful eyes,
he thought as he studied her by the distant streetlamp’s glow
through a haze of rain. Big stormy eyes full of fight and spirit,
their violet hue a rare and fascinating color. Her thick, dark hair
was slicked back with the rain, accenting the delicate sculpture of
her face. Raindrops starred her lashes and turned her plump lips to
dewy roses. Dirty little stray, he thought. Ravishing.
And he wanted her.
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