What Isabella Desires by Anne Mallory Read Free Book Online Page B

direction.
    He placed a soft kiss against her knuckles and she caught her breath. “My pleasure entirely, Marie.”
    She could sense Ellerby’s agitation at her side, but couldn’t bring herself to care. Marcus was staring at her as if she were a ripe dessert. She wanted to make sure he got every last bite.
    “Would you care to dance, Marie?”
    Isabella hesitated, a bit of sense returning. Marcus was the most perceptive person she knew. What if she did something stupid?
    Then again, what had she come here for, if not to take the chance?
    “I would love to.”
    He smiled and led her onto the floor and away from Ellerby’s darkening face.
    She tried to steady her nerves as they took their places and he took her hand.
    “Are you enjoying the masquerade, Lord Roth?”
    Their gloves slid against each other, satin against silk. “I am enjoying it now.”
    The warmth of his hand seeped into hers. “Do you attend these parties often?”
    She heard the pull of a bow across strings as his body moved against hers.
    “Often enough.” His hand held her protectively as he twirled her around. “You, on the other hand, do not attend these parties.”
    Her breath caught, and a wisp of hair dislodged from behind her mask and blew across her cheek.
    “Oh, but I may.”
    “How the silver lie slips from your tongue, Marie.”
    “This is a masquerade. How would you know if I had attended one like this before?”
    “I assure you it would have been memorable.”
    “Nonsense,” she said, but her breath came a little faster. “You could have seen me a dozen times over. Perhaps this is only the first time you’ve paid attention.”
    His eyes caressed her mask. “Mmmm…”
    He pulled her closer and twirled her so that her skirts flared and her breath quickened—and she didn’t have to imagine a thing this time, because it was better than all her fantasies. She held onto him, her eyes never leaving his. They whirled and danced and their movements sung together. Like two liquids in a glass merging into one.
    It wasn’t until the last sighs from the strings that she felt him tense. Following his eyes, she saw Ellerby watching them. Watching her.
    Marcus picked up her hand and brought it to his lips. “Allow me to escort you out for some fresh air?”
    Isabella’s heart beat a rapid staccato in her chest. “Of course.”
    He tucked her hand into his arm and led the way through the mass of dancers. She could see Ellerby trying to reach them, but Marcus maneuvered through the throng as if trying to put as many obstacles between them as possible. Ellerby was soon lost in the crowd.
    But what was important was that Marcus was taking her outside. To get a breath of fresh air. Which everyone, even a proper girl like her, knew was synonymous for an assignation.
    An assignation. Outside. With Marcus.
    The balcony doors loomed ahead and her breath caught. Ten more steps. Nine. Eight. Seven.
    And suddenly they were walking down a narrow hall that she hadn’t even noticed in her Marcus induced haze. And he was pushing open a door and urging her inside.
    Bookshelves lined the walls. Books as far as she could see.
    Isabella could barely think straight. Had he bypassed a few stolen kisses on the balcony to consummation in a library? And how did she feel about this? Yes, she wanted him. She loved him. But this was moving a little too fast for her.
    He thought she was someone else. At the beginning of the evening that hadn’t quite mattered in the way it did now. “What are we doing?” she said, unable to keep the nervousness from her voice.
    “I’m going to seduce you on the settee.” He pointed to the plush green velvet bench in the middle of the ornate room.
    She stared at him for a moment, unable to do anything other than blink. She registered the inane action, but there was nothing she could do about it, as that function of her brain seemed to have come to a complete halt.
    “For the love of…I’m not going to seduce you on the