Mortified, she scrambled off his lap and got to her feet. She was not the only one who was partially undressed. Lucas’s shirt had come undone and the front of his trousers was still open. It required an act of will not to stare at the broad expanse of his sleekly muscled chest, but she dared not drop her gaze any lower.
“I don’t know what to say,” she said.
“There is no need to say anything.” Lucas leaned down and pulled off his boots. “You are a passionate woman. Passion is a normal emotion. It does not require words. Except, I suppose, in sensation novels.”
She glared. “I am not a naive young girl, sir. I have read a great number of sensation novels and I am an author of such stories, if you will recall. I am an expert on the subject.”
“Of course.” He stood up and stripped off his shirt. “My apologies.”
She straightened her shoulders. “It is not as though I was unacquainted with desire before our”—she fluttered a hand, searching for the right word—“our encounter. I have been kissed any number of times.” She frowned, trying to recall the exact figure. “At least three times, I believe.”
“Ah, yes, that would account for your expertise.”
She frowned. “Although I must admit that until tonight I was obliged to use my imagination when it came to describing certain sensations. This experience tonight has been very educational, I must say. Enlightening, actually.”
“Happy to have been of service, my dear author.” He gave her a lazy smile, the sort of smile a lion might wear after dining on a plump gazelle. “In future, rest assured that I will be delighted to make myself available for additional research. I hope you will consider me a source of inspiration.”
She made a face. “Now you are laughing at me.”
“Never, Miss Ames.” He stepped out of his trousers. “Well, perhaps a little.”
It finally dawned on her that he was undressing in front of her. She was shocked, almost—but not quite—speechless.
“Whatever are you doing?” she gasped.
“Preparing to bathe in that pool directly behind you. Would you care to join me?”
She was aghast. At least she ought to be aghast, she told herself. “You expect me to bathe with you?”
“It seems to me that after the intimate connection we have just enjoyed, a bath together is hardly an outrageous suggestion. Sounds quite pleasant, in fact. We are already naked.”
He was certainly naked, she thought. It was instructive to look at him. The only other nude males she had seen had been marble statues. The real thing was far more interesting. The sleek, powerful muscles of Lucas’s shoulders and thighs made her want to touch him.
“Only one of us is nude,” she pointed out.
“An oversight on my part.” He walked toward her. “Next time we must try to find a bed. It would be a good deal more comfortable than a stone bench, don’t you think?”
Next time. The words rang in her head, echoing endlessly. He was talking about a next time. That was both thrilling and unnerving. Clarissa and Beatrice’s warning flicked at the edge of her awareness. We do not want to see you hurt, Evie.
Lucas came to a halt directly in front of her and grasped the lapels of her wrapper.
She cleared her throat. “I have been thinking about what you said earlier concerning the properties of the pools in this room.”
“Yes?” He pushed the wrapper off her shoulders and let the garment fall to the floor. “What did I say? I seem to have forgotten.”
“Something about how the currents distort finely tuned mechanisms like pocket watches and one’s sense of time.”
“What of it?” He brushed his mouth across hers.
She felt the dazzling heat rise within her again just as it had earlier. She struggled to hang on to common sense. But it was hopeless. He was kissing her throat. She was vaguely aware that he was pulling her nightgown upward, above her hips.
“You mentioned that the pool in this room was known to induce a peculiar sort of excitement.”
He got the nightgown off over her head and flung it aside. “I did try to warn you.”
“Yes, you did.” She heaved a small sigh. “Perhaps I was somewhat overstimulated by the currents in this chamber.”
“Evangeline—”
“No need to apologize, sir.” She swept one hand out in a silencing gesture. “What’s done is done and I must admit that my only regret is that I took advantage of you.”
“Let us get one thing clear between us. You did not take advantage of me.”
He picked her up in his arms.
She clutched his shoulder. “Are you quite certain? I behaved in what can only be described as an extremely forward manner.”
“I assure you that I would be delighted to have you behave in such a manner at any time in the future.”
“You are teasing me again, Lucas.”
“Perhaps.” He walked to the edge of the pool. “But only because you are stirring up a great deal of melodrama over nothing.”
“Nothing?”
“Nothing,” he repeated.
A tiny whisper of dread roiled her senses. Perhaps the passionate embrace had meant little to him, she thought. He was, after all, an experienced man of the world.
He started down the steps into the sparkling waters. She rallied swiftly. She, too, had experience of passion and desire now, she thought. Thanks to Lucas she had known the ultimate connection with a man. Her writing would be all the better for it.
“Perhaps you are right,” she said. “I am making too much out of this, aren’t I?”
“I think so,” Lucas said. “But that is no doubt because you are an author and therefore given to dramatic turns of phrase.”
“No doubt,” she agreed.
He descended deeper into the warm bath with her in his arms. There would never be another night like this one, she thought. She would regret it until her dying day if she did not allow herself to savor it to the fullest.
With a soft sigh, she abandoned herself to the moment and the silken caress of the bath.
Lucas sat down on one of the submerged pool benches, Evangeline cradled in his arms. The warm, intoxicating waters swirled gently around them.
“How did you alleviate the fever in my blood tonight?” he asked after a while.
“I can’t explain it,” she admitted. “Not entirely. I sensed the unnatural heat in your aura and I … cooled the currents until they felt normal.”
“Have you done such a thing before?”
“Not exactly.” This was the last thing she wanted to talk about, she thought. Only Beatrice and Clarissa knew her dark secret. What would Lucas think of her if he knew what she had done—what she was capable of doing? “Well, yes, in a manner of speaking. But only one other time and the effect was quite the opposite. I did not know I could do what I did on that occasion, either. Not until the moment was upon me.”
“Whose fever did you quench on that occasion?”
Suspicion sliced through her. He was interrogating her.
“Why do you want to know?” she asked.
Lucas smiled. “Perhaps I am jealous.”
She shuddered. “There is no need for jealousy, I assure you.”
“Who was he, Evangeline?”
“A gentleman who once claimed to love me. He asked for my hand in marriage. On the surface he appeared to be everything I had ever hoped to find in a husband. Intelligent, courteous, thoughtful. He brought me flowers and wrote poetry to me. He admired my writing.”
“Did he?”
“He told me I had a gift for describing the metaphysical sensations of the darker passions as well as the transcendent nature of love. He was convinced, he said, that only rare individuals could experience the ultimate heights of passion.”
“Rare individuals such as you?”
“Mmm. Yes.”
“Yet you never went to those heights with him,” Lucas said. “After tonight I know that for certain.”
“I did
tell you that I had been kissed before. Indeed, Robert was very expert.”
She was talking much too freely, she thought. If she had any sense she would stop. Vaguely she wondered if the waters of the bath were affecting her like too much champagne, making her chatty.
“This Robert actually used words like ‘the transcendent nature of love’?” Lucas demanded.
“Yes.” She swept one hand absently back and forth in the water. “He was very charming. He always knew what to say. We laughed together. And we had so much in common. We toured museums and art galleries.”
Lucas’s eyes heated, but not with passion. “He was your ideal lover?”
“Not quite perfect, as it turned out.” She took one hand out of the water and held her thumb and forefinger half an inch apart to illustrate. “But close, very close. You see, in those days I could not perceive the energy in a person’s aura as clearly as I can now. I was only able to view a very limited range of light. So I missed the darkness in Robert entirely.”
“What happened?” Lucas asked.
“In hindsight, one could say that there were a couple of clues that revealed his true character.”
“What clues?”
Her wariness intensified. “You are starting to sound very much like a police detective, Lucas.”
“What was it that gave away Robert’s true character?” Lucas said, obviously forcing himself to at least sound more patient. The effort was not entirely successful.
“The first occurred when he disappeared after learning of my father’s suicide and financial losses,” she said. “I told myself that he had every right to end the courtship. After all, he had been under the illusion that I would have a respectable inheritance.”
“But his actions did spoil your image of him as a romantic, is that it? They made it plain that he was more interested in your money than he was in you.”
“Yes, but that would hardly make him unique among suitors, would it?”
“No,” Lucas said. “What of the second hint?”
The warm, effervescent energy of the water was distracting her, making it impossible to concentrate.
“Sorry?” she said.
“You said you got a second hint of Robert’s true nature.”
“Oh, right. I discovered the second indication of his rather flawed character when he tried to murder me.”
Lucas watched her with a dark, unblinking gaze. “Douglas Mason, the fortune hunter you exposed in the Rutherford affair?”
“Yes,” she said. She held herself very still, half afraid of what would happen next and yet wanting Lucas to know the truth about her. “He called himself Robert when he wooed me.”
“Bastard,” Lucas said very softly.
“I couldn’t believe it when I realized that he was the man my client wanted me to investigate. Soon after I assumed my role as Lady Rutherford’s companion we attended a reception at a photo gallery with the Lady’s granddaughter. I was stunned when Robert walked into the room. He was not only using a different name, he had even given himself a title.”
“Did he recognize you?”
“No.” She smiled wryly. “I was wearing spectacles and a very plain gown. My hair was covered by a large hat and a widow’s veil. I was using an assumed name, too. It is my customary disguise. Mason never looked twice at me. I was, after all, just an elderly lady’s companion.”
“It’s amazing how unobservant most people are.”
“Those of us who are employed by Flint and Marsh depend on that fact. As you know, I continued my investigation and discovered the proof Lady Rutherford was able to use to expose Mason.”
“Who later discovered that you were to blame and then tried to murder you.”
“Yes.”
“I know the memories are difficult, but can you recall anything he might have said that would help us identify his brother?” Lucas asked.
“No. I’ve thought about that a great deal ever since Stone brought you the information from London. But I never knew that Robert—I mean, Douglas—had a brother. He never mentioned him when he was courting me.”
“Tell me what happened the day he tried to kill you.”
“When he confronted me at the top of the stairs he was in a rage. It was as if he had gone mad. All he talked about was the terrible things he intended to do to me before he slit my throat.”
“Bastard,” Lucas said again, very softly this time. He tightened his arms around her. “I’m very glad that he is dead, of course. My only regret is that his death was an accident. I would have taken a great deal of satisfaction in assisting him on his way to the next world.”
For a few seconds she was too stunned to find her voice. No one had ever wanted to protect her.
“That is … very chivalrous of you,” she whispered.
To her horror, she pressed her face against his shoulder and started to weep.
Lucas held her for a time, letting her cry. He did not say anything. It was as if he knew there were no words.
Eventually she sniffed a few times, raised her head and splashed some water on her face.
“My apologies,” she said. “I assure you I am not in the habit of turning into a watering pot at the slightest provocation.”
“Oddly enough I was already aware of that.”
She pulled herself together with an effort. “Yes, well, there you have it, the whole, sordid story of my one great romance. As you can see, it did not end well. Heavens, I expect it must be nearly dawn. We will be able to leave this chamber soon.”
“One more thing before we leave the subject of Douglas Mason,” Lucas said.
“Yes?”
“He did not trip and fall down those stairs, did he? You did something to his aura, something similar to what you did to mine but you went further. You iced his aura.”
The certainty in his voice told her there was no point trying to lie. Nor did she want to prevaricate anymore. She needed him to know the truth about what she could do with her talent; needed him to either accept or reject the real Evangeline Ames.
“I stopped his heart,” she whispered.
Lucas smiled his predator’s smile. “That is a very handy psychical ability you have, Miss Ames.”
She was shocked by his casual acceptance of her lethal power.
“Lucas, I killed a man with my talent,” she said, wanting to be very certain that he understood. “I swear to you that I did not realize what would happen when I started to dampen the rage in his aura, at least not at first, but in those last few seconds I knew what I was doing and I did not stop.”
“No, I’m sure you didn’t comprehend the full power of your talent until you had occasion to employ it. It is not exactly the sort of skill one can practice, is it? In your moment of desperation all of your senses would have been aroused to the fullest extent and focused utterly on survival. That was when you intuitively realized what you could do.”
“I’m still not sure exactly what I did. All I know is that when he put his hands on me I could feel the heat of his killing fury. I could perceive the distortion in the wavelengths. I knew that I could dampen those currents with my own mental energy. So I did. And I kept on doing it until he just … collapsed there at the top of the stairs.”
“Whereupon you gave him a little shove that sent him to the bottom of the staircase, thereby making it look like an accident and thus avoiding both a police inquiry and a lurid scandal involving attempted rape and murder charges.”
“It seemed the most convenient way to handle the situation,” she admitted.
He kissed her briefly, a quick, possessive kiss that set her senses tingling. When he raised his head, admiration and dark desire gleamed in his eyes.
“Nicely done, my sweet. Where have you been all my life, Evangeline Ames?”
“The thing is, something changed in me that day. It was as if using so much energy opened up a new channel of psychical vision. Afterward I could see more of a person’s aura.” She shuddered. “Much more than I w
anted to see in most cases. It is unnerving, to tell you the truth.”
“Whatever you have seen, remember that I have seen far worse.”
“Yes, I don’t know how you do what you do, Lucas.”
“The only thing that matters to me is that you are not unnerved by what you see in my aura.”
“No, never.” She eyed him with growing uncertainty. “But doesn’t it concern you that I am capable of killing a person with my talent?”
“No.” His eyes darkened. “I have driven men to their deaths with my talent.”
She pondered that briefly. “Nevertheless, I am certain that there are any number of men who would be quite appalled by the knowledge that they had just had a … a sexual encounter with a woman who was capable of such an act. I’m sure the notion would induce visions of black widow spiders in your average gentleman.”
“Do I strike you as an average gentleman?”
She smiled. “No, Lucas. You are anything but average. You are the most extraordinary man I have ever met.”
“The only thing that appalls me, Evangeline, is that I have enjoyed only one such sexual encounter with you.” He moved his hand under the water, covering her breast. “I would very much like to have another.”
She was suddenly aware that he was once again fiercely aroused. His erection pressed urgently against her hips. When he turned her in his arms she realized his intention.
“Here?” she asked, both startled and intrigued. “In the pool?”
“Here,” he said. “In the pool.”
“Oh, my. I had no idea that this sort of thing was possible.”
“I did say that I would be only too happy to assist you with your research.”
Twenty
How could it all go so bloody wrong?” Horace Tolliver asked. “All the planning, all the research, all for naught. On top of everything else, the device has been lost.”
But he was talking to himself. He looked down at his taller, older brother who was sprawled on the sweat-soaked sheets. Burton had always been the strong one. Now he was lying at death’s door.