Wolfishly Yours Page 8

  Gray looked skeptical about her comment.

  “I grew up on the docks,” she rushed to inform him.

  “And just what does growing up on the docks entail?” Radbourne challenged.

  Livi suddenly felt discomfited by the tone of this conversation. Jesting about her birthmark was one thing. But asking her to admit to things a proper lady would never do couldn’t possibly be to her advantage. Her grandfather would have an apoplexy at just the idea of mentioning such things. So perhaps…

  A rustle of skirts in the doorway brought Livi out of her musings. “When in doubt, Miss Mayeux, take the high road.” Sophie shot both men a scolding glance. Gray actually flushed beneath her censure. Radbourne, however, tried to pretend she wasn’t in the room. He failed. But he did try. “Do not let men like Lord Radbourne drag you down to their depths.”

  “But it would be your job to lift me up from the depths of disrespectability, Lady Sophia,” Radbourne said with an unrepentant grin. He laid his fingers on the keys again and began to pluck out a Vivaldi tune. “Shall we get to work teaching Miss Mayeux to dance? Something tells me Grayson is anxious to hold her in his arms.”

  And she was anxious to be held. What did that say for her?

  Sophie scoffed. “My lord, if you would be so kind as to let me direct these lessons, I would greatly appreciate it.”

  “Enough to let me leave them all together?” Radbourne suggested as his brow rose expectantly.

  “Would that I could,” she grumbled. “Up, Lord Radbourne. Your mother will play as soon as she joins us here.”

  “I’m perfectly capable of playing, my lady,” he insisted.

  Sophie heaved a sigh as though dealing with the viscount would be the death of her. “And I’m sure you perform beautifully, my lord—”

  “No one has complained thus far, sweet—”

  “However,” Sophie cut him off, her voice suddenly much louder than his, “it will be important for Livi to see each dance demonstrated as well as trying them herself. Therefore I’ll need the talents of both of you gentlemen for this endeavor.”

  “Mother’s back?” Gray asked.

  “Where was she anyway?” Radbourne reluctantly rose from the piano bench.

  Sophie ignored the men and smiled instead at Livi. “We are in luck. Lady Radbourne was successful in her mission this morning with Lady Cowper.”

  Mission? What in the devil was Sophie talking about? Livi had never heard of the woman. “Lady Cowper?” Livi asked.

  Sophie nodded with glee. “Emily Cowper is one of the patronesses of Almack’s. She is quite an important woman in society, with more than a little power and sway. We are fortunate Lady Cowper has always been fond of Madeline Hadley. Everything in life is who you know, Livi.”

  “Or who you were born to be,” Lord Radbourne chimed in.

  “Not necessarily,” Sophie shot back more forcefully than necessary. “You aren’t welcomed into prestigious homes, my lord, despite your title and newfound wealth.”

  “And who says I want to be?” the viscount returned.

  “This isn’t about you, Archer Hadley. This is about Livi. And your mother and her grandfather do want her to enjoy a warm welcome in society.”

  Bon Dieu. Livi’s stomach roiled at the thought. “This was for me?” she squeaked. “Lady Radbourne’s visit to this Lady Cowper?”

  “Livi, you look a little green.” Sophie stepped closer to her, as though to examine her color. She clutched Livi’s hand in hers and squeezed her fingers reassuringly. “Take a deep breath. It’s nothing to fret over. Lady Radbourne simply secured Lady Cowper’s permission for you to waltz tomorrow night.”

  Which did not help Livi’s roiling stomach in the least. She gulped. “Do I have to?”

  A frown marred Sophie’s face. “Well, you should be prepared. There will only be two waltzes at the very most. But you should be able to do so, in case you’re asked. You’re such a beautiful girl, so exotic. I’m certain gentlemen will want to waltz with you, Livi.”

  “I know Gray does,” Radbourne tossed in for good measure.

  Did he? Livi’s eyes shot to Gray who was glaring at his older brother. “Will you mind your own affairs?” he growled.

  “Well, Grayson is out of luck,” Sophie continued. “Lord Radbourne, you’ll partner Miss Mayeux, and Mr. Hadley will assist me in showing her the steps.”

  Lord Radbourne rose from the piano bench and grinned rakishly as he bowed before Livi. “My dear, I have always been the luckiest Hadley brother.”

  “That is the damned truth of it,” Gray grumbled, but Livi heard him just the same.

  “Language, Mr. Hadley,” Sophie admonished. Apparently their tutor had heard him as well.

  ***

  Gray glared at Lady Sophia. She was damned lucky he hadn’t said something much worse. Handing Livi over to Archer, for God’s sake. Gray sighed. He shouldn’t have been surprised. Lady Sophia would never want Archer to partner with her for the sake of demonstration. Insufferable prick that he was, Archer would most likely stomp on her toes out of spite and make a complete nuisance out of himself just to torture her. None of that would help Livi at all.

  But even knowing why Lady Sophia had made the decision she did, Gray still didn’t like it. He wanted nothing more than to take Livi in his own arms and hold her tight. The very thought of Archer being in such close proximity to the enchanting chit was maddening.

  When else would he get the opportunity to hold Livi Mayeux close? It wasn’t as though he could ask her to dance tomorrow evening at the Assembly Room. She was in Bath as a precursor to her first season of husband hunting. And Gray would never make her grandfather’s long list of potential husbands, let alone his short one. The memory of her delicate hand on his chest the evening before had played across his mind more than once during the day. His heart actually constricted at the thought of watching a stream of London dandies whisk her out on the dance floor in their attempts to woo her. “If we attend the musicale tonight, can we be excused from the dancing tomorrow?” he asked.

  Lady Sophia turned her attention on him, staring at him as though he’d grown a second nose. “No, you may not. We are not bartering, Mr. Hadley. Both you and your brother would be wise to accept your situation. You’ll attend the functions I tell you to, and you’ll behave like gentlemen the entire time you’re there.”

  So she was going to force him to watch others pay court to Livi. Bloody wonderful. She’d probably do more than scold him if he were to remove said dandies’ hands for touching Livi. Behave like a gentleman. To what end?

  “Ah, here’s your mother now!” Lady Sophia clapped her hands together. “Lady Radbourne, I think we should start with a waltz. What do you think?”

  Gray’s mother stepped into the music room and nodded with the enthusiasm of a child about to get a sweet. “Wonderful idea, my dear. I think Holmesfield would agree.”

  Holmesfield could go hang. Gray shook his head. What the devil was wrong with him? He didn’t have any reason to be jealous or sullen. Livi was nothing to him… Except that there was something about her he truly enjoyed. Something about her irreverence. There was something freeing in that she was aware of his Lycan heritage and what it meant. Perhaps her Lycan blood just called to him. After all, he didn’t know any other girls with Lycan fathers.

  “Are you all right, Grayson?” Lady Sophia asked, an urgent tone to her voice, shaking him out of his reverie.

  “Why wouldn’t I be?” Gray stood a little straighter.

  “She’s been calling your name for the last two minutes,” Archer replied with a frown. “Now I’m concerned. Are you all right?”

  “Perfectly,” he clipped out. What else could he say? “Let’s get this over with, shall we?”

  Lady Sophia’s blue eyes darkened with annoyance, but she nodded. “Brilliant idea.” Then she turned to Livi. “This is actually a very simple dance, though it’s still considered scandalous in some circles due to the proximity of the dancers t
o each other. There are three beats and you should follow the lead of your partner.” She glanced back at Gray and gestured him forward. “Do you mind, Mr. Hadley?”

  Would it matter either way? Gray heaved a sigh. Things would go easier if he just got on with it. So he stepped toward his tutor, bowed, then placed his right hand on the small of her back. At the moment his mother began to play Weber’s “Invitation to the Dance,” Lady Sophia placed her hand on his upper arm. “You’ll stand like so, Livi. Now Mr. Hadley will take his first step toward me with his left foot and I’ll step back at the same time.”

  On the beat, Gray did exactly that, stepping forward once and then to his right. Excellent partner that she was, Lady Sophia followed effortlessly.

  “You’ll make a quarter turn for each of the three beats, and you’ll essentially move around as though you were in a square, stopping in each corner. So, think of the steps as ‘right foot back, left foot side, right foot stop. Then, left foot back, right foot side, and left foot stop.’”

  “I count to three on the beats,” Archer added. “Count it with the music. One, two, three. One, two, three.”

  Gray grumbled, “I had no idea he could count that high.”

  “Mr. Hadley,” Lady Sophia admonished. “Do behave yourself.”

  She had no idea how well-behaved he was being at the moment. Gray scowled at her. As pretty as Lady Sophia was, he’d rather be in Archer’s shoes. And he wasn’t at all pleased with the fact that his brother was about to sweep Livi into his arms.

  Silently, they continued the steps a few more beats, and then Lady Sophia stepped out of Gray’s reach and turned back to Livi and Archer. “Now it’s your turn. Step into the middle of the room.”

  Gray backed up and leaned against the wall, hoping he gave off an air of nonchalance as Archer placed his hand on Livi’s back. Gray watched her nervously smile up at his brother.

  “I don’t think I have any rhythm,” Livi said.

  But Lady Sophia paid her no attention. “Listen for the beat and follow Lord Radbourne’s lead.”

  Archer stepped forward and Livi stumbled backward, her arms flailing wildly before she fell on her very shapely derriere.

  “What the devil is wrong with you?” Gray boomed before he bounded off the wall at the exact moment his mother rose from the piano bench with a gasp. Gray was hovering over Livi in the blink of an eye, offering his hand to her. “Are you all right, my dear?”

  Her face flushed the color of a tomato, but she took his hand anyway. “Thank you, Gr—Mr. Hadley.”

  Gray glared at his brother. “You’re supposed to be helping her, not sending her crashing to the ground.”

  “How was I to know one step would send her flailing? I’ve never taught anyone to dance before,” Archer returned hotly.

  “Maybe by using your brain,” Gray growled.

  Archer threw up his hands. “I don’t have to put up with this nonsense.” Then he turned his glare on Lady Sophia. “Not from him. Not from you. You want to write a nice little dossier for Eynsford? Be my guest. But I am through with dancing and musicales and soirees and everything else you come up with to torture me.” He started for the corridor in a huff.

  “You are a beast, Lord Radbourne!” Lady Sophia called to his retreating back.

  “Something on which we can finally agree,” he retorted before vanishing from view.

  Nine

  Livi’s mouth fell open in surprise when both Sophie and Lady Radbourne bustled from the room after the viscount. Bon Dieu! What in the world had just happened? “I warned him I didn’t have any rhythm,” she muttered.

  Gray squeezed her hand, the one he was still holding after helping her back to her feet. “It’s not your fault Archer is an arse.”

  Blasted dancing. No wonder Papa had never thought it was worth her learning. If she never danced again, she’d be happy. “It’s not his fault I’m dreadful at this.”

  Gray chuckled, and the warm sound fluttered across her heart. “You’ve taken one step, Livi. I hardly think you can say you’re dreadful.”

  “I wouldn’t even call it a step. I fell flat on my arse, Gray.” She looked up at him, finding his dark eyes twinkling at her.

  “So you did,” he agreed. Then he pulled her into his arms, much closer than Lord Radbourne had done. “You shouldn’t ever let anyone else ever hold you like this.” He took a step forward, making her take a step back. Then he directed her one step to the left, and then he paused a beat before leading her into another step backward. “See,” he said with a grin, “you’re doing beautifully now.”

  She followed his lead, stepping to the right. “I’m dancing?”

  “Who needs music?” He turned her toward the left.

  Apparently no one. Livi stared up at him, and he took her around the music room as though she’d been dancing all her life.

  “I’m holding you closer than I should, but doing so, I can lead more easily. Tomorrow, whichever lucky fellow finds you in his arms will be much farther away than I am. So close your eyes, get a sense of the rhythm of the steps, and you’ll be fine.”

  Obediently, Livi did close her eyes, following his lead with each step. “Lord Radbourne said you wanted to dance with me.”

  “Any man would.”

  “Will you dance with me tomorrow?”

  “I don’t think that will be possible.”

  Livi opened her eyes to look at him. Why not? “Are you not going to the Assembly Room?”

  “Lady Sophia has made it quite clear that I am.”

  He didn’t want to be seen with her in public? Was that it? No matter that it felt as though she was improving in her steps; perhaps she was truly abysmal. “Am I that bad?”

  He chuckled. “Why would you think such a thing?”

  “You don’t want to be seen with me?” she suggested.

  Gray shook his head. “That is hardly it, Livi. It will be better for you, for your chances on the marriage mart if you’re not seen with me.”

  She did stumble then. He caught her with a hand at the small of her back. Her breath hitched at the contact as he pulled her flush against himself. “Are you all right?” he asked, his voice soft and silky, raising gooseflesh on her arms. She shook off the feeling.

  “I’m clumsy as a newborn colt,” she said as she blew at a lock of hair that had fallen across her forehead. Evidently, her hair had taken a tumble when she’d landed on her backside.

  Gray reached up to brush her hair back, loosening his arms from their hold around her as he did so. The heat of him was suddenly replaced by the chill of the room. She shivered lightly as he tucked her hair back with a loose pin. “Cold?” he asked.

  Not very likely. Not with him standing so close. Not with him holding her in his arms. “No,” she said with a heavy sigh.

  “Frustrated?” he asked casually.

  “Quite.” She inhaled deeply, taking in the sandalwood scent of him. She impulsively wanted to bury her nose against his cravat and take him in.

  “I would give my right arm to know what you’re thinking right now,” he said softly as he tipped her chin up. His dark eyes twinkled.

  “I would give my right arm for you not to know what I’m thinking right now,” she breathed.

  His eyes darkened perceptibly as he regarded her from below lowered lids.

  It was a good time for a change of subject. “Will Sophie come back with your brother?” she asked as she stepped back from him. He let her go, looking at her with a half smile, as though he knew what he did to her. He probably did.

  “I highly doubt that Archer will be back. He’s having way too much fun vexing poor Lady Sophia, not to mention Mother.”

  “This is all sport for him, is it not?”

  Gray thought about it for a moment. “I’m sure he didn’t mean to knock you to the floor. He’ll most likely find you to apologize later, but his pride is probably as bruised as your bottom at the moment.”

  “I feel certain you’re not supposed to be
talking about my bottom,” Livi replied as she rubbed at it absently. She hadn’t really landed that hard. But it smarted, none the less.

  “I would volunteer to kiss it and make it better.” He appraised her face much too closely. “But that would be even more inappropriate.”

  Bon Dieu! She could see now why he was known for his scandalous behavior. If he did this with every lady of his acquaintance, he probably had them swooning into a dead faint and landing directly in his arms. Heat crept up her cheeks. She was probably as red as a ripe strawberry. She put her hands on her hips. “If you think me some common tavern wench, Mr. Hadley,” she said, taking great care to use his formal name, “you are sadly mistaken. Do take care with your offensive comments.”

  He grinned unrepentantly at her. “Offensive?” His gaze slid slowly down her body, doing odd things she didn’t understand to her belly. “I highly doubt you found my comment offensive.”

  “Because I’m a hoyden?”

  “Because you enjoyed it.” He stepped closer to her and pulled her back into his arms, his hand on the small of her back. She clutched at the lapels of his jacket. “Hardly tame now, am I?” He untangled her hands from their frantic clutch of his lapels and placed one on his arm.

  Was that what this was about? Her remark about him being tame? “Did I bruise your pride, Gray?”

  His brow shot upward in surprise.

  “It’s just you’re not quite like the other Lycans of my acquaintance.”

  “Shh. Just dance with me, Livi,” he said softly.

  Then he began to move. His leg went forward, his body so close to hers that they moved as one. Her leg went back along with his.

  “Now look at me,” he quietly encouraged. She did. And immediately wished she hadn’t. Something hovered in the depths of his gaze, something hot and unsettling. Something that made a most delicious shiver creep up her spine. His pace quickened as he led her around the floor. He counted silently for her, his lips barely moving as he whispered, “One, two, three. One, two, three. One, two, three…” She couldn’t look away from him. If she did, she would break the spell. She should break the spell, but drat it all, she was dancing. And she was enjoying it. Just a few minutes more couldn’t do any harm, could it?