Taming the Rake Read online

With the first few notes, Gina forgot her disquiet. The magic of the music took over, and the power of song filled her voice.

  Hell and damnation, would the torment never end? Coventry felt like something had struck him square in the chest.

  She sings like an angel.

  If he’d thought to unbalance her, to make her feel uneasy by foisting an unexpected performance upon her, he’d failed. Miserably.

  It was he who was unbalanced.

  First at dinner when he’d caught Rockingham—or Rock as his close friends called him—gazing too persistently at her revealing décolletage, he’d felt the unmistakable rage of the green-eyed monster and now, hearing her sing. The beauty of her voice nearly felled him. Watching her face increasingly enraptured by the music, he thought he’d never seen anything more lovely. And innocent. Beautiful, kind, intelligent, and accomplished, Lady Georgina was everything that he’d dreamed of… once.

  But not any longer.

  Angels, he knew, did not exist.

  Her voice belied his thoughts, rising with each octave as clear and pure as the song of a bird soaring through the heavens. He didn’t want to look at her, but he found himself unable to look away. She was simply too beautiful.

  No matter how much he yearned to take her into his arms and succumb to the passion that he knew they’d share, he wouldn’t. If he were another man, he might be tempted. But he’d learned long ago how to shut out his desires, how to close off the part of him that made him vulnerable. Disappointment and betrayal had made him stronger. He’d become invincible, no longer susceptible to the siren call of a beautiful woman.

  His harlot of a wife had shown him the danger in that.

  Comparing his wife to Lady Georgina sounded disingenuous, even to his own jaded ears. No matter. Even if Lady Georgina was not like Serena, he was not the man for her. She deserved more than a debauched rake. He was not proud of the man he’d become, but neither was he ashamed. He was simply who he was. A man who’d learned to take his pleasure where he could find it, and not be beholden to anyone. Life was far simpler that way.

  Though perhaps not as simple as he thought, remembering Lady Georgina’s suspicions about Simone.

  In truth, nothing had been simple since Lady Georgina had forcefully interjected herself into his life. The question was how to rid himself of the unwelcome complication? Clearly he’d failed to intimidate her with anger and disdain, or she wouldn’t be here disrupting his party, with his extremely proper and decorous Aunt Eudora, no less.

  All of his elaborate plans for naught. The cyprians had been turned back to London and the bacchanalian feast had transformed into a hopelessly conventional light supper and musicale. Fortunately, his Hellfire guests had been surprisingly accommodating.

  Which gave him an idea.

  What if he were just as accommodating?

  He might not be able to rid himself of his uninvited guests, but he could make her victory not nearly as sweet by acting the perfect gentleman—assuming he could remember how, that is. If Lady Georgina thought to make him the subject of one big week-long reprimand from his aunt, she would be very disappointed.

  It wasn’t just spite that drove him to such extremes. Perhaps if he could convince her of his reform, she would halt her determined pursuit and move on to another poor sod.

  And Coventry could return to the haven of his clubs and whores, finding peace in the familiar emptiness.

  When the applause had died down, Gina glanced up to find Coventry at her side. If she hoped to impress him, she was disappointed. He wore the same indifferent, controlled expression as he always did.

  But his words gave her hope.

  “Tell me, Lady Georgina, is there nothing you can’t do?”

  He’d said it sardonically, but the backhanded compliment pleased her nonetheless. He had admired her voice. She grinned mischievously. “Not that I can think of, but I’ll be sure to let you know if I do.”

  Her pert reply brought a smile to his lips. The sudden flash of white teeth and unexpected appearance of two dimples nearly shocked her senseless. A small gasp slipped out between her gently parted lips. Smiling, his face had transformed from handsome to breathtaking. A shiver of awareness spread over her, crawling along her prickled skin. He could capture her heart with that smile.

  And break it when it turned, as it inevitably would.

  “You don’t smile enough.” She spoke her thoughts aloud.

  Self-conscious, the smile slipped and he shrugged. “I never learned.”

  He’d meant it to sound flippant, but Gina realized that it was also the truth. The candid remark revealed so much. Indeed, it might be the most personal thing he’d ever shared with her. His words recalled the vulnerable youth, not the hardened man. Her heart went out to him.

  Perhaps it would be better if he didn’t smile after all. Cold, he was easier to resist. Honest, he was dangerous. Smiling, he was lethal.

  Still, she couldn’t stop from probing. “Did you have nothing to smile about at all?”

  He thought for a moment. “Occasionally. My sisters. The dogs.”

  “But it wasn’t enough?”

  “No,” he admitted. “It wasn’t.”

  Gina understood that he’d wanted what she’d always taken for granted: the love of his parents.

  She’d lost her mother when she was young, but not too young to remember her love and cherish it. Her father’s love had always been there, like a fiery beacon on a stormy night, lighting her way through the perilous twists and turns of childhood.

  From what Gina had learned from Augusta about their father and from what she’d observed on her own of his mother, Coventry had never held his parents love. What would it be like to grow up without parents who loved and protected you?

  A twinge of compassion twisted in her chest. It would be horrible.

  She put her hand on his arm. “I’m sorry.”

  She’d expected him to shrug it off, but instead he stared at the pink satin glove resting against the dark blue of his coat as if it were the most peculiar thing in the world.

  Had no one ever offered him comfort? Gina felt an overwhelming urge to wrap her arms around his shoulders and squeeze him until he acknowledged that he felt her. That he was indeed capable of feeling at all.

  Standing there looking at this cold, hard man who projected such indifference, Gina wondered if perhaps aloofness was the armor he wore to protect himself. By holding himself apart from his sisters, from true involvement with a woman, and from society, he did not risk rejection. Or disappointment.

  The twinge in her heart began to soften and a warmth of understanding spread over her. Gina was treading on a dangerous path. It would be too easy to forget the wager, and why she was here.

  God help her, she hoped she hadn’t developed a tendre for him.

  Clearly uncomfortable with how much he’d revealed, Coventry led her from the music room and back into the front reception room, where they’d gathered before supper. Lady Augusta, Mrs. Persimmons, Lord Ashley, and Mr. Carrington were setting up for a game of whist. Beaufort, Lord Rockingham, and Mr. Dashwood had settled with their port before the fire. Gina took a seat on the proffered divan, while Coventry went to fetch some refreshment.

  She was glad for the break. It gave her a moment to compose herself, putting aside all thoughts of an emotional attachment to a man who would only make her miserable. A man she pursued only to teach him a lesson.

  Expecting him to join his friends in their drink, Gina was pleasantly surprised when instead he took the seat next to her. They sat for a moment in uneasy silence before Gina offered, “It’s been a lovely evening.” It wasn’t just a polite observation; Gina truly had enjoyed herself tonight.

  When he didn’t answer right away, she felt a tug of conscience for ruining his plans—sordid or not. “I’m sure it wasn’t exactly what you had planned, but is this really so horrible?”

  He took a sip of brandy and watched her over the rim of the glass. Gina took his