Mistress - Amanda Quick [66]
Iphiginia heaved a small sigh of regret over the news that Pettigrew had been removed from the list of suspects. She surveyed the graceful, airy antiquity. Moonlight cascaded down through the open roof, lending an enchanting, mystical quality to the ruin that had not been present earlier in the day.
“Not bad, actually,” she said judiciously. “It conveys the lightness of feeling that one encounters in the original. You will note the fine proportions of the columns. The circle in which they are constructed is quite precise in measurement.”
“Indeed.”
Iphiginia realized that Marcus was looking at her, not at the temple. His eyes gleamed in the shadows. Something in his low, deep voice turned her insides to warm pudding.
She took a breath and tried to sound suitably casual and erudite. “One can almost imagine the Vestal Virgins tending the sacred flame within such a classical setting.”
“Your imagination is considerably more vivid than mine.” Marcus led her between two of the tall stone columns. He drew her to a halt in the center of the round floor and stood gazing about with amused interest. “I cannot seem to conjure up any virgins here, but I find the setting inspiring nonetheless.”
Iphiginia felt her mouth go dry. “Do you?”
“Yes.” He framed her face with his strong hands. “The name Lady Starlight suits you, Iphiginia. You were born to walk in starlight.”
She shivered. I was born to love you, she thought. A haunting sadness swept through her. She would very likely never be able to say those words aloud to him because he would not want to hear them.
“Have you enjoyed playing my mistress, Iphiginia?”
“Oh, yes. Enormously. As your paramour, I am considered absolutely riveting by all and sundry. In truth, I shall be a bit sorry when the whole thing is over.”
“Will you?”
“Well, not entirely,” she confessed. “The thing is, it would be a great nuisance to be the focus of so many eyes all of the time. But I must admit that it has been something of a grand adventure — Almost as exciting as my recent journey to Italy.”
Marcus’s brows rose. “Almost as exciting? I am devastated to hear that being my mistress has not been quite as entrancing as your tour of antiquities.”
Iphiginia was horrified at the realization that she might have insulted him. “I did not mean to offend you, my lord. In truth, I have found playing the part of your mistress vastly interesting.”
“But not quite as interesting as, say, touring the ruins of Pompeii?”
“Well, Pompeii is Pompeii, after all, my lord,” she chided gently. “Few things on the face of the earth can compare with that.”
“No, I suppose not. But allow me to try to add some additional excitement to your current adventure.”
His mouth closed over hers. Iphiginia did not know whether it was the moonlight or the heat from Marcus’s body that set her senses on fire.
TEN
THIS WAS THE RIGHT PLACE, THE RIGHT TIME, THE RIGHT man.
Iphiginia was utterly lost in the glorious wonder of that realization. It was as though everything she had done since she had cast off the shackles of her quiet, proscribed life in Deepford last year had been done in preparation for this moment.
She was free. Free of her obligations to her sister, free of the suffocating rules of her small village, free from the beady, prying eyes of disapproving neighbors.
During the past year she had come into her own and now she was truly free to love for the first time in her life.
She must seize the moment, she thought. She would worry about the consequences later.
This was the grandest adventure of all, one she had begun to fear that she would never have an opportunity to experience.
She stood on tiptoe and wrapped her arms tightly around Marcus’s neck.
A shudder went through him. He gave a low, rasping sound and deepened his kiss. He gripped her fiercely, holding her still while he explored her mouth.
Iphiginia sighed softly and leaned closer, her senses thrilling to his warmth and strength.