Free Tempt the Devil by Anna Campbell Page B

that. Instinct still told him her pride, and only her pride, would lead to her downfall. Her fall into his waiting arms, in any case.
    His plan was sly. Manipulative. Marvelous. He almost laughed aloud in jubilation.
    â€œLord Erith?” Her tone was suspicious. “What are you up to?”
    â€œI notice you like to ape the males of the ton.”
    â€œI sometimes find men’s clothes convenient. How far I ‘ape’ my friends is open to argument.”
    â€œSo you’re up for a gentleman’s wager?” He kept his voice casual and his expression merely interested. Thank God he’d always been a killer card player. If she knew just how desperate he was to keep her, she’d run a hundred miles.
    Her eyes sharpened on his face and he almost heard her mind buzzing with questions. “Occasionally.” A spark lit the topaz depths. “I work too hard to throw my money away.”
    He ignored the insult implicit in the hard work description. “Could I interest you in a small bet?”
    She still sounded mistrustful. “I can’t imagine I have anything you want.”
    He arched a disbelieving eyebrow and gave a scornful grunt. “You can’t be that naive.”
    She snapped back, “What could you give me if I win?”
    â€œYou’d like my surrender,” he said brusquely.
    At last their jockeying for the upper hand emerged into the open. Olivia Raines liked to be in charge. Well, so did he. And he always won.
    She didn’t retreat. He knew she wouldn’t. He was right. Pride was the key to her character. “You’d like mine.”
    He smiled with triumph. “Let’s wager on who gives in first.”
    As she sucked in a lungful of air, he tried to ignore how her breasts slid against the fragile barrier of his shirt. Only the strongest exercise of willpower kept him from tumbling her back against the sheets. If he took her while he was so needy, victory would be irrefutably and eternally hers.
    â€œWhy should I care?” She did a fine job of pretending indifference. But a light in the tiger eyes indicated he’d caught her interest.
    â€œBecause if you conquer the world famous rake, the Earl of Erith, your reputation as Europe’s greatest courtesan is assured.”
    She gave another smothered laugh. God, he was in a badway if the mere sound of her laughter made him edgy with arousal. “You don’t hide your light under a bushel.”
    â€œLights are for shining.”
    â€œLord Erith, you mistake my level of involvement.”
    â€œIf you leave now, the world will think I was too much man for you to master. What a pathetic debacle for the notorious, the superb, the all-conquering Olivia Raines I heard so much about when I arrived in London.”
    She still sounded like she didn’t care, but he caught a glint of curiosity in her lustrous eyes as she looked up at him where he stood near the bed. “So what do you suggest instead, my lord?”
    â€œGive me a month. If I can’t bring you to pleasure in that time, I publicly go on my knees to you and proclaim you as the only woman who ever got the better of me.”
    She tilted one smooth eyebrow. “Got the better of you?”
    â€œWe can argue terms later. If you win, you can leave and keep any spoils that would have been yours if you’d stayed until July.”
    â€œAnd if you win?”
    â€œYou admit your defeat to me and stay as my willing lover until I leave for Vienna.”
    She smiled. A real smile like the one she’d given him in the library last night. Its warmth heated him like a stream of fire. “You don’t believe there’s the remotest chance you’ll lose, do you?”
    â€œJust as you’re sure of your bastion, my lady. What point wagering on a sure thing?” He took a deep breath. His gut clenched as he recognized, for all his cunning, he might not have swayed her. “Do we have an