Dex planned to place kisses where those sapphires lay, to peel off that spectacular gown and plunder her most intimate secrets. He’d take his time, learn the places that made her body sing. It would be a delightful game, the most diverting of treasure hunts.
He stepped into the room with his jauntiest swagger, kissed Lady Fortrose’s fingertips with a flourish and then Comtesse de Villiers’s, offered both ladies extravagant compliments, bowed to Baron Zhivot and offered him a fulsome compliment, too.
The baron gave a great guffaw, the comtesse twinkled at him, and Eloïse Fortrose looked as if she didn’t know whether to laugh or roll her eyes, pursing her lips in a way that almost brought dimples to her cheeks, making her look less like a sea nymph and more like a mortal.
As he sat, Dex r
