Lord Lucifer Read online

  Aaron gave a short nod, but he didn’t speak, as he was more interested in sawing off a piece of bread than objecting to a party.

  “Then it’s settled?” Lucas asked. “Can you manage the invitations? I am working two jobs right now and haven’t managed a full night’s sleep in a week. Plus, I don’t know the best people to invite, though I do have a few names I’d like to put forward.”

  “Two jobs?” Aaron said, his voice low.

  Lucas blew out a breath. “I’m not ready to come out of hiding yet. I don’t want my family to know I’m alive.”

  “Whyever not?” Jackson said as he drained his brandy glass. “By all accounts, your brother is a genius with the land. Your coffers are overflowing.”

  He grunted. “They’re my father’s coffers made full by my brother’s sweat. What right do I have to those funds?”

  “The right of progenitor,” Aaron said. “You’re the heir. It’s irresponsible of you to hide away like this. And cruel to Nathan.”

  Lucas thought it might be crueler to come out of hiding. His brother was much better suited to bear the title than he was, and, as far as he could tell, every single one of his family was happier with him dead, himself included.

  “You must reveal yourself,” Aaron said. “At least to your family.”

  “No.”

  “Lucas—”

  “I’ll pay for everything,” Lucas interrupted. He had enough money saved up. “But I can’t host it. There would be too much attention on me. And I can’t put together the right guest list the way you can, Aaron. And I can’t make it popular among the right people the way Jackson can. And I certainly can’t get invitations written and sent while working night and day.” He blew out a breath. “I’ve taken a big risk coming to see you tonight. Please, for our old friendship, can you not find a way to help me?”

  “Of course, we’ll help,” Jackson said.

  “And I’ll pay my fair share,” Aaron snapped. “But that’s not the point.”

  Lucas grabbed a hunk of cheese. “What is the point?” he asked before biting hard into the cheese.

  “The point is I won’t help you hide from your family.”

  Jackson snorted loudly. “He doesn’t need your help to hide. He needs it to get a lady.” Then he waggled his eyebrows at Lucas. “I’m right, aren’t I? Who’s the woman at the center of this?”

  Lucas tore off some bread and matched the last of his cheese with it. After he’d eaten and swallowed, he spoke in a casual tone, though he doubted either man was fooled. “I should like you to invite Lady Dunnamore and her two sisters.”

  Aaron refilled his brandy glass. “Lord Byrn’s sisters?”

  “Yes.”

  Jackson chuckled. “Does Elliott know you’re planning to seduce his married sister at a masquerade?”

  Trust Jackson to sort out the truth. “I’m not going to seduce her!” he snapped. “I’m just going to give her a spot of fun.”

  “Exactly what I said—”

  “I need her to think kindly toward me. She’s in trouble, and I can’t protect her unless she ceases to fight me at every turn.” He lifted his head and pinned his friends with his heavy stare. “Will you help me?”

  Jackson laughed. “Will I host a scandalous party that you pay for? I believe I can bestir myself to make such an effort.”

  That, he already knew. But the party wouldn’t work unless it had the stamp of someone completely respectable, like Aaron.

  The man took his time, but in the end, he nodded. “I will do it—”

  “Excellent—”

  “On the condition that you host as well.”

  Lucas’s head jerked up. “What? I can’t host it.”

  “Pick a name. Something sinister.”

  Lucas groaned. “I’m called Lucifer at Diana’s house.”

  “The devil you say,” joked Jackson. He’d always been good at puns.

  “But hosting a party defeats the whole purpose. I will not reveal myself.”

  Aaron leaned back in his seat. “You shall be the mystery that gets everyone to attend. They’ll figure out quick enough that Sayres is Satyr, and I am Ares. If we’re to get the right people to come, I’ll have to tell them who we are.”

  Jackson nodded. “The smart ones will figure it out.”

  “And we’ll invite your family—”

  “You will not!”

  “Your brother then. Nathan always loved you.”

  It was true. His younger brother had adored him almost as much as Lucas had cherished his tag-a-long sibling. Nathan was the one family member he missed.

  “You must tell him you’re alive,” Aaron pressed.

  “I will,” he said. “In my own way, and on my own time.”

  “On the night of the masquerade.”

  Lucas shook his head. “If I’m the big mystery, then everyone will try to expose me. I won’t be able to talk with Diana at all.”

  Jackson shook his head. “You’ll have a better chance speaking with her as the host of the party than as some random bloke wearing black. We’ll each pick a lady for the opening dance. You can select her.”

  “It’s the only way I’ll agree,” Aaron said.

  Lucas blew out a breath. “You’re just trying to expose me to the ton. You think that someone, somehow, will figure out who I am.”

  Aaron grinned. “You always enjoyed a challenge. Surely this will make for exciting sport.”

  “I didn’t intend it to be sport for me. Just for Diana.”

  Jackson clapped his hands. “Now, it’ll be sport for you both!”

  Chapter Six

  Diana settled into the boat that would take them to Vauxhall. She kept her expression serene, but inside, her heart was pounding with excitement. It was ridiculous, really. It was just a masquerade party, but she was here with her siblings, and it felt like a treat that had been so long denied. Even Gwen’s grumbling as she maneuvered to her seat gave Diana a happy glow.

  “I don’t see why you need me here tonight,” Gwen said as she adjusted the dark brown of her dress. “I have a new botany book that is waiting for me at the house. If I took a hackney now, I could be happily reading within a half-hour.” Gwen was dressed as a dog tonight, complete with a canine mask. Diana was sure that her sister had a very specific breed in mind for the animal—with some heavy symbolism attached—but she didn’t dare ask about it. The answer would devolve into a lecture on the poor lot of women in this world. Since Diana already agreed with the statement, she had no wish to revisit the litany of abuses set upon the fairer sex.

  “Because no outing would be complete without you,” Diana answered, carefully avoiding the topic of her sister’s choice in costume.

  “Yes,” agreed Lilah as she settled down beside Gwen. “So stop talking about leaving. If you go, then as your companion, I shall have to leave as well. And I have been so looking forward to this treat.”

  Lilah was dressed simply but to great effect as a lilac fairy. Her dress was green, she was just now tying on her lavender mask, and sprigs of lilac adorned her hair and bodice. On anyone else, it would have looked silly, but Lilah carried herself with such quiet elegance that she never looked ridiculous, ever. It was a quality Diana envied.

  Last into the boat came her brother, Elliott, and his new wife, Amber. She wore a simple domino and mask of bright red, but the feathers in her hair suggested she was some sort of bird. And Elliott, Diana was happy to see, was not in all black as was his usual custom. His mask sported red feathers, and he pulled at them irritably.

  “Stop fussing with them,” Amber instructed her husband. “They look quite fetching.”

  “I do not wear feathers,” he groused, but the smile he bestowed on his wife was tender and indulgent.

  “I am, as always, grateful for your attempts to expand your attire.” The words could have been cutting, but they were said with such love and humor that Diana felt a twinge of envy. Especially as Elliott caressed his bride’s face.

 
; “Will you reward me for suffering these damnable feathers?”

  Amber’s expression grew mischievous. “I shall indeed.”

  “Then, I am content.”

  He was besotted, and Diana was so pleased that her brother had found happiness. She looked away to give them some privacy only to see both her sisters watching the pair as well. Gwen frowned as she studied them as she might a strange plant, for botany was her passion. Lilah, on the other hand, seemed to lean forward with such unguarded yearning that Diana was surprised. How sad that the sister most unlikely to find a husband was the one who so obviously wanted it.

  On impulse, Diana leaned forward and clasped her hand. “It is possible for you, too,” she whispered.

  Lilah started and immediately ducked her head to cover her embarrassment.

  “All creatures yearn for love,” Diana continued. “I do not believe God would give us such desires if it were not possible to find it. We only need the courage to reach for it and accept no substitute.”

  Her attention had been on Lilah, but she saw Gwen’s frown at her words. The woman was about to chastise her for her romantic notions, and she tensed to defend her thoughts. Instead, Gwen added her hand on top of Diana’s. “It should have been me,” Gwen said to Diana. “I haven’t a romantic bone in my body. I would have been content in a loveless marriage.”

  “You marry Oscar instead of me?” Diana said. “You were fifteen.”

  “I wouldn’t have cared. Give me my books, and I would have been exceedingly content.”

  “As am I,” Diana said. It wasn’t a full lie. She had found her own kind of equilibrium inside her marriage. “Come now, we are here for a party, one that I have been looking forward to for three long weeks.”

  Everyone seemed to agree, even Gwen, and soon Diana was settling into the joy of a night out. She hadn’t realized how much she had missed until they were stepping into the pleasure gardens. Elliott found them seats in a box near the orchestra, and the five of them settled in with minimal fuss.

  “Look! There’s Lord Ares!” Lilah said, pointing to the box opposite them where a large man in a Roman outfit sat on a throne befitting a warrior god.

  “Lord Satyr’s over there,” Gwen said as she pointed to a man wearing trousers meant to resemble a goat’s legs, and instead of a mask, he wore a headpiece with goat horns. He was right now dancing with a jolly flair that made everyone clap, Diana included.

  “But where is Lord Lucifer?” Amber asked as she scanned the crowd.

  Diana didn’t want to look. She already had one Lucifer in her life; she had little interest in adding another. But the fun was infectious, and she couldn’t help herself. Eventually, Elliott spotted the man and pointed him out to everyone else. Lord Lucifer stood near the orchestra with his arms crossed and his face covered entirely by a black mask. His clothing was equally black, as were the bat-like wings that extended behind him. As Diana studied him, she saw a pair of ladies approach him and try to engage him in conversation. He must have said something rude as they gasped, then backed away with scandalized giggles.

  “No one knows who he is,” Diana said.

  Even she had heard the gossip regarding the three hosts of the party. The other two were generally understood to be Lord Kittrell and Lord Sayres, but Lucifer was the mystery that had spawned enough gossip to intrigue even Gwen, who stared hard at the man. But it was Diana who abruptly gasped as Lucifer flicked his wrist at someone in a gesture she recognized well. It was a tiny movement, as crisp as it was restrained, and yet it carried such a note of command that it could not be anyone but the very same Lucifer who plagued her household.

  Good God, what was he doing here? Could she not escape her home for one night without its unnerving aspects following her here as if to stalk her. Because at that very moment, Lucifer looked across the grass to stare long and hard at her.

  She drew back. She was in the company of her family. Surely he wouldn’t…

  “He’s coming over,” Amber whispered. “Do you think he means to talk with us?”

  Of course, he did. After all, Diana had taken extra pains to see that she never crossed paths with him in her own home. Naturally, he would plague her on the one night she truly escaped. So Diana took pains to look elsewhere, most specifically at the dance floor. If someone asked her to partner with him, she would immediately agree. But no one presented themselves, and so she stood stiffly by as Lord Lucifer approached the box.

  “Good evening, beauties and sir,” he intoned.

  That was definitely Lucas. She would recognize his voice anywhere.

  “Good evening, Lord Lucifer,” Amber responded. “Do you come to tempt us to sin?”

  “Most definitely.” He turned and looked straight at Diana. “What of you, my lady? Would you indulge the devil with a dance? I would allow you to flit about me to your heart’s content.”

  Diana’s gown was themed as a butterfly, the dress expertly dyed, and the mask fitted with wings of blue and black. “I am afraid I am not a lady to be tempted by sin, my lord,” she said darkly.

  “Oh, go on,” Gwen said as she dug her thumb into Diana’s thigh. “You love dancing. And as we are here specifically for fun, then you cannot decline.”

  Beside her, Lilah agreed with a daring smile. “If you will dance, then I shall dare to find a partner myself.”

  “Perhaps you and Lord Lucifer—” Diana began, but Lilah cut her off.

  “No! I shall find my own gentleman. Come along, Gwen, let us go hunting for dance partners.”

  Odd to see Lilah so forceful, but it was a welcome change. And as the two ladies departed, Elliott asked his wife for her hand, and that left nothing for Diana to do but accept the inevitable.

  “Very well, Mr. Lucifer,” she said. “I see, I have no excuse.”

  If he noticed she had called him by his name in her household, then he did not react. Instead, he gestured to their now empty box. “If you prefer to sit here, we could talk—”

  “Definitely not.” In truth, the music was calling to her. She wanted to be on her feet. It would help her work off the disquiet she felt whenever he was near. She stood as calmly as possible and even took his hand to allow his escort.

  “I mean no insult, Diana,” Lucas said. “I merely wanted you to have an evening’s fun.”

  She turned to look at him, her heart lurching. “Surely, you did not arrange for this whole evening merely for me.”

  “I did.”

  She stared at him a moment. Her gaze swept across the park as she calculated the cost of a party like this, even if it were split with the other two lords. The amount was staggering. Unless…

  She blew out a breath. “You have made up with your family then.” Accessing his estate funds was the only way he could have had the money for this. “I am so pleased. They should know that you live.”

  “They do not.” Three words, spoken with implacable coldness, as he pulled her into the opening stance.

  She faced him, her mind scrambling. “But Lucas, your family deserves—”

  “I am Lord Lucifer, madam,” he said sternly. “The great deceiver. Do not think you know the purpose of my actions.”

  That was rubbish, every bit of it. “You are merely being dramatic, as you are wont to do,” she said. But even as she frowned sternly at him, her insides were twisting with a warmth she couldn’t deny. “Did you really arrange all this—”

  “For you. Yes.”

  “But how did you manage it?” she asked. “It must have cost the Earth.”

  “And the sun and the moon,” he said. “All for you.”

  With a gesture at the orchestra, there was a loud clang as if to announce the opening of the masquerade. In truth, they’d been playing for a bit, but suddenly, everyone separated as Lucifer led her onto the dance floor. And—to her shock—Gwen and Lilah came as well, partnered with Lord Satyr and Lord Ares, respectively. It was a stirring moment as Lord Satyr made some opening remarks—a plea for everyone to enjoy thems
elves to the fullest—and then the three couples began their dance. Other couples quickly followed, but Diana had never opened a ball before, and this was a marvelous experience.

  There was no more talking, per se, but certainly touching of hands, moving of feet, and shoulders. Their eyes met and held when it was appropriate, and even when it was not. Diana couldn’t believe such extravagance, and yet wasn’t he the one who had climbed her wall in a rainstorm, then tumbled at her feet just to beg for her hand in marriage? Lucas was a man of extreme passions. Or rather, he had been twelve years ago. It was certainly in character for him to arrange an entire masquerade party for her.

  But really…just for her?

  The idea kept tickling her insides and made her smile in the most embarrassing way. Her cheeks flushed, and not from the exertion of the dance. And when they came together as the steps proscribed, she allowed him to pull her a little too close and touch her a little too long. This was a masquerade, after all, and she could be forgiven for a bit of fun. There were no society matrons here to judge the distance between couples, and several pairs were already far closer than propriety allowed.

  Lucas did not speak to her, nor she to him. Everything was done by way of their bodies. When he held her hand, his smallest finger slipped beneath to caress her palm. When he was meant to swing her around, he squeezed her tightly and put more effort into pulling her close than in drawing her around. But all of that paled in comparison to his gaze. Hot, dark, and so appropriate to his Lucifer moniker. His eyes smoldered when she met his gaze. Unwavering, unnerving, and so delicious to have his attention riveted upon her.

  By the end of the dance, her heart beat much too fast, and her lips felt parched as she wet them with her tongue.

  His gaze fell to her mouth, and she remembered the way he had kissed her that night before her wedding. The way his tongue had invaded her mouth and their bodies had pressed together with a desperation that nearly swept them both away.

  Sometimes—like now—she wished she hadn’t stopped him. At least she would have known one night of true passion. One night unchained from responsibility. One night with a man she desired and who made her think of nothing but their two bodies becoming one.