Read Online A Week to Be Wicked by Tessa Dare - Free Book Online

lizard.”
    “Precisely.” Even in the dark, her eyes gleamed with excitement. “Don’t you see? Mr. James Parkinson has published three volumes of fossil plates, from vegetables to vertebrates. He’s documented dozens of larger animals, including an ancient alligator and a primeval elephant. But this footprint doesn’t meet any description found in his volumes. This is evidence of an entirely new creature, unknown to modern science until now. A giant prehistoric lizard.”
    Colin blinked. “Well. That is most . . . remarkable.”
    A giant prehistoric lizard. This was the great scientific discovery that was guaranteed to win five hundred guineas. She wanted to travel all the way to Edinburgh to argue the existence of dragons. No scientists in their right minds would award a prize for that.
    “This footprint,” she said excitedly, “changes everything. Everything .”
    He could only stare at her.
    “Don’t you see?” she asked.
    “Not . . . really.”
    Unable to take the closeness any longer, he made his way back to the larger mouth of the cavern. He sat near the shelf’s edge. Black water lapped at his fingertips.
    He looked up. “Is there some other way out of here?”
    Dropping to sit across from him, she exhaled. “I should have known this wouldn’t work. You’re right, the whole elopement business was a stupid idea. I thought maybe if you had a chance to see it, you’d understand the implications. And you’d see how certain you are to take home five hundred guineas. But apparently, you’re incapable of grasping the scientific significance.”
    He made a conscious decision to let the insult slide. “Apparently I am.”
    “Not to mention, I expected you’d contribute something to the journey other than snide commentary. But I see I was wrong on that score, too.”
    “How do you mean?
    “You know. Brawn, if not brains. Protection. Strength. But after that situation with the tunnel . . . I can’t be dragging you kicking and flailing all the way to Scotland.”
    “Now wait just a moment,” he interrupted. He cleared his throat and lowered his voice a half octave. “I have strength of all sorts in abundance. I box. I fence. I ride. I shoot. I am the first lieutenant of a small yet plucky militia. I’m certain I could bodily lift this giant lizard of yours and toss him off the nearest balcony. I just don’t have any patience for underwater tunnels.”
    “Or caves.” To his offended silence, she replied, “Don’t deny it. I can tell how hard you’re breathing.”
    “I’m not—”
    “For heaven’s sake. You’re fogging my spectacles from here. Do you have a fear of small spaces?”
    “Not a fear of them,” he said.
    Her silence communicated skepticism.
    He muttered, “A dislike. I dislike small, dark spaces.”
    “You should have mentioned this before we entered a cave.”
    “Well, you didn’t give me much opportunity.”
    “Shall we go back out the way we came?”
    “No.” In this larger chamber, with the benefit of candles, the cave wasn’t so bad. But he was not swimming through that tomb of a tunnel again. “You say the entrance is above water at low tide? Then I’ll wait for low tide.”
    “That could be hours. People will wonder what’s become of us.”
    He marveled at the “us” in that sentence—that it hadn’t even occurred to her she might swim back and leave him there alone. He’d noticed this about her, over the months. She couldn’t even contemplate the idea of disloyalty. Which was why she so disdained him , he supposed.
    She pinched the bridge of her nose. “Oh dear. We’ll have to go to Scotland now. If anyone notices we’ve disappeared together this morning . . . if anyone saw us kiss last night . . . if your lover decides to gossip . . .” She lowered her hand. “Separately, those things might go unobserved, but all three of them? In all likelihood, I’m already ruined.”
    “That’s an extreme conclusion,” he said, ignoring that