Dangerous Gifts by Mary Jo Putney Page A

another choice, Lord Ranulph. Whatever it is, it cannot be as evil as what you have already suggested.”
    He smiled at her, as splendid and amoral as a wild beast. “Your last choice is not evil at all. Such a simple thing.”
    She laced her trembling hands together. “Don’t play with me, my lord,” she said tightly. “Just tell me what you want.”
    “A simple thing,” he repeated. “But, I think, the highest price of all. If you decline the other choices, it will cost you your beauty.”

Chapter Seven
    Leah stared at Ranulph, her eyes wide and shaken. “My beauty?”
    He winced inwardly at her distress, but it was necessary. He’d set the order of the choices deliberately, knowing that her first reaction to leaving her own kind would be refusal. Only after hearing all the choices would she take his proposal seriously.
    Careful to keep all sympathy from his voice, he said coolly, “Don’t play the fool, Leah. Refuse me, and you’ll become again the plain creature you were before. Dull and colorless, almost invisible. Most people will not really understand the change, though anyone who saw you during your London triumphs will be unable to remember why he thought you such a great beauty then.”
    His voice dropped. “But your suitor will remember. He’ll look at you with shock and revulsion. How many times did Captain Townley praise your beauty? How often did he murmur in your ear about your loveliness? When your beauty vanishes, so will his love. You will live the rest of your life alone and despised.”
    He gave a bored shrug. “I suppose that since masculine honor is involved, you may be able to hold him to the betrothal. In that case, you will have the pleasure of living with a man who despises you for deceiving him.”
    Her eyes, an emerald mirror of his own, filled with tears until she closed them. Her exquisitely expressive face revealed that she was imagining exactly what Ranulph had described: rejection by her lover, a return to her empty existence.
    Judging it time to change his tactics, he said softly, “Now do you understand why I said that becoming my consort was the best choice? Come with me and I shall give you passion and beauty beyond your wildest imaginings. Great caves shimmering with secret jewels. Forests with a majesty that would humble the greatest human cathedral. We’ll ride the wind and sing the seas, and you shall never regret your decision.”
    Confident that the web of words he’d spun would change Leah’s mind, he stepped forward and took her hand between both of his. Goddess, but she was lovely. He felt himself hardening with desire. Passion would sweep away the last of her doubts.
    He drew her into a kiss. Her mouth was soft, her scent as fresh as spring flowers. He used all his erotic skills, he focused all his desire, weaving an enchantment that would leave her begging for more.
    But it didn’t work. She tore herself away, wiping her mouth with the back of her hand in revulsion. “Do you think I could ever prefer your touch to that of Duncan?” She lifted her harp and clutched it like a talisman against harm. “Perhaps you can cloud my mind with magic, but I will never be your whore voluntarily.”
    He stared at her, shocked that she could resist his sensual spell. Who would have thought that she had such strength? He produced his magic mirror with a snap of his fingers and held it up as a reminder of what she had looked like. Ruthlessly he used an image of her at her worst, with her eyes swollen and her nose pink from crying. “Is this what you choose?” he said cruelly. “Or will it be your lover’s heart?”
    She paled at the image in the mirror, but said resolutely, “Return me to what I was, Lord Ranulph. I was plain all of my life. I . . . I can learn to be plain again.”
    “You don’t know what you’re saying!” he exclaimed, incredulous. “It was bad enough to have no looks before, but now you have known the delights of beauty. The adoration, the