An Invitation to Pleasure Read Online Free Page A

‘Nemesis? What are you talking about?’
    ‘You were right. I had no thought at all for you—all I cared about was getting at Mountjoy. I didn’t think of the damage I was doing to you, the hurt I was inflicting on you. It didn’t occur to me, you see, that you might have feelings for the man.’
    His remorse startled her, but his misplaced pity was insulting. ‘Fergus, my marriage to Jason was a mistake, but it was mine to make, and…’
    It has been the making of me, is what she intended to say, but he interrupted her. ‘Let us not talk of the past. It is done, I cannot undo it, much as I would wish, but I can make it up to you, Susanna.’
    Now he was smiling again, but there was something not quite right about that smile. It made her edgy. His determination to take responsibility for her was really quite annoying, especially since one of the reasons she had come here was to show him how very able she now was to take care of herself. She tried to free herself, but his grip on her tightened. She was not in the least bit frightened, but she was perturbed by the fervent light in his eyes. ‘Fergus, you have nothing to make up for.’
    But Fergus seemed bent on a speech which sounded bizarrely well-rehearsed. ‘I’m no Adonis, but I’m sound in body and in mind, too. Now. The title I hold is an old one, and the lands extensive, though they have been sadly neglected. As for Castle Kilmun, the roof is watertight, and it was Robert Adam himself who designed the main rooms, though they lack a woman’s touch, for my cousin never married. In fact, the lack of a woman—the lack of a Lady Kilmun, more precisely—is something I’m under great pressure to address, wish to address, I mean. I never thought to inherit these lands, but I intend to do my best by them and the people, so I need a wife and bairns. My conscience is in your debt. And what’s more, you’re in need of a home. Our marriage solves all of that. It’s the perfect solution. Absolutely perfect.’
    Fergus beamed. Susanna’s jaw dropped. If he had not been so patently sincere, if there had been one scrap in her make-up of the pathetic relic that he seemed to imagine her, she would have been furious. Instead she was…she was…she didn’t quite know what she was. Bewildered, confused, amused, flattered? Endeared, maybe. But tempted? Not one whit of it! ‘Fergus, it is very kind of you, but I have absolutely no wish to be married under any circumstances.’
    ‘Kind!’ Fergus felt as if the floor had shifted under his feet.
    ‘And generous, too,’ Susanna said graciously. ‘I am sure when the right woman comes along…’
    ‘But you are the right woman.’ She could not mean to refuse him. All his plans depended upon her agreeing. ‘You have to marry me,’ Fergus said, not caring how desperate he sounded.
    ‘I do not have to do anything of the sort.’
    Her very determined tone completely threw him. ‘It is admirable,’ Fergus said, clutching at straws, ‘your being set upon standing on your own two feet. It’s admirable. But foolish. And—and quite unnecessary when I am offering you an alternative. I ruined your life, Susanna, there is no need to pretend I did not. You must let me make amends.’ He raked his hands through his hair. Could she not see that he needed to rescue her? By heavens, did she not realise that if she wouldn’t have him he would have to marry one of those other milk and water lasses! He had been planning this for months, ever since seeing that death notice. She could not possibly be refusing him. Perhaps if he put it in different terms?
    Fergus struggled to conjure a conciliatory smile. ‘Susanna, let us face facts. You need a home. I have a home to offer. You are without resources. I have plenty, and I’m more than willing to share them, for I owe you. This place needs a woman. I need a wife.’ She could not possibly refuse such a practical offer.
    It seemed she could. ‘But I have no wish for a husband,