Daring Passion Read Online Free

servants
placed a burning torch in a bracket before he left.

Chapter Two
     
    Anne turned to face her husband-to-be. Fear resurfaced as
she looked at him.
    He was incredibly handsome as he stood, tall and straight,
regarding her with an expression she couldn’t read. Long, black hair surrounded
his face. The torchlight threw his cheekbones into high relief and emphasized
the strong line of his jaw. Dark whiskers shadowed his lower cheeks and chin.
The possessive light she’d noted before in his deep blue eyes shone more wicked
and forceful now.
    Would he truly punish her, as he’d told her parents? And if
so, how?
    She drew a deep breath. “Lord Richard,” she said, “I’m truly
honored to be chosen for your wife. And I do apologize for any inconvenience or
discomfort my actions might have caused you. It was never my intention to cause
you harm or embarrassment.”
    One eyebrow arched. “Nay? Yet it seems to me you plotted
deliberately to do just that, to cause me considerable embarrassment. Please do
not lie to me. Ever.”
    “I would not, my lord. ’Twas not my primary goal to
embarrass you. I do regret it was necessary to bring about the result I
desired. Had I known of any other way to accomplish this, I would have done
it.”
    His mouth crooked into a wry grin. She badly wanted to kiss
the lips that curved so pleasingly, but she awaited his next move.
    “You apologize very prettily, my Lady Anne,” he said. “I had
hoped from my observation of you that you’d prove a gracious and honorable lady
for my demesne.”
    The words stabbed her to her very heart. “And now you see
the truth of what I am, my lord,” she admitted. “I regret the disappointment
I’ve caused you.”
    His arched black eyebrows rose and a glint shone in his
eyes.
    “Nay, lady, you’ve caused me no disappointment. In truth, I
find I may have gained more even than I had hoped for. Your honor was apparent
when you refused to let me take the blame for your actions, though you knew it
would cost you punishment. You’ve shown more strength of will and resolve than
I’d guessed was there, and though in this case your actions were ill-advised, I
consider that a virtue.”
    Anne started to relax. “I’m not truly as willful as my
father would have it, my lord. In this case, though, it appeared my future
might be in grave jeopardy did I not act.”
    “Ah, yes, this case,” he said. The smile faded from his face
and his eyes measured her. “Come here.”
    Her heartbeat speeded up and breath caught in her throat.
She dared not disobey him, however, and she walked closer, pacing with him as
he backed up until he sat on the bed. She stopped a couple of feet away.
    “A good start,” he said. “Perhaps you’ll prove a dutiful
wife after all.”
    “I know my obligations, my lord, and I try to meet them as
well as possible.”
    “It pleases my heart and eases my mind to hear that.” He
took her hand and drew her closer, until she stood between his spread knees. He
reached for the sash holding her robe closed and pulled it loose. Then he
pushed the fabric from her shoulders and let it slide to the floor once more.
    Though hot color rose to flood her face, she shivered with a
combination of chill and fear. She’d felt no shame in her nakedness earlier in
the dark, but with the torchlight showing every rounded curve and private
recess, embarrassment washed over her.
    “A shame to waste such beauty in darkness,” he said, after
studying her for a moment with hotly gleaming eyes.
    He reached up and placed his hands on either side of her
face. She waited for him to lean forward and kiss her, but instead his palms
brushed along the sides of her throat, then down her chest. They paused over
her breasts. He rubbed softly, rousing pleasurable tingles that felt like small
starbursts set off in her nipples. She drew a harsh breath as the sparkling
feel spread down into her belly and set off a quiver between her legs. Moisture
gathered there then