Further Than Passion Read Online Free Page B

How could she have lived so many years without some man claiming her?
    "Why were you spying on me?"
    "What?"
    "I saw you last night. When you were in my room."
    She tripped, her knees giving out, but she quickly regrouped. "I have no idea about what you're talking. I arrived in London yesterday, and up until a few minutes ago, when you obnoxiously thrust yourself in front of me, we were not acquainted. I haven't the faintest clue where your bedchamber is located or why you would assume I was in it."
     
    26
    She was the worst liar! It was evident she remembered every moment of the escapade, and he was delighted to learn that she hadn't been walking in he r sleep, that she'd been conscious and intentionally studying him. Was her interest due to the fact that she was a mature virgin who was yearning to shed her chastity? Or was she a fallen woman, who hadn't had a man in her bed for ages?
    Either way, he was tickled , and would be more than happy to oblige whatever whim was driving her.
    He pressed himself closer and traced a finger across her ruby lips. They were moist, inviting, ar i d he was tempted to kiss her. The experience would be novel and exciting, as amour had been at the outset, when he was still young and imprudent enough to let his heart become involved.
    His world was filled with clinging, ame n able trollops, who would do anything he requested, but he never garnered any pleasure from their company.
    How refreshing it would be to spend time with her, to wallow in her glow, to soak in the elation he felt from being in her proximity. Perhaps he'd find a method of rekindling the elusive sense of wonder and contentment that had been absent for so long.
    "I want us to be lovers," he told her. "I wa n t to know what it's like to be with you."
    The risqu é suggestion had her gasping with offense. "My initial impression of you was that you were simply rude beyond measure, but I've changed my mind . I believe you're quite mad."
    She attempted to push past him, and he gripped her wrist, jerking her to a halt. "Join me in my suite. At midnight."
    17
    "What suite? You don't reside here. This is Lady Pamela's home."
    "I own this monstrosity. The master's chamber is min e — w henever I choose to use it." The prior evening, she'd appeared disoriented, so it was possible that she didn't recollect where it was, so he added, "It's in the south wing, at the end of the corridor on the fourth floor. Use the servants' stairs."
    "I most definitely will not. I'm a respectable gentlewoman and Lady Melanie's chaperone. How dare you ask it of me!"
    "I'm not asking."
    "You're forcing me to agree? "
    While his reputation was the most awful in London, he had some standards, and he never gadded about ruining chaste females. There were too many loose ones available, but with her, he couldn't seem to behave any better.
    "If you don't come," he warned, "I'll accuse you of stealing my ring."
    So ... she had purloined it. He hadn't been sure, but now he had no doubt. She gaped at him, struggling to deduce the most appropriate response. Finally, she settled on, "What ring?"
    "I can't say when or how you took it. Or why. You hardly have the look of a thief, so I can't begin to construe your purpose. I only want you to attend me at midnight, and if I must coerce you to command your presence, then I will."
    "You're a brute."
    "I don't deny it."
    "A bully."
    "Yes."
     
    28
    She stared up at him, her green eyes glimmering with tears of frustration and anger. "Don't do this to me. Please."
    "I have to."
    With a wail of rage, or maybe despair, she pulled away and ran inside.
     
    3
    Kate paced the floor of her room, the clock ticking its way to midnight and the moment Lord Stamford counted on her to arrive. She was so irate that she yearned to smash something.
    How had she stumbled into such a m ess? And how was she to get herself out of it?
    Marcus Pelha m ! Of all the rotten luck!
    He'd seen her when she was in his bedchamber! He knew who she was, and