Intimate 02 - Intimate Surrender Read Online Free

pretend that her heart didn’t shift in her breast.
    And when he put first one shoe on, then the other, she tried to pretend that one molten wave of fiery passion after another didn’t rush to her core and set her ablaze.
    When he finished, he placed her foot on the ground, then stood and reached for her hand.
    She placed her palm in his and rose.
    “Are you certain I may not escort you back?”
    Hannah concealed the ball of her cast-off stockings as discreetly as possible in the palm of her left hand and tried to speak, but no words would come. No man had ever affected her like this. She hadn’t allowed one to. So how had this one broken through the barriers she’d erected to guard and protect her emotions?
    She made a second effort to speak, but resorted to shaking her head.
    He smiled. “I’ll see you later, then. At dinner?”
    She nodded, then turned. She needed to escape the net he’d thrown around her. Needed to do everything in her power to avoid being pulled in like a hungry fish snapping at the worm on the end of a hook. But most of all, she needed to avoid giving in to emotions she thought had long been dead and buried.
    She had no right to allow them to surface. She was a whore, she reminded herself. A bloody whore!
    “I—I have to go,” she stammered, then turned and nearly ran in her effort to escape.
    “Miss Bartlett?”
    She stopped and turned.
    “I enjoyed this afternoon.”
    She took in the warm smile on his face, recognized the sincerity in his voice, and knew she was in more trouble than she’d been in since she’d arrived in London at fifteen—ragged, broken, and abandoned.

Chapter 2

    R afe arrived for dinner early. He told himself it was because he hadn’t seen his brother yet or thanked his sister-in-law for inviting him, but that wasn’t the reason. He wanted to arrive early so he would be there when she entered the room, so he could glimpse her before she noticed him.
    He couldn’t wait to feast his eyes on her again to see if she was as beautiful as he remembered.
    He paused in the doorway of the drawing room and found his brother Thomas, Marquess of Wedgewood, deep in conversation with the Duke of Raeborn and Viscount Carmody. He wasn’t sure what they were discussing but prayed it wasn’t some boring measure that was before the House of Lords. His least-favorite topics were anything being debated on the floor of the House. He didn’t have the patience for anything serious tonight. He wanted to focus on only one thing. But she hadn’t arrived yet.
    “Rafe,” Thomas said, motioning for him to join them. “Come help me. I’m outnumbered. Raeborn and Carmody both think Squire Robbins’s thoroughbred can run six furlongs in under a minute, and I say it’s impossible. He doesn’t have the speed. What do you say?”
    “I say it would easily take him a minute and a half, if not more. The squire hasn’t dedicated half the time he used to spend in training his stable since his wife passed away. All his horses have lost their speed.”
    “I forgot Robbins lost his wife,” Raeborn said. “You seldom saw one without the other.”
    Carmody nodded. “They were very devoted to each other. I can understand how the man would lose interest in everything.”
    “Word has it, though, that Robbins’s youngest son and his family are returning to the abbey,” Rafe added. “They intend to help with the running of the estate.”
    There was a short silence. Then Carmody said, “I’d hate to think of having to live even one day without Josalyn. When our time comes, I hope I go first.”
    None of the men said anything for a few moments. Then Rafe waved his hand in front of him. “This conversation has turned much too maudlin. We’ve come for a party. I refuse to have our two weeks start out on a somber note.”
    “Good for you,” Carmody said.
    “Yes, Rafe. I knew I could count on you to bring life to our gathering.”
    “So what plans has your wife made to keep us