Lady Wild Read Online Free

ears, “You. Riding.”
    She blinked as an image of him came unbidden. The power of his body over hers, stripping her clothes from her until she was completely bared to him. And then he would ride her, hard, and fast, and sure, taking her away from everything, letting her lose herself in his dark talents. Dragging her down to something darker, something far more inescapable, and all in the guise of pleasure.
    Ruination.
    Perhaps it had been a mistake to read Fanny Hill when she’d been a girl. It had certainly given her a wide array of fantasies, such as his riding her, to choose from. But that’s all she could have. Fantasies. She could not embrace wild abandon.
    As if he could read her thoughts, a stunned breath passed his lips before he whispered, “Riding you?”
    Sucking in a large swallow of air, she pulled away, her hands shaking.
    “Forgive me,” he said.
    “No. Those were indeed where my thoughts progressed.”
    “Do you wish it?” He studied her carefully, assessing her. “For me to make love to you?”
    A soul-aching part of her cried out, Yes . It didn’t matter that she knew him not at all. She needed to feel, to be completely alive in this time of sorrow, and surely he could give that to her. But she shook her head. “It is a thing only of dreaming.”
    “Then why wake?”
    She laughed, a forced sound. “My dreams have leant themselves to nightmares of late, and it is not a thing I wish to dwell upon for fear that all this shall twist into something not pleasant at all.”
    “I would never wish a thing upon you. So, I will take you home?”
    She nodded, pressing her lips into a rigid line, lest she beg him to take her away from here entirely. “Please turn around.”
    He hesitated but then did as she asked.
    Quickly, silently, she stripped off the remaining elements of her garments, which were now dripping upon the loamy ground.
    He held out his great coat, his head turned to the side, intent upon helping her into his clothes. Hesitantly, she studied the soft fabric and the silk lining, as if it were something not benevolent at all, but rather something which might steal her soul. Somehow it seemed if she allowed him to put it on her, he would envelop her. Not just his garment.
    She shook the foolish thought away.
    The heavy folds of wool slid over her arms, then enveloped her body. He stood behind her, his presence just as heavy a weight upon her as his coat. She fought the desire to lean back and rest her head against his chest. The coat dragged upon the ground, denoting the many inches that varied their heights.
    She pulled the folds tighter, a barrier against the wind and him. But the closer she pulled the garment about her, the closer she felt to the strange lord.
    The coat cradled her in his scent and caressed her body gently, just as his hands had done. Just a few moments before, the silk lining had stroked his hard limbs, touched his muscled chest, and given shelter to his broad shoulders. Now it sheltered her.
    Inexplicably, tears came to her eyes. For the first time in a very long time, she felt protected, even if it was by this man who externally seemed a rake and a danger to any young woman who might hand her trust over to him.
    “Thank you,” she said, determined to break the silence.
    He bowed. “Now, where do you live?”
    Her stomach tightened into a knot. If she could have, she would have left him here. She didn’t wish to draw him into the world she dwelt in, where he would see how small her life was, how sad it had become. “You don’t—”
    “I do. Besides, I shall want my coat when you are done with it.”
    It was a weak excuse on his part. How easy it would be to simply have a servant fetch it for him at a later time. But it was clear he intended to escort her. She simply walked up the bank toward the narrow path that traced its way through the ancient oak forest, wondering what bizarre mystery now might fly into her life with a viscount in tow.

     
    The small