Megan Frampton Read Online Free

because she could just bet that he would withdraw behind his academic, impenetrable reserve.
    Why did she have to fall in love with someone so smart?
    Oh, that’s right. Because a stupid man just wouldn’t do.
    “Nothing.” He looked the same as he had before, only his breathing was more rapid and his blue eyes had turned to ice.
    If ice could melt things, like her body, and her brain, and every other part of her that wasn’t currently involved in pondering the debacle of her life.
    “Ah, well, thank you for my betrothal kiss. It was … pleasant,” she said in a noncommittal tone of voice.
    His eyes narrowed. And those icy eyes? They had suddenly blazed to life. Good to know she could get to him, even if it was just because he was suffering from a fit of pique.
    “Pleasant?” he repeated, advancing a step towards her. He sounded almost—passionate.
    Now this is interesting
. He seemed like the young man she’d watched grow up, the one she’d fallen in love with so many years ago. Not the man who’d slowly been retreating into his books over the past few years.
    “Yes. Pleasant,” she repeated in a matter-of-fact voice. It was hard to keep her tone calm. “Now we should continue, shouldn’t we?” Violet blinked a few times as his mouth opened, as though he were about to say something. “Unless you would like to call it off? Rule number two, if you recall.”
    “No,” he replied, picking up his blank sheet of paper—when had it fallen?—from the floor, and going to sit on the sofa. “Continue.”
    He stretched his long legs out in front of him as he held his pen poised over the page. He really was going to just do this, wasn’t he?
    Violet’s heart got sore. If he didn’t respond when his betrothed was practicallybegging him to make love to her, then what kind of future would she have?
    One with no passion, that was for certain. And that would be no kind of future she wanted, even if she would share it with the man she loved.
    She was on the brink of giving up when she saw him close his eyes, just for a second, and swallow. A glimmer of hope sparked in her chest—maybe he wasn’t as immune as he’d like to be? And if she could elicit some sort of response, perhaps their future wasn’t as bleak as she imagined?
    There was time enough to break the betrothal later. Now she had to play her game. She would never give him—or herself—another opportunity.
    * * *
    “What do you like best about me, Christian?” Violet stood directly in front of a window. Her corset curved in and out where she curved in and out, while underneath, her shift barely covered her legs. The flickering candles threw glimmers of tantalizing light on her body beneath the fabric. Far too much fabric.
    She was waiting for him to reply. Right. “What do you mean?”
    She caught her lower lip in her teeth, and suddenly Christian wished he could bite her just there, on her lush lip. “I mean, why do you wish to marry me?”
    Ah. “Well, as I said when I asked you”—Christian hated to repeat himself—“I believe we are well-suited, and our families are close, and I can support you and whatever offspring we have. We will have a …” His mind searched for the word.
    “
Pleasant
life?” Violet’s tone was acerbic. Not the amused, mocking voice she’d spoken in before, but something far more biting.
    Christian felt his face flush. “Well, yes, pleasant. Is that so wrong?”
    Violet regarded him, shaking her head. His skin prickled. She strode towards him and, almost before he could register it, straddled him on the divan. Her legs were on either side of his hips, and her shift had rucked up even more, revealing smooth, pale legs. She put her hands on either side of his head against the back of the couch.
    It felt delicious having her weight on him.
    Up close, he could see those brown eyes sparkle with emotion, but whether it wasanger or passion, he couldn’t tell.
    “It
is
wrong, Christian.” She spoke in a low,