Rapturous Rakes Bundle Read Online Free Page A

and who could spell disaster for a woman
    who had her own way to make in the world.
    She hoped that he would not seek her out again.
    She knew he would.
    Lucas Kestrel stood on the wet pavement and
    looked about himself in some perplexity. He realised
    that he had no notion where he was. He had spent the
    entire journey with his attention focussed on Miss Re-
    becca Raleigh to the exclusion of all else. They could
    have been halfway down the London to Brighton road
    for all he knew. He could not remember the last time
    that had happened to him when he had been in con-
    versation with a woman.
    He started walking. He knew that he would soon
    see a familiar landmark. Having navigated his regi-
    ment across half of Egypt, he had no concern that he
    would get lost in the outskirts of London. The only
    thing that he regretted was failing to put a coat on.
    That showed lack of foresight. He had not thought that
    Miss Raleigh would occupy him for long and certainly
    had not foreseen that she would throw him out of her
    coach and leave him to walk home.
    A rueful smile tugged at his mouth. He found Miss
    Rebecca Raleigh a fascinating combination of confi-
    28
    The Rake’s Mistress
    dence and vulnerability, strength and innocence. When
    he had first set eyes on her he had felt her gaze like
    a physical blow to the heart. He had never known
    anything quite like it.
    He had had ample proof that night that Miss Raleigh
    was no Cyprian. Despite the misleading circumstance
    of finding her in the Archangel’s carriage, her appear-
    ance and demeanour were as far removed from that of
    a courtesan as was possible to find. The Angels would
    not be seen dead in the shabby gentility that had char-
    acterised Miss Raleigh’s clothing. Not that she was in
    any way an antidote. Lucas suspected that, if suitably
    attired, Miss Raleigh might outshine some of the ac-
    credited beauties of the season. Her hair had been a
    lustrous dark russet beneath that ugly bonnet, her fig-
    ure was extremely neat and her blue eyes were mag-
    nificent. He had noticed. Of course he had. He would
    defy any red-blooded male to look at Miss Rebecca
    Raleigh and not feel a flicker of interest, to study her
    mouth and not want to kiss her...
    Lucas shifted his shoulders beneath the damp ma-
    terial of his jacket. If Miss Raleigh defended herself
    so effectively against all comers, then such thoughts
    were quite pointless. Lucas had been on the wrong end
    of plenty of weapons in his time in the army, but this
    had been the first on which he had been menaced by
    an engraver’s scribe. He accepted wryly that it was no
    more than he deserved for trying his luck. It had been
    a deliberate challenge he had thrown down to her—
    and she had responded with a coolness and a courage
    that had won his admiration. Lucas smiled to himself.
    Miss Raleigh had not liked him, but all the same, she
    Nicola Cornick
    29
    had not been indifferent to him as a man. She had
    been unable to hide that from him. He had seen it in
    her eyes when he had touched her. There had been a
    vulnerability about her then that she could not conceal.
    He finally turned into Grosvenor Square and ran up
    the steps into the house. Byrne, the butler, noted his
    rain-soaked jacket but made no comment beyond the
    very faintest of raised eyebrows. The servants were
    accustomed to Stephen arriving back in all manner of
    disarray. To see Lucas in a like state was very unusual.
    Stephen was awaiting him in the library, faultlessly
    attired in buckskins and a jacket of blue superfine.
    Lucas shrugged off his own jacket and handed it to
    the footman before making his way across to the table
    and pouring himself a brandy. He waved the glass at
    Stephen.
    ‘One for you, little brother?’
    Stephen nodded. There was a wary look in his eyes
    as he watched Lucas pour for him. He took the prof-
    fered drink with a word of thanks and waited until
    Lucas had taken his seat by the roaring fire before he
    did the same.
    Lucas