Seducing the Groom Read Online Free

nonsense from the retainers, so he could anticipate better meals, a cleaner residence, and more vigilant servants with her to superintend them.
    And, naturally, there would be the chance to see her first thing every morning, to come down to breakfast and find her sitting in the family dining parlor, with the sun shining like a halo around her flaxen hair, and her gown molded to her bosom, and he’d...
    “Get a grip on yourself!” he petulantly grumbled.
    He went to the foyer, ready to fetch his outer garments and depart for destinations unknown. After all, where could a married man receive succor and solace on his wedding night without the gossip—that he wasn’t in bed with his wife—spreading like wildfire?
    The anteroom was deserted, as were the hallways. The servants were absent. Ellen had given them the night off. He needed a hat and coat, though they all seemed to be conspicuously missing. Up in his bedchamber, he had many and, vastly irked, he trudged up the stairs to retrieve them, wanting to be off, but having no enthusiasm for the journey.

CHAPTER TWO
    “He’s coming!” Ellen’s younger sister, Alice, whispered the warning as she swiftly but quietly shut the bedroom door. “It looks as though our ploy was successful.”
    Ellen jumped to her feet. “You should have seen him when I leaned over that table in the parlor. Most of my breasts were visible. He almost fell over!”
    “What if you’d given him an apoplexy?”
    “I was afraid he might expire before having a chance to do the deed!”
    They giggled like schoolgirls, then Alice sobered.
    “Are you sure you’re ready for this?”
    “More ready than I’ve ever been for anything.”
    “At least I knew my husband on the big night. And I was madly in love with him. That definitely helped.”
    “I could picture myself falling in love with Stephen.” Considering how her heart fluttered whenever he was near, the notion wasn’t so far-fetched.
    Six feet tall, with dark hair and eyes, he was dashing, handsome. His physique was broad at the shoulders, thin at the waist, with long legs and a lithe, muscled torso, but it wasn’t his appearance that had captivated her. It was how he carried himself, the manner in which others deferred to him, how heads turned when he walked by.
    Women coveted him for his swagger and sexy disposition. Men envied him for his status and confidence, his attitude and demeanor. Ellen wanted him—for all those reasons and more.
    “I’m so worried about you,” Alice said.
    “Don’t be. I’ll be fine.”
    The two siblings clasped hands, linking their fingers and squeezing tight.
    “I’ll be in your room ,” Alice advised, which caused her to chortle with mirth. As if Ellen would have followed Stephen’s silly order to use another suite. “If you need me...?”
    Alice’s voice trailed off in a question, because they couldn’t predict what was about to transpire. Ellen’s new husband was a mystery over whom they’d tittered and fussed for weeks before Ellen had made up her mind to pursue him. Neither of them could say what he might or might not do.
    “I won’t,” Ellen courageously maintained. However he might posture and preen, Stephen was a gentleman. A temperamental one certainly, but a gentleman nonetheless. “Go now. Before he discovers that you’re here.”
    Alice hugged her and, surprisingly, tears flooded her eyes. “You’re so pretty,” she said. “He won’t be able to resist.”
    “My fingers are crossed.”
    “I hope it’s as splendid for you as it was for me.”
    “It will be.”
    Taking into account Stephen’s scandalous reputation with the ladies, she reckoned that the event would be fantastic. By all accounts, she couldn’t have chosen a more apt candidate to ease her through the loss of her virginity.
    “Go!” she repeated, suddenly frantic to organize herself, to steady the tingle of excitement and calm her torrent of emotions before his arrival.
    Grinning, Alice sneaked out,