Something About Emmaline Read Online Free

cast a circle of light around them both. His gaze fell first on her face, then like any raving midnight visitor, it strayed lower, to the opening of her lacy nightrail.
    Instinctively, she used her free hand to gather it up, blocking his view.
    Thus thwarted, his gaze fell to the pistol in her hand and one regal brow rose. “Put that away!”
    “I will not,” she said, her hand shaking. She didn’t really want to kill anyone, but the way her hand was starting to tremble, she was afraid she was going to accidentally shoot the miscreant. Worse, now that he held the candle up, she could also see that he was devilishly handsome and well dressed.
    Hardly some Seven Dials cutthroat.
    From the imperious twist of his lips, the strong line of his jaw, to the upright, impossibly steely stance, he had to be wellborn. Gads, probably some drunken rake out to make a name for himself by seducing Sedgwick’s wife.
    That put his intentions in an entirely different light. He didn’t look like the type of man a woman would deny easily.
    Herself included. She’d always had a weakness for impossibly handsome men, especially dark-haired ones. They were as irresistible as the rustle of a new deck of cards being shuffled.
    Then she stopped herself—what was she thinking? She had a reputation to uphold. She was a lady now. At least for the time being.
    And as a lady, she had a duty to protect her virtue. Yes, that was exactly what she should do, she decided, as shetook one last regretful look at the magnificent man before her. “Simmons! Simmons! Help!” she cried out.
    “He won’t be forthcoming,” the villain told her.
    More’s the pity, she wanted to say, but still she couldn’t let this arrogant lout get the best of her.
    At least not without the appearance of a struggle.
    She waved the gun at him again. “My husband will not take kindly to this intrusion.”
    The fellow just laughed, his gaze raking over her with a measure of appreciation. “I don’t think he’ll mind.”
    Well, if Sedgwick doesn’t mind …Emmaline shook off that errant thought. “I assure you, he will kill you for this.”
    “I doubt it.”
    Smug bastard. She sat up straighter and pointed toward the door. “Get out.”
    Of course, when she’d pointed at the door, she’d had to let go of her nightrail, and it fell open again, giving him a generous view of her breasts.
    Her order was completely ignored. Instead, he came closer until he stood at the foot of the bed. Emmaline scooted up the mattress, dragging the sheets with her, pulling them up to her chin. “When my husband returns from…from…”
    Oh, demmit, where was it that Sedgwick had his ancestral home?
    “Westmoreland,” the fiend offered.
    “Yes, thank you,” she replied. “When my husband returns from Westmoreland, rest assured, he will kill you.”
    “Have you ever considered, Lady Sedgwick, that perhaps he already has?”
    “Has what?” she asked, the pistol trembling anew in her hand.
    “Returned.”
    It was at that moment that Emmaline Denford, Lady Sedgwick, realized she was about to shoot her husband.
    The very notion startled her so much, she dropped the pistol. And then the damned thing fired for her.

Chapter 2
    A lex closed his eyes and waited for his last moment. Luckily for him, it whizzed past. The bullet, that is, not his earthly existence. Slamming into the wall behind him, the lead ball sent a shower of plaster down.
    “Oh, my!” Emmaline exclaimed. “This is terrible.” She bounded out of bed and headed toward him.
    He had to say one thing for Jack: When he’d picked out an Emmaline, he’d gotten her all wrong.
    The gel was glorious.
    Her blond hair fell to her waist in long, tempting curls. He wasted only a sparing glance at her breasts, for he’d already witnessed enough there. No, it was the lithe, long legs that captivated his imagination, the rounded curves of her hips, the wide and generous turn of her lips that stirred his blood.
    No, indeed, leave it