SubmittingtotheRake Read Online Free Page A

still smarted from it—but she only had to
look at the frightful instruments hanging on the wall to know that a world of
darker possibilities lay within Lord Cadwell. She eyed the riding crop. “ The
more you dread it, fear it, disdain it, the more you enjoy it.” Those had
been his words. She contemplated the pain the riding crop could induce. Could
she derive pleasure from such pain?
    Warmth flared in her loins. Why did the mere thought
titillate her? Her curiosity surprised her, but it was curiosity that killed
the cat. Perhaps it was curiosity that had compelled her cousin to want to be
here, but she would not fall victim to the same.
    She strained once again at her bonds, her arms sore from
their position, and attempted to undo the knot, breaking three of her
fingernails in the process. There simply has to be a way out.
    The door opened and the earl appeared, a touch disheveled
but no less dapper. He had removed his coat and loosened his cravat. She stared
at the sinews of his throat and felt a wave of warmth washing over her. She
quelled it.
    “Miss Merrill, I have decided—” he began.
    “You will set me free or pay dearly for it,” she informed
him hotly.
    He paused, then raised his brows in amusement—a reaction
that only fueled her anger.
    “My uncle will see you brought before a magistrate,” she
continued. “If you do not release me, then prepare to spend your time at
Newgate.”
    He crossed his arms and leaned against the wall. His
bemusement when he should have been daunted by her threats both infuriated and
worried her.
    “On what charges would I be sent to Newgate?” he asked.
    Damn his insolence , Heloise fumed.
    “On kidnapping!” she snapped. “And…and surely there are laws
against this…”
    “This what, Miss Merrill?”
    “You know quite well to what I allude!”
    She pulled at her bonds for emphasis, but he continued to
wait for her elucidation. She let out a sigh of exasperation.
    “Of forcing your attentions upon me!”
    To her horror, he laughed. He pulled away from the wall.
“Tell me, Miss Merrill, did you not come here of your own free will?”
    She bristled. “Yes, but—”
    “My coachman was not under orders to abduct anyone.”
    “Yes, but—”
    He took a step toward her. “Did you not lie willingly across
my lap?”
    Her flush of consternation began to pale.
    “You—”
    “And request I spank you four times?”
    “I did n—”
    “And enjoy it?”
    He stood a breath away from her, invading her space and
further scattering her thoughts. Her volleys had not struck their target. She
needed a new approach.
    “How would you explain to a magistrate that you submitted
against your will when the evidence reveals your pleasure?”
    “Please,” Heloise attempted. “Surely you are not without
conscience or sensibility…”
    “Only devoid of morals,” he reminded her.
    She swallowed at the verbal blow but pressed on. “You can
understand why I might—why I thought I had no other recourse?”
    After probing the depths of her gaze he stepped away from
her. Without the intrusion of his body, she took an easier breath.
    “It is no small effort you have made to protect your
cousin’s virtue,” he acknowledged. “Indeed, you have risked your own ruin to
save her.”
    “I will explain to my family that a dear friend took ill and
I went to visit her.”
    “In the middle of the night? Without packing a valise?”
    “I was beside myself.”
    “I find it hard to believe that Miss Merrill could ever be
so discomposed.”
    “My uncle will have no reason to doubt my word.”
    “And what of Josephine? What will you tell her?”
    “I will beg her forgiveness and hope that she will, in time,
come to understand the wisdom of my action.”
    “Perhaps that will come to pass,” he said as he began to
walk around her. “Or more likely, she will find another man to whom she can
attach her fancy and forget her lost invitation to the Château.”
    Heloise found herself