The Reddington Scandal Read Online Free

have not defiled an innocent since I was a much younger man.”
    “Indeed, everyone knows your preference is for married women.”
    He grinned at her. “Yes, yet this is the first time I have been faced with a lady who is both.”
    Flustered, she tried to stand up. He tightened his grasp around her waist and held her fast. “Where do you think you’re going, little dove? We are not finished talking. I will not force you into my bed, but you are my wife now, so you have to mind me. I have no compunction about turning a lady over my knee.” In fact, the idea of turning his pretty wife over his knee made his heart beat erratically for a moment.
    She went rigid and stared at him as if to gauge whether he was serious. He allowed one corner of his mouth to turn up and she blew out her breath and smiled. Lifting her hand, she brushed a lock of hair from his eyes and for one moment he truly felt like a married man—glimpsing how it felt to receive simple wifely endearments like straightening his collar or brushing his hair from his face. The idea surprised him with a sense of longing for something he’d not known he’d been missing.
    “What do you expect of me as your wife?” she asked softly.
    “Your absolute love and devotion,” he said immediately, calling forth a low laugh from her lips. He stroked up her thigh and back, admiring the firm muscle of her elegant leg and ignoring the stiffening his touch incited. “Yes, let’s discuss my expectations. First of all, you must always look pleased to be with me, no matter what you may really feel. And I want you to always be dressed in the latest fashion, with the most expensive sort of shoes. You should be a suitable chaperone for Wynn, and I’ll expect you to find her a husband by the end of the season, and… let’s see… what else do wives do?”
    She laughed.
    He touched her cheek. “I’ll tell you what I expect of you, little dove. You must speak frankly with me if we’re to somehow make the best out of this rather… unusual … situation. As much as I adore your blushes and lowered eyes, I would very much prefer we were comfortable and honest with one another. I cannot make you happy if I don’t understand you, and I’d prefer not to make guesses that might be wrong. So my question to you now is: do you, or do you not, wish to consummate this marriage?”
    Phoebe’s chest heaved, the tips of her nipples protruding even farther and heat dampening his trousers where she sat upon his leg.
    But her knees snapped together and her buttocks tightened upon his knee. “I do not.”

Chapter Two
     
     
    A narrow escape.
    How on earth could she live with the charming Lord Fenton— as his wife —and not give in to his advances? The easy way he managed her—the way he held her captive on his knee, not releasing her until he wished—had been dominating, yet not controlling. So different from the way Reddington had repeatedly forced himself on her. She shuddered.
    She climbed into her bed, still feeling the heat he’d incited in her core. What would it be like to lie with a man like him? With an irrational flare of jealousy, she thought of her sister and the noises she’d heard from her room. She’d certainly sounded like she’d enjoyed it. But she could not—even if she were willing to give her heart to a unscrupulous rake, she could not bring herself to… she shuddered. Not after Reddington.
    The next two days were spent getting to know Wynn, with whom she found an instant rapport. She had spent the three years after her parents’ untimely carriage accident (which resulted in their death) in a finishing school financed by Reddington. Though she was nineteen, well past her ‘coming out,’ he had kept her from attending many social occasions where she might have the opportunity to meet a husband—most likely to keep her for his own sickening use. She’d had little social contact apart from Maud and her callers since she’d finished school and their talk