The Scarlet Bride Read Online Free Page A

thick sable hair was pulled back into a loose braid that fell to mid back. Her dress was a pale gray and a size or two too large, yet it didn’t distract from her graceful curves.
    Simon didn’t need to see her full face to realize she was lovely—a fact he’d missed previously. And she didn’t appear to possess the hardness one usually found in women of her profession. Truthfully, she seemed almost…innocent.
    But it was the deep sadness in her eyes and wistful expression that held him silent and still in the open doorway as a stunning desire to protect her welled inside him.
    He knew he should make his presence known, but he couldn’t speak, for this lovely courtesan caused his breath to catch deep in his lungs.
    L aura watched the courtesans from the window above them as they laughed and chatted while enjoying tea in the garden. They seemed so carefree, as if they hadn’t a single concern to worry them. Soon they’d be matched with husbands and on to new lives. They’d have children, or travel perhaps, and their futures would be full and happy.
    How she envied them.
    A small sigh escaped her. Not one of them would suffer the nightmare of misuse and abuse. Miss Eva would see them well cared for.
    From what she’d learned from Sophie, Miss Eva chose their future husbands with great care. If she even suspected a man had darkness in him or possessed a less than sterling character, he was forever banned from her Husbands Book.
    If only Miss Eva had been at their ramshackle cottage when her father eagerly matched her with the earl, thinking he was doing right by her. Miss Eva would have quickly seen into the earl’s black heart and done her formidable best to dissuade Father from his course.
    Bleak images flashed unbidden into her mind of the long months that followed the marriage agreement. She closed her eyes and bit her lip to fight a whimper. A prickle of revulsion raised gooseflesh on her skin, and she rubbed the chill from her flesh with her hands.
    She would not think of
him
! She could not think of
him
!
    When the earl slipped unwelcome into her thoughts, it was as if he still controlled her mind. She wouldn’t allow it. Fourteen months of suffering were now behind her.
    She was free, never again to be controlled by the vile whims of a man.
    Then why couldn’t she keep the nightmares away?
    A small sound jerked her head upright, and she spun around to see a large body framed in the doorway. All she saw was the cut of an expensive coat and a crown of dark hair before the room spun and terror clouded her vision.
    The earl! He’d found her!
    She let out a small distressed cry and felt the floor drop out from beneath her feet.

Chapter Three

    A pair of hands caught Laura’s arms before she crumpled. Fury instantly replaced terror.
    “No!” She struggled violently against the hard chest, only to be quickly subdued by a familiar voice forcing its way into her consciousness.
    “Easy, Laura,” he urged. “I’ll not hurt you.”
    She stilled, tipped up her chin, and stared at the face above her. It wasn’t the earl! He’d not found her whereabouts after all! The man was her rescuer from last evening.
    She slumped with relief.
    Blurry memories of him flashed in disjointed pieces—starting from the moment he appeared out of the dark atop a large gray horse, to when his gloved hand had reached down to her as the footmen roused from somewhere behind her. And she’d taken his hand, putting her faith in a stranger.
    She remembered his kindness as he carried her into the town house, her body limp, her strength drained from her desperate flight from the earl. What she didn’t remember was that his eyes were a striking icy blue.
    She trembled. His hands tightened on her arms as he eased her toward a settee. “Let me help you,” he said softly.
    Laura curled up on the padded surface, tucking her slippered feet under her. She refused to meet his eyes. The shame of weakness filtered through her. She’d always