Succumb to Me by Julia Keaton Read Free Book Online Page B

and alienate her further.
     
    And that had never been his intention.
     
    She might hate herself for responding to him,
but she had—just as she had the first time that he’d kissed her. He
knew that it was not merely his own desires that made him believe
she wanted him. He had thought, if he could only break through that
facade of coldness, he would have her.
     
    He sighed and ran a hand through his hair,
leaning back in his chair, closing his eyes. An image of the past
flashed through his mind, of opportunities lost, never to be
regained. She’d had a pure and generous heart once, untainted by
the filth of society. He had sensed it, been drawn to it.
     
    And yet, she’d broken that image at the ball,
so long ago, proved she was no better than any of the others.
     
    What a fool he was to believe it still lay
hidden, deep inside her, that he could find it.
     
    Heavy with drink by now, he began to feel
himself drifting into unconsciousness, the memory of their first
meeting teasing his mind. He wondered if she had any idea of the
service she’d done him that night, of who he really was.
     
     
     

CHAPTER SIX
     
     
    Despite her fury at being thwarted, under
other circumstances, Winter might well have been thoroughly routed.
She would almost certainly have despised him, and gone to great
lengths to snub him, but she would have had a great deal of
difficulty summoning the nerve for a second battle of wills.
     
    However, despite her reluctance to lock horns
with Logan again, she found she simply could not wait for her doom
to come to her. His elusive reference to a surprise set her so on
edge that that she could scarcely sleep that night for worrying
what form his surprise would take.
     
    She knew that had been his intention, damn
his hide, to torment her with doubts.
     
    By the following night, Winter found that she
was on the verge of nervous exhaustion, waiting for the ax to fall.
Finally, she decided that enough was enough. She would not stay
cowering in her room waiting for him to do his worst. She had no
one to rescue her from her dilemma but herself.
     
    That painting would burn tonight if it was
the last thing she did on this earth.
     
    She knew it would never occur to him to think
she would be so foolish as to try to sneak into the townhouse once
again to retrieve the painting. She was certain he was convinced
that he’d frightened her away, cowed her into submission. It was
that arrogance on which she was counting.
     
    Winter took no chances when she returned to
his residence. She’d dressed once again in the boy’s clothing she’d
used the first time. It had certainly not fooled Logan for a
moment. However, it was sufficient as a disguise for her gender on
the streets, she felt sure, and it was far easier to get around in
breeches than skirts and crinolines. She took great care to make
certain no one followed her, glancing continuously over her
shoulder. Once she’d reached the neighborhood, she had taken up a
position of observation and watched, shivering in the cold,
chaffing her hands for warmth, but determined that this time she
would not act too hastily and risk failure.
     
    She had seen Logan’s carriage drive away.
Still, she waited, watching the servants as they made the rounds
through the house for a last check before bed, watching as they
dimmed lamps, extinguished candles and locked up, saw their own
rooms brighten with candle glow then go dark as they went to
bed.
     
    She was numb with cold by the time she
decided it was time to set her plan into motion.
     
    Shaking, panting with fear, feeling decidedly
ill, Winter finally crossed the street, thankful for the cloaking
darkness despite the fact that the darkness alone had contributed
greatly to her fear.
     
    A board on the porch creaked as she came up
the stairs. She froze, listening and finally decided the creak had
not been as loud as it had seemed, and had probably been enhanced
by her anxiety.
     
    Moving once more, she