Be Mine Tonight by Kathryn Smith Read Free Book Online Page A

times.”
    She understood that. “Well, I refuse to do so any longer,” she informed him, stifling the urge to poke the solid wall of his chest with her finger. “One regret I hope to not have when I die is that of never having truly lived.”
    His lips thinned, his expression almost bleak, as though he took her words to heart. “I hope that for you as well, Prudence.”
    Slightly stunned, not only by the sound of her name on his lips, but at the gravity of his tone, Pru stared as he presented her with his back and set off in the direction of the house.
    He spoke as though he believed he might play some part in her demise, which was, of course, ridiculous. Yet she couldn’t shake the feeling that she was in danger from him—not physical, butemotional. The conviction was in the way she felt his loss as he walked away, in the sadness she felt at the emptiness in his gaze.
    And it was in the way, that just once, if only to see him smile and to bask in his praise, she wished she could live up to her name.
     
    “Thank you for walking with me.”
    Chapel glanced at her as he quietly closed the door behind them, sealing them in the dark stillness of Rosecourt Manor. “It was my pleasure, Miss Ryland.”
    “Was it?”
    Was she being coy or simply doubtful? “Have I given you reason to believe otherwise? I apologize if I have.”
    Her cheeks were flushed from exercise and the night breeze. The sweet scent of her blood hung around her like an expensive and exotic perfume. He wanted to bury his face in the curve of her neck and simply breathe her in.
    “I fear I might have given you little choice but to follow me.”
    He shrugged. “One always has a choice.”
    Now her eyes were bright with mirth. “Even a gentleman?”
    He smiled. “I cannot speak for gentlemen.”
    Her laughter, soft as it was, warmed him, made him want to laugh himself.
    “Then I have not offended you?”
    “My dear lady, of course not.”
    She regarded him for a moment, her head tilted thoughtfully to one side. “You know, Mr. Chapel, Ibelieve you would actually tell me if I had offended you.”
    Such a short acquaintance and she was already beginning to know him. “I am afraid I have very few of the social graces. A defect due to my being out of society for so long.”
    Prudence nodded. “In that we are kindred spirits, I think.”
    She did not honestly think they were anything alike, did she? Why, she was everything light and airy and full of life, and he was darkness personified. Yet he did feel a certain connection with her, just as he was aware that she embodied everything out of his reach.
    That was not good. Not good at all. It made her all the more tempting.
    “Perhaps,” was all he said in reply, but he gave her a smile so as not to offend her. “I should make my way back to my room. Thank you for the walk and the lively discussion, Miss Ryland. It has been too long since I have enjoyed the company of a woman who knows her mind as well as you.”
    She blushed under his praise, bringing an ache to his gums as well as other parts of his anatomy—his heart being one of them.
    “I often go to bed just as the sun is rising,” she admitted. “Perhaps we could walk again sometime.”
    That would be a big mistake, of that Chapel was certain. “No doubt we will.”
    He wished her a pleasant slumber as they walked up the stairs together—an action that wasuncomfortably intimate—and then left her to return to his own room.
    The sun was climbing into the sky when Chapel slipped between the cool sheets of his bed. Inside his sanctuary, it was dark as pitch, but nothing more than a set of heavy drapes and the bedding curtains stood between him and death.
    A better man might walk out into the blistering sun and meet the fate he deserved like Dreux had, but Chapel was not eager to meet the damnation waiting for him. He’d rather take his chances on redemption, even if it took forever to claim it.
    The God he trusted in was not so cruel that