Beauty and the Earl by Jess Michaels Read Free Book Online Page A

put her arms around him, holding him as their breath merged into one. And as she stared at him, she wondered yet again if she was truly prepared for what she had agreed to in London that seemed like so long ago.
     
     
    Liam shut the chamber door and walked back to the bed with the heaping tray of food balanced precariously on his good arm. As he set it down on the rumpled coverlet, Violet let out a sound of excited pleasure that made his stomach clench and his cock ache.
    Damn, but the woman did entice. Especially when she was wrapped in nothing more than his thick white sheets, which seemed to accentuate the olive tones of her soft skin.  
    “Oh, this looks divine,” she breathed as he sat down beside her.  
    He looked at the tray, which was laden with food easily eaten in just such circumstances. He was certain his cook wasn’t pleased to have been asked to alter her supper menu, but the olives, cheeses, chicken and breads did look tempting.
    “Eat,” he ordered as he shed his robe and slid into the bed beside her.  
    She popped an olive between her full lips and almost rocked with pleasure. “Mmm, so famished. I’m so glad you didn’t decide not to feed me.”
    He looked at her in surprise for a moment, then laughed. She was like no woman he had ever known. Certainly not like any of the women he had bedded since the accident. She didn’t coo or play or pout. In fact, he never knew what she would do or say.
    “How long are you in Bath for holiday?” he asked.
    She buttered a slice of thick-cut bread before she answered. “A few weeks, and you?”
    He felt his smile fall at the question, but kept his tone even. “I had not made specific plans.”
    “Hmmm,” she replied, her eyes still on the plate of food. He thought he saw her cast a side glance in his direction, but her gaze flitted away too swiftly for him to be certain if there was any meaning to the look.
    “Violet, why don’t you forget your place in Bath? Stay here with me instead.”  
    The moment he said it, he shook his head. He hadn’t intended to invite this woman to stay with him. And yet here he had done it and somehow he did not regret it. He should have been finished with her, but he wasn’t.  
    She tilted her head with a slight smile. “You mean as your houseguest?”
    He shifted slightly. She was teasing him, but she was also forcing him to ask for what he wanted directly. Another move in what was turning out to be a battle for control between them. He found it rather…invigorating, actually. Too often everyone just gave him what he wanted, either out of deference to his title or pity for his past.
    “No,” he said. “Stay with me as my lover.”
    She didn’t respond for a long moment, nor did she look at him. “I told you, my lord, I am not in the market for a protector at present.”
    “And I told you, I’m not in the market to become one,” he replied, his voice a little sharp.  
    She jerked her face up at the statement, and her eyes narrowed. “You are saying you want me to come here as your lover simply because I choose to be? No ulterior motives, no exchanges of promises.”
    He looked at her evenly. He understood why a woman in her position might not accept such a bargain. He’d never judged courtesans for trading in their bodies for survival. And although he hadn’t spent time with Violet over the years, he had seen her enough and heard about her enough to know she was very good at the bargains she made. Men liked her, wanted her, and they were willing to pay for the privilege of her company, both in and out of bed.
    But he couldn’t go down that road. Keeping a mistress was not in his mind, and he wouldn’t insult her by implying she was a lightskirt who would accept trade for a night. Nor would he lie just to keep her. It wasn’t fair to her.
    “So far we have had no promises or ulterior motives, have we?” he asked.
    Her gazes flitted away for a moment, and he stiffened. Despite her claims at the baths