Brazen Temptress by Elizabeth Boyle Read Free Book Online Page A

members of the crew moving toward their weapons as well.
    "And how would you know this?" her father asked.
    "Because I was searched by the man-of-war that was supposed to be guarding that merchantman two days ago, and lucky for you I speak enough Portuguese to send its captain hunting for you and your crew in the wrong direction." He paused, his once welcoming green eyes shifting to cold stone. "The way I see it, you owe me a favor, Captain Hawthorne. A big one."
    Her father studied the man below him and then turned in her direction. "What say you, Reenie? Do we let him on board and hear him out, or do we fight our way out of this?"
    She should have told him to blow the bastard out of the water, but she glanced back down at the man in the longboat, and his gaze met hers.
    He smiled at her, only slightly, but the kind that hinted he would like to come aboard if only to meet her.
    In that moment she was charmed, and trapped. She didn't want him anywhere near her, for his presence unsettled something inside her she'd never known she possessed. Still, all she could do was nod her assent to her father and stand back as her destiny climbed aboard the
Forgotten Lady.

Chapter Six
    Almack's
1813
     
     
    Julien's heart hammered in his chest.
    Maureen at Almack's, let alone alive.
How could this be?
    He all but forgot the clutch of enthralled misses encircling him in adoration. He forgot Lady Jersey at his side. He automatically moved toward Maureen, following his heart to where she stood poised at the entrance of the Assembly Rooms.
    Yet even as his foot itched to take another step, he stopped himself.
    What the hell was he thinking?
    He couldn't approach her — not unless he wanted to find himself gutted and hanging from the nearest lamppost before the night's end.
    While first all he saw was the brassy, willful girl he'd fallen in love with all those years ago, he looked again and found that time had touched what his memories held dear. She was still breathtakingly beautiful, but then, nothing could have ever marred that.
    Her raven hair, her wild Celtic features — even trapped as they were in the confines of fashion — made the surrounding society misses seem more mousy, more plain than they had moments ago. Her body had grown and changed, taking on fuller lines, giving her movements a maturity and sureness that made every other young innocent in the room look like a nervous filly.
    But then again, she wasn't a young girl anymore, or even innocent. He'd seen to that.
    He turned his back to the damning evidence from his past.
    How could it be that after all this time, all these years, she was the only woman in the world he'd ever wanted and at the same time be the very one who could bring about his complete ruin?
    Still, he couldn't help himself; he glanced back in her direction.
    "Who has caught your notice, Julien?" Lady Jersey asked.
    "My what?" he said, looking toward the patroness.
    "Your attention, my dear. Am I to assume that our late arrival is your newest lady love?" she said with a nod toward the steps. "I should have known. She appears quite enchanting. And she's rich as well, if the rumors are true. Yes, I do believe I've found your next scandal."
    Julien knew he needed to divert the lady's focus immediately. The last thing he needed was Lady Jersey's tongue wagging the next day, making her titillating speculations in every fashionable salon, parlor and morning room in London as to Julien's interest in Maureen.
    "Hardly," he shuddered, gathering up his best Corinthian disdain. "She looks to me to be at her last prayers. And rich? Doubtful. That dress hasn't been in fashion for ages. Why, if I was to venture a guess, I'd say she must be coming on the tenth anniversary of her first Season. Wouldn't you, ladies?"
    The girls around him laughed maliciously, delighted to discover that the beautiful and unknown newcomer held little interest to one of London's most discerning rakes. Especially if she was as rich as the