If He's Dangerous by Hannah Howell Read Free Book Online Page B

own little secret. A man’s passion was a shallow thing unless it touched his heart. Lorelei was not sure what it was about Sir Argus Wherlocke that drew her, but she was sure that, if she gave in to her attraction for the man, she wanted far more than passion from him.
    â€œSleep, Sir Argus,” she murmured and stood to settle the bedcovers more securely over his body. “’Tis the best cure for your injuries.” Giving in to a sudden impulse, she kissed his forehead before she sat back down and picked up her book.
    Argus nearly opened his eyes in shock when he felt her soft, warm lips brush over his forehead. It was a surprisingly tender gesture and touched him deeply. Lady Lorelei Sundun was a puzzle.
    She was also a danger to his peace of mind, stirring a softness and longing he had thought dead a long time ago. It would be best to get away from her as quickly as possible, he decided as he let the thickening fog of sleep pull him under.

Chapter 4
    Lorelei winced in sympathy as Cyrus and Peter helped Sir Argus out of her carriage. The journey from Dunn Manor had been taken as slowly and carefully as possible, but it had taken all day, and not every rough spot on the road could be avoided. Sir Argus was pale, lines of pain bracketing his tightly pressed lips. Sweat dampened his hair and glistened on his face despite the cool of the evening air. However, he still took the time and strength to convince the carriage driver that there had been no one else in the carriage save for her, and her cousins. It surprised her that her cousins were not disturbed by the way Jem, the driver, just smiled blandly, agreed that Sir Argus was not there, and drove away.
    She hurried ahead of her cousins and Sir Argus, unlocking the door to the carriage house. One deep breath was enough to tell her that Max had done as she had asked and prepared the place for a guest. Sending Vale on ahead with the message had been a hurried decision and might not have been the wisest one. Max would undoubtedly question her later on all the secrecy she had insisted upon, but she could not worry about that now.
    â€œGet him settled in the bed,” she told her cousins. “I will go and see if Max left all I asked for in the kitchens.”
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    Lorelei rushed into the kitchens only to come to a halt so quickly she stumbled and had to grab the back of a chair to steady herself. Max himself stood at the stove idly stirring a small pot of a rich-smelling broth and eyeing her in that way that always made her feel guilty, even when she had done nothing to feel guilty about. She stood up straight, brushed down her skirts, and attempted to act like the grown woman she was and not some child caught stealing biscuits.
    Max was not like most butlers. He ruled the Sundun household far more than her father did. He and her father had been together since they had been small boys. Max had the common sense her father sometimes lacked. He had stood firmly at the duke’s side through three marriages, three funerals of wives dead before their time, the burial of the late duke, her poor ill-fated Uncle Cecil the previous heir and his wife, and the arrival of every one of seventeen children, plus Cecil’s two orphaned daughters and a vast assortment of young cousins. Lorelei knew her father loved them all, but, although the duke did his best, it was Max who was the guiding hand for all the children calling Sundunmoor home. She doubted Max would do more than quirk one dark brow in derision if she tried to play the haughty mistress with him now.
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    â€œDid you truly believe I would not wish to ascertain exactly who this mysterious visitor is?” asked Max. “Or why he must hide here in the utmost secrecy?”
    â€œI had hoped such would be the way of it,” she mumbled.
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    â€œIt grieves me to dash your hopes.” He ignored her snort of disbelief. “Who is he and why must he hide?” He set a cup of chocolate on