In the Devil's Bed (Sins of the Duke Book 1) by Eva Devon Read Free Book Online Page B

down at her. “I also want to make certain your cut is seen to.”
    He lowered himself onto the settee.
    His weight sank the cushion down and Regan rolled towards him. She grabbed hold of the arm. “I could easily—“
    “I’m sure you could, but I have seen far too many wounds fester.” He smiled, a slow, heated grin. “Besides, I have a better view of your cheek than you do.”
    “I accede to that.”
    “I am so glad.” Twisting his torso towards the small table, he dipped the cloth in the hot water.
    The muscles in his back moved and adjusted beneath his shirt. Regan’s eyes widened and her arms dropped from her chest. Slowly, she rubbed her free hand against her thigh, then fisted it. She’d never seen anything quite like him. The way his body could move with such perfect grace. The way his muscles worked when not hidden by a waist and frock coat. Regan took a deep swallow of brandy and forced herself to look at the fire.
    The drip, drip, drip of water being wrung from the cloth pierced the air, mingling with the crack and pop of the fire.
    “Turn this way,” he said, his deep voice rumbling dangerously close to her ear.
    Regan turned her cheek. She caught a glimpse of tiny, white marks towards the back of Captain Hazard’s neck. The white marks stood up from his skin, a little more than an inch apart. She counted five before they trailed down into his shirt.
    “This will sting,” he forewarned, his warm breath caressing the side of her face.
    Regan nodded. He pressed the hot, wet cloth to her skin and she hissed as the heat stabbed at the cut with an angry flame.
    “My apologies.”
    Regan forced a shaky smile to her lips. “It is nothing. It will teach me to be more careful getting out of carriages,” she quipped.
    “Pardon?” He lifted the fabric and dipped it again in the dish of hot water.
    “Well. . . I tumbled backwards out of the coach, so to speak.”
    He smiled down at her, his eyes twinkling and hard at the same time. “Bum over teakettle?” He pressed the hot material to her cheek again.
    A vision of herself going bum over teakettle flashed in her head and she laughed. A short sound, but a laugh all the same. “Yes. They were most forward, in truth.”
    He paused, his eyes narrowing. “How forward?”
    The laugh died in her throat and wariness squeezed her chest. “Well. I. . . I suppose it is not unusual. They attempted to take certain liberties—“
    “What liberties?” Captain Hazard’s face hardened and his black eyes turned to hard obsidian.
    His reaction almost frightened her. “They were attempting to intimidate me. But I fended them off with my umbrella.”
    He gave a cool, calm nod.
    The fierce energy coming from him belied his coolness. It was something Regan didn’t quite understand. Was he truly furious that someone had hurt her? It certainly appeared so. “Thank you,” she said. “For everything.”
    He lifted his hand to her cheek and stroked a strand of hair from her face. “I will see to it that no one harms you again.” And he lowered his hand to his side. He kept his gaze locked with her eyes.
    Regan fought the urge to lift her fingers to where his hand had just been. For the first time, she truly understood how dangerous Captain Hazard could be. But she was not afraid. No. Not afraid at all.

Chapter 8
    Jack struggled to remain distant as his fingers trailed over her bruised skin. She was a noble. A blue blood. One of them. Her grandfather had destroyed his life and thrown Devlin to the cannon fodder like rubbish. She deserved nothing but his hate.
    Fury bubbled in him as he stared at the angry mark on her perfect, white skin. Deep down, the desire to protect her was trying to war its way out. Something he couldn’t understand.
    Oh, he’d seen far worse. Hell, he’d seen flesh opened to the bone. But this simple gash on her face infuriated him. Taking a deep breath, Jack lifted the cloth and placed it back in the bowl. He picked up the small, glass