Pursuing Lord Pascal by Anna Campbell Read Free Book Online Page B

admirer of
your methods.”
    “Th-thank you,” she said, flustered.
    There was enough light to reveal the fond
smile he sent in her direction. “I do believe my appreciation of
your work has thrown you into more of a spin than all the times
I’ve told you you’re beautiful.”
    Ridiculously, it was true. Perhaps because
her agricultural experiments belonged to the real Amy Mowbray,
whereas compliments he paid her looks were a tribute to Sally and
her skilled modiste.
    “I’d be glad to advise you,” she said, then
was grateful that the shadows hid her blush. What a nitwit she was.
As if this sophisticated man wanted to talk agriculture at one of
the biggest social events of the year. To hide her mortification,
she gulped a mouthful of wine.
    “I’d like that,” he said with what sounded
like enthusiasm. “Perhaps you’ll come to Northumberland and see for
yourself what needs to be done.”
    Her self-castigation melted away. Astonishing
as it might be, he didn’t dismiss her as hopelessly
unsophisticated. She curled her hand around his arm more firmly. In
thin evening gloves, her fingers were cold. More, she wanted to
touch him.
    The path he chose led away from the light.
She noticed but didn’t protest. The sinful hope arose that he might
kiss her again. Properly this time. Wilfred hadn’t been much for
kissing, but she’d caught Silas and Helena in enough passionate
embraces with their spouses to know that she had lots to
discover.
    Perhaps she’d discover it with Lord
Pascal.
    She edged nearer to him, partly because it
was cold away from the braziers. In the distance, she could hear
laughter and the sweet, silly tune for the dance. Closer, a woman
murmured something in a husky voice, then fell silent.
    Amy sipped her champagne, wondering if she
could blame her uncharacteristic rashness on the wine. Her heart
thumped like a drum, and her blood pumped slow and heavy like
syrup. She’d never felt this way before. Such a giddy mixture of
suspense and anticipation.
    Desire.
    Suddenly that seemed a sad confession. She’d
been married for two years. She should have known desire.
    Their steps slowed, came to a stop. They
stood alone in a small glade with a sundial in the center. The moon
was three-quarters full, illuminating shapes without detail. Very
gently, Pascal set down his empty glass on the sundial. Then he
took hers and set it beside his.
    Amy swayed forward as with breathtaking
assurance, his hand curved around her waist. He leaned in, blocking
the moonlight, turning everything to dark mystery.
    When his lips met hers, she sighed in
wordless surrender.

Chapter Five
     
    Pascal raised his hand to cradle Amy’s cheek
as their lips clung. Hers were soft and trembling like a young
girl’s, and her sigh expressed surprise as much as enjoyment.
    Shock shuddered through him, pierced building
pleasure. This lovely woman might have been married, but she kissed
like a virgin.
    Tenderness cut him, sharp as a sword. It was
the most powerful emotion he’d ever known in a life devoted to
selfish gratification. The pursuit of Lady Mowbray changed from an
intriguing challenge and a pleasant way to answer his self-interest
to something…else. Something outside the range of his experience.
Or even his vocabulary to describe.
    Slowly he pulled away, until the moonlight
illuminated her lovely face. Her eyes were closed, and she looked
transported to some higher realm.
    After a kiss so chaste, he could almost have
given it to an aunt.
    Except that wasn’t quite true. However sweet
that kiss, it held the promise of sensual exploration to come. That
kiss was a beginning, not an end in itself.
    Amy opened her eyes, the hazel shadowy in the
silvery darkness. Astonishing that such an innocent kiss set his
heart racing with an excitement he hadn’t felt in years. As if her
innocence revived echoes of his, lost too long ago in a world that
offered a presentable, aristocratic young man everything he wanted
merely for the