Seducing the Viscount by Alexandra Ivy Read Free Book Online

library,” he taunted, strolling forward with a predatory grace.
    â€œGood heavens.” Snapping the book shut, Mercy warily rose to her feet, her gaze trained on the advancing gentleman. He was still wearing the elegant attire he had chosen for dinner, but sometime during the evening he had loosened his cravat and opened the buttons of his linen shirt to reveal the strong column of his neck. With his raven hair tousled and his jaw darkened with a hint of whiskers, he appeared utterly earthy, utterly male, and utterly dangerous. Another thrill of awareness charged through her body, reminding Mercy that knowledge was not the only thing she was starved for. “Will you please halt your habit of sneaking up on me?”
    â€œI was hardly sneaking.” The golden gaze ran a lazy path down her body, lingering a deliberate moment on the modest cut of her bodice. “I believe an elephant could have stomped through the room without gaining your attention.”
    â€œYes, well, I was reading a fascinating history on the plague that swept through the Byzantine empire while—”
    â€œI will take your word that it is fascinating,” he drawled.
    She smiled wryly, more resigned than annoyed by his interruption. There were few who possessed her passion for the past.
    â€œYou have no interest in history?”
    â€œI far prefer the present.” He prowled forward, filling the room with a restless energy. “Especially when it includes a beautiful lady.”
    Barely aware that she was moving backward, Mercy came to her senses the same moment her back hit the book-lined shelves. Whatever was the matter with her? This gentleman might be a practiced rake, but he wasn’t about to ravish her in his father’s library.
    Not unless she invited him to do so, the voice of the devil whispered in the back of her mind.
    â€œYes, I imagine you would,” she managed to retort.
    A wicked smile curved his lips. “You sound disapproving.”
    That was the problem, of course. Mercy was not at all certain that she disapproved of the heady sensations that were tingling through her body.
    â€œDo I?”
    His hands landed on the shelves on either side of her shoulders, his lean, muscled body trapping her in a cage of heat.
    â€œIf you must persist in thinking the worst of me, then perhaps I should take measures to live up to my reputation,” he warned, his head angling down to brush his lips over the delicate skin of her temple.
    â€œMr. Breckford . . .”
    â€œIan.”
    â€œIan.” Her hands lifted to press against his chest. Not so much in protest as in an effort to catch her breath. That soft caress might be meaningless to Ian Breckford, but it shuddered through her body with shocking force. “You appeared troubled when you walked into the room. Is anything the matter?”
    He pulled back to reveal a sardonic expression that was not entirely successful in disguising a deep, festering pain.
    â€œI am always troubled after spending time in my father’s company. He possesses an uncanny ability to rattle my nerves.”
    â€œI am sorry.”
    â€œDo not be. It is not your fault.” His lips twisted. “Besides, it is nothing that a swig of whiskey will not cure. Well, perhaps more than a swig.”
    â€œIt is very late to be partaking of strong spirits.”
    The smoldering heat returned to the golden eyes as he studied the soft curve of her lips. Certainly it is well past a proper maiden’s bedtime. There are dangers to be found lingering in the shadows of a house.”
    â€œWhat sort of dangers?”
    â€œDangers such as this . . .” With a blatant sensuality, he leaned forward until his lips pressed to the pulse that pounded at the base her throat.
    Mercy shivered, her hands instinctively lifting to grip the lapels of his jacket. There was the strangest humming racing through her body, making her knees weak and her lower stomach clench