Shayla Black by Strictly Seduction Read Free Book Online Page B

realize just how resourceful he’d been to grow a tidy sum of money into an enormous fortune in a handful of years. If she wasn’t so busy despising him, she might tell him that she respected his accomplishments.
    Beside her, he brushed a speck of lint that could only exist in his imagination from his immaculate ebony evening coat. His hand brushed her arm—for the third time in ten minutes.
    A fresh tingle danced across her skin. She folded her hands in her lap, doing her damnedest to ignore him.
    With a grin, he stretched his arm behind her chair. While he toyed with her life, it was a merely a game to him.
    Maddie tensed, readying her sharp tongue, then… his thumb brushed the back of her neck, a silky caress that spread a shiver through her entire body.
    Squirming as far away as her seat allowed, Maddie cursed her fluttering stomach. How could he affect her so? She’d hoped that the harsh lesson he’d dealt her about love and betrayal would permanently curb any desire she might again feel for the manipulative rogue.
    No such luck.
    Beside her, a smile lifted the corners of Brock’s full lips, as if he knew he made her nervous and enjoyed that fact. He looked devastating in full evening black, serving only to further fluster her. The man was entirely too self-assured. And infuriating.
    The scent of ale clogged the air as pot boys dispensing refreshments to the thickening crowd did little to distract her. Maddie stared resolutely at the green baize curtain, ignoring the curious stares of the ladies in attendance, whispering behind their fans about her choice of escort, the fact that he sat scandalously close, and touched her with such familiarity.
    Brock had played this cleverly. Rumors would surely start swirling that they were headed to the altar. Or that she’d fallen below her station and become his mistress. The cad!
    “ This is one of my favorite plays,” Brock whispered, his mouth mere inches from her ear. The deep tones of his velvet voice caressed her. She repressed a shiver, remaining mute.
    Her silence didn’t deter him.
    “ I recalled that you like Shakespeare, so when I heard of this rendition, I thought it perfect.”
    Maddie glanced down at the program in his hands. The Taming of the Shrew.
    Her eyes narrowed as she snapped her gaze back to his sinfully masculine face and hissed, “If I’m a shrew, you bounder, why wed me? Pick another impoverished widow who does not despise you.”
    “ Ah, but then I would not have you to tame.”
    When his smile widened, she felt the impact of that slow, suggestive grin all the way to her belly...and lower. Why could he make her feel this wretched desire? Make her think of deep kisses shared, damp bodies locked in desire, covered by nothing more than sweet spring air?
    “ You will not tame me,” she vowed. “Marriage would only make me despise you more.”
    He leaned closer. Her stomach tightened, quivered. That green stare of his teased and dared. “Don’t challenge me, Maddie. You know I will always accept.”
    That, he would. Brock had always goaded her into the impulsive. She must think more clearly before she spoke.
    “ I merely point out the impractical notion of wedding someone you dislike.”
    His gaze touched her face before dropping to caress the swells of her breasts exposed by her dress. “You have other qualities that make up for the impracticality.”
    Maddie trembled. The blackguard toyed with her. She knew it wouldn’t be long before he sprang the trap.
    The curtain rose and the actors trouped out to perform. Act one passed quickly, and Maddie’s thoughts raced. At intermission, he inquired if she would like a drink. At her refusal, he rose, not returning when the play resumed.
    Though she was loathe to admit it, his abandonment stung. She caught a glimpse of him in another box speaking with a wealthy baron. Catching her eye, he raised his glass to her. The baron watched with a prying gaze. Maddie looked away.
    Why did she watch him,