Society's Most Scandalous Viscount by Anabelle Bryant Read Free Book Online Page B

women, stalking the night hours in search of prey to capture. She almost laughed aloud at the ridiculous notion she’d conjured.
    â€œWould you like some tea?”
    He would make her tea? La, definitely not the action of a depraved seducer. Her pulse calmed considerably.
    â€œIt would warm me, no doubt, but I can’t possible stay. I shouldn’t be here and the rain has reduced to a drizzle. I shan’t melt if I leave to find my way home.”
    â€œI can’t allow you to slip into the night unescorted. Who knows what mischief you may encounter next?” He paused and she didn’t miss the implication of his question. “Where do you live? I’ll return you once the weather abates.”
    He approached the fire to stand beside her and again she looked away. She had the niggling feeling that to look at him overlong would be to succumb altogether. He possessed a carnal attractiveness that was absent of the gentlemen in London—a virile, sensual quality that caused her to blush when she considered it.
Good God, to experience his kiss.
    The wild notion took hold and anchored her resolve, securing her disinclination and transforming it to reticence.
This was the adventure. This was the moment she craved. One kiss and then she’d dash out the door, a mystery, unable to be found. Forever changed.
    She turned to face him where he’d approached from behind. “That sounds a logical plan.” She clenched her still-damp skirts to calm her trembling hands. “How can I thank you?”
    â€œThere is no need. A mermaid and a pirate are kin to the ocean.”
    He curled a sincere smile and she experienced the full force of his handsomeness. Pirate, prince, pauper…it didn’t matter. His gaze, as intoxicating as brandy, warmed her from the inside out.
    â€œPerhaps a small token.” He reached forward to raise a curl between them, caressing the lock of hair between his thumb and forefinger. “Something to remind me I haven’t drunk too much liquor and imagined this little nighttime escapade.”
    She almost laughed. How was it he read her thoughts, peered into her heart and realized her secrets? “Of course.”
    He bent to his left boot and removed a dagger that quickly caught the firelight on its blade. Her breath snagged, realizing late she’d been far too trusting and more than foolish. Perhaps her father was right of mind to secure her a future where she would never be tempted by wanton adventure. This remembrance prodded her to act, mindful of the scarcity of her time in Brighton. While she considered this, he sliced through the crimson ribbon at her collar, removing the length to twist tight with a strip of leather meant for his hair. He tucked it into his pocket, the gesture confusing and…intimately romantic.
    Sudden heat consumed her. She must be too close to the fire. Again, she caught the scent of his shaving soap and breathed deep, wanting to keep the memory. She watched his face in the enveloping silence, his smoldering gaze, golden brown, fixed as if she were his only focus, as if he memorized her somehow, etching a permanent picture or wishing to divine her intentions. Indeed, this man likely gained anything he wished for. He exuded confidence and strength—a man who conquered those around him, allowing little disruption, akin to a captain who commanded his crew and the high seas.
    The crack and sizzle of fresh wood in the hearth overrode the sound of raindrops on the roof. Perhaps the weather cleared at last. The breath-robbing realization that she’d no longer have an excuse to stay cozied in this cottage took hold. A ridiculous, addled thought. What was she about anyway, every thought a contradiction?
    A hot spike of desire reminded her that she sought a kiss this evening. Her eyes dropped to his lips, full and sensual, crafted by the devil for kissing and seduction, and she grasped hold of her adventure with both hands,