Some Like It Sinful (Hellion's Den) by Alexandra Ivy Read Free Book Online

nearly touching. “I may not be capable of forcing you, but I can certainly keep you in this bed until you do so.”
    She unwittingly licked her lips, although he did not believe it was from fear. Or even from intimidation.
    Not when her eyes had darkened to that intriguing shade of emerald.
    “You cannot keep me here,” she breathed. “My reputation will be ruined.”
    Her reputation was not precisely what was on his mind at the moment.
    “Then tell me what I wish to know.”
    “I have nothing to tell.”
    Turning his head, he allowed his lips to softly stroke the tender skin just below her ear. She sucked in a rasping breath, but she made no move to push him away.
    “Why were you going to visit Mr. Chesterfield?” he demanded. “Did you hope for him to become your lover?”
    He felt her stiffen beneath him. “Certainly not. Our relationship was not of that sort.”
    A hot rush of satisfaction flared through him. Ridiculous, but what was a gentleman caught in throes of lust to do?
    “What sort of relationship was it, then?”
    “We knew each other on an . . . an intellectual level.”
    Hawksley pulled back to regard her with a lift of his brows. “On a what?”
    “An intellectual level.”
    “And what precisely would that be?”
    Perhaps sensing his stirring amusement, she gave a small sniff. “We have corresponded with one another but we have never actually met in person.”
    “Never so much as exchanged a glance? Hellfire. I must say that this Mr. Chesterfield must possess a golden quill to lure a proper young lady from her home to join him in London,” he murmured. “Did he bewitch you with love poems and promises of happily ever after?”
    Her expression became decidedly huffy.
    “If you must know, he sent me mathematical equations.”
    “Math . . .”
    Hawksley could not help himself. Tilting back his head, he laughed with startled enjoyment.

Chapter Four
    Clara was not surprised by her kidnapper’s amusement. Although naïve, she was not a fool. She knew that most gentlemen did not seek out ladies for their intelligence, or for their sensible nature. How could she not know?
    They wanted women they desired. Women who charmed them and played those mysterious games she had never been capable of learning.
    Still, she did not entirely appreciate his boorish reaction. So, she was not the sort of female to attract gentlemen. So, night after night she found herself sitting at home rather than being invited to the numerous entertainments held about the village. At least Mr. Chesterfield appreciated her unique qualities.
    There was no need to mock.
    Glaring into the beautiful features that could make a woman’s heart forget to beat, Clara waited for him to gain control of his mirth.
    “Are you quite finished?” she at last demanded.
    The blue eyes continued to smolder in the flickering candlelight. “I must admit that I have never considered using mathematical equations to seduce a woman.”
    Clara was not about to reveal that the equations were only the beginning. That they formed the basis of a secret code that when properly calculated spelled out a poem. The beast might choke himself laughing at her.
    Perhaps not entirely a bad thing.
    “Mr. Chesterfield was not attempting to seduce me,” she bit out, shifting on the mattress. She was not at all certain how clean it might be. A worrisome thought. Perhaps even more worrisome than the large gentleman who was hovering over her like a hawk circling for a kill. “We simply possess a shared interest.”
    “Kitten, you are either astonishingly gullible or the best liar I have ever encountered,” he taunted softly.
    “Whatever do you mean?”
    “You might consider an intellectual relationship the stuff of dreams, but I assure you any red-blooded male is interested in something a bit more . . .” His gaze deliberately lowered to her lips. “Tangible.”
    Oh my.
    A hot flash seared through her before Clara was sternly squelching it.
    “I will not