Suzanne Robinson by Lady Dangerous Read Free Book Online

blue thing. She lifted both hands.
    “Loveday said I should discharge you.”
    Liza jumped and shrieked. Whirling around, she beheld the viscount standing on the threshold. He was leaning on one shoulder and had his frock coat slung over the other and hooked over a finger. At her yelp, he grinned, came inside, and shoved the door closed while she gaped at him.
    “He’s right,” the viscount continued. “I’ve never preyed upon my servants. Bad form.” The frock coat sailed in the air and landed on an armchair as he stalked over to her. “Odd how I never noticed maids before you came. Loveday says you’re new.”
    Liza scuttled sideways as he prowled toward her, but he changed direction as she did. She wrung the dust rag in both hands, backing up as he approached her. Her legs hit something solid, and she fell into one of the chairs near the fireplace. The viscount chuckled and swiftly bent to place his hands on the arms of the chair.
    His body loomed over her. She could feel the heat from it. His head angled down so that he could meet her gaze. Brown, his skin was brown, not pale like that of most Englishmen, who spent their days indoors. Did all gunfighters have brown skin? Heavens, she was all atwitter again. He’d caught her snooping, and all she could think of was his skin.
    “You needn’t squirm so. I’m not going to hurt you.”
    “I got dusting to do, my lord.”
    “I saw you.”
    “My lord?”
    “I saw you dusting. Diligently dusting. Forget the dusting.”
    His lips were drawing closer and closer. Liza’s courage vanished. Bending almost double, she shoved her head under his arm and dove for freedom. She would have succeeded if he hadn’t twisted around and slipped an arm about her waist.
    With a teasing laugh, he scooped her up and spun in a circle. Liza shrieked and closed her eyes to shut out the spinning room. The spinning stopped, but she was flying in the air. She cried out again, fearing a hard landing on the floor, but her body landed on cushions.
    Eyes flying open, she found herself sprawled on the couch by the windows. A knee planted itself beside her thigh. An expanse of white shirt blocked her view as another knee shoved between her thighs. Air rushed out of her lungs when Jocelin Marshall lay down upon her body. Too startled to move, Liza stared up at him.
    She found her voice and snapped at him as she would a disobedient dog. “Get off me at once.”
    He didn’t bother to answer. His gaze was fixed on her breasts, which jutted forth with the aid of all the stuffing over them. He was going to touch her. Dear God, she had to stop him before he realized she was all padding.
    “They told me you was a bleeding degenerate,” she cried as she began to shove him off her. “You ain’t going to do no perversions on me.”
    His head came up then. All trace of humor vanished, and he jammed her back down on the couch by the weight of his body. Catching her wrists, he subdued her struggles and stuck his face close to hers.
    “So, you’ve been gossiping about me with theothers. What did they tell you? Did they tell you about my women? Did they tell you how many?”
    “No!”
    He wasn’t listening, she could tell. In less than a second the viscount vanished. She knew when it happened, for after her denial, his eyes had changed. No more amusement, no mockery. The gunfighter was back, with his assessing, duelist’s stare. Silence filled the room, broken only by her labored breathing. Afraid to challenge him again, she waited. She shouldn’t have, for his gaze dropped to her breasts again, and then his weight settled on her.
    “Been a long, long trip, honey.”
    “No.”
    He wasn’t listening again, for his knee shoved against the inside of her thigh, pressing her legs apart. Truly frightened now, she was caught between the desire to scream for help and the need to keep her disguise intact. He got her legs apart and settled between them.
    “My lord, no. You said you didn’t, not with