The Redemption of a Rogue (Dark Regency Book 2) by Chasity Bowlin Read Free Book Online Page B

shed. She reached out her hand, and it hovered above his brow for a moment, before she withdrew. Her touch was incapable of providing comfort to anyone, a fact that accounted for some of her weeping. She gave one last look to the man on the bed, a man who carried a wealth of pain inside him, before fading into the surrounding darkness.
    ~*~*~
    At Whitby Hall, Lavinia was in a foul mood. She had been a harridan since the night before and Lord Ellersleigh’s blatant rejection of her. The jealousy she felt for Abigail had always been unreasonable, but now, with Lord Ellersleigh choosing her sister over her, she was unbearable. A servant ducked out of the room, clutching her bruised forearm. Lavinia had hurled a tray at the girl for having the temerity to interrupt her.
    “Lavinia, you mustn’t overset yourself so!” Rupert said. He was distracted, staring up at the naughty mural painted above their bed, and only half listening to her.
    Predictably, she turned on him, her eyes blazing and her magnificent breasts heaving as she ranted. She threw her hairbrush at him; the silver backed tool clattering against the wall behind him. “This is your fault!” she shrieked. “If you hadn’t been panting after my stepsister, this never would have happened!”
    Rupert rose from the bed, clutching the brush in his hand. He eyed her coolly; his full lips firmed into a cruel line. The cutting words were spoken with a twisted glee. “Ellersleigh turned you down before he even knew that I was in Abigail’s room...You, my darling wife, are no longer in the first stare of beauty. The bloom is off that particular rose. Ellersleigh is a rake by any account, but he prefers respectable widows and discreet wives—not jaded harlots like you.”
    Rupert advanced on her then, moving closer until he could grip her face between his hands, pinching painfully. He continued, “You were too bold for him. A man like that wants to feel like he's a hunter... not the hunted. Think back to how it was in the beginning my love. Our secret meetings in the woods, away from your family's prying eyes. You would protest, and I would convince you to go just a bit further.... A real man wants to believe he has taken something, not that it was given.” The truth was, he hadn't the ability to satisfy his wife any longer regardless of what was taken or given. It had been ages since they'd made love. She required more vigor than his diseased body was capable of producing. Perhaps that was Abigail's allure. She would not be comparing the shell he'd become to the man he'd once been. A hint of his bitterness crept out then, and he spoke to her more cruelly. “You could learn a thing or two from your stepsister in that regard.”
    Lavinia smiled up at himAny hint of jealousy would not be well received, and she knew it. Lavinia’s lips turned out in a pout; one more suited to a small child than a woman grown. She needed his attention; she craved it, even if it was attention of the unpleasant sort. Placing her hands on his chest, rubbing against him suggestively, she said in a small, childish voice, “But, I wanted him, and you told me I could have anything I wanted.”
    Rupert tested the weight of the brush, slapping it against his palm. “You will, one way or another! You will have him, but first you've been very naughty, Lavinia. A spoiled brat who needs to learn her place.”
    Lavinia shivered, but it wasn’t fear. She had known when she hurled the brush at him that he would make her pay for it. That had been her primary reason for doing it. She needed the release he could provide; the mingled pain and pleasure of punishment excited her, and the idea that he would be completely attuned to her in those moments. “What will you do, my lord?”
    Rupert smiled, his full lips twisting cruelly. She only ever called him that when she wished to submit, when she craved the violence. “We shall issue an apology to both of them, and blame your bad behavior on being upset