The Reluctant Suitor by Kathleen E. Woodiwiss Read Free Book Online

her affect on him, he could believe she had branded her very image upon his mind and body.
    Years ago, he had resented his father’s prediction that one day he would come to savor the company of Lady Adriana. Little had he guessed after his lengthy absence that at their very first meeting he’d be taken aback by the uncommon pulchritude of the very one he had adamantly rejected. Search as he might, he could find no lingering evidence of that thin little thing with huge, dark eyes who, along with his sister, had once tagged behind his heels whenever her parents had visited.
    For a young girl whose looks had once been so uninspiring, Adriana Sutton was now no less than a rare gem. The enticingly slender nose, the elegant cheekbones, and the delicate structure of her winsome face in its entirety were admirable enough to bestir the heart of many of his gender, but it was her large, silkily lashed dark eyes, slanting ever-so-slightly upward beneath gracefully sweeping brows, that revived images of the young, gangly sprite she had once been. Still, after so long a time, those memories seemed as fleeting and whimsical as the wind rustling through the trees.
    As a young girl, Adriana had always been thin and tall. Even now, she was nearly half a head taller than his sister. Although slender still, she had more curves than he would’ve ever supposed possible for one he had once likened to a twig. Perhaps his lengthy abstinence had much to do with the fact that he was still keenly aware of the lingering impressions her soft bosom and slender limbs had left upon his frame.
    A few curling wisps had escaped from underneath her rakishly slanted top hat and the heavy chignon at her nape, leading his gaze to delectable little areas a man might be tempted to stroke with his tongue. The long, ivory column of her throat, visible between her jabot and dark hair, might well prove a delicate sweetmeat that his parted lips and nibbling teeth could leisurely savor. So, too, her dainty, pearl-adorned ears. The tantalizing fragrance that had wafted from these areas as well as the smooth temple even now, in recall, seemed to twine like silken vapors through his very being. A natural rosy hue had imbued her cheeks even before she had become aware of his presence, yet the places where her skin had been fair and smooth as creamy silk, he now detected a deeper color, giving him cause to wonder if his close inspection had stirred forth a blush from the lady.

    As much as his heart rallied in admiration at what he saw before him, conversely his self-esteem suffered from the smarting darts of his erroneous judgment of the past, for it was a simple fact that Adriana Sutton was a strikingly beautiful young woman. Indeed, rarely, if ever, had he seen such perfection. For the first time since his ten-and-six-year absence from home, the full weight of his refusal to accept the betrothal his father had proposed struck his pride a blow that equaled a broadside across the prow of a ship, leaving his heart listing with a sense of regret to the leeward. Had it not been for his limited foresight and his own headstrong obstinacy, by now he’d have already laid claim to the lady.
    “I beg your pardon for not recognizing you at the onset, Adriana,” he murmured warmly. “Your appearance has changed by such an astonishing degree that I’m left in awe. I suppose I was still thinking of you as a little girl, but that is definitely no longer the case.” His eyes twinkled above a lopsided grin. “
    Father always said you’d be a beauty one day, but I never imagined you’d become a goddess.”
    The vague smile that touched her lips was the best Adriana could manage with any semblance of calm. It didn’t help that moments earlier she had been forced to construct a cool reserve from the ashes of a resentment she had struggled to maintain throughout the uncertainty of war. Even after feeling as if this man had ripped out her heart so many years ago, it was all she could