The Governess's Scandalous Marriage. Helen Dickson
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Название: The Governess's Scandalous Marriage
Автор: Helen Dickson
Издательство: HarperCollins
Жанр: Современная зарубежная литература
isbn: 9781474089272
isbn:
‘No, I don’t, but I am willing to remedy that situation. What is your name?’
‘That is for me to know, sir. I do not intend sharing the personal details of my life with a perfect stranger.’
* * *
Lord Blakely tilted his head to one side and regarded her with a critical, masculine eye. He was becoming more intrigued by her by the minute. He wondered who and what she was. Earlier he had seen her with an older woman and assumed she was this young lady’s chaperon. It would appear he had been mistaken. An unprotected female roaming the passageways of Stourbridge House led him to think that perhaps she was an actress or even a courtesan, forced to earn her living as best she could. She had charm and feminine graces in abundance—eminently agreeable qualities in a mistress.
* * *
Linnet drew a deep breath. Those dark eyes seemed to see more than she wished him to see. She was aware that her body trembled slightly as she tried to figure out a way of extricating herself from this situation that seemed to be running away with her. This man seemed determined to detain her and she suspected he did not give up easily. ‘If you are suggesting what I think you are, then your proposal is most indecent. If you are here in pursuit of pleasure, then you must look elsewhere.’
Even as she said the words Linnet knew that because of the inferior role she had assumed he could not be faulted and the difference in their social status—if indeed he was a peer of the realm, as he professed to be—was an open invitation to seduction. Ladies did not infiltrate events such as this alone and with criminal intent.
‘I’m sure we could come to an arrangement that would suit us both. I assure you that you will find me most generous.’
‘I do not think I would care for your kind of generosity.’
‘Are you not tempted to know me better? I think you would find it interesting to discover more.’
‘I doubt it. You think too highly of yourself, sir.’
‘That is a failing indeed.’
He shocked her when he touched her gently under her chin. Linnet caught her breath sharply as he tilted her face upward and looked into her eyes.
‘Perhaps you are afraid, is that it?’
Her heart pounded at the light but sure pressure of his warm fingertips against her skin, but she managed to meet his gaze squarely. ‘I’m not afraid of you, sir. I’m not afraid of anyone.’
‘I’m relieved to hear it.’
He continued to peer down at her, into her very soul. A lazy, seductive smile passed across his mouth, curling his lips, and Linnet felt herself being drawn towards him, knowing she should step back and walk away, but she was too affected by him to do that. Feelings she had never experienced before began to appear within her and she could not deny that she was attracted by him. Belated warning bells screamed through her head and her eyes became fixed on his finely sculptured mouth. As he came closer still, to her helpless horror she knew he was going to kiss her.
When he reached out and took her hand, drawing her into his embrace, she knew she was trapped as securely as a rabbit in a snare.
Linnet was mesmerised by him. He was standing very close. She could smell the sharpness of his cologne and feel his presence. Like a magnet, it was drawing her to him and she hadn’t the will to resist, nor did she want to. A smile played on his lips, curving gently, a lovely smile, and an errant wave had fallen across his brow. The heat of his closeness was making her warm and the feelings coursing through her body spoke of desire, not love, not even infatuation. It ached for him to touch her, her lips ached for him to kiss her. Her heart suddenly started pounding in a quite unpredictable manner. He was looking into her eyes, holding her spellbound, weaving some magic web around her from which there was no escape.
‘I—I should go,’ she whispered. ‘Please let me go at once.’
‘Not a chance,’ he murmured. With his arms around her he held her tightly against his chest.
The strength of his embrace and the hard pressure of his loins made her all too aware of the danger she was in, that he was a strong, determined man, and that he was treating her as he would any woman he had a desire for. Resolutely she squirmed against him. A strange feeling, until this moment unknown to her, fluttered within her breast and she was halted for a brief passing of time by the flood of excitement that surged through her.
‘It’s useless to resist me,’ he said huskily. ‘Relax. I’m not going to hurt you.’
The darkening of his eyes, the naked passion she saw in their depths drew her even more to him, but it was his tone and not his words that conquered her. She relaxed against him, her entire body beginning to tremble with desire. Her head swam and she was unable to still the violent tremor of delight that seized her, touching every nerve until they were aflame. There was nothing she could do to still the quiver of anticipation as he lowered his head and covered her mouth with his own. The shock of his lips on hers was one of wild, indescribably sweetness and sensuality as he claimed a kiss of violent tenderness. In silent permission she opened her mouth to his and what followed evoked feelings she had never felt before. That was when she realised the idea of resisting him was ludicrous and a gross miscalculation of her power to deny him, for the kiss went through her with the impact of a broadside.
His lips caressed and clung to hers, finding them moist and honey sweet, and for a slow beat in time hers responded, parting under his mounting fervour. She leaned against him, melting more closely to him, as though the strength had gone from her. All her will began to crumble and disintegrate. The moment was one of madness. The sweetness of the kiss, the yielding to it, of willingly parting her soft lips for his searching tongue, made her confused with longing. Unconsciously, and too naïve to know how to hide her feelings, her arm rose and slid over his wide, masculine shoulders and she slipped her hand behind his neck, a movement which, in her inexperience, was an act of pure instinct to Linnet, unaware that it might convince this stranger that she was no different to any other woman he had made love to. Seemingly aware of her weakening, he raised his head and stared down at the softness in her eyes.
‘Please,’ Linnet whispered, trying to sound firm but without conviction. ‘We should stop. This game has gone on long enough.’
‘Games are for children. This is something between a man and a woman.’
‘But...’
He silenced her with his lips, kissing her long and deep and hard. He closed his eyes, intense desire for this woman torturing him. As he caressed and kissed this sweet young woman, his flesh betrayed his need, rising up against his will. He was hungry for her and could hardly restrain himself from flinging her down on to the floor and making love to her.
* * *
Imprisoned by his embrace and seduced by his mouth and strong, caressing hands, which slid down the curve of her spine to the swell of her buttocks and back to her arms, her neck, burning wherever they touched, Linnet clung to him, her body responding eagerly, melting with the primitive sensations that went soaring through her, her lips beginning to move against his with increasing СКАЧАТЬ