Read Online Alex's Angel by Natasha Blackthorne - Free Book Online

wicked and all-too-worldly glinting in his eyes. “Well, sweetheart, he’s not here now.”
    He took several steps forward, his boots crunching on ice.
    She should run. She really should. But her legs seemed to go all wobbly, growing more so with each step he took until he was standing no more than an inch from her.
    Her stomach floated up with both excitement and fear—the most exhilarating thing she had ever felt. “B-but if someone saw you and I together and told…he’d be crushed.”
    He brushed aside her cloak and traced the central line from her chin to the hollow of her collar with one leather-gloved fingertip. Fire raced down over her breasts and made her nipples pull into tight pebbles. God. A hundred dollars. No—one hundred and fifty. He’d actually offered her a hundred and fifty dollars, and he was everything she could ever imagine she’d want in a gentleman—based strictly on physical appearance. He seemed to be kind and generous. Maybe she was being too hasty in deciding not to take him up on his offer.
    “Your protector is very careless. No jewellery to adorn your pretty neck.” He continued to draw his fingertip along her collarbone. “A girl like you could easily command a fortune in jewels.”
    “He’s cheap.” She barely breathed as she watched him trace his finger trace over the black lace on the edge of her bodice. Her nipples were sharp, painful points now.
    He froze his fingertip and frowned. “You seem too chary to let yourself go cheaply.”
    “Times are tough.”
    His grin returned. “Not that tough, sweetheart.”
    She let her exasperation out in a sigh and her shoulders sank. “Please don’t make this harder than it has to be.”
    He removed his hand and his smile twisted into a wry, somehow self-mocking grin.   “All right, sweetheart—I’ll drop you a block from where you live.”
    “But I can’t accept.”
    His expression sobered and his jaw set determinedly. “I am taking you, and that’s final.”
    She opened her mouth to protest, then she noticed something awful. “My reticule!”
    “Your reticule?”
    “I’ve lost it.”

      * * * *

    Feeling faint, Emily sank down on her haunches, not caring how it dirtied the beautiful claret-coloured gown she’d worked so hard to fashion. Emily’s reticule hadn’t been in the private room and the maid had said they hadn’t found any such item, nor had a thorough search of the coach produced it. The Blue Duck had also proved futile and now they were outside.
    “I desperately need that money. It belongs to a friend and I need to give it back.”
    Alex crouched down beside her, laid his fingers on her cheek and turned her to face him. Moonlight cast appealing shadows over the finely sculpted angles of his face.
    “I’ll give you money, if you need it. Let me help you,” he urged, his voice seductively tender.
    His blue-grey eyes sparkled, holding her spellbound. She couldn’t think clearly, couldn’t remember what she had been so upset about.
    He was the most beautiful person she’d ever seen.
    And at the moment, he was staring at her as if she was the most beautiful person he’d ever seen. That didn’t seem possible. He must have cut his teeth making conquests of all the females around him.
    He caressed her skin with his fingertips, his every stroke speaking to her of his skill. It would be no hardship to lie beneath this man and let him have his way. She closed her eyes, unable to keep from leaning in to his touch. His clothing rustled, his boots scraped on the sidewalk, then his breath tickled her face. He smelt of wine and sandalwood and clean masculinity.
    The soft touch of his lips on hers sent her pulse racing and every fibre of her being came alive. He moved his hand to slide it upwards along her ribcage, moving ever closer to her breasts. Her nipples pebbled in anticipation.
    The sound of boots echoing on the paving stones broke the spell. He pulled away from her and stood, meeting his driver as he