Read Online An Invitation to Scandal by Kelly Boyce - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: Kelly Boyce
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who were nothing more than innocent bystanders in the whole debacle.
Could he just stand by now and allow the Laythams to be dealt another blow?
No, not if he held the power to stop it.
“Come, I am getting you out of here.” He took her arm but she shook him off.
“No. I came here of my own free will, invited, and I will not leave until I have done what I came here to do.”
“Lord Roxton is not here. There is nothing else—”
“Then I will stay for…for…pleasure.” The word burst out of her and hurtled toward him.
“Pleasure? Are you mad?”
Could pleasure be found here? Certainly. But not the kind she sought. Her virginal mind could not even begin to comprehend what passed for pleasure here. For once one reached a certain level of pleasure, it became passé, and one had to struggle to find a new level. In the beginning it had felt like a game, a great way to bury one’s injured pride and wounded heart, but eventually…
Nicholas shook his head. He would not let her go there.
“Why not? I am to marry a man three times my age. He is old and…and old!” She shivered. “If Lord Roxton is not here, then perhaps I shall wait until he arrives, for I am certain he will, despite what you say. In the meantime, why shouldn’t I see what all the fuss is about? Wouldn’t you want to know at least a little passion before you were consigned to a life without it?”
Her words hit their mark, though she would never know. Marriage to Miss Caldwell would serve a purpose, but that purpose had nothing to do with passion. He had turned his back on that part of his life before it destroyed anyone else.
“The kind of passion you seek will not be found here.”
“How could you possibly know what I seek?”
Weariness seeped into his bones. By all rights she should have run long ago, not stood there and argued with him. But Abigail had never been faint of heart. He had admired that about her once. Now it proved a great impediment.
“You want hearts and romance and love. But such things do not exist within these four walls. The pleasure found here is desperate and depraved, doled out by men and women who have lost touch with anything of value, including themselves. Is that what you want?”
“I—” She stopped, but he could feel her wavering.
“Trust me.”
“Trust you,” she scoffed, in a tone he had become all too familiar with. “I don’t even know you. You’ve pulled me into this room, insist I leave, and why? What do you care? You do not know me. Perhaps I am one of those desperate and depraved.”
“You are—”
She cut him off. “I came here to speak to Lord Roxton and I am not leaving until I convince him—”
Nicholas growled and grabbed her around her corseted waist. He’d have better luck reasoning with a mule. Had she always been this stubborn?
“This is what is waiting for you out there.”
With one quick movement, he pulled her against him, meaning to punish, to teach. To frighten.
She let out a gasp before he captured her mouth in his. Her hands fisted into the lapels of his jacket, curling around the fine wool. Her body molded to his, fitting perfectly against his burgeoning erection, the one that had begun the moment he’d stepped close enough to revel in her sweet scent. She reminded him of a meadow imbued with the promise of spring and awaiting full bloom.
Pain fused with pleasure. He wanted her, had wanted her since the moment he saw her at her coming out four years ago. He had bided his time, then, not yet ready to give up his wild ways, but by her second season he could no longer resist her allure. The other women he knew paled in comparison. He courted her in earnest and soon discovered she had been more than worth the wait. Sweet and sharp, bold and intelligent. A woman well worth giving up all others for.
It had all been for naught. In the end, her uncle deemed him not worthy and she had not seen fit to argue the point. He had thought she would, but as the days
Could he just stand by now and allow the Laythams to be dealt another blow?
No, not if he held the power to stop it.
“Come, I am getting you out of here.” He took her arm but she shook him off.
“No. I came here of my own free will, invited, and I will not leave until I have done what I came here to do.”
“Lord Roxton is not here. There is nothing else—”
“Then I will stay for…for…pleasure.” The word burst out of her and hurtled toward him.
“Pleasure? Are you mad?”
Could pleasure be found here? Certainly. But not the kind she sought. Her virginal mind could not even begin to comprehend what passed for pleasure here. For once one reached a certain level of pleasure, it became passé, and one had to struggle to find a new level. In the beginning it had felt like a game, a great way to bury one’s injured pride and wounded heart, but eventually…
Nicholas shook his head. He would not let her go there.
“Why not? I am to marry a man three times my age. He is old and…and old!” She shivered. “If Lord Roxton is not here, then perhaps I shall wait until he arrives, for I am certain he will, despite what you say. In the meantime, why shouldn’t I see what all the fuss is about? Wouldn’t you want to know at least a little passion before you were consigned to a life without it?”
Her words hit their mark, though she would never know. Marriage to Miss Caldwell would serve a purpose, but that purpose had nothing to do with passion. He had turned his back on that part of his life before it destroyed anyone else.
“The kind of passion you seek will not be found here.”
“How could you possibly know what I seek?”
Weariness seeped into his bones. By all rights she should have run long ago, not stood there and argued with him. But Abigail had never been faint of heart. He had admired that about her once. Now it proved a great impediment.
“You want hearts and romance and love. But such things do not exist within these four walls. The pleasure found here is desperate and depraved, doled out by men and women who have lost touch with anything of value, including themselves. Is that what you want?”
“I—” She stopped, but he could feel her wavering.
“Trust me.”
“Trust you,” she scoffed, in a tone he had become all too familiar with. “I don’t even know you. You’ve pulled me into this room, insist I leave, and why? What do you care? You do not know me. Perhaps I am one of those desperate and depraved.”
“You are—”
She cut him off. “I came here to speak to Lord Roxton and I am not leaving until I convince him—”
Nicholas growled and grabbed her around her corseted waist. He’d have better luck reasoning with a mule. Had she always been this stubborn?
“This is what is waiting for you out there.”
With one quick movement, he pulled her against him, meaning to punish, to teach. To frighten.
She let out a gasp before he captured her mouth in his. Her hands fisted into the lapels of his jacket, curling around the fine wool. Her body molded to his, fitting perfectly against his burgeoning erection, the one that had begun the moment he’d stepped close enough to revel in her sweet scent. She reminded him of a meadow imbued with the promise of spring and awaiting full bloom.
Pain fused with pleasure. He wanted her, had wanted her since the moment he saw her at her coming out four years ago. He had bided his time, then, not yet ready to give up his wild ways, but by her second season he could no longer resist her allure. The other women he knew paled in comparison. He courted her in earnest and soon discovered she had been more than worth the wait. Sweet and sharp, bold and intelligent. A woman well worth giving up all others for.
It had all been for naught. In the end, her uncle deemed him not worthy and she had not seen fit to argue the point. He had thought she would, but as the days
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