Read Online An Offer from a Gentleman with 2nd Epilogue by Julia Quinn - Free Book Online

defiantly. She was a bastard, a nobleman’s by-blow. She was not a member of the ton and never would be. Did she really have to abide by their rules?
    She’d always sworn that she would never become a man’s mistress, that she’d never bring a child into this world to suffer her fate as a bastard. But she wasn’t planning anythingquite so brazen. This was one dance, one evening, perhaps one kiss.
    It was enough to ruin a reputation, but what sort of reputation did she have to begin with? She was outside society, beyond the pale. And she wanted one night of fantasy.
    She looked up.
    â€œYou’re not going to run, then,” he murmured, his dark eyes flaring with something hot and exciting.
    She shook her head, realizing that once again, he’d known what she was thinking. It should have scared her that he so effortlessly read her thoughts, but in the dark seduction of the night, with the wind tugging at the loose strands of her hair, and the music floating up from below, it was somehow thrilling instead. “Where do I put my hand?” she asked. “I want to dance.”
    â€œRight here on my shoulder,” he instructed. “No, just a touch lower. There you are.”
    â€œYou must think me the veriest ninny,” she said, “not knowing how to dance.”
    â€œI think you’re very brave, actually, for admitting it.” His free hand found hers and slowly lifted it into the air. “Most women of my acquaintance would have feigned an injury or disinterest.”
    She looked up into his eyes even though she knew it would leave her breathless. “I haven’t the acting skills to feign disinterest,” she admitted.
    The hand at the small of her back tightened.
    â€œListen to the music,” he instructed, his voice oddly hoarse. “Do you feel it rising and falling?”
    She shook her head.
    â€œListen harder,” he whispered, his lips drawing closer to her ear. “ One , two, three; one , two, three.”
    Sophie closed her eyes and somehow filtered out the endless chatter of the guests below them until all she heard was the soft swell of the music. Her breathing slowed, and shefound herself swaying in time with the orchestra, her head rocking back and forth with Benedict’s softly uttered numerical instructions.
    â€œ One , two, three; one two three.”
    â€œI feel it,” she whispered.
    He smiled. She wasn’t sure how she knew that; her eyes were still closed. But she felt the smile, heard it in the tenor of his breath.
    â€œGood,” he said. “Now watch my feet and allow me to lead you.”
    Sophie opened her eyes and looked down.
    â€œ One , two, three; one , two, three.”
    Hesitantly, she stepped along with him—right onto his foot.
    â€œOh! I’m sorry!” she blurted out.
    â€œMy sisters have done far worse,” he assured her. “Don’t give up.”
    She tried again, and suddenly her feet knew what to do. “Oh!” she breathed in surprise. “This is wonderful!”
    â€œLook up,” he ordered gently.
    â€œBut I’ll stumble.”
    â€œYou won’t,” he promised. “I won’t let you. Look into my eyes.”
    Sophie did as he asked, and the moment her eyes touched his, something inside her seemed to lock into place, and she could not look away. He twirled her in circles and spirals around the terrace, slowly at first, then picking up speed, until she was breathless and giddy.
    And all the while, her eyes remained locked on his.
    â€œWhat do you feel?” he asked.
    â€œEverything!” she said, laughing.
    â€œWhat do you hear?”
    â€œThe music.” Her eyes widened with excitement. “I hear the music as I’ve never heard it before.”
    His hands tightened, and the space between them diminished by several inches. “What do you see?” he asked.
    Sophie stumbled, but she never took her eyes off his.