Read Online Don't Bargain with the Devil by Sabrina Jeffries - Free Book Online
Authors: Sabrina Jeffries
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unfair. A very un lucky coincidence.
Unless she proved not to be the one, after all.
He shoved his hand into his coat pocket to draw out the miniature. I hate to discourage your new philosophy, but we thought we had found our quarry before, and we were wrong. Miss Seton might be only another dead end. He gazed at the picture of the young Spanish woman. She does not even resemble Dońa Catalina.
I warned you she might not.
And she mentioned nothing about having Spanish parents.
She may not know. No telling what tales the colonel has spun for her.
That was certainly true. She is twenty, not nineteen as the marqués said.
Cant you just take what Fate has handed us and be happy? Gaspar grumbled as they reached the orchard. You ought to be rejoicing. He paused, his gaze boring into the side of Diegos head. Unless He blocked Diegos path. I know why you dont want her to be the one. You want to bed her, and you cant if shes the granddaughter of Don Carlos.
Bed her? He wanted to do more than that. He wanted to ravish her, devour her, incite her to passions beyond her wildest dreams.
Diego neatly sidestepped Gaspar to stalk through the trees. That is absurd.
Is it? Gaspar hurried to catch up to him. I watchedthe two of you on those steps. You kissed her hand. After you knew who she was.
Diego strove for nonchalance. I kiss a lot of womens hands.
Not these days, you dont, Gaspar said. And I saw how you looked at her. Youve never looked at a woman like that.
Like what? Diego snapped.
Like Antony seeing Cleopatra for the first time.
Why did Gaspar have to know him so well? A whimsical notion. But utter nonsense. I hardly know her.
Though what he knew, he liked. Her passionate outbursts amused him, and her loyalty to her school impressed him. She called him the devil for what she felt was a good reason, but she looked at him as if she didnt think him the devil at all.
That made him yearn.
Yearn? He was mad. The only thing he yearned for was Arboleda, and she was the key to regaining it. So she was out of his reach. You know I will not jeopardize my bargain with the marqués . If she is the one we seek, I will persuade her to return to Spain with us, as I promised. That is all.
I want to see you regain your familys home, but life is not meant to be lived alone. So if you really want this woman
Then what? Throw away everything I have worked for? Dishonor my vow to Father? Because that is what taking up with Miss Seton would mean. The marqués made it very clearwe are not to lay a hand on her.
Except for confirming her identity. A dark expression flitted over Gaspars features. Perhaps. should be the oneto examine her thigh for her birthmark. You are too eager to get inside her drawers to be trusted with that.
I am not remotely interested in getting inside her drawers, Diego growled.
Hostias, how he wished Gaspar had not put it that way. Now he had that image in his head to plague him.
The marqués s granddaughter had a butterfly-shaped birthmark on her thigh. His instructions had been clear. They had to see it with their own eyes, at the exact moment of revealing its importance. A great deal of money was at stake, after all. Their quarry must not have the chance to create a similar birthmark. And if a servant were paid to look, the truth might be manipulated.
Diego had easily agreed to the stipulation. But that was before their quarry had turned out to be a lovely creature capable of rousing his desire. Even knowing it was madness, the very idea of lifting Lucys skirts, either stealthily or with her permission, fired his blood unbearably.
He gritted his teeth. I will do whatever I must to make sure that the marqués gets his granddaughter exactly as planned.
And it does not trouble you that he means
Unless she proved not to be the one, after all.
He shoved his hand into his coat pocket to draw out the miniature. I hate to discourage your new philosophy, but we thought we had found our quarry before, and we were wrong. Miss Seton might be only another dead end. He gazed at the picture of the young Spanish woman. She does not even resemble Dońa Catalina.
I warned you she might not.
And she mentioned nothing about having Spanish parents.
She may not know. No telling what tales the colonel has spun for her.
That was certainly true. She is twenty, not nineteen as the marqués said.
Cant you just take what Fate has handed us and be happy? Gaspar grumbled as they reached the orchard. You ought to be rejoicing. He paused, his gaze boring into the side of Diegos head. Unless He blocked Diegos path. I know why you dont want her to be the one. You want to bed her, and you cant if shes the granddaughter of Don Carlos.
Bed her? He wanted to do more than that. He wanted to ravish her, devour her, incite her to passions beyond her wildest dreams.
Diego neatly sidestepped Gaspar to stalk through the trees. That is absurd.
Is it? Gaspar hurried to catch up to him. I watchedthe two of you on those steps. You kissed her hand. After you knew who she was.
Diego strove for nonchalance. I kiss a lot of womens hands.
Not these days, you dont, Gaspar said. And I saw how you looked at her. Youve never looked at a woman like that.
Like what? Diego snapped.
Like Antony seeing Cleopatra for the first time.
Why did Gaspar have to know him so well? A whimsical notion. But utter nonsense. I hardly know her.
Though what he knew, he liked. Her passionate outbursts amused him, and her loyalty to her school impressed him. She called him the devil for what she felt was a good reason, but she looked at him as if she didnt think him the devil at all.
That made him yearn.
Yearn? He was mad. The only thing he yearned for was Arboleda, and she was the key to regaining it. So she was out of his reach. You know I will not jeopardize my bargain with the marqués . If she is the one we seek, I will persuade her to return to Spain with us, as I promised. That is all.
I want to see you regain your familys home, but life is not meant to be lived alone. So if you really want this woman
Then what? Throw away everything I have worked for? Dishonor my vow to Father? Because that is what taking up with Miss Seton would mean. The marqués made it very clearwe are not to lay a hand on her.
Except for confirming her identity. A dark expression flitted over Gaspars features. Perhaps. should be the oneto examine her thigh for her birthmark. You are too eager to get inside her drawers to be trusted with that.
I am not remotely interested in getting inside her drawers, Diego growled.
Hostias, how he wished Gaspar had not put it that way. Now he had that image in his head to plague him.
The marqués s granddaughter had a butterfly-shaped birthmark on her thigh. His instructions had been clear. They had to see it with their own eyes, at the exact moment of revealing its importance. A great deal of money was at stake, after all. Their quarry must not have the chance to create a similar birthmark. And if a servant were paid to look, the truth might be manipulated.
Diego had easily agreed to the stipulation. But that was before their quarry had turned out to be a lovely creature capable of rousing his desire. Even knowing it was madness, the very idea of lifting Lucys skirts, either stealthily or with her permission, fired his blood unbearably.
He gritted his teeth. I will do whatever I must to make sure that the marqués gets his granddaughter exactly as planned.
And it does not trouble you that he means
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