Read Online Heartless by Kat Martin - Free Book Online

she’d enjoy gaming at one of the Jermyn Street hells. In truth, there are far more interesting places to take a whore than there are to take a lady.”
    Justin frowned at the use of the word. He didn’t like to think of Ariel in that way. “Unfortunately, I don’t have time. Day after the morrow, I leave for Birmingham to check on the progress of my new factory. After that—”
    â€œTake her with you. Women are hardly immune to you, Justin—even if the ones you usually bed are far less naive. Give her a chance to get to know you—the real you, I mean. Not the man you show the rest of the world.”
    Justin’s glance strayed upward as if he could see through the plaster ceiling into her room. “I’ll give it some thought. Aside from my problems, there must have been some reason for your late-night call. What is it?”
    Clay grinned. “Actually, I saw your lamp through the window. I knew you’d be working. I thought maybe I could convince you to join me at Madame Charbonnet’s.”
    It was an idea Justin had considered himself, in light of his current situation and the ache he suffered every time he thought of the girl upstairs. “All right. Give me a minute to get my coat and I’ll be right with you.”
    â€œSaints be praised! How long has it been?”
    â€œToo long,” Justin grumbled. “Too damned bloody long.”

C HAPTER S IX
    The days slid past. Ariel dreamed again that night, and in her dream she was kissing her handsome, golden-haired prince, Phillip Marlin. Her arms slid around his neck and he lightly pulled her against him. It was a sweet, tender kiss, little more than a faint brushing of lips, a gentle show of affection.
    Then the dream began to fade, to blur and dim at the edges, to thicken into a bleak, dense fog that shrouded the recesses of her mind, and her handsome prince disappeared. In his place stood the fierce, dark earl, holding her imprisoned in his unforgiving arms, pressing her indecently against his long, lean body.
    â€œNo…” she whispered, beginning to struggle, trying to break free. The earl held her easily, drawing her even more firmly against him. Bending his head, he took her mouth with such savage force her legs nearly buckled beneath her. The kiss went on, hot, harsh, demanding, penetrating her senses until she felt consumed by him, absorbed by his powerful presence, unable to tear herself free.
    And no longer certain that she wanted to.
    She awakened shivering all over, trembling with fear and uncertainty, her skin hot and clammy, tingling in that unfamiliar way it had before.
    Silvie arrived moments later, bearing a summons from the very man who haunted her, even in sleep. She was to join the earl in the breakfast room overlooking the garden at the rear of the house.
    Ariel’s heartbeat kicked up, anxiety making her legs a little unsteady. Crossing to her rosewood armoire, she chose a simple tunic dress fashioned of soft mauve silk embroidered with dark pink roses. Dressing hurriedly, she fidgeted while Silvie finished pinning up her hair, then left the room and headed downstairs, her mind alternating between the violent dream she’d had and the earl’s softly spoken denial that he would have forced her into his bed.
    He had never beaten the tavern maid, Molly McCarthy, he’d said. In fact, he had accused Phillip Marlin of the crime.
    Surely it was the earl who lied. Phillip was a gentleman. He was her handsome prince. He would never invent such a tale.
    But something gnawed at her. Something in the earl’s voice, or perhaps it was the horror in his expression when she had accused him of the deed. Whatever it was, it made her wonder.…
    He was waiting when she walked through the door. He stood at her approach and pulled out the ornately carved high-backed chair on one side of him. Dressed in a dove gray tailcoat and snug black breeches, he seemed a little less