Read Online Lori Brighton - [The Seduction 02] by To Capture a Rake - Free Book Online Page A

lamp from the wall. “Follow me.”
    “Pardon.” Mrs. Ashton shoved her way between Gideon and the wench as they started toward a narrow set of stairs at the back of the shabby room. Gideon knew better than to think the woman was actually jealous. No, she was merely reasserting her control. Mr. Ashton must have been a weak-kneed fool.
    Gideon glanced around the shadowed room, aware of the many faces watching their progress. They were looking for easy prey. He shifted ever so slightly, making sure the gleam of the pistol at his waistband was visible. Just a quick warning that he was not to be easily trifled with. The murmur of conversation returned, the travelers refocusing on their mugs of ale and bowls of stew, too exhausted to attempt anything devious.
    “Miss…Mary, was it?” Mrs. Ashton asked.
    The serving wench paused at the stairs and glanced warily over her shoulder. “Aye?”
    “If you can find me a clean, dry gown, you’ll be rewarded. And clothes for…” Elizabeth slid him an amused glance, her face soft and beautiful in the lamplight, at odds with the weathered serving wench before her. “My husband as well, if you can find anything to fit him.”
    The woman sneered, lowering her lantern and splashing light against the stained walls. “Nothing like ye’ve got. Only have a wench’s dress.”
    Elizabeth shoved her hand forward, two coins glittering on the pale surface of her palm. “Tis well enough, as long as it’s clean and dry.”
    The woman made quick work of scooping up the coins and stuffing them into her cleavage, her sneer turning into a welcoming grin. Amazing how quickly money could make friends of enemies. “Follow me.”
    Mrs. Ashton started up the stairs, and Gideon gladly followed behind, taking the opportunity to study the woman from a new angle. The hypnotic sway of her hips, the way a loose curl brushedseductively across her swanlike neck…Gideon felt the wicked stirrings of lust lapping at his insides. Unnatural, it was.
    Trapped overnight in a small inn with this woman would be anything but torture. In his opinion, the sooner they consummated this relationship, the sooner things could go back to normal. Somehow the situation had gotten out of hand. Given his lack of socializing, perhaps the unease he felt would dissolve once he was between the smooth thighs of a woman, where he belonged. Hell, he didn’t want to know her given name, he didn’t want to discuss where they had been born, or their likes and dislikes. Chatting only made her all too human.
    “Most ladies would not wear the gown from a servant,” he said softly near her ear.
    He regretted it the moment the words left his mouth. He’d thought to mock her, but instead he realized he was only drawing her into conversation. She paused halfway up the stairs and faced him, a bemused smile upon her lush lips. “I’d wear anything if it was dry and clean.”
    They were eye to eye, so close her warm breath brushed across his lips. His heart skipped a beat. Who the hell was this woman with her ready smile and gentle eyes? Aye, he wanted to keep things simple. She was merely a client. He would show her sexual pleasure and leave. But his curiosity had caught him off guard. Even as he thought to keep his distance, her odd comment whispered through his mind.
    “Those were the men my mother-in-law sent to kill me.”
    He hadn’t bothered to question her when they’d escaped. He was too concerned with reaching shelter. But now that he had time to truly contemplate her response, he found himself insatiably curious. If he was smart, he’d slip away now, undetected, and be free of Lady Lavender and Mrs. Ashton both before he ended up shot or worse. But he had little money, less since paying for the room. If he could make it to Mrs. Ashton’s country home, he wasn’tabove borrowing some silver to pay his way to America. He’d saved her life, after all; she owed him.
    She started to turn back around, but his hand on her arm