Read Online Malia Martin by Prideand Prudence - Free Book Online Page A

Farnsworth, you speak your mind.” He closed his eyes, shook his head, then winced. “But your idea just shows your innocence more completely. Acting would not put anything behind us, but rather make it ever so much a part of our present.”
    Pru was listening, barely. With his eyes closed, James was at her mercy. She could look at him all she wanted, and she definitely looked. At the moment she was marveling at the space between his collarbones. It pulsed with each beat of his heart, and she wanted to place her lips there. She wanted that with an intensity that stunned her.
    He opened his eyes, and their gazes locked. James Ashley had the longest, darkest lashes of any man she had ever seen. And the way he looked at her with his storm gray eyes made her very sure that taking him as a lover would never leave her feeling as if she were missing something important.
    “James,” she began, but he stopped her with a small shake of his head.
    “You call me James and sit beside my bed nearly naked.”
    Pru frowned and glanced down at the nightgown she wore. It covered every inch of her skin, more than any gown she owned.
    “This is never going to work, Lady Farnsworth. I have a job to do here, and I must concentrate on that task. I must insist that I leave your home in the morning.”
    Prudence sighed. “Captain, you have been through quite a harrowing experience, and I must insist that you stay under my care until I am sure you are well again.”
    They stared at each other in stubborn silence.
    Pru chewed at her bottom lip for a moment, then licked at it when she realized that she could taste the captain on her mouth.
    James closed his eyes on a groan.
    “Does your head still pound, Captain?” she asked worriedly.
    “Among other things,” James muttered.
    She pressed her hand against his forehead, but he stiffened. “You must leave,” he said through his teeth.
    Prudence let her fingers linger in the captain’s hair for just a moment of pure bliss before returning her hands to her lap. “Do you wish for anything else before I leave, Captain? More tea, perhaps? Another compress?”
    “No.” He still did not open his eyes.
    Prudence stood with a sigh. “There is really no reason you must go to Harker’s, Captain. We are both adults, we …”
    “Good night, Lady Farnsworth.”
    She did not want to go. She would rather sit all night in the hard-backed chair watching Captain Ashley sleep than crawl back into her empty bed. “Good night, Captain,” she said finally, and snuffed out the candle.

Chapter 5

    “N ew plan,” Pru announced quietly the next morning, as Clifton sat in the kitchen cradling his coffee.
    He glanced up at her and frowned. “New plan? But this one is working very well, indeed.” The butler chuckled. “I think we should just keep the man drugged for a while until he gets spooked and leaves.”
    Pru shivered. “No. I shall never use another potion on another human. I have just spent two days very sure that I had killed him.”
    “So what is your new plan?”
    “Since he is convinced that he must remove himself to Harker’s Inn, we shall allow the captain to go there. We’ll have to keep him here for another night at least while we move the wool from Harker’s cellar to our barn, but as soon as that is done, we can let the good captain go and stay at the inn.”
    “Excellent plan,” Clifton said, and took a long drink of coffee.
    “And I shall take him as my lover.”
    Coffee spewed out in all directions as Clifton coughed and sputtered.
    “I thought this all over very carefully last night,” Pru said quickly before Clifton could begin thundering. “It is a lovely plan.”
    “It is the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard!” Clifton thundered.
    “There is an obvious attraction between the captain and me. You have commented on it yourself, Clifton. And Leslie has noticed it as well …”
    “So this is all that woman’s idea. I should have known!”
    Pru shot a dark look at