Read Online Regency 02 - Betrayal by Jaimey Grant - Free Book Online
Authors: Jaimey Grant
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regain your strength.”
“Oh, very well,” Bri replied ungraciously.
“Just so you leave me alone.”
Raven complacently placed a tray over the
young lady’s lap and handed her a spoon. “Do you think you can
manage on your own?” she asked with quiet concern.
“What the devil is this rot?” Bri exclaimed
as she examined the bowl before her, ignoring Raven’s inquiry.
“That rot, as you so quaintly put it, is
cook’s never-fail remedy for ailing strength. She says you are to
drink every last drop or you’ll have her to contend with.” Raven
smiled brilliantly. “And I reckon Adam will be back in here to put
a bug in your ear as well.”
“Let him, I’m not eating that slop,” Bri
responded querulously.
“If you don’t get your strength back,” the
actress retorted slyly, “then how do you suppose you will be able
to escape Adam again?”
Bri shot her a penetrating look. Then she
grinned. “You’re right, you know. I wouldn’t want him to get lazy
and fat just because I neglected to give him a run for his
money.”
“That’s the spirit! Now eat it all. Can you
manage?” she asked again.
“Yes, you can go beard the lion in his den as
I know you are itching to do,” Bri replied with a smile.
Raven smiled back and that was the start of a
most unconventional friendship between a titled lady of good birth
and upbringing and a confessed lady of the night.
Adam was in his study going over his accounts
when Raven entered the room. Her wool skirts swirled around her and
he wondered why she still insisted on wearing her “governess”
costumes when everyone knew who she was and what she was to
him.
“To what do I owe this unexpected pleasure?”
Adam asked politely as he rose from his chair.
“I’m curious,” his mistress commented as she
came around to his side of the desk and put her arms around his
waist. She looked up at him with a benign expression on her
beautiful face. “Do you want her dead or do you just delight in
tormenting her?”
Adam placed his hands on Raven’s shoulders.
His voice was calmly inquiring when he replied but his eyes held
dangerous sparks. “What business is that of yours, my dear?”
“I like her, Adam. I won’t let you destroy
her.”
“As I’ve destroyed you?” he asked
quietly.
Raven felt a lump in her throat. Did she
secretly blame Adam for her own lack of moral conviction? She
supposed she did, somewhat. But how on earth would he guess such a
thing?
Adam tensed his hands on her shoulders. Her
black eyes met his with a look of such bewildered sadness that he
was taken aback.
“You do believe that. You think I destroyed
you.” It was not a question. Adam felt hurt that she would blame
him. If she had simply said something, he never would have taken
her on.
“Please don’t change the subject,” she said
in an attempt to draw his attention away from her. “I want to know
what you plan to do with that poor girl.”
“And I want to know why you accepted my offer
of protection when it wasn’t what you wanted,” he countered softly.
His eyes held an implacable look of determination. “Who do you
think is going to get their way?”
Raven found herself weakening under the
onslaught of tenderness she saw in his eyes. She was not naïve
enough to believe he was in love with her. She knew it was nothing
more than a pleasurable arrangement for him to keep her. She even
knew he liked her most of the time. But she never considered he
might actually care for her as anything more than a release for
pent-up emotions.
Raven squeezed her eyes tightly shut against
the tears that threatened.
Adam regarded his mistress steadily. He
reached out and wiped away a tear that escaped her tightly closed
eyes. He wondered if she was in love with him.
He knew he wasn’t in love with her. He
realized his world would be just as painful and barely tolerable
with or without her in it. But he did care about her. He imagined
love went much deeper than mere
“Oh, very well,” Bri replied ungraciously.
“Just so you leave me alone.”
Raven complacently placed a tray over the
young lady’s lap and handed her a spoon. “Do you think you can
manage on your own?” she asked with quiet concern.
“What the devil is this rot?” Bri exclaimed
as she examined the bowl before her, ignoring Raven’s inquiry.
“That rot, as you so quaintly put it, is
cook’s never-fail remedy for ailing strength. She says you are to
drink every last drop or you’ll have her to contend with.” Raven
smiled brilliantly. “And I reckon Adam will be back in here to put
a bug in your ear as well.”
“Let him, I’m not eating that slop,” Bri
responded querulously.
“If you don’t get your strength back,” the
actress retorted slyly, “then how do you suppose you will be able
to escape Adam again?”
Bri shot her a penetrating look. Then she
grinned. “You’re right, you know. I wouldn’t want him to get lazy
and fat just because I neglected to give him a run for his
money.”
“That’s the spirit! Now eat it all. Can you
manage?” she asked again.
“Yes, you can go beard the lion in his den as
I know you are itching to do,” Bri replied with a smile.
Raven smiled back and that was the start of a
most unconventional friendship between a titled lady of good birth
and upbringing and a confessed lady of the night.
Adam was in his study going over his accounts
when Raven entered the room. Her wool skirts swirled around her and
he wondered why she still insisted on wearing her “governess”
costumes when everyone knew who she was and what she was to
him.
“To what do I owe this unexpected pleasure?”
Adam asked politely as he rose from his chair.
“I’m curious,” his mistress commented as she
came around to his side of the desk and put her arms around his
waist. She looked up at him with a benign expression on her
beautiful face. “Do you want her dead or do you just delight in
tormenting her?”
Adam placed his hands on Raven’s shoulders.
His voice was calmly inquiring when he replied but his eyes held
dangerous sparks. “What business is that of yours, my dear?”
“I like her, Adam. I won’t let you destroy
her.”
“As I’ve destroyed you?” he asked
quietly.
Raven felt a lump in her throat. Did she
secretly blame Adam for her own lack of moral conviction? She
supposed she did, somewhat. But how on earth would he guess such a
thing?
Adam tensed his hands on her shoulders. Her
black eyes met his with a look of such bewildered sadness that he
was taken aback.
“You do believe that. You think I destroyed
you.” It was not a question. Adam felt hurt that she would blame
him. If she had simply said something, he never would have taken
her on.
“Please don’t change the subject,” she said
in an attempt to draw his attention away from her. “I want to know
what you plan to do with that poor girl.”
“And I want to know why you accepted my offer
of protection when it wasn’t what you wanted,” he countered softly.
His eyes held an implacable look of determination. “Who do you
think is going to get their way?”
Raven found herself weakening under the
onslaught of tenderness she saw in his eyes. She was not naïve
enough to believe he was in love with her. She knew it was nothing
more than a pleasurable arrangement for him to keep her. She even
knew he liked her most of the time. But she never considered he
might actually care for her as anything more than a release for
pent-up emotions.
Raven squeezed her eyes tightly shut against
the tears that threatened.
Adam regarded his mistress steadily. He
reached out and wiped away a tear that escaped her tightly closed
eyes. He wondered if she was in love with him.
He knew he wasn’t in love with her. He
realized his world would be just as painful and barely tolerable
with or without her in it. But he did care about her. He imagined
love went much deeper than mere
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