Read Online Taming The Bride (Brides of Mayfair 2) by Michelle McMaster - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Michelle McMaster
Tags: Fiction, Romance, Historical, Adult, series, Regency, England, 19th century, Bachelor, Victorian, Deception, innocent, Britain, secrets, Rescues, Disguise, newspapers, Forever Love, Single Woman, Charade, Hearts Desire, London Society, Brides of Mayfair, Atwater Finishing School, Young Ladies, Streetwalker, Nobleman, School-marm, Bookish
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reckless, and too independent for her own good. Heaven help the man who would fall in love with such a creature.
However, she was about to learn a lesson she wouldn’t soon forget.
He ran his hand through his hair and took another swig of the brandy, this time draining the glass. He rested it on the table and folded his hands.
Great-Aunt Withypoll had certainly enjoyed herself at the ball. She was truly taken with Prudence Atwater. The two had talked together for most of the night. He knew that his great-aunt was hoping for a match between he and the schoolmarm. Well, he would have to break the news to her that her latest protégé would not be in the running. Miss Prudence Atwater would be a terrible choice for a wife, not only for him, but for any man.
For one, she had too many thoughts. Secondly, there were too many subjects that she was knowledgeable about. More knowledgeable than most men. And she was impossible to control, like a new filly that foolishly wanted to be her own mistress.
Still, the uncomfortable fact remained that he couldn’t seem to dispel her from his mind. The creamy skin, the flame-colored hair, the sapphire eyes, and the curvaceous body that would make even Aphrodite weep with envy.
He’d held her in his arms—was so close to kissing her, to tasting those ripe lips again. How he’d wanted to feed on them…to feed on her.
Damnation, but he desired her.
He wanted, no needed to have her in his arms again. And for more than just a kiss. Prudence Atwater tempted him and plagued his thoughts like no other woman ever had. She was all at once infuriatingly impudent, maddeningly innocent, and bewitchingly beautiful.
She aroused his passion, much more than he wanted to admit.
Perhaps that was why he found himself unable to release her from this ‘devil’s bargain’, as she’d called it, even if he wanted to. Perhaps it was cruel, what he was doing.
But was it not cruel to allow her man to bash him in the head and render him unconscious? Was it not cruel to have stolen his clothes and left him under a hedge that night in the busy Theater District where anyone might come upon him—and did? Was it not injurious to both he and Great-Aunt Withypoll to have had the Weston name slandered in the Times? Not to mention the fact that Miss Atwater had secured the patronage of his great-aunt, without Lady Weston knowing all of those details?
By rights, he was only settling a score that needed to be settled.
Teaching a lesson that needed to be taught. If not, might not Miss Atwater do this again to some other unsuspecting man out for a night’s entertainment? Was it all part of a grander scheme to fleece the pockets of wealthy widows like his great-aunt, not to mention rich rakes like himself?
One thing was certain.
There was much more beneath Miss Prudence Atwater’s schoolmarm exterior than she wanted anyone to know.
Tomorrow night, he would play the role of the teacher.
And Miss Atwater—the inexperienced student.
Chapter 8
Prudence walked to the corner again, trying to ignore the chill of the night air. She looked past the trees where Mungo waited, hidden from view, and sighed.
It had been a long day in the classroom, and before that, another long, sleepless night. The previous evening’s events with Lord Weston had done nothing to alleviate the pressure that weighed upon her mind concerning this whole sordid situation. Though he had promised that she would know his price today, she had not heard a word from him. He obviously intended to break his promise, and keep her a prisoner of his whims even longer.
And to top it off, tonight was not going well, either.
She’d been walking the street for over an hour, and had met with little success. Soon after her arrival, she had talked to two young girls, newly to London from Yorkshire. The girls were sisters, and obviously beginners at the light-skirt trade. Their frightened eyes and thin faces had nearly broken Prudence’s heart.
But
However, she was about to learn a lesson she wouldn’t soon forget.
He ran his hand through his hair and took another swig of the brandy, this time draining the glass. He rested it on the table and folded his hands.
Great-Aunt Withypoll had certainly enjoyed herself at the ball. She was truly taken with Prudence Atwater. The two had talked together for most of the night. He knew that his great-aunt was hoping for a match between he and the schoolmarm. Well, he would have to break the news to her that her latest protégé would not be in the running. Miss Prudence Atwater would be a terrible choice for a wife, not only for him, but for any man.
For one, she had too many thoughts. Secondly, there were too many subjects that she was knowledgeable about. More knowledgeable than most men. And she was impossible to control, like a new filly that foolishly wanted to be her own mistress.
Still, the uncomfortable fact remained that he couldn’t seem to dispel her from his mind. The creamy skin, the flame-colored hair, the sapphire eyes, and the curvaceous body that would make even Aphrodite weep with envy.
He’d held her in his arms—was so close to kissing her, to tasting those ripe lips again. How he’d wanted to feed on them…to feed on her.
Damnation, but he desired her.
He wanted, no needed to have her in his arms again. And for more than just a kiss. Prudence Atwater tempted him and plagued his thoughts like no other woman ever had. She was all at once infuriatingly impudent, maddeningly innocent, and bewitchingly beautiful.
She aroused his passion, much more than he wanted to admit.
Perhaps that was why he found himself unable to release her from this ‘devil’s bargain’, as she’d called it, even if he wanted to. Perhaps it was cruel, what he was doing.
But was it not cruel to allow her man to bash him in the head and render him unconscious? Was it not cruel to have stolen his clothes and left him under a hedge that night in the busy Theater District where anyone might come upon him—and did? Was it not injurious to both he and Great-Aunt Withypoll to have had the Weston name slandered in the Times? Not to mention the fact that Miss Atwater had secured the patronage of his great-aunt, without Lady Weston knowing all of those details?
By rights, he was only settling a score that needed to be settled.
Teaching a lesson that needed to be taught. If not, might not Miss Atwater do this again to some other unsuspecting man out for a night’s entertainment? Was it all part of a grander scheme to fleece the pockets of wealthy widows like his great-aunt, not to mention rich rakes like himself?
One thing was certain.
There was much more beneath Miss Prudence Atwater’s schoolmarm exterior than she wanted anyone to know.
Tomorrow night, he would play the role of the teacher.
And Miss Atwater—the inexperienced student.
Chapter 8
Prudence walked to the corner again, trying to ignore the chill of the night air. She looked past the trees where Mungo waited, hidden from view, and sighed.
It had been a long day in the classroom, and before that, another long, sleepless night. The previous evening’s events with Lord Weston had done nothing to alleviate the pressure that weighed upon her mind concerning this whole sordid situation. Though he had promised that she would know his price today, she had not heard a word from him. He obviously intended to break his promise, and keep her a prisoner of his whims even longer.
And to top it off, tonight was not going well, either.
She’d been walking the street for over an hour, and had met with little success. Soon after her arrival, she had talked to two young girls, newly to London from Yorkshire. The girls were sisters, and obviously beginners at the light-skirt trade. Their frightened eyes and thin faces had nearly broken Prudence’s heart.
But
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