Read Online The Governess Was Wicked by Julia Kelly - Free Book Online Page A

light-headed. I’ll be fine in a moment.”
    “You’re dead on your feet. What good will it do the young ladies if you’re so tired you fall ill too?”
    That made her pause just as she opened her mouth to protest. “I’ll sleep a few hours tonight. I promise.”
    “You’ll rest now,” he said more firmly as he led her out the door. It wouldn’t do them any good to argue in front of Miss Norton or Miss Cassandra, but he was determined to put this woman to bed even if it meant dragging her there.
    Not that he would mind dragging her to bed . . .
    No. Immediately he switched his brain over to something safe. Something that didn’t make him associate this lady with anything remotely horizontal.
    The three major bones of the arm are the humerus, ulna, and radius. Show some self-control!
    The problem was that now Edward was staring straight at Miss Porter’s arms. Long and graceful in slim sleeves that hugged her all the way up to her shoulder. He wanted to put his hands where her nipped bodice flared at the waist and turn her to him so that he could taste her once again.
    She’d been so sweet, and their kiss all those many weeks ago had been far too short. He’d dreamed of it over and over—her grabbing him with the sort of aggression that made her passion clearly known. That sort of display may not have suited some men, but Edward was perfectly happy to be the willing plaything of a woman who knew exactly what she wanted.
    “Will you return tomorrow?” she asked him, slipping out of his grasp when they reached the door to her room.
    His arms hung loose and useless at his sides. He wanted to touch her again, but she was so exhausted.
    “Of course, at the same time,” he said.
    A small smile tugged at her lips. “You’re always so reliable.”
    No man wanted the woman he desired to think “reliable” when they were standing alone in a darkened room, tension snapping between them sharper than a whip. He might have grasped her by the shoulders and kissed her hard until she submitted. But he didn’t, because that wasn’t the man he was, and he didn’t know how to be anyone else.
    “Well, I’ll bid you good night, then,” she said. “I appreciate everything you’ve done.”
    He almost turned to go, but something shadowed in her eyes made him stop. “Will you actually retire to bed when I leave?”
    Her lips pressed into a thin line, a woman caught trying to decide whether or not to tell a white lie. “It’s just nine o’clock.”
    His hand found her elbow. Although he knew it was inappropriate, he couldn’t seem to stop touching her. “It’s time you get a full night’s sleep. I’m a doctor. Aren’t you supposed to do what I say?”
    Her eyes flicked up to him. The confusion there only partially masked the passion he saw smoldering beneath the surface. He swallowed hard as all the blood in his body rushed south. The longer he drank in her verbena-laced scent, the harder it was to think rationally. He’d touched her waist and her elbow that night. That should be enough, but it wasn’t. Nothing was ever going to be enough.
    The humerus, ulna, radi—hell.
    With a swift tug at her arm, Edward pulled her against him, captured her cheek in his hand, and kissed her. Maybe he was that man after all.
    Sense, reason, and propriety ebbed from him when their lips touched. All he could process was the little gasp of shock that gave him greater access to her mouth. He slid his tongue along the softness of her lower lip and moaned his approval.
    All at once, her hands were in his hair and she was tugging at his lip with her teeth. She pressed her body fully against him and, even through all the layers of clothes and her damned crinoline, she burned him. It would be nothing to lift her in his arms, lay her down on the bed, and finally sink into her.
    He couldn’t do that. He wouldn’t do that. He wasn’t such a cad as to take advantage of a woman who had hardly slept in four days.
    “Miss Porter,”