Read Online The Thorndyke Trilogy 2: Dancing at Midnight by Lynne Connolly - Free Book Online Page A

since she hadn’t expected it. She’d thought her brother would put her on the sofa, but one of the students had moved on, so she could take this one. A tiny room but still good. Her luggage had arrived, thank fuck, because it held all her dancing gear, and it waited for her. She’d sent it a week ago, before the storm.
    Already patches of green were showing through the snow in the scrappy front yards of this district.
    Stuart took Kristen’s tears as stress over the storm, and Kristen let him think that way. Sitting at the kitchen table eating the plateful of grilled bacon and eggs that Stuart had cooked for her, Kristen let herself grow away from the experience of the last twenty-four hours.
    Except she let the name slip. “It was okay, a huge house in the middle of the country. Really beautiful.” She paused to take a mouthful of egg. “Two men lived there, but the housekeeper too.” She made it sound as if she spent most of her time with the housekeeper. “It was kind of them to take me in.”
    Stu snorted. “What else could they do? Let you die at their gates? What were their names?”
    “Cora—”
    “Not the housekeeper. The men! Were they rich?”
    Devastatingly so . “I guess. Above my touch, anyhow.”
    Stu grinned. “Interesting way of putting it. Still reading those historical books?”
    She shrugged. Her secret vice wasn’t so secret in family circles. She adored times gone by, and one of her ambitions was to make it to England one day. Scotland, as well. She wanted to explore all the places she read about. “When I can.”
    Nobody saw her e-reader. It was packed with historical romances, Regencies in particular. She gobbled them up, and since Jane Austen had only written half a dozen books, Kristen was always on the lookout for more stories about her favorite era. “When I have the time.”
    “Would either of the men you spent the night with last night have worked in Regency times?”
    At least she could still laugh. The thought of the powerhouses that were Dalton and Nathan in the immaculate tailoring and embroidered vests of the early nineteenth century made her smile. On the other hand, she could picture them all too well in tight breeches. Mmm, nice.
    Well, she might have said good-bye to them that morning, but she had her dreams. Maybe she’d find a store that would sell her a little aid, although nothing would ever feel as good as Nathan’s cock driving hard and sure inside her welcoming pussy.
    “Maybe. Not aristocrats, but prize fighters and gang leaders.”
    “That sounds interesting. What were their names?”
    “Dalton and Nathan.”
    “Did they have last names?”
    “Dalton Thorndyke. I didn’t catch the other.”
    Stu shot her a suspicious glance, then recognition sparked something. He got out his phone and swiped it open. “I’ve heard that name before. Give me a minute.” Rapidly, he entered the text in the browser, then raised his brows and handed the phone over. “Is this him?”
    “Yes.” Unmistakably Dalton Thorndyke, but dressed in a tux that had obviously been made for him. Rapidly Kristen revised her opinion. He wore the clothes with polish, an air of entitlement. Underneath, she read why. He was as wealthy as Nathan. Maybe the house belonged to him. She’d just assumed it was Nathan’s. Dalton owned a chain of hotels; other things too. He was seriously rich.
    Wow . For a moment, her finger hovered over the browser, but she forced it away. She didn’t want to know. Nathan was above her touch, and she’d had him for a night. He probably worked with Dalton in some capacity. She didn’t care, and she didn’t want to know. If she found out, she’d forever think of him, and she wanted the memory of last night to remain intact with all its clouds and angels. Nathan could be anything, anyone that way. It didn’t matter what he did or was in real life. “Yes, that’s one of the men.”
    Stu gave a long, low whistle.
    “Hey, my sister the famous dancer making