Read Online Timeless Passion: 10 Historical Romances To Savor by Rue Allyn - Free Book Online

talking about, and she had neither time nor interest in finding out.
    “I’m delighted you were victorious. However, I must ask you to leave as I am expecting a visitor.” She kept her tone polite but serious, at least as serious as the liqueur allowed. She seemed to be having trouble not only with managing her dreadful ensemble but also with enunciation.
    “Ha,” he barked a laugh. “A visitor, is that what they call a stud these days?”
    Stud ? He’d actually said stud. To her. Does he know why I’m here ? Impossible, but this is a bordello, and the man probably made assumptions. I’ll make an allowance for his rudeness this once, but only once .
    His expression grim, he stalked into the room, forcing her to retreat or have him walk over her or worse.
    “I … I’ll have you know Mr. Trahern that … that I have a perfectly legitimate reason for being here. Yes perfectly legitimate. However, that reason is no business of yours. Now please be on your way. Your presence is di … distinctly inconvenient.” Her voice shook. One hand clutched at her bodice, and she continued her slow retreat.
    He stopped moving an arm’s length away and looked her over with a lurid sneer. “Inconvenient? Woman, you don’t know that half of it. I’ve been more than a little inconvenienced tonight, and I’m not in the mood to talk. Get over here. I want what I paid for.”
    The man was insufferable. He actually seemed to imagine she should service him. The idea was ludicrous. She opened and closed her mouth unable to think of an insult that would put him in his place.
    Suddenly Edith was beyond furious. She’d lived her entire life in unpaid servitude catering to or circumventing the absurd, unreasonable wants of a man. Now, when she’d spent good money to have a man at her beck and call, to cater to her needs and desires, that man had the temerity to insist that he was in charge. That she should cater to him. She finally found her voice.
    “What you want? What you want!” Her voice rose with every word. Her arms dropped to her sides. Her hands fisted. “I’m fed up with men and their insistence on having everything their way. Well, not tonight.”
    A flush spread from her chest to flame in her cheeks. Her shoulders stiffened. Her chest heaved, and her bodice slipped.
    “I’ve invested everything in this venture,” she ranted, beyond caring. “Tonight we do things my way.”
    Kicking her trailing skirts aside, she advanced.
    The man stood there, his mouth open, staring at her chest. “What the hell do you think you’re doing?”
    All sense fled before Edith’s fury. At the same time she wanted to hit him and kiss him. Kiss him? Where had that thought come from? Massively uncomfortable, hot, nerves itching, overwrought with confused emotions, and uncaring of the consequences, she had to show him who was in charge. She marched up to him, stood toe to toe then stretched toward his frown and pressed her mouth to his.
    The softness of his lips shocked her. Who would believe such a hard expression could feel so good? She inhaled. The scents of mint, leather, and the faint odor of chocolate swirled in her head, anger drowned in a flood of desire. After a moment, his mouth responded, moving ever so slightly back and forth across her own. This was even better. Tiny lightning bolts struck her skin. The itching hadn’t stopped, in fact the tingling sensation increased. It felt wonderful, and Edith wanted more.
    She wrapped her arms around his neck and let her body fall against his until they were pressed together from shoulder to knee. A thousand new sensations overwhelmed her, and she tried to get closer. His arms tightened around her in a most gratifying manner.
    Inwardly Edith crowed, and the knot of tension in her belly loosened. She’d kissed him, and he’d returned her kiss. She’d shown him that she was in charge. Her desires would take precedence.
    • • •
    This was the most awkward, ill-practiced, unsubtle