Read Online To Catch a Lady by Pamela Labud - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: Pamela Labud
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the rest of the world drifted away and she knew nothing but the two of them. She could hear her blood rushing through her body and feel the shock of his hands caressing the moistened skin of her center.
“Please,” Caro whimpered.
She was poised at the peak of sensual delight, a mere breath away from unimaginable pleasure and blessed release…
Her mindless and utterly sensual joy was shattered by the high, shrill sound of a woman’s scream.
Their moment of passion popped like a soap bubble, and the room filled with the sounds of excited voices, a mixture of panic, amusement, and shocked surprise.
Blinking, Caro looked over Ash’s shoulder to see the doorway filled with three people, and several dozen crowding in behind them from the hall.
“Ashton, what in blazes are you doing?” came a shrill woman’s voice over the gasps of the gathering crowd.
A petite, older woman stood in the doorway, a look of sheer panic on her face, her mouth covered with white-lace-gloved hands. Eyes as wide as saucers, her light brown hair piled high on her head, she was dressed in a beautiful gold gown that denoted her high nobility. Her throat was adorned with dazzling sapphires that shone with a brilliance matched only by her sparkling azure eyes. She was clearly someone to be reckoned with.
“Excellent choice, Your Grace!” another man’s voice cried out in an exuberant tone.
Unfortunately, the general consensus of the other attendees was not as jovial, but rather a low, growling, grumbling cacophony of disapproval.
Panic rose in Caro’s throat, building up to full-out hysteria. What would happen now?
Public humiliation?
Most assuredly.
Bodily harm?
Very likely.
Recriminations that would follow her to the grave?
Without a doubt.
Ash must have shared her distress, because she heard him hiss.
“Bloody hell.”
Caro started to pull away from him but he tightened his grasp. “Be still,” he ordered.
Not knowing what else to do, she obeyed, though fervently wishing she could turn to mist if it could help her escape his strong hands holding her. On the other hand, she was quite astonished how the heated pleasure of his touch so quickly turned to humiliation’s burn with her sudden embarrassment.
If only this were some horrid dream and she’d nothing to do but wake up!
Unfortunately, any thought of escaping her fate utterly disappeared with the sound of her sister’s screaming amidst the crowd.
“Take your bloody hands off my sister!”
“Lightskirt!” one woman shouted from the crowd.
“Harlot!” came another.
“Jezebel!”
A younger girl cried out. “Mama, she’s compromising our duke!”
Anger flashed through Caro like a lit taper. She wanted to shout, to rail at those who accused her, but caught between shame, desire, and fury, she’d lost the ability to form words.
Instead, she decided to attack the one person responsible for the evening’s disastrous outcome. Fists clenched, fury building like a storm, she was on the verge of letting loose her anger.
Then she saw him.
Ash, his cravat hanging loose about his neck, his buttons open and revealing an expanse of wide chest—the mere vision of him took her breath away. By the gods, he was even more striking than before. She meant to push him away, but she was as trapped by his burning gaze as she was by his weight upon her.
In that single moment, his fiery expression pinning her to her spot, she saw something dark and dangerous cross his eyes.
Whatever decision he’d come to, it surely wouldn’t bode well for her. A feeling of dread settled into Caro’s belly.
“Your Grace?” She barely breathed. “What are you thinking?”
“Not to worry, all will be well.” He leaned down again and captured her mouth with his, drinking in her kiss like a man dying of thirst.
Shrieks, curses, and shouts of disbelief filled the room around them, but Caro could barely hear any of it—she knew only the powerful man who held her so close that he had
“Please,” Caro whimpered.
She was poised at the peak of sensual delight, a mere breath away from unimaginable pleasure and blessed release…
Her mindless and utterly sensual joy was shattered by the high, shrill sound of a woman’s scream.
Their moment of passion popped like a soap bubble, and the room filled with the sounds of excited voices, a mixture of panic, amusement, and shocked surprise.
Blinking, Caro looked over Ash’s shoulder to see the doorway filled with three people, and several dozen crowding in behind them from the hall.
“Ashton, what in blazes are you doing?” came a shrill woman’s voice over the gasps of the gathering crowd.
A petite, older woman stood in the doorway, a look of sheer panic on her face, her mouth covered with white-lace-gloved hands. Eyes as wide as saucers, her light brown hair piled high on her head, she was dressed in a beautiful gold gown that denoted her high nobility. Her throat was adorned with dazzling sapphires that shone with a brilliance matched only by her sparkling azure eyes. She was clearly someone to be reckoned with.
“Excellent choice, Your Grace!” another man’s voice cried out in an exuberant tone.
Unfortunately, the general consensus of the other attendees was not as jovial, but rather a low, growling, grumbling cacophony of disapproval.
Panic rose in Caro’s throat, building up to full-out hysteria. What would happen now?
Public humiliation?
Most assuredly.
Bodily harm?
Very likely.
Recriminations that would follow her to the grave?
Without a doubt.
Ash must have shared her distress, because she heard him hiss.
“Bloody hell.”
Caro started to pull away from him but he tightened his grasp. “Be still,” he ordered.
Not knowing what else to do, she obeyed, though fervently wishing she could turn to mist if it could help her escape his strong hands holding her. On the other hand, she was quite astonished how the heated pleasure of his touch so quickly turned to humiliation’s burn with her sudden embarrassment.
If only this were some horrid dream and she’d nothing to do but wake up!
Unfortunately, any thought of escaping her fate utterly disappeared with the sound of her sister’s screaming amidst the crowd.
“Take your bloody hands off my sister!”
“Lightskirt!” one woman shouted from the crowd.
“Harlot!” came another.
“Jezebel!”
A younger girl cried out. “Mama, she’s compromising our duke!”
Anger flashed through Caro like a lit taper. She wanted to shout, to rail at those who accused her, but caught between shame, desire, and fury, she’d lost the ability to form words.
Instead, she decided to attack the one person responsible for the evening’s disastrous outcome. Fists clenched, fury building like a storm, she was on the verge of letting loose her anger.
Then she saw him.
Ash, his cravat hanging loose about his neck, his buttons open and revealing an expanse of wide chest—the mere vision of him took her breath away. By the gods, he was even more striking than before. She meant to push him away, but she was as trapped by his burning gaze as she was by his weight upon her.
In that single moment, his fiery expression pinning her to her spot, she saw something dark and dangerous cross his eyes.
Whatever decision he’d come to, it surely wouldn’t bode well for her. A feeling of dread settled into Caro’s belly.
“Your Grace?” She barely breathed. “What are you thinking?”
“Not to worry, all will be well.” He leaned down again and captured her mouth with his, drinking in her kiss like a man dying of thirst.
Shrieks, curses, and shouts of disbelief filled the room around them, but Caro could barely hear any of it—she knew only the powerful man who held her so close that he had
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