Read Online Too Wicked to Wed by Cara Elliott - Free Book Online Page A

ruin these last few precious moments of freedom? “What is so important that it cannot wait until later?” she demanded.
    “The vowel.”
    Alexa stared at him blankly.
    “Haddan’s pledge. You have to give it back.”
    “Give it back?” He meant to rob her of that as well? “But I won it fair and square!”
    Henry shuffled his feet. “Er, well, he wasn’t quite thinking straight at the moment. He wasn’t supposed to risk that particular piece of paper.” Clearing his throat, her cousin added, “And, er, had he known he was playing against a female, he would never have made the wager.”
    It was now righteous indignation that brought fire to her cheeks. “I thought that once a gentlemen made a bet, he was honorbound to abide by it.”
    “Yes, but…”
    Once again there appeared to be two sets of rules. And as always, the one that applied to gentlemen apparently allowed for far more latitude than did the one that applied to ladies. Her mood already on edge, Alexa reacted with blunt outrage. “Well it’s a trifle late for regrets.”
    Her cousin’s face took on a greenish cast. “Be reasonable, Alexa!”
    “Why should I?” she shot back.
    “B-because it’s…” Taken aback by the unexpected resistance, Henry was reduced to an incoherent stuttering. Raking a hand through his hair, he finally gathered enough composure to blurt out the truth. “Bloody hell, Alexa. The pledge happens to be a half-ownership in a gaming hell and brothel!” He gave a nervous laugh. “Surely you can see now why it must be handed over immediately.”
    She withdrew the paper from her pocket and for the first time took a close look.
    The Wolf’s Lair. The name was written in a bold script, along with a scrawled signature. Linsley.
    Wishing to make sure it was not a bend of light or a hiccup of reason that was playing tricks with her imagination, Alexa read it over several times before carefully refolding the foolscap and tucking it away in a more secure place.
    For whatever reason, it appeared the Earl of Killingworth had been forced to take a gamble. Her lips set in a grim smile.
    Ha! The Wolfhound had held the upper hand the first three times they had met. Now, she was—to say the least—on equal footing with the rogue.
    “Alexa? You are going to give it back, aren’t you?”
    “Absolutely not.”
    Henry was rendered momentarily speechless. Seeing that pleas were getting him nowhere, he resorted to wheedling. “Pater will have my guts for garters when he finds out—that is, if Sebastian doesn’t murder me first and feed my entrails to the wolves.”
    “There are no wolves in Yorkshire,” retorted Alexa. A spasm of resentment caused her fists to clench. Turning on her heel, she started to walk away. “As for the consequences, you will just have to chance them, won’t you?”
    “Alexa! Wait!”
    His lunge caused her to stumble up against a trellis of roses. Caught in the thorns, her hat came off, pulling her tightly wound tresses loose in a scattering of hairpins.
    With an angry toss of her head, she yanked herself free. “By all rights it’s mine, Henry. Come hell or—”
    In the heat of the argument, neither of them heard the approaching steps.
    “May Sat’n be boiled ’n brandy!”
    Alexa whipped around to find the Marquess of Haddan staring at the tumble of her wheaten curls.
    Gryff blinked. “Good God.”
    “Good God,” repeated Henry, in hollow echo of the marquess’s surprise. “We are really in the brambles now.”
    Seeing there was no way to disguise the truth, Alexa reached up and peeled the itchy bit of hair from her upper lip.
    “Who—” began Gryff.
    “Allow me to introduce my cousin, Lady Alexa Hendrie,” said Henry through gritted teeth.
    “D-delighted t’ make your acquaint’nce,” drawled the marquess.
    “I highly doubt it,” replied Alexa.
    “Look, Haddan, I know this looks highly irregular—”
    The marquess slid his gaze down to Alexa’s snug breeches and allowed a small