Read Online WitchofArundaleHall by Jennifer Leeland - Free Book Online Page A

old bitch was capable
of.
    Your mother didn’t want you, Perry. You were an accident,
an anomaly. They only wanted each other, and Joshua to carry the title. Why
would she want you?
    “Perry—”
    He whipped around and glared at her. “You may deny me your
bed, deny the bond between us, but you will not defy my word in our marriage. Lady
North has a nasty tongue and I will not allow her to hurt you.” He curled his
lip, his hurt and anger rising. “Since you will allow me nothing else, you will
respect me in this.”
    Her lower lip trembled for an instant before she pressed
them together and her eyes narrowed. “We should face her together.”
    He laughed, bitterly amused. “And give her the very weapon
she needs to destroy me? I think not.”
    “What do you mean?” Sarah’s brow furrowed into a frown.
    “I mean that two minutes in our presence will reveal that
our marriage is loveless and unconsummated. Lady North is adept at intuiting
things like that.” He shook his head. “Leave her to me. And Madame de Laval.”
    Sparks shone in Sarah’s blue eyes. “Now I understand.”
    He rolled his eyes. “What do you understand?”
    “Madame is to supplant me, take my place by your side so
that when you discard me after I break the curse—” Sarah stopped and bit her
lip.
    He stared at her. “That’s insanity.”
    “Is it?” She poked him in the chest. “Ever since we’ve met
you’ve caroused and seduced women. Is it any wonder that I’m cautious?”
    He snorted. “Cautious? Is that what you’re calling it? You’re
right, Sarah. I’m a scoundrel, a wicked man and a fool.” He swept his gaze from
her hair to her slippered toes. “But I am the man in this marriage. Defy me at
your peril.”
    She tossed her head. “I’m not afraid of you. You won’t hurt
me.”
    “I could make you want me.” He stepped closer and towered
over her. “I could destroy you with your own desire.” He sniffed and smiled as
he scented the warm, intoxicating smell of his woman. “You want me now. I can
smell it.”
    “You wouldn’t dare,” she snapped.
    He cocked his head to the side. “It would be an easy task,”
he said, wanting to inflame her.
    What he didn’t expect was her familiar right hook. He
stopped her fist an instant before it connected with his nose. “I don’t think
so,” he said. But touching her, gripping her hand, loosed the beast and his
control slipped. “I warned you.”
    She let out a squeak as he yanked her toward the settee to
turn her over his knee. He’d desired to spank her again since that fateful
night at Wolford House. Now he was going to make her come from it. His own
desires be damned. He would prove to her that he was more dangerous to her than
she believed.
     
    Jealousy had burned in Sarah’s stomach since she’d rejected
Perry on their wedding night. He’d kept away from her and she was sure he’d
found relief with someone else. The reason she’d focused on Madame de Laval was
that the woman was so beautiful and desirable, and it was clear that she and
the man she loved, Mr. Asher, would provide pleasure to a third party.
    In the early hours of the morning when she couldn’t sleep, she
had tormented herself with visions of the erotic couple with Perry. Many times
she’d resisted her desire to go to Perry and retract her words.
    Now she fought him wildly, squirming in his implacable hold.
“Let me go, you—you beast!”
    He swung her toward him, his face thrust close to hers. “Now
you have the right of it. I am a beast, a monster, evil, wicked…and your
husband.” He jerked her over his knee and yanked her skirts up. She’d thought
her petticoats would prove a frustration to his intent but she was wrong. He
made short work of the linen layers between her body and his touch.
    “No,” she protested, but it was no use. He spanked her, his
slaps on her buttocks sharp and precise.
    “Yes,” he said, his tone angry. “You. Are. Mine.” He
punctuated each word