A Lady's Guide to Skirting Scandal Read Online Free PDF Page A

tasting her. He continued, taking his time, setting a languid, sensuous pace.
    His fingers tangled in her hair, stroked the side of her face, and caressed her upper arms before sliding lower, over the sides of her breasts. She made a small sound and wriggled closer to him, and he could feel his body respond with alarming speed. Desire pooled in his groin, and his kiss became more demanding.
    Her own tongue touched his, tentatively at first, unsure and unschooled. The knowledge that he was the first man to kiss her the way this woman deserved to be kissed pleased him immensely. He encouraged her, his tongue teasing and stroking until she became bolder. His hands dropped to her waist and then over her gloriously round backside, pulling her closer toward him. He pressed into her softness now, the way he had wanted to do when she had first come into this cabin, and he groaned softly, unsure if she realized just how badly he wanted her.
    She was all beautiful curves and welcoming softness—a woman that a man could get lost in forever.
    From somewhere down the passageway, he heard the shrill voice of Miss Yates, complaining to Miss Woodward that she had been unable to locate Lady Viola. Nate froze before he pulled away, dismayed. It was one thing to prove a point. It was another thing altogether to completely abandon good sense to do it. Nathaniel Shaw was not in the habit of seducing inexperienced, infuriating young women simply to…prove a point.
    He didn’t even know what he had managed to prove. That kissing Viola Hextall was unlike anything he had ever experienced? That it had ignited all sorts of visions of what it would be like to take this woman to his bed and continue to teach her everything he knew about the human body and the infinite ways in which it might be pleasured?
    “I’m sorry,” he rasped, stepping away from her. Far, far away from her. “I should never have done that. Nor do I have any excuse that will adequately justify my deplorable actions.”
    Viola was watching him, her fingers going to her mouth, which was slightly swollen and reddened. Heaven help him, but she looked like a woman who had just been kissed and kissed thoroughly. Worse, she didn’t look as if she considered his actions deplorable at all. She should be chagrined or horrified or upset, but instead she simply looked…thoughtful. “Why did you do that?” she asked.
    That was a very good question. The most credible answer was that he had lost his mind.
    “Because I am an idiot,” he muttered under his breath. “I think it would be best if I—if you—if…” Nate stopped, trying to pull his thoughts together. “I think it would be best if we did not have any further contact beyond what is absolutely necessary for the remainder of our journey.”
    Viola raised a delicately arched eyebrow. “Don’t be absurd. We reside on a ship, Mr. Shaw, not a country estate. Do you propose to become nocturnal to achieve such ends?”
    She was right. “I’m sorry—”
    “And stop apologizing. I rather…enjoyed that.”
    No. No, no, no, she shouldn’t have enjoyed that, and even if she had, she should certainly never admit it. He needed her to be hysterical. Angry. Or some other sort of reaction that would be suitable for a young lady who had her sights set on an imaginary duke but had just suffered liberties taken by a lowly surgeon.
    Liberties that he would very much like to take again, given half a chance.
    “There you are, my lady!” It came from the door with shrill urgency, and Viola flinched. “Miss Woodward, I’ve found her,” Miss Yates called.
    “Indeed, you’ve found me,” Viola agreed with a heavy sigh.
    A twinge of pity caught Nate unawares. He hadn’t really given much thought to what it might be like to have two people watching and judging your every move.
    “What in heaven’s name are you doing in here? With Mr. Shaw? By yourself?” Each question ended with saturated accusation.
    Nate glanced at Viola, only to