A Passionate Endeavor Read Online Free PDF

keep the limb immobile and hasten recovery.”
    “I am well aware of the necessary annoyance
of immobility, Miss Kittridge, as I have had you to remind me of
this every day during the last eight days. All right, I shall
acquiesce, but only because, well… well, because you are right!” He
laughed.
    His humor was contagious. Charlotte
smiled.
    “Why, Miss Kittridge, I didn’t know you had
dimples. How charming,” he said, grasping her arm and pulling her
close.
    He touched her cheek with his other hand, and
she held her breath. She watched his intense green gaze move from
her cheek to her mouth and wondered if there was another man on
earth whose appearance could leave her so unsettled.
    She was sure he could see her heart’s erratic
pounding. He dropped his hand from her face and lightly pulled her
to meet him as he raised himself off the pillows.
    Please, oh, please God, let this happen.
    His warm lips covered her own, and she felt
like she would explode by the awareness of his body touching hers.
Her mind raced with the knowledge that he was actually kissing her!
She pulled back for the smallest instant and looked at him, sure he
had made some sort of mistake. Something in his hungered expression
reassured her, and she quickly lowered her lips to his again,
mimicking his gentle exploration.
    His lips parted and the intoxicating heat of
his breath flowed onto her cheek. His tongue traced the edges of
her lips and she shivered. Was there a more divine feeling?
    His hand stroked down her arm and back up her
waist, coming to rest against her breast. The pressure was wicked
and heavenly all at the same time.
    He broke away with a sigh and whispered into
her ear, “Miss Kittridge, I must apologize. But dimples drive me to
unconscionable actions. Do forgive me. Best keep them hidden from
now on, or you shall be in danger again.”
    In her flustered state, Charlotte could not
think of a single thing to say. To occupy her shaking hands, she
began unwrapping the bandage that was to go on his lordship’s
leg.
    “Perhaps it would be better for your father
to wrap my leg, Miss Kittridge.”
    Her eyes flew to his thigh, still covered by
the linen sheets, and the shape above it. Her embarrassment
increased tenfold.
    “I daresay not even a saint could be trusted
in this condition. I am sorry, Miss Kittridge.” She flew from the
room, leaving behind the stiffened bandages, her pride, and the
scene of her first kiss. Oh, it had been heady. Quite, quite
divine. Why hadn’t that novel mentioned anything about kisses?

Chapter Three
     
     
    “ Even the smooth surface of family union
seems
    worth preserving, though there may be
nothing
    durable beneath .”
     
    —Persuasion
     
     
    OH, no, my dear brother, I must relinquish
the head of the table in deference to you, now that you are on the
mend,” said Lord Edwin, drawing out the aforementioned seat and
motioning Nicholas to it. “This is your first appearance, after
all, after three weeks.”
    Nicholas glanced at his father’s wife out of
the corner of his eye. Her Grace paled, her lips thinning in
suppressed anger.
    “I prefer to leave it vacant in deference to
Father,” he replied.
    “Always the proper one,” Edwin replied.
“Always thinking of others. How I admire you and wish to be more
like you,” he continued with an easy smile.
    Not wanting his brother to feel
uncomfortable, Nicholas offered another solution as he turned to
one of their dinner guests, the elderly parish vicar. “His Grace
would be most comfortable knowing a man of your high morals was
warming his seat, Mr. Llewellyn.”
    The duchess appeared infuriated by his
decision. The tall, white-haired gentleman bowed. “I would be most
delighted to accede to your wishes, Lord Huntington.” Nicholas
hobbled on his new crutch to a seat offered by the butler.
    “I am most pleased you were able to join us
for dinner, Dr. Kittridge,” said the Duchess of Cavendish as she
took her seat along with the other