A Perfect Hero Read Online Free PDF Page A

his.
    His voice, when he spoke, was like the Scotch whisky her brother Sebastian favored—dry but laced with a touch of silky smoothness. “So,” he murmured, arching one dark brow. “That was quite a nap you took. Indeed, for a time I was afraid you would not wake.”
    Julianna said nothing, merely watched him warily as she sat up. “I would have thought you’d rejoice if I hadn’t woken.”
    “Why is that?”
    “I’ve seen your face.” The admission came without thought, without volition.
    For the longest time he said nothing. When he spoke, his voice was almost deadly quiet. “So you have,” he returned at last. “So you have.”
    Julianna looked at him sharply. Alas, she could gauge nothing of his meaning from his expression.
    “I suppose you’re nursing a bit of a headache. That’s quite a lump you have there.”
    Julianna’s hand went automatically to the back of her head. Indeed, there was a sizable knot there that made her wince.
    His brows shot up. “What! Did you think I was a liar?”
    Julianna sent him what she hoped was a suit ably quelling glare.
    “I’m not, you know.”
    “Oh? You are a highwayman, sir. I suspect you’re many things, all of which are quite despi cable.”
    “Ah, so you’re feeling rather peevish again, are you?”
    Julianna angled her chin high. “Where is the coachman?” she demanded. “Are you holding him here as well?”
    Something flickered across his face, something that made her go cold inside. “He’s gone,” he said briefly.
    “Gone,” Julianna repeated. “What do you mean?”
    He simply looked at her.
    Her lips parted. “What,” she said faintly. “You mean he’s ...dead?”
    “Yes.”
    Julianna’s eyes widened. For all that she couldn’t decipher him, she was unaware her ex pression conveyed her every nuance of thought. “I ...Mercy, you mean you...you...” She couldn’t seem to complete the thought.
    He took her meaning immediately. “I did not harm him,” he said flatly, shrugging on his shirt. “He was dead when I reached him.”
    “Oh.” Julianna averted her gaze. Tears filled her eyes. She blinked them back before he could see.
    Beneath the covers, something brushed against her legs. Something she couldn’t see. With a screech, she hurtled from the bed.
    “You’ve rats in here!”
    He caught her when she would have rushed past him. “It’s only Maximilian.”
    “What, you’ve names for them?” She was aghast.
    To her shock, he threw back his head and laughed, a low sound that was oddly pleasing— which left her most confused.
    With a hitch of his chin, he indicated the bed she’d just vacated. “Look,” was all he said.
    Julianna glanced behind her, just as a shiny black head and two pointed ears popped out from beneath the coverlet. A long, fuzzy body followed. A cat, she realized in amazement, at first dumbfounded, then feeling profoundly like a fool. Huge yellow-green eyes regarded her in un blinking curiosity. The animal tipped its head to the side, as if in silent query.
    “Meet Maximilian,” said the robber. “He ap pears to have taken a liking to you, a fact that quite frankly surprises me to no end. Generally, Maxim ilian is a creature of most discerning taste.”
    “I can see that if he is attached to you, ” Ju lianna retorted.
    “Ah, a cheeky wench.”
    “Wench!” Julianna sizzled. Never in her life had she been called a wench. Why, no one would dare! That he had roused in her a seething rage. Drawing in a deep breath, Julianna prepared to heap upon him a most scathing denunciation.
    Two things dawned on her in that instant, however. Rather belatedly she realized she was still clutching at him; indeed, she was wrapped around him in a most unseemly manner!
    The second was the feel of him beneath her fingertips.
    All at once she felt several degrees warmer. The bottom seemed to drop out of her belly, for he was as solid and unyielding as a rock, as hard as if he were fashioned of pure granite.
    She