After the Kiss Read Online Free PDF

else to convince him to stay close by until…until she’d figured out why he fascinated her so. For heaven’s sake, she’d never blackmailed anyone before. It frightened and excited her all at the same time. And that seemed more significant than turning him over to the authorities. At least for now.
    Phillip led the group of people and horses around the house to the stable at the back. At six-and-twenty her older brother could at times be almost comically stoic, but today with his flushed cheeks and quick smile he looked more like a boy tasting hard candy for the first time than he did the oldest male offspring of a marquis. As for Douglas, the teen pranced in a circle around Waring with such enthusiasm that if he’d been a puppy he likely would have wet himself.
    As they reached the stable she grabbed Douglas’s arm and hauled him a short distance from their so-called guest, her admiring family, and the growing crowd of grooms and stableboys. “What were—”
    “Fiend seize it, Tibby, let me go,” he grumbled.
    “What were you saying about Mr. Waring?” she insisted, keeping her voice low and yanking on her brother’s sleeve to keep his wandering attention.
    “I said he’s the primest horse breeder in England. Now let go before I miss something he says.”
    “No. Not that,” she returned, ignoring his protest. “You started to say that he was reputedly someone’s by-blow. Whose?”
    “I just got clubbed in the head for being impolite. I’m not talking to my own damned sister about bastards.”
    Stifling a growl, Isabel grabbed his left ear. “Talk!”
    Douglas howled and twisted away from her. “Amazon!”
    “Coward!”
    “Isabel!” her father said sharply. “If you expect me to allow you to ride this animal, you first need to prove that you will devote your time and attention to doing it properly.”
    With an irritated sigh she stopped pinching Douglas and returned to her father’s side. “Apologies,” she said stiffly, to him rather than to Waring. “What did I miss?”
    “How to saddle a stallion.”
    “I hardly think that’s my concern, then.”
    “You need to know how to handle an animal.”
    For a second she couldn’t figure out whether her father was referring to Ulysses or to Waring. The men, though, were obviously enraptured, and she was the only one who knew that Waring was anything other than what he claimed. He finished buckling the girth on Ulysses’ saddle, then offered his cupped hands to Phillip. “Remember, Lord Chalsey,” he said, as her brother swung into the saddle, “he’s trained as a hunter, so he’s got a sensitive mouth. If you even think about turning, he’ll turn.”
    Since Phillip generally acted as though he knew everything, Isabel was deeply surprised when he only took the reins and nodded. Waring stepped back, ending up directly beside her, while her brother walked Ulysses about the stable yard and said admiring things.
    Isabel studied Sullivan Waring’s profile as he gazed at the big stallion like a proud papa. She would put him somewhere in his late twenties, a few years older than Phillip. He was built like a born horseman, tall and lean, with strong hands and muscular thighs, his light brown hair disheveled from riding hatless. What was he up to? An obviously well-respected horse breeder who broke into homes and burgled them by night? Aside from the fact that he’d kissed her, this didn’t make any sense. Which made for a mystery—something else she enjoyed probably more than she should.
    “What are you up to, my lady?” Waring murmured, sending her a brief sideways glance.
    “I’ll ask the questions, Mr. Waring. And if you wish to remain out of shackles, you’d best do as I say.”
    “To a point, my lady. Don’t push me.”
    She ignored the warning. Or she pretended to; inside, she was quite a bit less certain. “I’ll do as I please,” she said aloud. “And you’ll do as I please, as well, Mr. Marauder.”

Chapter 3
    Sullivan