Awakened by a Kiss Read Online Free PDF Page B

For tainting his burgundy, he could have me arrested. In light of the recent poisonings at court, I could be tossed in prison . . . You remember what they did to Madame de Brinvilliers and the others . . .” As Catherine spoke, Odette was staring at her neck in the most peculiar way, her brows knitted together. Catherine continued because most of what Odette did was peculiar. Over the years, she’d learned to ignore most things. “I’ve told him that he’s mistaken, but he doesn’t believe—” Catherine stopped when Odette began tilting her head to one side, then her body at the waist, her gaze still fixed on the side of Catherine’s neck.
    “Odette, what are you staring at?” Catherine released her maid’s shoulders.
    Odette righted herself and peered closely, then pulled back, a slow, steady grin spreading across her mouth. “It would seem that Monsieur le Marquis was not altogether cross with you.” She walked over to the table and picked up a hand mirror. “Your Marquis has been perhaps whispering sweet words in your ear—among other things?” She handed the mirror to Catherine.
    Catherine brought it up to her neck and saw the glaring, undeniable marking of a love bite just under her ear. It was her turn to sink into a chair, which she did with a groan.
    Her forehead fell into her palm. “Can this day get any worse?” she bemoaned.
    The heavens responded with a thunderclap, followed by a sudden heavy rain, torrents striking the windowpane.
    Her head snapped up. “Oh, no . . .” She rose and moved to the window. Sheets of rain were pouring from the sky.
    “It doesn’t look as though we can leave,” Odette said behind her. “The roads will soon be useless.”
    Was this penance for her misdeeds? For conspiring to drug an innocent man and relinquishing her virtue? She thought she’d already paid for her sins during the course of her marriage.
    “By the love mark on your neck, madame, I don’t think you have anything to fear from him. Clearly, his interest in you hasn’t anything to do with having you arrested.”
    Catherine closed her eyes briefly. A fresh rush of warmth flooded her already heated body.
    Oh, to feel his mouth on her again had been sublime.
    It left her starved senses famished for more.
    The bulge in his breeches practically undid her. His magnificent erection was impossible to ignore. She’d aroused him. No aphrodisiac needed. It was a dizzying notion.
    The man was not only impressively endowed—she recalled every glorious inch—but le Beau knew how to use that part of his male anatomy with mastery.
    She couldn’t believe he’d remembered so much about her. At first she thought he was lying. That it was impossible for a man as beautiful as he, with as many females as he’d bedded, to have such a clear memory of her.
    But he had.
    He’d even remembered her freckles.
    It was amazing. Inflaming. It made her ache. The bud between her legs throbbed for his attention. She hadn’t felt desire in so very long. Not since one incredible night in the arms of a beautiful stranger after a masquerade ball. She didn’t regret their night of rapture. She’d no idea sexual pleasure could be so keen.
    “Madame, if I may suggest, why not simply enjoy him—until your betrothed arrives at the end of the week?”
    She turned to face Odette. “Have you not heard what I’ve said? What could happen to me should he decide to have orders drawn up against me?”
    The older woman shrugged. “From what I see, the Marquis de Beaulain would likely keep his mouth shut about the tainting of his wine if he had some other way to occupy it.” She smiled.
    Catherine frowned. “And what about Philbert?”
    “What about him? It isn’t a first marriage for either of you. And he already has an heir. Neither of you is in love. Most husbands expect discretion, not loyalty.”
    Catherine walked over to the hearth and stared at the flickering flames. Her life had finally fallen into place. She’d help raise