Courtesan's Kiss Read Online Free PDF Page A

the conveyance. Not about the show of ankle so much as her amazing agility. That made the mind wander.
    As he came up to the driver’s box he noticed that she had put her hat on, ruined as it was. Still, the light breeze caught her curls, their color between brown and gold. Shedid not seem to mind the disarray of either her hair or her hat. He watched as she pressed her lips together, barely able to contain her excitement.
    “My lord, you must smile more. You look so much friendlier when you do.”
    David bit back his smile. He didn’t want her to see him as anything more than an irritated protector. “Sit still. Do not distract the driver. Listen to me. The river is higher than usual but it should be an uneventful crossing.”
    She nodded, pretending to be as serious as he was. But he could see the devilment in her eyes.
    “If you do anything to upset the crossing you will have to fend for yourself.”
    She nodded, her eyes growing more severe. “I am not a fool, Lord David. I think you prefer to take the fun out of everything. This may not be dangerous but it will be an adventure. Stop trying to spoil it.”
    “If it were dangerous or if I trusted John Coachman less I would drag you from that seat no matter what you wished.”
    I’d like to see you try
. She did not have to say the words; her expression spoke volumes.
    “Now you look like a petulant schoolgirl.”
    She gave him that look from beneath her lashes that made him think she might welcome a masterful hand. But only on her terms. If he tried to total the number of times she had said “No” on this trip, David expected he would lose count somewhere in the hundreds.
    He gave her a discouraging scowl, aimed as much at his thoughts as at her. Falling in behind the conveyance,he stayed on the right side where he could see if she caused any trouble or panicked. Though he did not think her flaws included panic, not when she so valued “adventure.”
    The coachman set out slowly. Mia turned her head this way and that, looking down into the water as if trying to find fish, stretching out a little, apparently to watch the horses’ footing.
    All went well and David breathed a sigh of relief—a moment too soon. The back right wheel caught the moss just as the horses pulled up onto dry land. He watched, powerless, as the wheel slid into the water, coming to rest at an awkward angle.
    At his nudge, Cruces stepped into the deeper water, so David could circle the carriage and take a good look at their predicament. He stared at it, ignoring the cries and commotion from the others. It would require brute strength to right the carriage without upset, but on the list of possible disasters it ranked fairly low.
    First he faced a bigger challenge, figuring out how to calm a hysterical woman.

Chapter Four

    “I O VADO A MORIRE,” a woman’s voice wailed. David recognized it as the maid’s and then heard her mistress’s irritation as she called down to her, “You will not die, Janina. Be quiet.”
    None of them needed the maid’s cry as a call to action. When the carriage jerked as the wheel slipped off the moss, the grooms knew exactly what had happened.
    David dismounted as well, after checking on Miss Castellano, whose only sign of distress was the way she gripped the side rail of the box. He gave a moment’s thought to taking her to safety but decided against it for at least three reasons, only one of them truly practical: The more strength they had pushing the conveyance the less likely any sort of rescue would be necessary.
    David joined the grooms along the right side of the carriage and pushed up as John Coachman urged thehorses. The water felt numbingly cold but strength brought on by need helped him ignore the discomfort.
    They struggled with the back of the coach and for a moment David feared the wheel would not set back on the ford shelf.
    “I don’t think—” one of the grooms began, huffing the words out with short breaths.
    “Push,” David spat,