Falling Into Bed with a Duke (Hellions of Havisham) Read Online Free PDF Page B

Minerva, drat her feminine heart, would have been content to have had a dance with him, to have spent a few minutes in the circle of his arms. He was, quite literally, the most beautiful creature she’d ever had the good fortune to lay eyes on. The irony of her thoughts did not escape her. Her looks held men at bay while his drew attention as though they were magnets—and she, drat it all, had turned into metal shavings.
    With a smile designed to melt hearts and cause a woman not to care that he had no interest in permanence, he took her tumbler, set it aside, then, with his long, warm fingers covering hers, he folded her hand around his glass. She’d never had a man’s bare hand touch hers or any other part of her for that matter. It should have been unsettling. Instead, the touch seemed to spread along her skin—
    Because it was. Without taking his gaze from hers, he slowly, ever so slowly, glided his large, roughened hand along her forearm, over her elbow, up to her shoulder before letting his fingers linger lightly in one place, toying with the thin strap of her gown, as though he longed to ease it aside and watch the silk flutter to the floor. She could hardly breathe, and yet it was rude not to acknowledge him.
    “Your Grace,” she managed, with the rough throaty voice she’d been recently perfecting, adding another layer to her disguise. “I didn’t realize you’d returned from the safari.”
    Those gorgeous blue eyes widened slightly, his smile diminished a fraction as he angled his head to study her more closely. “Have we been introduced?”
    She had barely parted her lips to speak when he pressed one of his long, thick fingers against them. “Don’t answer that. Here, for the ladies, anonymity is sacred. I’d be cast out if anyone thought I’d deliberately tried to determine who you were.”
    She doubted anyone would cast him out. His was a powerful family—or it had been before his father died. From rumors she’d heard, he’d yet to take his responsibilities seriously, not that anyone blamed him. Rather, Society seemed to take delight in his adventures. He spent more time out of England than in, traveling the world with those with whom he’d grown up. Raising hell wherever they went if the stories were to be believed. Certainly they were known for the trouble they created. But they were indulged, sought after, encouraged. The timid lived vicariously through them, and, compared to them, most of London was timid.
    “What shall I call you?” he asked, his finger still against her lips, causing little tingles to play over the sensitive flesh. “And don’t use your real name.”
    Even without the admonishment, she wouldn’t have. She wasn’t so befuddled by his nearness that she couldn’t think clearly. Her lungs might have ceased to work properly, but her mind was still agile. “Lady V.”
    A dark eyebrow arched. “Victoria?”
    Virgin. Not that she was going to admit that to a man who’d probably deflowered half of Christendom.
    His eyebrow lowered, his dazzling smile returned, his eyes glittered with a hint of wickedness. “No,” he murmured in a provocative way that caused warmth to bloom in the pit of her stomach and spread throughout her entire being. “Something more exotic. Venus, perhaps.”
    “Perhaps.” It was unconscionable that she could be so enamored of a man with his reputation, and yet for a lady seeking adventures in a boudoir, this man could deliver. Of that she had no doubt. Sensuality radiated from every pore of his being, from his immense height—he had to be well over six feet—to his well-shod toes.
    She moved her head back slightly so his finger was no longer on her lips although his other hand had yet to leave her shoulder. Taking a sip of the scotch, she was grateful her own hands weren’t quaking with her nervousness. When she had considered her plans for this night, she’d certainly never contemplated falling into bed with a duke, especially with one