Forbidden Fire Read Online Free PDF

than willing to be present for her first meeting with Mr. Tremayne, as they fully understood the awkwardness of the situation.
    They were impressed with the calm, cool maturity of the young lady who informed them that it would not be necessary at all.
    And that was how they came to this day … now … waiting.
    There was a knock at the door. Mary stared at Marissa in pure panic, and Marissa managed to smile at last. “It’s all right, I promise, Mary. Think about it. I have always been able to charm old men. Mary! We made it past the solicitors! Now go on with you, get into the bedroom.”
    Mary sped past her, still white.
    The knock came again, louder. There was an impatient note to it.
    Then Marissa heard the voice. Deep, resonant, confident, the kind of male voice that spoke of authority and power. The kind that could enter the lower spine and send spirals racing up and down the back.
    â€œMiss Ahearn! Are you there?”
    The first twinge of unease seized her. She knew the voice. Knew it very well. It had even haunted her dreams, it had intruded upon her spinning her golden webs of aspirations, her hopes of glory.
    She did not touch the door, but suddenly it burst open.
    Him …
    The tall stranger with the startling deep blue eyes. The eyes that touched her the way his voice touched her. Raking over her with a blaze of fire.
    Arrogant, powerful, sharp. How could she possibly play out a deception upon this man with his hardened gaze, his determined manner, his ruthlessness? No anger or impatience with herself could quell the trembling at the pit of her stomach.
    It was the surprise, she assured herself. The surprise and the fear. He would know her, he would remember.
    â€œMiss Ahearn! I am Ian Tremayne.”
    Impatience flashed through his cobalt gaze when she still failed to reply. “I have come to fetch you home. Is something wrong? Are you all right?”
    No, no, no! She was not all right at all! This was not an older gentleman to be twisted and swayed to her own will.
    This was the lad who had carelessly tossed a coin her way. The brash man who had sent her tray crashing to the floor, who had laughed and told her that she should come to America.
    This was the stranger who had broken into her dreams and reminded her that beneath her veneer she was a little coal rat.
    The stranger had a name at long last.
    Ian.
    Ian Tremayne.
    And already, his sharp blue eyes were narrowing. With recognition? She could not tell. Oh, no! He could not remember her! She had been a child that first time! And later, she had been a maid in a shadowed hallway. He could not remember, he could not!
    â€œMiss Ahearn?”
    â€œYes, yes! I—I am Katherine!” she said, having found her voice at last. She struggled for a smile, but it eluded her. She managed to raise her hand, and he lifted it to his lips and brushed it with a cordial kiss.
    A kiss that burned her fingers. That brushed and yet seared her flesh.
    â€œPlease sit down, if you will, ma’am. We’ve much to discuss of your father’s will. We shall try to handle this all amicably since I guarantee you it was none of my own doing.”
    She was still standing in front of the settee. She seemed unable to move. Suddenly his hands were upon her shoulders, pressing her down to the settee. Then his voice came so close to her ear that the whisper of his breath touched her flesh. “It was not of my doing, but I gave Sir Thomas my word that I would carry out his wishes. And I intend to carry them out, my dear, I feel obliged to tell you. And I will do so, Miss Ahearn. I promise, I will do so.”

Chapter Two
    H e was sitting beside her, easily, relaxed, staring at her pointedly, rudely, with no apology. She might still be trembling inwardly, but Marissa would be damned if she would let him intimidate her again. She lifted her chin slightly to speak. She remembered the mannerisms of every one of Mary’s rich and imperious friends,