Her Notorious Viscount Read Online Free PDF Page A

Something a bit more genuine than the feral snarls and false smirks she had seen him exhibit tonight.
    “It seems I have hit upon a sore spot for you,” he said with an exaggerated bow. “I do apologize.”
    Hating the heat that continued to rise in her cheeks, Jane shrugged. “I am a lady’s companion. I do not dress in a fancy fashion, I am meant to fade into the background.”
    “Ah.” Again his gaze swept over her from head to toe. “I doubt you fade well, Miss Jane Fenton.”
    “That is an entirely inappropriate thing to say to a woman you don’t even know,” Jane snapped, hating how breathless her voice sounded.
    “As inappropriate as coming unescorted to the home of a man you don’t know?”
    He moved on her so swiftly that she didn’t have a chance to back away. Suddenly she was staring at the twisted remnants of the cravat he had apparently wrenched free from his neck after the ball. His body heat surrounded her and overpowered the cooler night air. He was so close that she could have sworn she heard his heart beat, but perhaps it was just her own roaring in her ears.
    His hand came up and he pushed a loose lock of hair away from her face. Rough hands with pronounced knuckles stroked over her skin and sent a shiver through her that was unwanted.
    “I did not come here for this,” she said, but her words wavered.
    “No?” he whispered, his rough voice seductively dark and smoky in the otherwise quiet night. “Are you certain you didn’t come here to test the theories about my prowess? Or perhaps to make your cruel parents sorry that they allowed you to fall into ruin? Or maybe in the hopes that I would make you my mistress and give you enough of a monthly stipend that you could quit the dreary life of a companion in trade for one where you didn’t even have to get out of bed?”
    Jane stepped away from him, although it took far more effort than she would ever admit, even under torture. She folded her arms as a protective shield over her suddenly tingling breasts.
    “No,” she snapped. “None of those things. I have no interest in theories about your ‘prowess,’ my parents were far from cruel, and I don’t mind being a companion.” She hesitated. For some strange reason, she felt compelled to explain herself further. “My father was a viscount, so I have lived the life of a lady. And although it is not the future I once imagined for myself, serving a lady is not as bad as I once thought it would be.”
    Stoneworth seemed surprised at her retort, but not angered. He was still smiling at her, that feral expression that said he could own her if he chose.
    “Then why are you here, little one?” he asked. “Tell me before I lose interest.”
    Jane clenched her fists. She would have only one chance at this, her plea could be nothing less than perfect.
    “I may not know much about your ‘prowess,’ as you put it—” she began.
    He interrupted her with a deep, throaty chuckle before he reached into his breast pocket and withdrew a cigar. She watched in fascination as he bit off the end and pressed it between surprisingly full lips.
    “Would you like one?” he asked without looking at her.
    She wrinkled her nose. “Of course not.” She hastened to continue with her story before he distracted her once more. “But there are many tales circulating about you. Some say that while you were away from polite Society, you existed in the underground.”
    He froze, totally still for a long breath. Finally he said, “I see. Well, let me disabuse you of any incorrect rumors.”
    Jane’s heart sank. So he had no connection, which meant she was here enduring his mocking for no reason whatsoever.
    “I never owned a brothel…or is it a gambling hall that I am supposed to be proprietor of?”
    He pressed his lips as if considering the rumor, and Jane’s nostrils flared. His ridicule was almost too much.
    He held up a hand as if he’d given up trying to remember. “Either way, I know enough about