Her Notorious Viscount Read Online Free PDF Page B

I—”
    Stoneworth reached out and caught her hands. He cupped them between his larger ones, cocooning them in warmth even as he squeezed.
    “Jane Fenton, I am not a hero, do you understand?” His voice was low and harsh. “I cannot help you. I will not help you. Now go.”
    He released her and stepped away.
    Jane stared at him in utter shock. She had been picturing for the entire evening what she would do when she encountered this man. She had run over all the scenarios in her head again and again.
    But now that she was staring at him, dismissed like a common lightskirt he picked up off the street and determined he did not want, she realized she had never truly believed he would refuse her. She had thought that as a gentleman, he would be compelled to at least hear her out.
    Tears stung behind her eyes, ones that she had forced away time and again over the past year. She blinked furiously, refusing to shed them before this…this… person .
    “You are not only uncouth, sir, but you are cruel,” she whispered. “I asked you for help and you dismiss me like I am a bug on your boot. You have no manners, no charm, no niceties in you at all. No wonder the ton despises you.”
    She turned on her heel and headed for the house. But as she grasped the door handle with a shaking hand, Stoneworth’s deep voice came from behind her.
    “Wait.”



Chapter 3
    N icholas stared as Miss Jane Fenton pierced him with a look so cold and dismissive, he might have mistaken her for an icy queen if it weren’t for her ugly gown and sensible hairstyle.
    Despite those things, he could not ignore what a beautiful young woman she was, especially in the intimacy of moonlight. He could well imagine she had been an incomparable when her family provided her with expensive gowns and she had nothing to do all day but take care of her hair and skin in the hope she would catch a titled man.
    As he was now.
    Only she wasn’t his type. Normally Nicholas was attracted to women with a far different kind of beauty. Something more blatant, a coy turn of the head that said he would find pleasure in his paramour’s bed if he asked. Jane didn’t possess that kind of appeal. Her beauty was more wholesome. Pure.
    Entirely out of his reach, even if he had wanted it.
    Still, she could be of some use to him. Despite her lowered position as a lady’s companion, Jane was cultured. That was evident in her posture, her voice, even the way she moved her slender hands when she spoke. And she had handled him well when he knew that his forward approach shocked and even frightened her.
    “I would like to make a bargain with you,” he said.
    Jane’s eyes widened, and then understanding dawned. Followed swiftly by appalled anger. She folded her arms across her chest for the second time that night. Nicholas doubted she realized how the action lifted her breasts ever so slightly and drew his attention to the luscious swell.
    “How dare you, sir! I am not that kind of woman. I may be fallen, but I have never in my life considered taking money or help in exchange for—”
    Nicholas held up a hand to stop the stream of words.
    “Not that kind of offer, sweet,” he interrupted with a grin, although her misunderstanding of his intentions conjured a swift, unbidden thought of this woman spread across his bed, her dark hair with its ruddy highlights down around her and her back arched in offering of those perfect breasts she kept trying to hide. “I don’t pay for that, not with blunt or assistance. No, I want something else from you.”
    Her eyes narrowed, and Nicholas found himself looking at her face closely. Even in the dim light, he could see her eyes were very dark, like pure chocolate. And they reflected the depth of her emotions. No pretense here, no pretended offense. Jane Fenton truly did not trust him.
    Clever girl.
    “What do you want?” she asked, cautious as if she feared he would pounce on her as an answer.
    He briefly considered doing just that, but