Her Wanton Wager Read Online Free PDF Page A

backstabbing bugger like he was some sort of hero. By God, the reckless chit needed a lesson.
    She jumped to her feet, backing away from him. She held her hands out as if she could ward him off. His blood fired. Nothing roused him more than a chase.
    "Now, there's no need to get hasty," she said, her eyes wide. She'd forgotten to disguise her voice, her tones rising to a level of a squeak. "We can always negotiate further."
    Three more steps, and he'd have her against the wall. "I'm done negotiating," he said.
    "But—oof."
    Her hat toppled off. Before it hit the carpet, he had his hands planted on the scarlet damask on either side of her head. Trapped, she stared up at him, long lashes rapidly aflutter.
    "Done with your games, too," he added, reaching for the mustache.
    He peeled it off in one swift motion.
    "Ouch," she yelped.
    "That's better," he said.
    Better than he'd even expected. With that nasty strip of hair removed, her features blossomed before him. Softly rounded cheeks tapered to a piquant little chin. Lips, rosy and full, parted on a breath, and he noted the bottom one had an inviting divot at its center. Unable to help himself, he traced his thumb over the reddened area where the mustache had been. Soft as down.
    "Wh-what are you doing?" she stammered.
    "Seeing who I'm dealing with. Now let's have a look at what's under here."
    He plucked off the wig … and the discovery slammed into him like a blow to the gut.
    Sunshine tumbled down. Wavy locks ranging from pale to deep gold spilled into his hand, falling in tangled streamers to her waist. With her dark lashes and brows, he'd expected a brunette ... not this. His fingers closed reflexively around a shining tress; it slipped like satin against the roughness of his palm. God's teeth, he'd always had a liking for blondes and more so for the rare natural ones. And Miss Persephone Fines appeared to be completely natural.
    "So you knew all along?"
    Her breathless voice drew him back. Distracted him from the cockstand burgeoning in his trousers. With deliberate insolence, he tucked the strand of hair behind her ear, his knuckles grazing the tender shell. Satisfaction flooded him when she trembled in response to his touch.
    "There's little I don't know, you naughty minx," he said. "The sooner you understand that, the better things will go for you."
    Her eyes rounded, and she grew even pinker. Aye, seducing the impetuous little goddess would be a simple matter. Almost too easy. He didn't know which would be the sweeter, having her or his revenge. In this instance, however, he wouldn't have to choose.
    By the time he was done with Percy Fines, he'd have his cake and eat it too.
     

THREE
    Separated from her party, Miss Priscilla Farnham came upon a fork in the road. The path on the right was clear and unhindered and likely the way back to the picnic. The other path was dark and cast with shadows, winding deeper into the mysterious forest.
    "Oh dear," the intrepid miss said. "I wonder which way I should go?"
    — from The Perils of Priscilla , a shelved manuscript by P. R. Fines
     
    Percy was having trouble breathing and not just due to the strip of linen binding her bosoms beneath the waistcoat. Sweat trickled beneath her cravat as she stared up at the villain who controlled her brother's fate and who now held her captive. His brawny arms emanated a barely restrained power as he caged her; her heart beat a rapid staccato as his heavy-lidded eyes perused her, the crimson scar pulled taut along the right side of his face.
    After her meeting with Paul the other day, she'd concluded that the best plan of action was to confront Gavin Hunt. Clearly, her brother was in no shape to do so, and with no one else around, it fell to her to step in. To defend her brother's future and her family's legacy as any self-respecting heroine would. Yet as she looked up at the beast breathing upon her, she acknowledged with a tiny frisson of unease that attempting this feat on her own had