His Bewitching Jewel (A Regency Holiday Romance Book 7) Read Online Free PDF

man. It was like velvet. It caressed her softly. It enchanted her, and set her heart to pounding wildly in her chest.
    “You silly goose. You are going to have to get used to him soon. He is all we have now, Cordelia, without him, we would be orphans. And, he really isn’t all that bad,” Lady Miranda whispered. “You must admit, he does tell grand bedtime stories.”
    As she continued to steel herself under his penetrating gaze, Ruby fervently wished that she had an older sister to hide behind. Feeling suddenly warm, she dropped her portmanteau, and reached for the hood on her cloak.
    *****
     
    The governess pulled the hood down to reveal her face. This was no spinster. This was a young lady of incomparable beauty.
    Finn’s heart stopped, as their gazes collided. She was quite simply the prettiest thing he had ever laid eyes upon. Her eyes were bright and wide like the darkest most sensual emeralds. Her lips were ruby red, and invited a good kissing. Her hair was almost black, and looked as if it would cascade over her shoulders in soft ringlets, if he loosed it from where it sat, piled atop her head. Her skin contrasted sharply with the scarlet hue of her lips, and looked like a white rose against a red one.
    If he never laid eyes upon another woman in his life, he would die a happy man, for she had stolen his heart with just one look, and she seemed completely unaffected by it. He was now her servant for life. He would do her bidding. Anything she wanted, he would give her. She was guileless, and that quality intrigued him even more. He had never met a woman with such an honest quality to her.
    Finn could not quite believe what he saw. Was she an apparition, or was she real? She looked like a vision from a dream, and he had the uncanny feeling he had seen her once before. Whether he had dreamed of this woman standing before him, or whether he had seen her once, a long time ago, he did not know. All he knew was that she bewitched him. He was enamored with her after just one sight of her, and he knew that if he could not look upon her for the rest of his days, he would be a heartbroken man. The only thing that baffled him was this, why had she represented herself as an old maid?
    She was nothing of the kind. She was a maiden. He knew one thing with the utmost certainty, this maiden had just caught him. She still had a youthful blush to her cheeks, her face had not one wrinkle, and her hair…her hair was completely devoid of any white or grey strands. She stole his breath with her loveliness. She was an unblemished gemstone, and he had to possess her.
    She was his bewitching jewel, and God help him, but he had fallen madly hopelessly in love. One look was all it took for him. She had captured him—now he had to capture her.
    “Your Grace, this is the new governess,” Mrs. Teague said nervously. “This is Miss Ruby Massey. Miss Massey, this is His Grace, the Duke of Camblesforth.”
    “Your Grace,” she said, bobbing into a curtsy, and looking up at him with her shining green eyes. He felt quite undone. He felt as if everyone else had left them…and they were alone because he only had eyes for her.
    She looked completely shattered. She looked fagged to death. She looked as if she could sleep for a sennight. He resisted the urge to step forward and sweep her up into his arms, and take her up to his bedchamber.
    He nodded his head curtly. No matter how he felt on the inside, he would keep a rein on his emotions. He would not let her, or anyone else, see how terribly affected he was by her presence.
    His words suddenly dried up in his throat. He was a fool. He had no reason to be tongue tied around her, and yet, she had rendered him without the ability to speak. Now, now, he knew how Cordelia felt.
    When her cloak meowed, he contained a chuckle, and kept his face completely devoid of the smile he wanted to give her. He looked down, and suddenly noticed the little black kitten she had clutched against her