His Wicked Seduction Read Online Free PDF

he was conspicuously absent. There was a chance a passing footman or maid had closed the grates around the fireplace and he hadn’t been able to get back down.
    Unwilling to let him stay in the cold chimney all night, Horatia abandoned her room and went in search of the cat. She tried to think of all of the other places he could be, and not the one place she wished she could be at that moment. In Lucien’s arms.
    It had been months since he’d last spent the night, and her brother was delighted to have him and Charles there. If not for the League, Cedric would have been exceedingly lonely. She knew he loved her and Audrey, but he’d always longed for brothers. It was hard to miss the way he brightened whenever his friends came over for dinner, or how he looked forward to afternoons at his gentlemen’s club, Berkley’s. Perhaps it was because he could relax around them, and not have to play guardian.
    After their parents died, Cedric had taken on a great amount of responsibility, not only to care for and raise her and Audrey, but matters of business and peerage as well. It was good he had such friends to ease his burdens and the pressures of family.
    She slipped down the stairs to the ground floor and passed by the drawing room, where cigar smoke scented the air and muted laughter echoed against the partially open door.
    At least someone was having a good evening. Irritation rippled beneath Horatia’s skin. Lucien seemed to enjoy torturing her. Between his heated looks and cool smiles he was driving her mad. It was frustrating to not know how to act around him, whether to be warm or to keep her distance.
    One of the men said something and Lucien’s rich laugh teased her ears. Her insides shook with longing. She wanted to make him laugh like that, to be the center of his focus.
    A small dark shadow flitted across the hall and dashed through the library door.
    “Muff!” Horatia hissed, hoping to both summon and chastise the rebellious feline. Given the nature of cats however, she knew it was a fool’s errand.
    Horatia entered the library, lit a candle and started searching under couches and behind chairs. She almost missed the soft click as someone came in behind her and shut the door. The flame of the candle in her hand sputtered as she turned.
    Lucien stood not five feet from her, watching her with hooded eyes. The aroma of brandy quickly reached her. The candlelight threw flickering shadows across his handsome face, highlighting a small scar near his brow.
    In a few slow strides he towered over her. Horatia was suddenly very aware of his masculinity—the breadth of his shoulders, his height, and that the top of her head barely reached his shoulders. She knew herself to be tall, but next to Lucien she felt small, delicate and vulnerable. It was strange, but she liked feeling so helpless around him. Filled with longing, she barely stopped herself from reaching for him. He was too handsome, too virile. Whenever he was near he reduced her to a wild, wanton creature that would do anything for the chance to know pleasure in his arms.
    “Horatia.” Her name rolled off his lips like a fine dessert, sweet and decadent. “You ought to be in bed.”
    The wicked way he said “bed” made her lightheaded.
    “I couldn’t sleep.”
    He leaned forward, his body close to hers as he blew out the candle in her hand. The sudden darkness around them made her catch her breath. A beam of moonlight broke through, lighting their faces. The smoke curled and danced up between them. Lucien’s smile offered her a world of knowledge about pleasure.
    “There’s a lovely little remedy for sleep that I always employ. Do you want to know what it is?” His low voice set her skin on fire.
    I shouldn’t answer. I know what he’s going to say. “What is it?” Blast!
    The faint moonlight from the tall library windows lit his face as he leaned even closer to her.
    He grinned down at her like a Cheshire cat. “I find the nearest beautiful