Indiscretions Read Online Free PDF Page A

as he held her gaze and traced a circle around one covered nipple was that she too would tire of Lucerne, if they were left in peace.
    I don’t need you , she told him silently, even as she leaned into his caress. Yet, a prickle of uncertainty ran beneath her skin. Vaughan might infuriate her, but he also enchanted her. She would miss him if he were gone, though gaining Lucerne for herself surely countered that. She loved Lucerne, after all, while she reminded herself daily that wasn’t the case for Vaughan.
    Heavens, if Vaughan weren’t around, then maybe Lucerne might actually propose to her, as she knew her brother Joshua so often wrote to him insisting upon. If Vaughan weren’t around, things would be very different.
    Relaxed. Tranquil. Calm.
    Calm was not a state that ever existed in this house with Vaughan dwelling in it.
    Suddenly, she doubted her need for his company. Was her tolerance of his actions keeping him here? If she fought harder to gain Lucerne for herself might Vaughan leave?
    “I’m going to bed,” she said stiffly, stepping back from Vaughan’s touch.
    Her body protested the loss of the caress, her nipples tingling and growing increasingly steepled, while her ribs started to ache, until she realised she’d been holding her breath, anticipating more from him that this idle toying with her.
    “His, I suppose,” Vaughan remarked as she started to turn.
    Bella jerked her head round to face him again. Her lips formed into a tight moue. “I do have a bed of my own.” Though she’d spent no more than three or four nights in it, and it was true that she’d intended to snuggle into Lucerne’s vast tester bed. Why shouldn’t she sleep there? She had no reason to suppose Lucerne wanted her out of his bed, and at least in it she’d be cocooned in Lucerne’s scent while she waited for his return. “I certainly wasn’t planning on spending it in yours.”
    Vaughan eyed her cynically. “You weren’t invited.”
    * * * * *
     
    Bella thought Vaughan would stop her when she turned away from the fire, but he allowed her to depart unmolested. Despite their verbal sparring she still expected him to act in a certain way. He might be mutable, but the pendulum arch of his moods followed predictable patterns. Excitement over him having his wicked way with her ebbed as she mounted the stairs, and transformed into genuine unease by the time she reached the bedroom. She remembered all too well the previous occasion when Vaughan’s mien had turned cold and instead of meeting fire with fire, he’d stayed his distance. She’d almost lost both him and Lucerne, which was not a prospect she cared to face again.
    Damn Vaughan to the fiery pits of hell. She could count on one hand the number of nights they’d spent alone together. Why couldn’t they spend tonight having fun? So what if she’d sport a few bruises by morning. It’d be worth it. It always was.
    And damn Lucerne too, for that matter. Why in heaven’s name had he wandered off, and where had he gone?
    Once undressed, Bella dismissed her maid and climbed between the sheets of Lucerne’s bed. She closed her eyes, only to open them again almost immediately when the door latch lifted. “Lucerne?”
    Bella raised her head a little when he made no reply. As the banked embers of the fire provided little light she could only make out his fuzzy silhouette through the gap between the bed curtains. He appeared to be undressing.
    “Lucerne? Is everything all right?”
    The mattress dipped as he climbed onto the far side of the bed. “Sorry to disappoint. He’s still not home.”
    Vaughan! Her pulse punched rapidly into life. “What are you doing in here?”
    “Ah, Bella! You seem to have forgotten, this is my bed too. I’m waiting for Lucerne, though I seem to have found his whore instead.”
    He knew perfectly well this was where she’d intended to sleep, which meant he’d come here looking for a fight. Clearly, he had not liked that she’d had the