Jess Michaels Read Online Free PDF Page A

least, severely terrified.”
    Cassandra laughed at the gentle teasing in her friend’s voice. No matter how he tried to lighten her mood, though, the facts remained the same. “I don’t think murder is the answer, tempting as it may be. And he is not a man to be so easily terrified,” she said, as she drew her hands away and paced to her window. Down below was a pretty garden she loved to tend herself when she wasn’t overpowered by work. Even the budding evidence of eminent flowers on her rosebushes couldn’t make her feel better.
    The garden, after all, was paid for by her gowns and toys, as were her servants, her food, her bills, and the money she sent home to her family. Her living was made by her own hand, and she had little to fall back on unless she returned to the life of a mistress. She hadn’t hated that role. In fact, she had found great pleasure in her protectors.
    But living by another’s whim terrified her. Even her past lovers, who had been kind and good to her, were not immune to eventual boredom with what she had to offer. Once that happened, a mistress was at the mercy of the next gentleman who showed interest. And if she were shunned by good Society, that would make finding a quality protector all the more difficult.
    No, she preferred her independent life. She preferred to take a lover because she wanted him, not because she needed what he could provide financially. The passion and pleasure were so much more real then.
    “Who, Cassandra?” Stephan pressed. “Who would threaten you? You have been very careful about who knows your business. The few who do are rich men in no need of taking your money. And you have so many satisfied customers that I doubt any of them would threaten their own pleasure by exposing your identity.”
    “He is not a customer.” She scowled. “And his price is vengeance; it has nothing to do with money. It is a man who believes I wronged him in a personal matter. A matter of the heart.”
    Stephan’s eyes widened. “Ah, well, that kind of blackmail tends to be the most insidious because there is rarely satisfaction on either side in the end. What can I do?”
    Cassandra looked at him, truly seeing him again for the first time since they began their conversation. As he had said, he did not have the influence of some of her other lovers, butshe was no longer close enough to any of those men to ask for their help. Even if she did, what could they do? There was no escaping Nathan’s demand, no bartering for something other than what he wanted.
    He wouldn’t be satisfied until she was in his bed—controlled by him, surrendered to him sexually, physically and emotionally. She shivered and, to her dismay, it wasn’t a shiver of distaste. Damn him and damn herself.
    “There is nothing that can be done,” she said softly, “except what I can do myself. But I do appreciate your hearing my plight and offering your assistance. Just your ear was enough.”
    She patted him on the cheek and he caught her hand, holding it gently against the rough stubble that was beginning to form there in the late hours of the afternoon. “I could at least help you ease the tension.”
    Cassandra smiled, even though there was an earnestness to his expression that made her heart ache. She had often suspected that Stephan might want her again, but now it was clear. And despite the fact that he was too damned attractive for his own good, she didn’t want him. Their friendship meant too much to threaten.
    And there was another man who filled her mind with wanton desires. It wouldn’t be fair.
    “No, Stephan. Though I am tempted by your offer, I don’t think so.” She gently extracted her hand from his cheek.
    With a shrug, he said, “Well, if you won’t allow me to reduce the strain, I hope you’ll find some other way. If you feelyou must face this unnamed man alone, you will want to do it with as much calm as possible. And right now you are wound so tightly that I could strum you like