Lady Doctor Wyre Read Online Free PDF Page B

her voice. “Oh, I presume you saw Sheriff Masters as he left.”
    Sig deliberately let his gaze roam down her body, noting the filmy lace robe and her obvious nakedness beneath. “Was he as good as me?”
    As soon as the words came out of his mouth, he knew he’d made a grave error. One did not push Lady Wyre and think to sway her affection or decision. A push would simply cause her to push back harder or charge in an entirely different direction than which he’d intended.
    With a lazy smile to match his, she leaned back in her chair, all her tension and haughtiness traded for indolence. “Actually, he was very good, and I did not have to tie him up first to have my way with him.”
     
    Sipping her tea, Charlotte fought to contain the emotions tearing her apart.
    Lord Regret might be famed throughout the universe as the deadliest, most successful assassin, but he had a dread secret, one she was positive he’d allowed no one other than herself to know…and live. Why he was so averse to anyone knowing was beyond her. In today’s Society, men were expected to have a few foibles. Ladies found those quirks charming. Back in her heyday as the ruling queen of the ton , Lady Wyre could have used such a secret to make Sigmund the most-wanted bachelor in Londonium. He would have had ladies swarming him at every fete and ball, begging to be allowed the chance to see if she could “break” him.
    His pulse throbbed so hard she could see the fluttering beneath the skin at his temples. Paling, he slipped the knife back into his sleeve. “I did not know my proclivities were so heavy a burden, Your Grace. I shan’t trouble you again.”
    She reached across the table and snagged his hand before he could withdraw completely, squeezing firmly until he met her gaze. “I apologize, Sig. My response was most uncalled for. Please do disregard my unforgivable comment with the excuse that I’m extremely worried and stretched to breaking.”
    Softly, he asked, “Stretched between me and him?”
    Sighing, she relaxed her grip enough to thread her fingers through his. Such long, graceful fingers should belong to an artist, not a killer. “He asked me to marry him tonight.”
    “You should.”
    She jerked her gaze back to his face, searching for any sign of duplicity. She’d have fallen out of her chair laughing if Sig had asked her to marry him, but hearing him tell her to marry another man had nearly the same startling effect.
    Smiling with that trademark arrogant ease, he lifted his shoulder in a careless shrug. “A sheriff is a respected man with more power on this colony than many of the lords back home.”
    “And when Queen Majel decides she’s had enough of this colony’s pitiful little revolution, she’ll simply blow us all from the galaxy and complain about the debris inhibiting her view of the heavens.”
    “She won’t destroy Americus.”
    “Whyever not? The rebellion has sparked discontent from Kali Kata to Zijin, forcing her to simply assimilate entire planets first instead of attempting to colonize as Britannia did in the past. Eventually she’ll have to make an example of Americus. One colony blown to bits will silence the others.”
    “Queen Majel will infect an entire planet with the latest engineered virus and feel only impatience that it takes so terribly long for enough of them to die before they surrender their planet. She cares even less about Americus.”
    All true, Charlotte knew. So why was he so assured that Americus would be spared? She tapped her finger against the cup while her mind raced through alternatives. Americus had no crucial resources that Britannia wanted, and if they did, it would only quicken the colony’s demise. The rebels weren’t organized or well-armed; in fact, many of them had ridden horses against the downed Imperial cruiser, waving antique shotguns and pitchforks against armor-plated soldiers with lazors.
    They’d still won.
    Why?
    She slumped in her chair and thumped the