Lessons of Desire Read Online Free PDF Page B

suggesting that I would accept this money to edit the memoirs to your liking?"
    "It is our hope that you will."
    She advanced on him until she was close enough to see the thoughts reflected in his eyes. "Good heavens, you think that I knew Mr. Langton was doing this, don't you? You believe I was an accomplice to it."
    He did not respond. He just looked back, visibly skeptical of her astonishment.
    Furious about his assumptions, affronted by the insult, she turned away "Lord Elliot, my father's memoirs are going to be published as soon as I return to England. Every sentence of them. It was his last wish, commanded of me while he was on his deathbed. I would never pick and choose which of his words the world should read. I am sincerely grateful for your aid with Mr. Sansoni, but it would be best if we ended this conversation. If I had a servant I would have you shown out. As it is, you will have to find your own way."
    To make her dismissal of him complete, she strode to her bedchamber and closed the door.
    She had not collected herself before the door to her chamber reopened. Lord Elliot calmly followed her in and closed it behind him.
    "My visit is not over, and our business is not completed. Miss Blair."
    "How dare—this is my bedchamber   sir."
    He crossed his arms and assumed that irritating, masculine pose of command. "Normally that might check me, but you are above stupid social rules like the one that says I should not intrude here. Remember?"
    She did not consider that particular social rule so stupid. It existed for a very good reason. A primitive one. This was her most private space, her sanctuary. The air began altering while he glanced at the wardrobe where her garments were stored and the dressing table that held her private items. His gaze swept over the bed slowly, then returned to her.
    His thoughts were not as masked as he thought. She noted the subtle changes in his expression, the way the hardness that he wore rearranged itself ever so slightly. A man could not be near a bed with a woman and not start wondering. It was just a curse of nature that they bore.
    It irritated her that she wondered too. The manner in which he had just insulted her should provide the best armor against the intimacy threading through this chamber. The brief silence grew heavy and full of a magnetic excitement that stirred her.
    An image blinked in her mind, of Lord Elliot looking down at her, his face mere inches from hers, his dark hair mussed by reasons besides fashion and his thoughts completely unmasked. She saw his naked shoulders and felt the pressure of his body and the firm hold of his embrace on her skin. She felt ...
    She forced the image from her head, but acknowledgment flashed in his eyes. He knew her mind had wandered there, just as she knew his had.
    He unfolded his arms. She thought he might reach for her. She wondered if he would insult her further now. There were men who misunderstood her and proposed things in ignorance, but Lord Elliot was not stupid. It would be deliberately and cruelly offensive if he attempted to act on the sensual awareness whispering between them.
    He turned his attention from her, diluting the intimacy but not completely vanquishing it. Her pride was spared even if her primitive self simmered with discontent.
    "Is the manuscript here"?" he asked. "Did you bring it with you?"
    "Of course not. Why would I do that?"
    He eyed the wardrobe. "Do you swear? If not I will have to search for it."
    "I swear, and don't you dare search. You have no right to be here at all."
    "Actually, I do, but we will discuss that later."
    What was that supposed to mean? "I left it in London, in a very secure place. It contains my father's memories, his last words. I would never be careless with it."
    "Have you read it?"
    "Of course."
    "Then you know what he wrote about my family. I want you to tell me about that now. His exact words, as well as you can remember"
    He was not requesting to know, but demanding. His