Pleasurably Undone! Read Online Free PDF Page B

hugging her to him, trying not to lean too obviously upon her. Damn, but he was weak as a kitten. Standing had been a mistake. His leg was aching, and he must get the weight off it, or he would be too stiff to rise in the morning.
    From his shoulder came a soft sob.
    He lifted his head to find her face wet with tears. He reached to stroke her hair, wondering how he had ever thought her cold. “What is it, love? Tell me.”
    “I am a terrible wife,” she whispered back.
    He almost laughed. “Right now, you are no wife at all.” Although perhaps she ought to be. At the rate they were going, there would be a babe soon. Surely a wife was easier to keep than a mistress.
    And then the weight of her words hit him, and with it, the old guilt. He held her close, not wanting to let a ghost come between them. “He is gone. You are free.”
    “But I should not behave in this way. And with a man I barely know. With you, of all people.”
    So that was it. She’d given herself to a lesser man. He focused on the ache in his leg, for it was easier to deal with the physical hurt than the pain her words had caused. He straightened, taking back his own weight, pulling her gown up to shield her body, and offering her his arm.
    “How you behaved this evening was little fault of yourown. It is I who should be ashamed. I owe you reparation for my base behavior. You honor me by accepting my protection.” He swallowed his nerves, for he knew what he truly owed to a lady, even if his words were met with scorn. “And you would honor me still further, if you would agree to wed me.”

Chapter 4
    V ictoria gave a small, surprised laugh to cover her confusion, putting a hand to her throat to keep her gown from slipping again. “Marriage?”
    “I dishonored you by my actions. As a gentleman, I wish to make it right again,” he said, as though it were the most reasonable thing in the world to marry a woman that he had met in a brothel.
    “But between us?” She had convinced herself that she should come home with him to gain time to search his possessions and question his servants. But he had so little. Suppose there was nothing to find?
    What if Tom Godfrey was innocent? A part of her dearly wanted that to be true. If he was not, how was she to reconcile her feelings when he touched her with the suspicions she had held for so long? She stalled. “How shall I explain the suddenness of it to my friends?” And how would she explain to Lord Stanton? He thought her mad already. What would he think of this turn of events?
    Tom smiled. “It will hardly be seen as a nine day’s wonder if you marry a soldier. I am a cripple and of inferior rank toyour late husband. But we share a common past, we have mutual friends, and I am sympathetic to your plight. Tell anyone who cares that we met in London. Our previous acquaintance led me to offer for you out of concern for your safety and a desire to know that you are well provided for.”
    “But marriage?” It did make sense, as he described it. But suppose she had been right, and her second husband was hanged for the murder of her first?
    “For my part, my friends will congratulate me on my extreme good fortune in catching you. You are a very attractive woman, Victoria. And…” He seemed about to say something, and then muttered, “We do share a certain physical compatibility.”
    He grinned at her. And the grin widened as he saw her blush. Then he grew serious again. “I understand that you do not love me, and that what I suggest will seem as sudden to some as it does to you. But I would do everything in my power to bring you pleasure by night, and to make you happy by day. Please allow me to help you.”
    Her intended victim was all but begging that she come close enough to betray him. But if she had been wrong, how could she ever explain to him? Or was there some way that she could avoid the truth? At last she said, “It is all too much for my poor mind to grasp. May I decide tomorrow? I am