Relentless Lord Read Online Free PDF Page B

she turned to see Lord Whitely unbuttoning the front of his waistcoat.
    “What are you doing?” she exclaimed.
    His grin was boyish and naughty. “I am going for a swim.”
    He tossed the waistcoat aside and bent over to pull off his boots.
    A flash of panic seared through Hannah. This was certainly not appropriate.
    “No, you are not. Someone from the party may come back this way and see you.”
    He shrugged and continued to strip off his stockings and then went for his neck clothe. Stopping finally as he stood in nothing but his buckskin breeches and thin white shirt, he turned and gave her grin.
    “Won’t you join me? I cannot imagine it is so deep you won’t be able to touch the bottom.” He wriggled his brows suggestively. “Though if it is, I won’t mind if you wish to cling to me for safety.”
    “You are not really going in,” she insisted. Of course he wouldn’t.
    He just lifted his brows and stepped up to the edge. Before she could say a word to stop him, he made one long leap.
    Hannah gasped as the cold water splashed back at her.
    He resurfaced with a shake of his head and a wily grin.
    “Come on then. The sun is hot and the water is cool. It feels amazing. You know you want to,” he challenged.
    “Not a chance,” she said, holding back a smile. The man had no boundaries to his behavior. “My uncle would throttle me. He may still if someone catches me talking to you like this. I am sure this is breaking at least a dozen rules.”
    “No one is going to come this way,” he assured calmly. “You are entirely safe from censure, I promise.”
    Something in his confident tone struck a note of caution in her mind. “How can you be so sure?” Before he could speak, she answered her own question. “We are not following the party, are we?”
    His expression was unrepentant and just a little self-satisfied. “No.”
    “You are a scoundrel,” she accused.
    “Listen,” he said as he swam forward to the edge of the pool, basically to her feet. “No one will ever know we came up this way together. Not unless you tell them. So why don’t you simply enjoy the unexpected respite and take advantage of this slice of paradise?”
    Hannah did not answer right away. The man had a valid point. And the water did look heavenly. She used to swim a lot before coming to England, before she was advised such frolicking was reserved for children.
    But, no. She could not risk it.
    She glanced away from him.
    “Fine,” he said, a stubborn tone coloring his voice. “I will just stay submerged until you change your mind.”
    Hannah glanced back at him just in time to see him pushing off from the rocks to fall back under the surface with a rolling splash. She shook her head at his antics. Did he really think to convince her with that?
    She crossed her arms over her chest as the rippling water stilled over him. It was clear enough to see his wavering form sitting on the bottom of the pool.
    How long had he been down there? Twenty seconds maybe?
    Another ten went by, then twenty more on top of that.
    Hannah untied her bonnet and set it on a rock beside his coat. How long could a man hold his breath? She kicked off her shoes. Thirty seconds to a minute on average, perhaps? She had once seen a pearl diver off the coast of Persia hold his breath for four minutes easily. But that had been accomplished after years of training.
    Lord Whitely was a pampered Englishman.
    And he had already been underwater for nearly two minutes.
    “Drat,” she muttered as she reached for the back of her gown and pulled the buttons free with a rough yank and tug, sending several bouncing down onto the rocks. “I am going to have to save him.”

Chapter Five
    Hannah gasped as the water closed around her. It was a great deal colder than she’d expected. Holding back her panic, she kicked off the rock wall and dove toward his wavering image.
    The water was not very deep and she reached him in seconds.
    As soon as she grasped the front of his