Rogue for a Night Read Online Free PDF

of it again.
    But she didn’t. All she did was stand still as stone and drown in the roaring echo of her heartbeat as it pounded in her ears like an ocean tide.
    He moved a fraction closer and that tide turned even more violent. All she could see now was him. All she could feel was him… and he wasn’t even touching her.
    “But Lucinda, I would never want to be something you regret.” He shook his head. “I am going to go away for a few days. There is a bit of business for me to do in a neighboring shire. When I return, we can pretend this conversation never happened, if that is what you desire. Or…”
    He trailed off and held Lucinda’s gaze evenly. She struggled to find her voice and finally squeaked out, “Or?”
    “Whatever you like, Lucinda,” he whispered and then he caught her hand and drew her even closer. His lips lowered again and he kissed her a second time.
    His mouth was firm against her, his lips cool and surprisingly gentle for a man who had once made his living through violence. He tasted of mint and perhaps a hint of coffee. She parted her lips and hesitated before she touched his mouth with the tip of her tongue. He let out a low, almost pained groan and then his arms tightened around her, drawing her against the hard heat of his chest as he delved into her mouth and tasted her.
    She felt the tension in his body, in his shoulders and his arms. He was trying to control himself, even as he ravished his lips. She couldn’t help but wonder what would happen if that control snapped. Would he take her right here on the soft grass?
    He groaned again, almost as if he could read her wicked thoughts, and then gently set her away from him.
    “I must go,” he murmured. “Or I won’t be able to. Until I return…”
    He turned on his heel, swung back onto the pretty filly and rode off toward the estate in the distance. Lucinda watched him go, her hands shaking. It was only when he had gone almost half a mile across the grass that she realized she wasn’t breathing and took a long, deep gasp of air.
    In just a moment, everything in her world had changed. And she had no idea how to feel about it.

Chapter Four

         “It seems strange that Rage would depart to Littlefield with only a note to inform us of his leaving,” Jane said as she poured tea first for her husband and then for Lucinda. “I had no idea that your business there was so urgent that it required immediate attention.”
         Nicholas lifted both his eyebrows and shrugged as he took a scone and held the tray out for Lucinda.
         “It wasn’t,” he insisted. “But you know Rage. He takes a notion in his head and he cannot be swayed from it. There is nothing keeping him here and he truly hates the entertainments of a country gathering, so he… ran.” There was a moment’s hesitation and then he added, “Am I to assume you do not want any cakes, Lucinda?”
         Lucinda shook her head as she forced her mind, which had been traveling to thoughts of Ronan as Nicholas spoke, back to attention. “I’m sorry?”
         He dangled the tray before her by its handle. “I have been offering you sandwiches and cakes for some time. Do you want any?”
         Lucinda started and took the tray from her brother-in-law. She set it down with a clatter and pushed a finger sandwich onto her plate without even looking to see what flavor it was. The bread slid off to the side and she forced it back into place.
         “I’m sorry. I suppose I was woolgathering. Thank you. The food is delightful.”
         Jane arched a brow. “I will pass on the compliment to our cook, but I won’t share with her that you made it without even tasting your sandwich.”
         Once again, Lucinda blushed, though she knew Jane was only teasing her in the friendliest of manners. Jane and Nicholas knew nothing of the confusion and turmoil in her heart at present. And she certainly couldn’t tell them. How would that conversation go?