Sea of Desire Read Online Free PDF

knuckles
brushed his shirt and she could feel the hard muscles through the
fine cotton, smell the sticky sweetness of his blood. She tried to
ignore his nearness as she hurriedly rifled the pocket he indicated
with a thrust of his jaw.
    “It’s empty,” she said, leaning back on her
heels and giving him a look that clearly meant she should have
expected nothing else.
    “It can’t be.” Jared twisted around as best
as he could, his shoulder knocking into her arm. She skittered back
as if his touch were poisonous. Tucking his chin, Jared tried to
see. “Check again.”
    “I will not. There’s nothing there, I tell
you, and you know it.” Merideth tried to stand but something caught
her, and when she glanced down she saw her lavender overskirt
trapped beneath the stranger’s knee. “Let me up.”
    “Why should I?” Jared hadn’t purposely snared
her gown, but now that he had he shifted his weight to hold her
captive. His expression was hard. “Look again.”
    Grabbing the flap of his waistcoat, Merideth
rummaged her hand in the pocket. Nothing. “As I said before, it’s
empty. Now, if you don’t let me up,” Merideth began, her words
grinding out between clenched teeth, “I shall scream.”
    Jared paid no heed to her threat. “Someone
must have stolen it,” he mumbled more to himself than her. “I had
it when I entered the library. Whoever killed your father must have
taken the money too.” His eyes met hers. “Don’t you see?”
    “Don’t be absurd. I don’t believe in fairies
or pixies of old legends. There was no one here but the servants
and me...” Merideth stopped. What was she doing even discussing
this with him? Of course, he had already implied that she might be the killer. He was grasping at anything. With a determined
yank she freed her gown, falling back on the floor in the process.
She scrambled to her feet.
    “No, wait—” But Jared could say no more as
the constable slammed open the library door.
    “Ain’t waitin’ no longer to take the prisoner
into the village. Looks like there’s a break in the storm.” He
motioned for his deputies to haul Jared up, and they did with
obvious delight for the pain they inflicted.
    Merideth straightened her gown and kept her
eyes averted. She didn’t want to notice what they were doing to the
stranger... and she didn’t want to see the way she knew he was
looking at her.
    “What you want me to do about... him?” Amos
Samuals twisted his grizzly head toward the covered body on the
floor.
    “If you would get word to the vicar, I would
appreciate it.”
    Samuals nodded his agreement, then led the
way out of the room. Merideth glanced up in time to see the
deputies yank Jared Blackstone through the door. His head was
bleeding, and crimson dripped onto his waistcoat. Merideth wished
she’d thought to suggest they bandage him before he rode the three
miles to the village. But then her gaze swung around to her
father’s body and her heart hardened. What did she care what
happened to the man who had murdered her father?
    By the time the door clicked shut she was
down on her knees beside the linen shroud, tears streaming down her
face, her breathing punctuated by heartrending sobs.

    Merideth stared down at the array of papers
spread across the mahogany desk. She had spent the sennight since
her father’s funeral trying to make sense of them... trying to
figure out a way to save Banistar Hall. Not just for herself. One
conclusion she came to during the long night she grieved beside her
father’s body was that she cared little about the ancestral home.
It was her father who had prized it, though he’d spent little of
his time here until age and finances forced him to curtail his
travels.
    Yet she couldn’t help wondering where she
would go... what she would do... without Banistar Hall.
    Sighing, Merideth let a parchment note fall
from her fingers. Perhaps she could find a solution to her dilemma
if her concentration would stay focused. But