Second Best Wife Read Online Free PDF

her ear, 'it isn't quite as you thought, is it? How do you like being on the receiving end for a change?'
    It was a kiss such as she had never experienced before. His mouth commanded hers, parting her lips, and ignoring her spluttered protest. And then she didn't want to protest any more, nor did she want to escape from the pressure of his hands, or from the earthy, male smell of him at close quarters. It was as if she had no will of her own, but that her whole being had merged with his to give them both the greater satisfaction.
    When he let her go, the reality of her position came rushing back to her and the tears came brimming into her eyes and down her cheeks. She wiped them away impatiently, hating herself for the feeling of acute loss that afflicted her.
    'I told you it wouldn't be I who cried,' William's mocking voice reminded her.
    'But you didn't say you wouldn't be able to resist saying I told you so!' she flared up at him. 'Nobody has ever kissed me against my will before, if you want to know. Are you surprised I'm upset?'
    A crease appeared between his eyes, which were more green than gold at that moment. 'Peter can't be much of a man if he lets you make all the running. A woman has to be wooed, not left to take the initiative herself. Is he afraid of you too, Georgie Porgie?'
    'Peter isn't afraid of anyone!'
    He was silent for a long moment and Georgina eyed him covertly, wondering what he was thinking.
    'In the same way that you're not afraid of me?' he questioned her at last. 'You can't make up your mind, can you? You're more attracted by my handling of you than you'll admit, Georgie. I don't believe anyone has assailed your heart and come close to bringing your defences tumbling down, my innocent. Tell me more about this Peter of yours.'
    'There's nothing to tell.' Georgina gave him a mutinous look, recovering herself sufficiently to whip up her anger to boiling point again. 'I love him and I mean to marry him. That's all you need to know.' She hoped she didn't sound as guilty as she felt, for she could well imagine the unfortunate Peter's consternation if he could hear her. She thought it unlikely that he wanted their easy-going relationship to turn into anything more than the unemotional friendship it had been so far. He wouldn't like her using him as a defence against William, but, once she had explained things to him, she thought he would back her up until the danger was over. Peter was the most reliable person she knew and one of the best friends she had. It was true that sometimes she suspected he had got to know her in order to get closer to Jennifer, but she had never held this against him. He had seen through Jennifer with the greatest of ease and had pronounced her both shallow and wilful. Georgina hadn't wholly agreed with him, but she had been grateful that for once she had been found to be the greater attraction for one of the more personable young men of their mutual acquaintance.
    'You must introduce him to me,' William suggested. 'I don't suppose you want to break it to him yourself that you aren't going to marry him after all?'
    'But I am!' she protested.
    'Oh no, my dear, you're not. It wouldn't be him for long, would it? You'd soon be casting an envious eye over Duncan, and we'd all be back where we started, making the best of things after you've broken them into little pieces. No, Jennifer won't be safe from you until I have you firmly shackled to my side. I may not be able to give her anything else, but at least I mean to give her that!'
    Georgina felt obliged to argue the point with him just one more time. 'What did I do to spoil things between you two?' she demanded. 'It wasn't I who forced Jennifer into Duncan's arms!'
    'No, it was my arms you pushed her into, not Duncan's, but it all comes to the same thing. You've pushed Jennifer around for far too long. I'm going to give her her freedom. What she does with it is her own affair. I shall be occupied with controlling my own wife.' He