Seger, Maura Read Online Free PDF

would embarrass the Carmodys, she would do as he wished.
    "I suggest we step into the garden. There are some plantings you really should see."
    This last was said for the benefit of the sharp-eared matrons standing nearby. They smiled benignly as he ushered a silently fuming Erin through the tall French doors and into the walled enclosure behind the house.
    Barely had they gotten a few yards along the gravel path than she yanked her arm free and turned to face him. "Your manners leave a great deal wanting, Captain. Perhaps you would be good enough to explain to me why you felt it necessary to intrude on my conversation with Monsieur Chantail?"
    Storm didn't answer at once. He simply stared down at her from his foot or so advantage in height. His expression seemed compounded of equal amounts of amusement and annoyance, with a touch of something that looked remarkably like tenderness. But that couldn't be. She knew better than anyone that he didn't have the slightest reason to feel tenderly toward her, no matter what dreams she might cherish to the contrary.
    "Chantail fancies himself a connoisseur of beautiful women. A certain sense of male camaraderie compelled me to stop him from wandering into your web, where you would undoubtedly have made short work of him."
    Though she suspected she would greatly regret the question, Erin could not stop herself from asking, "What harm do you think I could possibly do him?"
    "A great deal. Unless I gravely misunderstand the situation, you are in dire financial straits. Your privileged existence must be teetering on the edge of penury. Since you were willing to come all this way to try to prevent that disaster, I can only conclude you would not be averse to going a bit further."
    He shrugged derisively. "But you really must select a more worthy target. The judicious use of your charms might well convince Chantail to give you the money you need. But that would do you no good, for his wife controls their finances."
    Erin gasped, hardly believing that he would insult her in such a way. For all practical purposes, he had accused her of being willing to prostitute herself. The accusation was so unjustified as to border on unreality.
    "What do you imagine gives you the right to speak to me in such a vile way? You know nothing about me, yet you presume to judge me contemptibly."
    Anger and hurt flushed her cheeks. Her sapphire eyes gleamed coldly. She knew she should walk away from him right-then, seek the shelter of the house and do her best to stay out of his range of fire for the rest of the evening. But something kept her rooted to the spot.
    Hard on the heels of her outrage came sadness. The gulf between them was even greater than she had thought. They might have been strangers for all the understanding between them.
    Her head drooped slightly as she murmured, "I remember you as an honorable man, Storm. What happened to that sense of rightness that was once the keystone of your life?"
    The moment the words were said, she thought she had gone too far. Beneath his rugged tan, he paled. His quicksilver eyes glowed with a molten light. A jagged pulse began to beat in the corded column of his bronzed throat.
    "You are a strange one to speak of honor," he muttered. "I remember you had little. Your idea of what was right went no further than the indulgence of your every whim."
    His mouth tightened as he took a step toward her. "Do you ever regret leading so shallow an existence, Erin? Have you ever felt the slightest desire to give something to the world, instead of merely taking?"
    Burnished hands fastened on her arms beneath the bell-shaped sleeves. "Even the butterfly contributes more than sheer beauty. Nature has a use for her beyond the purely ornamental. And for you, too, though you may not have deigned to admit it yet."
    Frightened by the implacable determination she sensed in him, Erin tried to take a step back. But he would not permit it. Slowly, inexorably, he drew her to him.
    A piercing