Sevin: Lords of Satyr Read Online Free PDF Page A

he did not believe in her innocence.
    Her attorney had instructed her that it was of the utmost importance that she live a respectable life. Her behavior in the years ahead must be above reproach if the successful resolution of their litigation on her behalf was to stand up to scrutiny.
    But she was not meant to lead a lonely life. Despite recent disappointments, she longed to know a man’s loving, his embrace, his kisses. This handsome stranger was offering her a brief taste of these things she craved. Fifteen minutes’ worth. Then he’d promised to leave her to the decades of respectability and isolation that awaited her.
    “Very well,” Alexa said briskly. “We will throw caution to the wind until the end of this ride, but no more. So flirt with me—a woman you suspect to be your enemy. I won’t stop you, within reason. And I’m curious. You and your brothers have quite the reputation. Though so far you have done little more than a casual suitor might. I’m not really impressed—”
    Another laugh rumbled from his chest—a dark sound and a quick flash of white teeth. “By all means, then. I wouldn’t want the reputation of my entire species to suffer on my account.”
    In a smooth shift of masculine muscle, Sevin joined her on the seat. She scooted aside to make room. Without quite realizing how it happened, she found herself crowded into the corner behind her. He was leaning over her, with her thighs draped over his, so that she very nearly sat across his lap. One of his hands had settled at the small of her back, and his free hand caught one of hers, pinning it to the tufted velvet saffron wall alongside her head.
    “Tell me more of our reputation,” he bade her. “Tell me the rumors and I will say them true or false.”
    “Um ...” Distracted by his closeness, Alexa could hardly collect her thoughts well enough to respond. She could scarcely believe she was being held in his arms and that he was freely offering her information she’d often longed to be privy to! She pressed her free hand to his chest, an unconscious barrier to his scandalous suggestion that she broach matters no lady should with a man she hardly knew. When she didn’t find her voice, he found the words for her.
    “Do they speak of what my brothers and I are?” he prompted. His mouth trailed kisses along her jaw as he spoke, sending a hot thrill over her skin. “Of how we will pass this sort of night? Of what the ancient blood in our veins will drive us to become? How much has Eva told you? Come now, speak frankly.”
    Like every other citizen in Rome, she’d seen the urns, the statues, and the fresco paintings that this man’s eldest brother had unearthed in the Forum. The ones depicting the Satyr with their enormous, distended phalluses, in lustful pursuit of maenad females.
    She gazed at him from under her lashes, her cheeks flushed. “Eva and I don’t discuss personal topics of that nature in any detail. But there has been gossip and speculation, even as far north as Venice.”
    “Go on,” he murmured encouragingly.
    “It is sometimes ... I mean, it is generally rumored that on a night like this, when a full moon shines ...” She hesitated. “That your kind is capable of giving a woman fifty fulfillments.”
    His lips caressed the tender skin of her throat, just below her ear, and she felt his smile as he spoke. “True.”
    “Oh? Well. Goodness. I suppose that would mean ...” The fingers of her free hand toyed with the neckline of her bodice, as she sat momentarily flustered. “In roughly nine and one half hours, that would amount to more than ... five per ...” Her voice faded and roses bloomed in her cheeks. “... hour.” She’d always had a head for figures, but displaying her mathematical skills to a suitor was no way to attract him. Attract him? Is that what I’m trying to do?
    “It’s my contention that the quality of such encounters is more important than the quantity,” he went on. His eyes studied