Something Reckless Read Online Free PDF Page A

that, despite the distracting presence of Jeremy Vaughn or the erotic words of her mystery author.

Three
    Jeremy paced around his parlor, restless and agitated as he recalled the events at the ball tonight. Why, he could not say. All had gone as planned, perhaps better than planned. He’d managed to approach Penelope, garner her interest, and see, quite clearly, that she was hiding a most passionate spirit.
    All in all, it was a successful night. So why did it feel wrong?
    “Great God, Kilgrath,” Anthony Wharton said from behind him as he set his fourth sherry of the evening down with a smack. “The entire room saw you with that little bitch. It is the talk of the ton , you know. The libertine and the crusader.”
    Jeremy turned to his old friend with a scowl. Wharton had followed him home, already half drunk. Now he was far past half and a large cause of Jeremy’s foul mood. Wharton had been raging about Penelope and how she “stole” his mistress for at least an hour.
    “If we are the talk of the ton , then I have done my job,” Jeremy drawled as he returned his gaze to the dark night outside. “I want them to wonder what is afoot between Penelope and me. That way when I reveal her as a hypocrite, they will all be hanging on my every word.”
    “How are you going to reveal her as anything if you befriend her?” Anthony slurred.
    Jeremy spun on his heel and strode across the room. Snatching the drink from his friend’s hand, he downed it in one swig and snapped, “If she thinks I’m her friend, she’ll trust me. All the better to catch her in my trap. And I have other plans already in motion.”
    His mind shifted to the letter he’d had delivered to Penelope’s home right before he departed for the ball tonight. The missive detailed every observation he’d ever made about her lush body, about all the things he’d wondered if she’d ever allowed herself to experience.
    What would her reaction to that be? He could only hope his erotic words would open Penelope further to an ultimate seduction. That his two assaults would work in tandem. By day, he would be the Duke of Kilgrath, her unexpected ally. By night, a mysterious, faceless lover who awoke her desires in the shadows.
    “Plans? What, seduction like Crawford and Dunfield suggested?” Anthony barked, breaking the pleasant spell of Jeremy’s fleeting fantasies. “Bah. I still say she won’t change her mind, no matter how many orgasms you give her. If she can even find pleasure. Frigid—”
    Jeremy cut him off with a scowl. “If seduction won’t change her mind of its own accord, blackmail will.”
    Anthony let out a sigh. “And if those don’t succeed, there are other ways to handle a woman like her.”
    Jeremy cocked his head, surprised by the suddenly lucid and utterly cruel glitter in his friend’s drunken stare. That focused expression was troubling.
    But no. He shook off the thought. Wharton was a hothead, nothing else. He was rambling without thought. The words were meaningless. But his friend was in a total drunk and needed to sleep it off regardless.
    Jeremy turned Anthony toward the door. “Trust in me, friend. I have the situation well under control. Now, my driver will take you home and be sure you get inside without killing yourself. Good night.”
    Anthony pushed back against him momentarily, but finally acquiesced and allowed Jeremy to guide him to the parlor door and a waiting footman.
    Once his friend was gone, Jeremy went back in to the parlor. Tonight he’d made the first step to conquering the beautiful and troublesome Penelope Norman. And he had no intention of failing in any way.
     
    Penelope lifted her hands and raised her voice over the fray of chattering women. “Ladies, ladies, this chaos does us no good.”
    The babbling crowd quieted a fraction, and a few of the ladies turned their heads toward Penelope. She sighed as she looked over the small group of about ten women, half of whom had given her the cut at the