Surrender to the Devil Read Online Free PDF

be a lover.” He crossed his arms over his chest and looked up at the ceiling of the coach as though the answer to a riddle rested there. “I suppose you can’t. A lover, it seems to me should be with you willingly, with no expectations of earning a coin. So with that in mind, I’ve never taken a lover.” He lowered his gaze to her. “Seems a strange question coming from you.”
    For the first time in her life, she wasn’t comfortable with him, couldn’t tell him that her heated encounter with Greystone had prompted her inquiry. Where did a woman go for answers, because she knew if she listened to her own yearnings, she’d be knocking on Greystone’s door this evening. “I’m simply curious. I’m not exactly certain what the expectations are for a lover, what the situation actually entails. Would a lover…love her lover? Would he love her?”
    “Good God, Frannie, love is hardly involved at all. It’s simply a polite way of saying a gent wants what’s beneath a lady’s skirts.”
    With a nod, she looked back out the window. Certainly that was all that the gentleman truly wanted. She was good enough to bed, but not to wed. He saw her as no better than a prostitute. His currency was a wicked mouth rather than coins, but dear Lord help her, she’d been almost willing to accept the terms.
    “Ah, dammit, Frannie, I shouldn’t have been so crude.” Jack leaned forward, his elbows on his thighs. “Why the sudden curiosity?”
    The heat of embarrassment—or was it shame?—warmed her cheeks, and she was grateful that the gloomy weather might prevent him from noticing her blush. Their childhood had forged a bond that allowed them to share the most intimate of thoughts and know they were safe from scrutiny or judgment. She darted her gaze to his, then dropped it to her hands. “I’ve had an offer.”
    “An offer?”
    Gathering up her resolve, she returned her gaze to his. “Someone wants to be my lover.”
    He narrowed his eyes for a heartbeat. She’d seen the look before. It often preceded his giving someone a sound thrashing. “Who’s the blackguard?”
    Ah, God, she wished she hadn’t said anything, but Jack was one of her best friends. Unfortunately she suddenly realized some things shouldn’t be shared, but who else was there for her to ask? She certainly couldn’t ask Catherine, when her brother was the one causing Frannie’s dilemma. “I don’t want to say. Forget I even brought it up.”
    He flung himself back against the seat. “Greystone, the bastard.”
    “What? No! Why would you think him?”
    Leaning forward again, he took her hands. “Frannie darling, I’m a man. I saw the way he eyed you, as though you were a delectable morsel that would satisfy a man’s hunger. He disappeared for a bit. You were gone for a while. I’m thinking he took advantage of the opportunity and during a clandestine moment he made his indecent proposal.”
    It hadn’t felt indecent. As a matter of fact, she’d been quite flattered, but then she’d also been lightheaded and lost in a passionate fog, following his heat-searing kiss. But what really astounded her was Jack’s description of the way Greystone had been looking at her with hunger that she could satisfy. She’d had men leer at her, had them look at her as though she were fine crystal that could easily crack, but never with hunger. It was quite exhilarating. She squeezed Jack’s fingers. “Would it be so wrong, do you think—to entertain the notion of being someone’s lover? I’ve been a thief, a whore—”
    “It was not your choosing to be a whore,” he ground out.
    “A man paid for me, Jack. Call it what you will, I’ve never freely given myself to a gentleman. I’m nearly thirty, years past the age when most ladies marry. Until Luke asked for my hand in marriage, I’d never given any thought to being a wife. I can’t see myself married.”
    “Why ever not? Jim would marry you in a heartbeat. So would I, for that matter, if I