The Abduction of Julia Read Online Free PDF Page B

for once in her life, she was in control. Completely and utterly in control. It was a heady experience.
    Still, she mustn’t forget the real reason why she was agreeing to this wild scheme—to help the women of the Society and to save Alec. She would be in the perfect position to show him the error of his wicked ways. He was a man who eschewed honorable endeavors, a rake ruled by his base passions, while she … Heat flooded her cheeks anew at the sudden memory of her reaction to his kiss.
    Perhaps she wasn’t much better. She fervently hoped he blamed her wanton behavior on the rum punch. She certainly intended to.
    But the memory served as a forcible reminder that she had to protect herself from his practiced blandishments.
    Catching his cold gaze, she forced herself to say in an even tone, “I have one more term for this arrangement: it is to be a marriage of convenience only.”
    The viscount stood before her, dark and smoldering, angry enough, she was sure, to have happily shot her. “If I come to your bed, it will be at your invitation,” he said icily. “And maybe not even then.”
    Hurt suffused her, but she managed to nod. “Of course. Do we have an agreement?”
    “I don’t know,” he replied acidly. “Should I forgo whist? Perhaps confine myself only to country dances in case the waltz proves too lively for your tastes?”
    “No, I don’t think that will be necessary. I’ve spelled out my conditions.”
    “And what about
my
conditions?”
    That gave her pause, but she managed to say in a credibly calm voice, “I can’t imagine you’d have any. I’m not likely to cause a scandal, after all.”
    “I’m pleased to hear it,” he snapped.
    Julia glanced at the clock. “We’d better go, or we’ll be too late. There’s less than an hour left.”
    After a glowering moment, he swore and stalked across the room to gather his coat. Fury lent his graceful movements a lethal quality. He opened the door and bowed. “After you, my lady.” ‘
    Clasping her shaking hands and wondering what imp of madness had possessed her, Julia marched out the door.
Chapter 3
    The sofa was damned uncomfortable. Alec sat up and rubbed his neck, glad to see the sun streaming across the familiar carpet of his own room. Tired beyond belief, he eyed his bed with a ruminative gaze. The sight of Julia asleep, curled on her side with one hand tucked under her cheek, caused his anger to return in full force.
    He wondered for the hundredth time what quixotic notion had made him hesitate to sleep in his own bed. The staff hadn’t known to prepare the extra chamber, so his room had been the only one fit to inhabit.
    At first, the thought of forcing his wife to sleep in the cold, empty bedchamber had held some measure of charm. But Julia had the benefit of being soundly asleep, not even waking when he’d lifted her from the carriage and carried her into the house. Holding her in his arms, he’d pushed open the door to a guest room and faced the black cold. Then he’d had the misfortune to glance down. Honey-colored hair wisped about her small, white face, her mouth parted in deep slumber. She slept as innocently as a babe, her wide, smooth brow untroubled. Only the deep shadows beneath her eyes belied her tranquil sleep for the exhaustion it plainly was. Without another thought, Alec had gathered her close and turned to his own chamber.
    So here he sat, the devil of a crick in his neck from trying to fit his six-foot frame on a small sofa, while his wife slept in chaste luxury under his goosedown counterpane.
    His wife
. He said the words silently, as if tasting them. Whether he wanted to admit it or not, his life had changed drastically. Or at least, he amended, for the space of one year. Of course, with Julia’s intolerable demands, that year would seem like a lifetime. Irritation tightened his jaw. Chaste and innocent Julia might be, but she bargained like a fishwife. Alec stood abruptly and jammed his hands into his