The Veiled Heart (The Velvet Basement Book 1) Read Online Free PDF Page A

her lips dry.
    His head cocked to the side and a warm rush ran up her legs, a summer breeze warm with long ago hopes and dreams.
    “Very well.” His voice was firm and clear.
    “You don’t want to know what the condition is?” Her breathing was irregular and tight.
    He reached over to the box and started searching through it.
    “Lily, we are talking about ten pence; what could you ask?”
    “Lily?” Had he mistaken her for someone else?
    He looked up from the box. His eyes creased at the corner and he grinned as if he was pleased with himself.
    “Lily of the Valley.”
    Her lips pulled into a smile even before she could control them. Something about the ease he had about him and his place in the world, here in the carriage, and even in the shop made her feel wistful. She hadn’t felt that since she was a girl.
    He resumed his search through the boxes. He was very particular about what he was looking for.
    “You seem to know your sheaths.”
    His reply was noncommittal.
    After some time, he selected the sheaths, set them aside, and leveled his devastatingly blue gaze at her.
    “So, Lily, what are your terms?”
    Her own heat made every stitch of fabric stick to her skin. Damn it, she needed to breathe, why wasn’t there enough air in the carriage all of a sudden?
    She took the leap.
    “I want you to demonstrate how the sheaths are used, with me.”
    Breathe.
    Her body was a total stranger, flooded by the thumping beat of her heart. It pounded so loudly she could hardly hear her own words.
    His eyebrows drew down, the air between them tight as those ocean blue eyes locked on her with blazing intent.
    “Lily?”
    She nodded. “How they are used.”
    His face didn’t change.
    She took a deep breath in. “Demonstrate. With me.”
    Breathe.
    “In the carriage. Right now.”
    Her heart was beating in her throat; if she swallowed, she would choke.
    Then the corners of that wonderful mouth lifted in genuine delight. Her body reacted as if his smile opened a hatch, and the air rushed deep into her lungs like it was the first breath she had taken in her life.
    He stood up from the bench on the other side of the carriage and leaned over her.
    She was light-headed.
    He braced his legs and stretched an arm out to rest on the bench behind her.
    They were so close. She could see every hair on his chin.
    “You’re an enigma.” The sound of his voice rolled through her, each note a taunt of promised pleasure. “Bound tighter than a lover’s knot and yet….” He breathed in deeply, partially closed his eyes as his chest filled and pushed at the front of his coat. “As fragile as a fragrant bloom.”
    The breath was tight in her chest. Her nails dug into the palms of her hands.
    He was as sensual as a slide of satin over her skin; but what was he really saying?
    “Is that a yes?”
    The uncertainly in her voice whispered between them. Miriam shifted her head slightly to get a clearer look at him through her veil.
    Those blue eyes were unreadable. His body still.
    Waiting for him to react was humiliating. A stark feeling of nakedness that would have pushed her mask back in place, if it wasn’t for that foolish hope pinned to her chest.
    The first thing to register was that his teeth were even and bright. However, the look on his face melted the tension out of her.
    Her hands relaxed.
    She had jumped.
    And he had caught her.
    With the reality of the next half hour set, excitement now warred with panic.
    And lost.
    “I’m going to step outside and fix your wheel.” He stopped speaking and looked her directly in the eyes.
    Heat crept up under her corset warming her breasts and tightening around her throat.
    “Then I’m going to ensure the driver has a route that gives us the time we need to meet your request.” His free hand ran a finger along her jaw as he continued. “Your job, Lily, is to remove your pantaloons. Fold them neatly and place them on the bench next to you. Not hidden under your shawl. In the