To Rescue a Rogue Read Online Free PDF

Dare was imprisoned in some way. By opium, still? Did that explain everything, or were there other problems as well?
    She was a St. Bride with the fiery hair and thus driven to heal wounds and fix problems. How better than by spending more time with Dare? Lady Ademara St. Bride was going to ride to the rescue of her prince in the dark tower.
    No, her rogue.
    At Harrow school, Simon and Dare had been part of a group who called themselves the Company of Rogues. Simon’s stories had been such fun that she’d always wanted to be a Rogue. Rescuing one was the next best thing.
    She would rescue her Rogue from his dungeon and bring him into the sunshine. It was a noble enterprise suited to the descendant of Black Ademar and Hereward the Wake, and even better, it should keep her out of boredom-induced disaster.

Chapter 3
    H alf an hour later, Dare watched Mara St. Bride slip safely into her sister’s Grosvenor Square house. Once he was sure all was well, he turned Normandy toward this Major Berkstead’s address. Best to deal with the man now and without fuss. There must be no fuss, even though he’d like to disembowel him.
    Terrorizing little Mara.
    Not so terrorized, he reflected, and not so little anymore, for all that she bemoaned her lack of breasts. His lips twitched, but he was aware of a problem.
    He’d thought himself dead to the appeal of women—perhaps something to do with the drug—but he’d felt a most inappropriate interest in Mara St. Bride’s small breasts. And in her delicate neck, the fine dip of her spine, and her warm, indefinable perfume. Having her nestled against him during the ride had been a mistake.
    He was used to thinking of Mara as Imp, as a child, but now he was aware of the difference four years made—the difference between the flat-chested tomboy of fourteen and the lovely young minx he’d encountered tonight. He even had a faint scrap of sympathy for her clumsy suitor.
    She’d teased a promise from him to escort her around town.
    Bad idea, Dare .
    And yet he wanted to do it, like a man in a dungeon longs for sunlight on his skin.
    The final battle against opium was proving harder than he’d expected. He took very little now, but he’d failed twice in attempts to cut off the drug entirely. It was as if the beast knew it risked defeat and fought all the harder. Perhaps he shouldn’t have left Long Chart, but he’d chafed at its safety and thought a taste of the world could spur him to victory.
    Once—before—he’d loved the world, people, London.
    His physical wounds were healed and he had his strength back. He’d stoically eaten nourishing food since the day of his rescue, and once he was able, he’d found that vigorous, even violent exercise helped when the beast gnawed at him. There had been days when he’d walked from dawn to dusk, and sleepless nights he’d passed the same way.
    Then Nicholas had sent Feng Ruyuan, who had given him purpose and discipline and begun the true healing. He was stronger and fitter now than he’d ever been, in body, but especially in mind. Freedom was in reach, but for the first time he wondered who he would be when he crawled out of his prison.
    The old Dare was dead—and yet something was stirring, was trying painfully to break free, searing him with forgotten emotions.
    His fear over Mara had cut sharp as a saber.
    Fury had scorched him.
    The feel of her skin, the scent of her body, the look of her bright eyes had stirred parts of him he’d thought dead.
    Had he ever reveled in a woman’s charms before? He knew he had, but never like that. Never in a shivering, breathless insanity that had wanted to gobble every bite of the forbidden feast. It terrified him more than opium. On the horse, she’d rested against him so trustingly when lust had growled inside him like a beast.
    What to do?
    A mistress?
    He couldn’t face the fuss and demands of that, but a