Too Hot For A Rake Read Online Free PDF Page A

for your kind assistance.”
    “That’s too formal for such an intimate acquaintance, don’t you think? Call me Desmond.”
    “I barely know you, sir. It wouldn’t be proper.”
    He bit back a laugh. “Barely know me? Let me remind you, ma’am, that a mere few hours ago, you attempted to seduce me. Does that not lessen the need for formality?”
    She blushed. “All right. But I shan’t call you by your given name. Waverley will do. I thank you for your assistance.”
    “Fare thee well, irresistible Helena.” Without warning, he pulled her into his arms and kissed her, his tongue teasing her lips open.
    She struggled and managed to push him away. “How dare you, you…you rake!”
    He grinned, the look on his face impish. “ Reformed rake, if you please. Show some respect for my new title, ma’am.”
    Helena pursed her lips to conceal her amusement. “Quite a rapid reformation, sir. Just last week, all of Paris knew you as le roué Anglais. ”
    “You have me there, lovely lady. But I am determined to earn respectability now that I’ve come home again. Do you know, your lips taste like fine wine, fair Helena?”
    “You shouldn’t have kissed me, your lordship.”
    “Waverley. You shouldn’t have kissed me, Waverley.”
    She suppressed the urge to giggle. “As you wish. You shouldn’t have kissed me, Waverley.”
    “Think of it as payment for my assistance to you on this”—he glanced at the rising sun—“magnificent morning. While I must bid you a satisfactory resolution to your urgent business, I want you to know I shall always treasure the memory of a stolen kiss on my far from deserving lips.” He handed her into the carriage and shut the door. “Drive on, my good man. The lady will tell you her destination once you are under way.”
    He watched until the carriage had turned the corner. Perhaps he should have convinced her not to run away, but far be it for him to interfere with someone else’s life. He had enough to do to manage his own.
    The sun rose as Waverley walked back to Darlington’s town house. There was much to do this morning. He did not mind the pomp of a formal investiture with the Regent. It was his meeting at the home office he dreaded. He wished it were over and done with, but he tried to shake off such uneasy thoughts.
    So long as his grandmother was alive, he’d do everything in his power to care for her. When he was a lad, she had loved him well. Of that at least, he had no doubt. Would she even know him now, or had she lost her memory? He didn’t know what he would face when he reached Waverley Castle, truth be known.
    He shrugged off these depressing thoughts when his stomach growled, forcing the demons of the past out of his mind. Instead he obeyed the message of his stomach and returned to Darlington’s home, wondering what treats his host’s excellent cook had prepared for his breakfast.
     
    “My sister’s asleep at last,” said Olivia, her blond hair in disarray. She removed her robe and joined her husband in their bed. Unlike many matrons of the ton who preferred sleeping in separate chambers, she insisted upon sharing their bed. In fact, they had never slept apart since their marriage two years earlier.
    Sebastian drew his wife into his arms, for he loved the feel of her bare body against his. “What possessed Helena to come to you in the wee hours of the morning?” he asked when they were settled.
    “Darlington’s broken their betrothal.”
    “Good God! She’s loved him for an age. Why would he do such an odious thing?”
    Olivia shifted her head. “For heaven’s sake, darling, don’t plague me with your questions just now. Isn’t it enough that my sister has worn me to the bone? Allow me to snatch a bit of sleep before our son wakes and demands my attention.”

Chapter 3
    Later That Morning…
    The duke sat at the head of the table in the breakfast room, his eyes bloodshot from too little sleep. He held the morning paper at arm’s length and