Twisted Tale of Stormy Gale Read Online Free PDF Page A

setting it back down hard, sloshing it over the sides of the cup. “Out with it. Come on now, you can’t start telling me something like that and then stop. It’s only the two of us. You’re a fortune-teller and I’m a loon. Why the need for propriety?” he asked. He stared at me again, this time with a challenge in his eyes.
    Cocky bastard. “All right, then, sir, if you insist. It’s your money after all. Is everything…erm, working down there?” I flicked a pointed glance below his waist.
    “What do you mean?” he sputtered. “Of course. Absolutely. It’s never been a problem.” His brow furrowed. “Is it going to be? A problem, that is.”
    “Can’t say without my crystal ball. Palm reading is much less accurate. Oh, but I do have another method we could try! How about pulling some cards? I have a deck around here somewhere.” I turned to rifle through my bag.
    I dropped the deck of cards on the table between us. My goal was to get him talking, drinking and making merry so he wouldn’t notice the slightly bitter taste when I drugged his wine. To that end, I decided that to let him off the hook and cease my efforts to unman him. I would just redouble my efforts to charm the pants off him.
    I spread the cards out over the table and advised him to choose four. He did, and with a flourish, I flipped them over. “Ahh, I see now. The queen of hearts. Beautiful. Love is on the way for you, good sir. Oh, and your palm was misleading!” I gave him a broad wink. “Jack of spades only surfaces for the most virile of men.”
    He sat back and let out a sigh of relief. “I wasn’t really worried, but one never knows.” That damned diabolical dimple flashed like a bloody beacon as he leveled me with a grin, then finished the rest of his wine.
    I stood and picked up his mug, refilling it. As I poured, I flicked my thumbnail against a catch on the emerald ring that adorned my third finger. The stream of powder that trickled out was imperceptible in the dim candlelight but I kept up the animated chatter to distract the duke just in case.
    I set the cup in front of him and filled my own glass in turn, sans the mickey. “Let’s have a toast, shall we, Leister? To impropriety,” I trilled.
    “To impropriety,” he answered, clinking his mug against mine.
    Following my lead, he drank it down.
    “Do you happen to know what time it is?” I asked, relieved when he seemed to take no notice of the subtle difference in taste.
    “I do.” He rifled through his pockets. To my disappointment, he pulled out a gold pocket watch and glanced at the face. “Half past eight.”
    Of course, it would have been way too easy if he’d just pulled out the TTM. It did keep perfect time, but the way my luck was going, it lay hidden in his house locked in a safe somewhere.
    “Say,” I ventured, my tone conspiratorial. “It’s still fairly early and I’m really enjoying your company. Would you care to play a game with me? Mayhap we can be really improper and do some gambling. I would wager this ring.” I pulled the sapphire off my pinky. “What will you wager, handsome?”
    I lowered my gaze and fluttered my lashes, trying my best attempt at the seductive coquette.
    “Do you have something in your eye?”
    He leaned forward, all concerned, to get a closer look.
    “Er, no, no, just a little smoky from the candles.” Note to self: brush up on flirting techniques.
    Changing tactics, I leaned toward him again, relying on old faithful to reel him in. It worked, as his attention strayed to my breasts.
    “All right, a game might be nice. I’ll wager my watch, then,” he responded, still watching my breasts as if in a trance.
    I rose again to fill the mugs. I felt a tiny bit tipsy, but nothing I couldn’t handle, and it was far more important to make sure he kept drinking. The powder he’d ingested was a mild drug that would lower his inhibitions a bit and, mixed with alcohol, would cause him to pass out. He was much larger