Free Perfect Bride by Samantha James Page A

on her fingers tightened. “I promise it’ll all be here when you awake.”
    Her eyelids trembled; she hovered on the verge of sleep. A wispy sigh emerged. “This room...it’s so lovely. Truly it is. Oh, Sebastian, I...I wish I could stay here forever.”
    Sebastian’s heart caught. She hadn’t cried about Harry, but she’d cried about that silly bonnet. He’d have laughed at the picture she presented, that damnable bonnet lopsided and drooping crookedly on her forehead, if it weren’t so sad; there was some thing very poignant about her just now. Even weak as a kitten, she’d fought him—not just a battle of words, but quite literally! He suppressed a smile as he thought of the punch she’d tried to throw at him. He’d never known a woman quite so filled with spirit, unless it was Julianna. Yet somehow at this moment, the fractious Miss Devon St. James was so fragile, he was half afraid to touch her.
    But somehow he couldn’t stop himself either.
    Her eyes drifted shut. She murmured something inaudible.
    Very slowly, with the tip of a finger, he traced the small curve of her nose, the piquant fullness of her lips, the fine-boned delicacy of her jaw. “Hush,” he whispered. An odd sensation knotted in his belly, making him catch his breath. Sweet Jesus, she was exquisite, her complexion pale and unblemished. And soft, he marveled. So soft, the texture of her lips and skin like mother-of-pearl.
    His hand fell away.
    Blackmail, he decided blackly. Emotional black mail by a waif and his rogue of a brother. He didn’t know how it had happened, or even why, but some how he’d been charmed. At the very least, disarmed.
    Sweet Jesus, he couldn’t turn her out. Even if he wanted to.
    Even if she did steal the silver.

Seven
    ate the next day Justin came to him in his study. “I sent Avery to check on Devon’s story.” Avery had been in the service of the family for nearly twenty years; his loyalty was unquestionable, and Sebastian knew that the footman could be trusted to keep the task given him to himself.
    Sebastian tapped his fingers together. “And?”
    “To all accounts, it’s all true. Where she lived, where she worked.”
    Sebastian’s face was grim by the time he finished. “And the pair she encountered? Harry and Freddie?”
    “I’d say she was lucky to escape with her life. A dangerous pair, those two. If she killed Freddie, I’ve no doubt it was to defend her own life. I only wish Harry would join his brother in the netherworld. The world would be well rid of him.”
    Sebastian nodded. “Tell Avery to keep his eyes open and his ears peeled.”
    “Already done,” Justin said lightly.
    When Justin was gone, Sebastian settled back to work. Work. It was impossible! He tried to put Avery’s information about Devon from his mind. He tried to put her from his mind. But the fear he’d glimpsed in those beautiful golden eyes continued to haunt him.
    And he could still feel those small, icy fingers trapped within his.
    It festered in his chest until he could stand it no longer.
    It wasn’t wise. In fact, it was downright foolish. And damnably impetuous! But he could put it off no longer.
    He wouldn’t be satisfied until he’d seen for him self where Devon had come from.
    An hour later, Sebastian sat among the dockhands that guzzled and swilled at the Crow’s Nest. He was dressed much as the other patrons, in rough woolen clothing. His foresight had seen to it that he attracted but a few idle glances as he ducked beneath the sign hanging outside and stepped into the dark, dimly lit establishment.
    The interior was small and cramped, the mood rowdy and raucous, the language bawdy. Men crowded next to each other at long, rough-hewn ta bles. Sebastian took a place at one of the tables.
    A plump, straw-haired waitress promptly pre sented herself. “Ye’re new ’ere, aren’t ye?” She gave him no chance to answer, but ran a finger down his sleeve. “Wot’s yer name?”
    “Patrick,” he