Free How to Capture a Countess (Duchess Diaries 1) by Karen Hawkins Page A

hearing her admit her fault, but she’d stolen even that with her unaccommodating attitude.
    Bloody hell, she’s the most infuriating woman I’ve ever met. Infuriating and impossible to understand. He wasn’t quite sure what to make of her; he never had been. Her constant juxtaposition of flashes of bold sensuality and pragmatic common sense, interspersed as they were with moments of seemingly breathless innocence, confused the hell out of him.
    He eyed her critically, wondering how she’d lured him into the garden to begin with. Her eyes were still the only feature one could call “beautiful,” as they were a vivid blue surrounded by thick black lashes; the rest of her was merely average. Though she had a heart-shaped face, her mouth was too wide and her too-brown skin was yet marred by a faint dusting of freckles across the bridge of her pert nose. She was thin and had no real figure to speak of, her breasts quite small and her hips lacking the flared shape one expected in a woman. Worst of all was her unruly hair.
    She was plain, unremarkable, and unmemorable. Which was why it irritated him that he couldn’t be near her without his body reacting as if she were Aphrodite.
    Even now, a pure, hot surge of lust made him lean forward so that more of his body touched hers. Damn it, what is this? She’s not the sort of woman I’ve ever been interested in, not in looks, nor action, nor temperament. Had he any sense, he would leave right now and return to the safety of his bedchamber. Instead,he was holding her firmly caged within his arms, his body aching for more of her.
    As stirred as he was, she didn’t seem at all affected by his presence, for she arched an eyebrow at him. “That’s close enough, thank you. I would like to point out that you had a horrid nickname before our little incident. If you hadn’t been called Lord Sin to begin with, no one would have thought to call you Lord Fin.”
    He opened his mouth to reply, but she continued without heed, “And don’t tell me that you were truly distressed by being cut socially, because I know that you rarely attended social events to begin with. I’m surprised to find you here at your aunt’s, for this seems like a far tamer amusement than you usually enjoy.”
    He scowled. “Don’t push me, Balfour. That would be most unwise.”
    “I’m not pushing you; I’m disagreeing with you. But perhaps you prefer biddable women who just agree with your every word.” She pressed her book to her chest as if it were a prayer book, attempting to look demure as she said in a theatrical falsetto, “Yes, Lord Sinclair. Whatever you say, Lord Sinclair.” She tittered in a way that made his teeth ache. “Oh, Lord Sinclair, you’re so funny! I vow, but you’re the smartest peer in all the realm! You’re the most—”
    “ Stop that. Before you make more of a fool of yourself than you already have, I should tell you that I had a purpose in bringing you to my aunt’s house. A very specific one.”
    A look of wariness entered her blue eyes. “Oh? And what is that?”
    His feet now rested on the rung below hers, his hands to either side of her. He leaned forward and lowered his voice seductively. “I remember that kiss, Miss Balfour. Do you?”
    Her heartbeat fluttered in the delicate hollow of her neck, like a bird caught in a cage. “Of course I do.”
    “I also remember how it affected you.”
    She flushed. “Affected? I wasn’t— That is to say, I thought it a very nice—”
    His lips brushed the delicate shell pink of her ear and she shivered. “If I’m to be condemned for seducing you, then I should be granted the pleasures of that seduction, not just the pains.”
    “Th-the pleasures?” Her voice was breathless.
    He smiled then, his first genuine smile of the day. His hips held her soft body captive against the rungs of the ladder, making him instantly aware of how much more he wanted from her. “Oh yes.”
    She blinked as realization slowly settled on