Free Lady Rosabella's Ruse by Ann Lethbridge

caught her arm. Swung her around. Held her upright. And then she was pressed against a hard wall of male chest. It rose and fell from running. As did hers. Heat invaded her breasts and thighs. She struggled to free her arms. He drew her closer, using only one hand, and lifted the lantern. Grim-faced he glared down at her. ‘What in hell’s name do you think you are doing?’
    ‘Let go of me.’
    If anything he tightened his grip. The heat of the day before swirled around them. She stared at his mouth. At the lips that once more tempted. She could not tear her gaze away.
    ‘Rose,’ he whispered.
    He bent his head and took her mouth.
    She grabbed his lapels, stood on tiptoes and pressed against him, kissed him back. It seemed the only way to quench the fire in her blood.
    A groan rumbled up from his chest. Her breasts tingled and tightened. She put her arms around his neck.
    On a gasp, he broke the kiss.
    A sense of loss engulfed her. Longing.
    Retaining his grip on her shoulders, he blew out the lantern and set it down. ‘Now,’ he murmured, ‘where were we?’ Both arms went around her, one hand at her nape, the other around her waist, and once more their lips melded.
    She felt as if she was flying ten feet off the ground. A dizzying, exciting sensation. Her body hummed with a longing to burrow against him. His tongue slipped through her parted lips and into her mouth. Her limbs became heavy and languid, her mind empty of all but the heat and the hunger. When his tongue retreated, she followed it with her own, tasting the darkness of his mouth, the brandy and pleasure.
    His hand cupped her buttocks, lifting her, pressing her hard against him. Something hard, demanding, pressed against her belly.
    He broke away on a groan. ‘My room or yours?’ he whispered, his voice hoarse and urgent against her neck.
    She froze. He thought… He wanted… She’d misled him into thinking she was like all the other women under Lady Keswick’s roof. Of course he did. And, heaven help her, she was terribly tempted to ease the hot thrumming in her body, to learn what it meant to lie in a man’s arms. Ruin was literally staring her in the face, a fallen angel ready to lead her astray. This was why mothers didn’t leave daughters alone with handsome young men. Her body trembled with longing. If she was ruined, her life would be changed forever. There would be no hope left.
    ‘No,’ she said pushing backwards with her palms flat against his chest.
    ‘You are jesting?’
    She shook her head. ‘I— No, I am not.’
    She couldn’t see his face clearly, only hear the harshness of his breathing and feel the warmth radiating from his body.
    ‘Oh, now I have it.’ The note of cynicism was back in his voice, the sneer so audible, she could hear the curl of his lip, see it in her mind’s eye. ‘You want something in exchange.’
    What on earth was he talking about?
    ‘You want to name your price. What is it? My silence about tonight? Money?’
    She did want his silence. She didn’t want her grandfather learning about her search. But what he was suggesting was…was wrong. Against everything she believed in. This bargain he suggested was cold and calculating, without love or any deeper affection. It had nothing to do with feelings or emotions. This was all about lust.
    Base urges paid for in some sort of coin.
    She touched a finger to her lips and shook her head. ‘You have nothing I want.’
    ‘I’m sure I can think of something given time.’ The teasing note in his voice, the velvet purr, did nothing to soften his meaning, the implication that every woman could be had for a price. She’d been right not to trust him with her story.
    She backed up a couple of steps, shaking her head. ‘No, thank you. I must bid you goodnight.’ With a fine show of bravado, she straightened her shoulders, swung around and ran for the house.

Chapter Five
    W hat the hell had happened? His breathing just as ragged as that of a boxer who’d