Free Too Scandalous to Wed by Alexandra Benedict Page B

hand forward in encouragement. “Open it.”
    Setting his drink aside, he accepted the black velvet purse. For a moment, he did nothing but hold it. But soon he stretched the golden cords and opened the little sack.
    Carefully, Sebastian removed the ring and lifted it to the light for a better look. It was a gentleman’s ring, crafted from gold, the emblem on the surface a Celtic love knot.
    Did he recognize the symbol? She hoped not. She didn’t want to frighten him off with a clear show of her affection. But he didn’t look alarmed. In truth, he looked very surprised.
    “Do you like it, Ravenswood?”

Chapter 8
    Y es, he did like it. He liked it very much.
    Sebastian slipped the ring over his pinky finger. A perfect fit. “Thank you, Miss Ashby. It was very thoughtful of you.”
    He’d never received a gift before. Not like this. Not from a woman. It was usually he who did the gift giving, showering a mistress with jewels to keep her content. But he’d never been the recipient of such a gesture himself.
    It was a warm sentiment, to be bestowed with a present. Especially if the gift was from a…friend.
    “I’m afraid I don’t have anything for you, Miss Ashby.”
    “Rot, Ravenswood! We are friends, you and I. And friends give gifts without expecting anything in return.”
    He looked into her warm brown eyes, so spirited. Such a lovely pair of eyes to match such a lovely soul…
    Young Edward bounded up to his aunt Henry then, and stole her away for a game of hoodman blind.
    Henrietta flashed him a dazzling smile before she took off with the boy, then fastened the blindfold over her eyes and hunched to tickle and tag the children skipping around her.
    Sebastian watched her for a time. He pressed the back of his head against the cool glass window, and let his eyes wander in curiosity over the little hoyden.
    She was draped in a woolly frock, a rusty red in hue. The apparel matched the sunset shade of her long locks, twisted in an elegant knot, yet contrasted with the creamy brightness of her soft skin.
    Sebastian eyed the naked flesh at her neck, her bust. He pictured his lips tasting the tender skin, his tongue licking the sweet scent of jasmine at her throat…
    He slew the salacious thought at once. He was a villain. A jaded wastrel, through and through. It was just like him to think such a wicked thought, to corrupt the innocent Miss Ashby in his mind’s eye.
    If only the chit didn’t have such a devastating figure: curves in all the right places. He could resist the allure of her smoky drawl then, the soft touch of her faerie fingers…
    “You look smitten.”
    Snapped from his reverie, Sebastian snarled at his brother. “Rubbish!”
    Peter occupied the abandoned seat next to him, and said, “You have a dreamy look in your eyes.”
    The devil he did!
    “I’m just tired,” was Sebastian’s curt reply.
    But Peter continued with his diagnosis, unperturbed. “A sort of hazy expression across your face.” He gesticulated with his fingers. “I’ve never seen you like this, Seb.”
    “There’s nothing the matter with me.”
    “Did I say there was anything wrong with you? Having feelings for a woman isn’t a malady, Seb, like some might suggest.”
    Sebastian growled, “I’m not smitten with Henrietta.”
    “Then what do you feel for the girl?”
    “Brotherly regard.”
    “And?”
    “And what?”
    “Well, I hate to tell you this, Seb, but most men don’t look at their sister like she’s something tasty to eat.”
    Sebastian resisted the impulse to crush his brother’s throat. “Henrietta and I are just friends.”
    “ Friends? Are you daft?”
    Sebastian glared at his brother. “And why the devil not?”
    “You can’t be friends with a beautiful woman. Hell, you can’t be friends with a plain woman! There’s just something about you, Seb. You have atendency to rut about with anything in a skirt.”
    And since Sebastian was having such a devilishly hard time stifling his wicked