Free Improper Seduction by Temple Rivers Page B

refuse the many offers she'd had.
    Unfortunately, Papa had died and the income had dwindled. His crusty second wife held no such tenderness for her willful stepdaughter.
    No, Chastity knew little about marriage or mating, but she understood that the few times she'd lain with her husband were not enough to conceive an heir. Charring would be much more rigorous during this visit. Approaching fifty-five, he desperately needed an heir or two to secure his estates and properties.
    Why hadn't he married a younger woman, she grumbled silently? But she knew the answer to that conundrum. Like the mare and the stallion, Chastity Virginia Grey was of impeccable lineage, a thoroughbred of the first order. And Charring wanted to merge those ancestral lines with his vast fortune.
    Chastity glanced up as Marianne, her maid, entered the chamber.
    "Pardon ma'am." The thin girl with saucy red curls curtsied.
    "What is it, Marianne?"
    The girl glanced guiltily over her shoulder. "Mr. Thomas says you need to come look at Ginger. Sumpin' about her hoof – or forelock, or – "
    Chastity nearly snarled at the young girl. "I saw Thomas this morning and he said nothing about my mare." She flung her pen on the desk, noticed the ink stains on her fingertips, and brushed nervously at the wrinkles of her gown.
    "B – but he was very insistent, m'lady."
    "Oh, all right," Chastity answered gracelessly. "I'll be right there. Thomas can wait a few minutes while I – while I – oh, bother, the dress is ruined anyway."
    So it was that when she reached the stable, she still wore the wrinkled gown, still had the spilled ink on her fingers, and still bore a smudge on her chin that a quick swipe of her handkerchief had not removed.
    And Thomas was not in the stable.
    Cursed man! She imagined he liked her hurrying to and fro at his inappropriate demands. "Thomas?" She walked further into the stable, far toward the end of the spacious building. The Baron spared no expense when it came to housing his horses, and the outbuildings were large and complex as the stalls wound around in an intricate fashion.
    The odor of fresh hay and the clean air of the countryside assailed her as she breathed in deeply. One thing she did not regret about marrying Charring was the beautiful setting, the lovely old mansion, and the rolling hills and abundant foliage. One could easily get lost on the property, and many times she'd walked to the brook, sat beneath a gnarled tree, and simply enjoyed the beauty of this part of England.
    "Thomas?" she called again, less patiently. "Where are you? What's wrong with Ginger?"
    Silence.
    #
    He waited for her in the last stall, and nearly twenty minutes after he'd sent Marianne to fetch her, Thomas heard her footfalls on the packed dirt of the stable floor. Heard the annoyance in her voice and the underlying concern. Whatever Chastity's coolness, she loved her mare. He shouldn't worry her about Ginger's health.
    "Sorry, m'lady, I dinna hear you," he answered, suddenly stepping in front of her. She halted abruptly, but not before her rounded breasts brushed against his shirt front. He chewed on a piece of hay and smiled languidly at her. She was a lovely sight for his sore eyes.
    "What's this about Ginger?" Her voice rose sharply. "She was perfectly fine this morning."
    He took her elbow and led her into the empty stall, realizing it was the first time he'd ever touched her except in his imagination. He'd given Jimmy, the youngest of the stable boys the job of assisting her when she rode Ginger. "Actually, m'lady, I didn't mention it this morning because I was – distracted."
    Chastity circled the stall slowly, took in the fresh hay and clean blankets spread upon it. "Where is the mare?"
    "Not here," he murmured, still holding her elbow.
    "There's nothing wrong with Ginger, is there?" she demanded, pulling away from him, an angry pucker deepening between her fine brown brows. "What are you up to, Thomas? Why have you – have you lured me here