Free How To Seduce A Pirate (The Hawkins Brothers Series) by Alexandra Benedict

Turner?”
    “Still at the
ball. Captain and Mrs. Hawkins will escort her home.”
    Holly trusted
Captain James Hawkins and his wife to chaperone her sister. One ominous glare
from the imposing captain would squash any licentious intents toward Emma, so
there was no reason to curtail the girl’s fun with an early departure. Besides,
Holly had hoped for time alone with her husband, a pleasant conversation over a
late supper perhaps. Regrettably, her hopes had been dashed.
    As she climbed
the stairs, a stark bellow resounded through the house.
    “Holly!”
    She scowled. The first time her husband used her Christian name and it was in the tone of
a disapproving parent. How ignoble. Was he mad? Had he no manners? His
outrageous behavior was fodder for servant gossip. And what the devil was the
matter now?
    She rushed up
the stairs, skirt in hands, and rounded the corner. She found the door to her
art studio ajar—and smirked.
    Holly smoothed
her satin skirt before gracefully entering the room, ablaze with newly
installed gas lamps. Her husband, searching for his own private chamber, had
turned up the lights to discover her workspace and had obviously snooped
around.
    After closing
the door, she asked in her most pleasant voice, “Yes?”
    “What is that doing here?” he demanded, drape in hand. His features turned a crimson red as he
pointed at the painting of himself, the sensual painting that’d caused so much
trouble.
    “It was found
under your bed during the move from St. James’s.”
    “ Why is
it still in one piece? I thought you had destroyed every infernal nude.”
    “I destroyed
every nude in my studio at the cottage. This was not at my cottage. And since
you had stored it under your bed . . .” She shrugged. “I thought you’d wanted
to keep it.”
    “Are you mad? I
wanted to burn the wretched thing, but our wedding and my tour at sea prevented
me from torching it.”
    He headed for
the door.
    “Where are you
going?” she cried.
    “To fetch
matches.”
    “No!” Holly
dashed toward the door and barricaded it with her body. “You will not destroy
that painting.”
    His body,
heaving with fury, leaned over hers. “Move away from the door, wench.”
    “You can’t burn
it.”
    “I own it. I can do anything I damn well please with it.”
    “You also own
this house. Will you burn it, too?”
    “If it pleases
me, aye.”
    She snorted. “A
ridiculous reason. That painting is my greatest work. You will not destroy it.”
    “Your greatest
work marks one of the worst moments in my life.”
    “Then don’t come
in here.” She snatched the drape from his hand. “I didn’t invite you into my
private studio. I would like you to leave, please.”
    She hastened back
to the artwork, veiling it to protect it from sunlight, dust and any paint
splatter that might occur from future works.
    Quincy glared at
her from the door. “What about the servants? And your sister? I won’t have
anyone ogling that painting.”
    While Holly had
hired new staff, she had also retained two of her former servants, the maid and
gardener from the cottage. And she had already trained all the employees about
the strict running of the household.
    “The servants do
not come into my studio, nor does Emma. Ever since I converted the potting shed
at the cottage into an art studio, that has been the rule. No one will ever
look at this painting, except me.”
    His breathing
deepened, turned to rasps of air. “You?”
    She confronted
her husband again, his eyes glowing like embers. “Yes, me. If all I will ever
have of you is what I took and put in this painting, then I will keep the
painting and look at it whenever it pleases me.”
    Her declaration must
have set off an explosive fire inside him, for his expression twisted, turning
both tortuous and ravenous. Her own body flared with heat, and she longed for
his primal touch, his sensuous kiss, but after a few strained moments, he
swiveled his stone hard posture and left the