Persuasions of an Earl's Daughter (The Duchess's Investigative Society Book 9) by Samantha Holt

Author:Samantha Holt [Holt, Samantha]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Helstone Press
Published: 2023-04-09T16:00:00+00:00

Contrary to everything said about him, August didn’t make a habit of escaping the bedrooms of all the many hundreds of women he had supposedly seduced. In fact, he didn’t make a habit of being in their bedrooms at all. So slipping past a slumbering Lilly was no easy feat. His heavy boots made the floorboards creak and he stilled, watched Lilly for a few moments and made his way to the washbowl.

He dipped a washcloth in the bowl and let the water drip gently for a few moments, watching the droplets splash and form rings in the cold water. The waning light of day turned the room gray, but it wasn’t enough to smother the image of Lilly, lying relaxed in bed, her lashes soft against her cheeks and her lips slightly parted. An image of utter satisfaction.

He rubbed his face vigorously with the cloth, grateful for the chill that raced through him. He couldn’t stay here and watch her sleep and he sure as hell couldn’t sleep himself. Not only was the hour too early for his sleep habits, but he also hadn’t rid himself of his damned erection yet. His best option was to do something useful or else he might be tempted into seeing if Lilly really wasn’t that sort of a woman.

What he’d done was dangerous. For both of them. His carefully constructed image of a rake had never left him in a position of having to do the right thing—mostly because there was no one to have to do the right thing by. For the first time in his life, he almost wanted to make good on his reputation. If he had no fears for the consequences and no morals, he wouldn’t think twice about bedding an innocent.

The sheets shifted and he glanced over his shoulder to watch her turn onto her front and press her face into the pillow, creating an endearing image with her cheek squished against the fabric, her mouth still open.

August smirked to himself. She’d probably have something to say about being called endearing.

And he really had no right to be thinking of her in any way other than a means to an end. Once they hunted down Icarus, he would persuade her to sell the horse to him and he could move on and never be tempted again.

Foolishly, he wasn’t certain he was going to regret anything about tonight, though.

He straightened his shirt, tucking it properly into his trousers, and glanced down. At least his tired jacket hid the declining evidence of his arousal. He wagered once he hit the night air, it would be gone. All he had to do was cease thinking of the taste and scent of her and the noises she made. Only Lilly Musgrave could tempt him like this. Her words...her bold, brazen utterance of how wet she was had entirely undone him. A decade of self-control and she’d shattered it in but a moment.

Perhaps it would be enough.

It wouldn’t be enough.

It had to be, though.

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