Seducing the Heiress by Olivia Drake

Author:Olivia Drake
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
ISBN: 9781448116805
Publisher: Ebury Publishing

CHAPTER 16

COLIN HAD BEEN reduced to spying on Portia again. He sat on a park bench where he could keep watch on her house. His old brown nag cropped a nearby patch of grass.

He wasn’t accustomed to rising so early, at least not here in London. He seldom felt the chill of the morning mist or saw the servants out shining the door brass. But for the past three nights he’d slept only fitfully, awaking at dawn with a hunger that had him growling at Tudge and snapping at Hannah.

His appetite had little to do with food and everything to do with Miss Portia Crompton. Each night he’d tossed and turned, filled with the memory of kissing her sweet mouth, of caressing her beautiful breasts, and touching her moist heat. It had been intoxicating, the pleasure he’d taken in building her arousal to a fever pitch.

Lying alone in his bed each night, he had relived her cries of ecstasy again and again. Knowing he was the first man to bring her to the summit had been a triumph—and an unbearable torment, as well. Stroking himself brought only temporary relief, not the bone-deep satisfaction he craved. He felt no inclination to visit a bawdy house, either. It was Portia he desired, Portia he craved. He wanted to lose himself inside her, flesh to flesh, to share with her the closeness of full-fledged lovemaking.

Instead, his dissolute actions had driven her away from him.

You’re nothing but a worthless rake. I wouldn’t marry you to save my life.

Haunted by her censure, Colin shifted position on the hard bench. He took full blame for what had happened. It had been wrong of him to treat her like a bit of Haymarket fluff. Never before had he attempted to corrupt an innocent girl. Despite his reputation, he had enough gentlemanly scruples to confine his trysts to more experienced women. But from the moment he’d taken Portia in his arms, he’d been doomed. The temptation had been too powerful to resist.

Now she had refused to see him. She had returned his letters unopened. She had walked away from him at a party. He’d lost all his carefully laid groundwork and was back to the barren beginning: hiding in bushes and peering around corners, hoping to catch her alone and unguarded. He couldn’t give up on her—he wouldn’t. Certainly, he still needed her money to pay his mounting bills. Yet there was no denying that Portia had become more than just a bank account to him. His pride had taken a dive out the window, and he didn’t even care.

For the first time in his life, his knack for charming the fairer sex had failed him. Portia had opposed him at every turn because she fancied herself in love with the son of a maharajah. He would never forget the look of horror on her face when she’d returned to her senses. Nor could he erase from his mind her guilt-stricken words.

Dear God, what have I done?

Scowling, he leaned forward to rest his elbows on his knees.

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