The Rake's Retreat by Nancy Butler

Author:Nancy Butler [Butler, Nancy]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Regency Romance
Publisher: Belgrave House
Published: 1999-07-17T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter Nine

Jemima paced her bedroom in agitation, sweeping the skirt of her robe behind her as she crossed and re-crossed her chamber, all the while muttering to herself. She had been wrong, so dreadfully wrong, to think Bryce wouldn’t hurt her. Had he slashed her with a knife, the pain could not be more acute than what she was feeling.

He had seemed so genuinely pleased when she’d first gone to his room. He’d held her in his arms and kissed her until she was dizzy with delight. Those caresses had made her feel so…so incredibly alive. But then he had turned disdainful and cruel. For no reason that she could fathom. She only knew that she had made a grave error about his nature. Bryce truly was a hardened rake, coldhearted and remote from all tender feelings. He’d stood there like…like an iceberg, while she told him about her ravishment. He’d made not one consoling remark, nor offered her a single gesture of comfort. He had been curious, certainly, but in such a horridly detached way.

Thank God, she’d gotten her wits back before things had progressed any further.

But after what had transpired between them, it was unthinkable to remain at Bryce Prospect. How could she make idle small talk over the dinner table, knowing that Bryce had seen her half naked, that he had kissed her in places where her own hands rarely strayed? And more to the point, knowing that she had allowed these familiarities, nay, had wholeheartedly encouraged them.

It was utterly humiliating.

She had to prevail on Troy, and insist that they return to London in the morning. She didn’t care if half the ton was to come calling on Bryce Prospect tomorrow, Troy had to take her away from this place. His friends could go hang—especially one friend in particular.

Jemima hastened into the dimly lit hallway without her candle, intent on accosting her brother. She passed Bryce’s door with a silent tread, barely daring to breathe until she came to Troy’s room. There was no response when she scratched at the door. She knocked a bit more forcefully and was met with continued silence. He’s drunk again, she thought with dismay as she opened the door and went into the chamber. Even in the darkness she could see that the bed was empty, its counterpane pulled neatly up to the pillows. It had to be after midnight, but Troy was apparently still carousing with his cronies. She thought to wait up for him, but her instincts told her he might be gone for hours yet. Tolliver stocked a rare cellar, and she knew Terry’s friends were quite capable of making merry until dawn. Her demand would have to wait until morning, but it would lose none of its urgency for having been delayed.

She was walking swiftly in the direction of her room, her slippers making little noise on the carpeted floor, when a tall figure loomed out of the darkness and careened into her. Crying out in pain and surprise, she threw both hands up to ward him off.

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