To Sin With A Scoundrel by Cara Elliott

Author:Cara Elliott [ELLIOTT, CARA]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Tags: FIC027070
ISBN: 9780446558587
Publisher: Forever
Published: 2010-02-28T16:00:00+00:00

As the door clicked shut, Ciara finished tending to the scrapes on Lucas’s face. “The two of you seem to have known each other for some time.” Setting aside her reserve, she went to work undoing the rest of the shirt’s fastenings.

“Yes,” he answered with a crooked grin. “Jack was part of our pack of little devils at Eton. So we have been raising hell together for ages.”

“I see.” She was trying very hard not to stare at the triangle of tanned skin and dusting of dark curls now exposed to view. Science, she reminded herself. This was simply a dispassionate exercise in… skeletal zoology. “Lift your arm, sir.”

He winced.

“Sorry,” she muttered.

“By the by, Jack approves of your choice in art,” said Lucas. “Not many people know it, but he is quite knowledgeable on the subject.”

“I daresay that’s the only thing he approves of about me,” she replied, trying to work her hand under his sleeve. “Not that I blame your friend for his concern.”

“Jack is no cabbagehead. He will change his mind when he gets to know you better.”

Ciara didn’t reply. Lord Hadley was not thinking straight—of course his friend would not get to know her better. The sham engagement would end soon, severing all contact with the earl and his comrades. What man in his right mind would risk the censure of Society to consort with the Wicked Widow?

It didn’t matter, she told herself. She was quite capable of surviving on her own.

Shifting awkwardly, Ciara tried to work the salve down to the spot that had borne the brunt of the blow. “Blast,” she finally muttered. “You will have to remove your shirt, sir.”

His mouth twitched in silent amusement. “Is that an invitation, Lady Sheffield?”

“No, it’s an order.”

He tugged the linen over his head and let it float to the floor. “Do with me as you will.”

She began to massage the healing ointment over his ribs, trying to keep her eyes off the sculpted planes of his chest. As her gaze dropped, she saw that his right side was already a mottled mass of purple bruises. An ugly reminder that she had dragged an unwitting stranger into her troubles.

A sound slipped from her throat. “Oh, Hadley, I fear you must hurt like the devil,” she whispered.

He grinned, making light of her worries. “You ladies take such things far too seriously. Trust me, I have suffered much worse at Gentleman Jackson’s boxing saloon. The former champion may be aging, but he still has fists of iron.”

“Men,” she muttered, shaking her head. “Why you make it sound as if such a thing were fun is beyond me.”

“There is no rational explanation,” he agreed. “It must be some deep, dark, primitive urge that courses through our blood.”

Ciara was suddenly aware of a primal pulsing through her own veins. As her hands slid over his ribs, tracing every chiseled contour of muscle and bone, every fiber of her being was intimately aware of HIM. A rampant masculinity, from the earthy scent of

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.