Mistress of Scandal (Greentree Sisters 3)

Fascinating. She seemed unable to look away from him. She’d done that before. He wondered what she was thinking, and whether they were the same hot, dark imaginings that he had when he gazed into her eyes. Despite what she’d said last time, nothing had changed. They were meant for each other.

The tap on the door

startled them, and she blinked as the spell was broken, and then turned as the key rattled in the lock.

“Well, that was a complete and utter waste of time,” Martin declared loudly, as he erupted into the room, all long legs and arms. And then he froze, mouth and eyes wide, like a dying fish.

Lil gave a little scream, and Francesca rose to her feet.

Martin swallowed, his prominent Adam’s apple bobbing up and down. “Excuse me, ladies. I didn’t realize you had company, sir.”

“Martin, I have a feeling you are already known to these ladies, but I’ll introduce you anyway. Miss Greentree and Lil, this is my manservant and partner in business, Martin O’Donnelly.”

Francesca turned accusing eyes on him. “This is the man I saw!”

“Martin has been following you when I am otherwise engaged, Miss Greentree. You must understand, I can’t be everywhere at once. I am a busy man.”

Her gaze narrowed.

“I trust Martin completely. You are safe in his hands.”

He could see she was burning to give him a good rollicking, and he took pity on her. “Martin,” he said, “take Lil for a little walk. Please.”

At once Lil began to protest, but after a quick look at his master, Martin took her arm firmly in his and led her toward the door. “Come on now, Lil, we’re servants and we have to do as we’re told. Anyway, it’s a beautiful day, so why not enjoy it?”

The door closed, and their steps, and Lil’s protests, faded.

“Now,” Sebastian said, “Francesca. Is there something you want to say to me…?”

She was standing over him, gloved fingers clenched, her body so taut she looked like she might burst with the effort of holding in her anger. He knew that, if he was a gentleman, he would stand, too. But he wasn’t, so he didn’t.

“You should have told me about him! I was terrified!”

Sebastian leaned back. “Terrified? Francesca, I don’t believe you know what terrified is.”

“Terrified for my family,” she qualified, her voice trembling with the effort to subdue her emotions. “I’ve brought danger upon them. It’s up to me to protect them. That’s why I came here today—for their sake, not mine.”

She was magnificent. He watched her struggle with her temper and decided at that moment that he wanted to see her lose it. He wanted to see her fly her cage. “Very noble,” Sebastian murmured, and smiled a mocking smile.

He saw the lightning flash of fury in her eyes, and then, like the storm they had been caught in the first time they met, the emotion poured out of her. “You wouldn’t know what noble was,” she burst out. “You are a man who cares for nothing but the money he makes from his unfortunate and desperate clients. How else could you afford this?” She waved her arm wildly at his room and what was in it.

“You’re quite right. I’m everything you say I am. But you need me, Francesca.”

“I could hire a man off the street,” she retorted, her face flushed. “I don’t need you!”

He stood up, so abruptly that she stepped back with a gasp. “But you do. You need me. You want me, Francesca.”

“No,” she groaned. “No, no, no!”

He smiled. “We’re alone, there’s no one here to see or hear. Tell me why you really came. Or better still…show me.”

She opened her mouth, closed it, and then launched herself at him. She was warm and soft and all woman, and he groaned as her mouth searched for his, bumping his nose with her chin until she got it right. His eyes watered. Her bonnet was in the way, and he removed it. She clutched at his shoulders, and then his hair, pulling him closer. Fire ran through his veins like a lit fuse, and he felt himself grow instantly hard.

She was like a tigress in his arms, unrestrained, almost savage. Was this the proper Miss Greentree? No, it was Francesca, full of twenty-five years of passion, and now it was bursting to get out. Sebastian had no intention of bringing her to her senses. This was his chance to take what he wanted.

“Come into the bedchamber,” he said, walking backward, half leading her, half carrying her.

The bedchamber was even more private than the sitting room. A magical place of color and light, it was his sanctuary against this world he had chosen as his own.