Wayward One
Page 28
“I was sorry to hear of your father’s death.” He turned to face her. “I received the telegraph last evening.”
Elise’s polite smile disappeared. Blood drained to her toes. Why would anyone back home telegraph the news to Wyoming? Had Jonathan discovered a connection between herself and the Campbells?
“Last evening?” Her voice sounded hollow, even to her own ears. “But my father has been gone for months now.”
A telegraph from Wyoming. This could spell the demise of her carefully laid plans. Elise glanced frantically around the room. Only decorum kept her still, though she desperately wanted to race to her room and pack her things. Where is Daniel?
“I hadn’t heard the news,” Cody said. “So when Thomas told me you’d come, I wanted to verify it.”
“I…see.” She twisted her hands together. “I apologize. I never thought to send word here after his death.”
Had he unwittingly informed one of Jonathan’s cohorts about her whereabouts? She hadn’t even given out that information to her closest confidants for fear of Jonathan’s wrath against them. What they didn’t know couldn’t be used against them. If Cody’s telegraph reached the wrong person, she could be in jeopardy.
When she looked back up, she caught the intensity of his gaze. He’d surely find her next question audacious, but the need to know what she was up against overrode manners. “Who did you speak to in Virginia?”
“I didn’t get the man’s name.” One eyebrow quirked.
She prayed he would elaborate. She must know! She searched for a way to ask for more information.
“I assumed it was a bank employee. I was given an address to forward condolences to you, which turned out to be your father’s home address in Virginia.”
So whoever answered the telegram didn’t seem to know that she’d left town. It couldn’t have been one of Jonathan’s men. Or could it be that Jonathan’s pride was so hurt by his wife’s desertion, he hadn’t told even his friends? She stared at the scuffed toe of Cody Campbell’s boot as she tried to take in the information.
Hadn’t anyone reported her disappearance to the authorities? Wasn’t there a crew out searching for her? Wasn’t her neighbor Mr. Parks curious about her whereabouts? The thought that she might not be missed disconcerted her. Jonathan could easily have killed her, and no one would have been the wiser. The only public appearance she made was an occasional visit to church, and then always veiled. Always at Jonathan’s side. The man on the other end of that telegraph could very well think she was alive and well in Virginia. Jonathan might have been preparing for her disappearance all along.
Pulling herself back to the present, Elise moistened her lips. He looked to be the type of man who never missed a detail. Her strange behavior surely piqued his curiosity. Daniel walked in bearing a tray, and Elise could have kissed him for his timely appearance.
“Oh, thank you, Daniel. Would you like some coffee, Mr. Campbell?”
“Your husband?”
Elise nearly bit her lip in two. A husband wouldn’t serve his wife and caller. A wife would certainly introduce her husband as such. Her tongue seemed to swell. Her prepared speech had scattered into the deep recesses of her mind. She glanced at Daniel.
“Elise and I are married.” Daniel smiled. It wasn’t a lie. Both were married, just not to each other.
“Elise? But I thought—”
“My name is Mary Elise. I prefer Elise now.”
“Do you take sugar?” Daniel set down the tray, his interruption saving her from further inquiry.
Elise led their visitor to the living room and lowered herself onto the couch, breathing easier when Cody didn’t voice a question regarding her marriage. He sat across from her as she poured the coffee. With the cup of coffee in hand, her flaring nerves settled, and she felt more equipped to deal with their visitor. “My father loved this ranch. He wanted so much to come back here before he passed. Did you know him well?”
Cody looked a bit out of place in the upholstered chair. She imagined him to be much more at ease in the saddle on the open plains. He emanated the vibrancy of the wild. His entire being seemed constrained by the four walls.
“He and my father were good friends. I’ll always remember the old prairie schooner he’d drive around.”
“I loved that old thing.” Elise smiled. “I wonder whatever happened to it.”
“Your father sold it to the Wilson’s in town. They have something like twelve kids and counting.”
“I used to take my dolls in there and play all day long. Until my mother dragged me in for lessons.”
“I remember you as a girl. Things have changed since you left.” His voice lowered, giving his words a different—much more personal—meaning.
An innocent lady’s education could be a gentleman’s wicked seduction.
An Introduction to Pleasure
© 2012 Jess Michaels
Mistress Matchmaker, Book 1
Lysandra Keates is running out of options. Her father is dead, her mother is ill, and her efforts to find respectable employment have ended in failure. With her small savings bleeding away, she swallows her pride—and her terror—and turns to Vivien Manning, an infamous courtesan, to match her with a wealthy protector.
For years, Viscount Andrew Callis has lived a monastic existence at his country estate, hardening his body against the snobbish, lazy young man he once was, hardening his heart against grief over the deaths of his wife and infant son. When Vivien asks him to spend one month training a young woman in the ways of a mistress, his mind resists…but his body responds with an ache he thought long dead.
As Andrew begins his gentle tutelage, he finds himself falling under the spell of Lysandra’s innocent charms. And as they give in to the powerful hunger, the last thing Andrew ever expected, or wanted, forms between them. An emotional connection that could carry them well past the training period—if only Andrew can open his heart to the possibility of love.
Warning: Includes training in all kinds of sexual positions and delights, as well as an emotional romance. May produce swooning.
Enjoy the following excerpt for An Introduction to Pleasure:
“Good afternoon, Miss Keates. I’m Carlsworth, your butler.”
Lysandra’s head was spinning. She hadn’t had the advantage of servants for…well, she could scarce remember how long. And even in her father’s house, it hadn’t been a butler! There had been a cook, a maid she and her mother had shared and a man her father used for all kinds of duties, but that was all.
“Are you quite all right, Miss Keates?” Carlsworth asked as he took a step toward her. “You are very pale.”
“I’m sorry, Carlsworth,” she said, breathless. “I didn’t mean to alarm you. I find I am a bit overwhelmed.”
“Of course,” he said, his tone as kind as could be. “You must be quite tired. Lord Callis has sent word that he will be calling within the half hour. Would you like to wait for him in the parlor while we ready your room? I’ll call for your tea.”
Lysandra blinked. So she was to be waited on like a princess?
“Miss?” he asked.
She shook her head. The servants would think her a daft princess, indeed, if she continued to stare at them like a fool.
“Thank you, that sounds very nice.” She followed his indication of one of the open doors in the hallway and stepped into a parlor.
Immediately, she fell in love. The parlor wasn’t imposing like Andrew’s was or ridiculous and showy like her cousin’s, but it fit her perfectly. It had been painted in warm greys and blues, with fine furniture that seemed as comfortable as it was pretty. There were very few decorations beyond a handful of paintings and a clock on the mantel, but the lack of décor didn’t bother Lysandra. She was too busy being utterly mesmerized by the fact that, at least for a little while, this home was hers to enjoy.
Behind her, there was the clearing of a throat, and she turned to watch a maid come inside with a serving plate of tea and a f
ew sandwiches.
“Cook wasn’t certain what you liked,” the girl explained as she set the entire platter on the sideboard. “So she gave you a few selections. When you meet with her, you’ll have to tell her your favorites.”
Lysandra blinked in disbelief and stared at the girl. “H-hello.”
She smiled. “I’m Candace, miss. I’m your downstairs maid.”
“M-my downstairs maid?” she repeated, once again daft in her confusion and disbelief.
The girl nodded. “I do the cleaning and tidying. Your ladies maid is Faith, and she is upstairs readying your room. Cook is Eliza, but we all just call her Cook because it makes her laugh. You’ve already met Carlsworth and Wilkes, of course.”
Lysandra continued to nod, regardless of the fact that her eyes were beginning to hurt from being so wide.
“We’re all at your service, Miss Keates,” the girl pressed. “Ring for any of us any time.”
“Thank you,” Lysandra breathed. “I shall do so.”
She said the words, but she could scarcely picture herself doing so. Ringing for assistance like the lady of a manor! When just that morning she had woken in the uncomfortable confines of one of the worst rooming houses in London.
“I’ll go now. Lord Callis will be here shortly.”
Lysandra forced both her attention back to the girl and a smile as Candace stepped from the room. Once she was gone, Lysandra sank into the closest chair and let her breath out all at once.
“Dear God, I am a ninny,” she said to herself. “They are going to talk and laugh about me below stairs.”
That she knew for a fact. After all, she had done the same in her former employer’s home. Right before he…
Well, there was no use thinking about that. Not right now. Right now she had to prepare for Andrew’s arrival. She looked down at herself. Her worn gown didn’t really fit in this pretty home, but it was what she had and there was no use feeling badly about that.
She caught a glimpse of a mirror hanging above the fireplace and moved in front of it. She grimaced. But for the faint circles beneath her eyes that seemed to be a permanent fixture anymore, she looked well enough, she supposed. But would “well enough” be good enough? Wasn’t a mistress supposed to be outrageously beautiful and alluring? Seductive and sophisticated like Vivien was?
She pinched her cheeks until they had a bit of color and smoothed her dress. She was checking the status of her teeth when the door behind her opened and in the reflection of the mirror, she watched Andrew walk into the parlor.
She spun from the looking glass with a dark blush and shoved her hands to her sides. Wonderful, now she had been caught examining her teeth like she was a horse.
If he noticed, he made no mention of it. He only reached behind himself and shut the door to the parlor with a loud click. They stared at each other for a long moment, long enough that Lysandra shifted. Perhaps she was supposed to say something. To begin the seduction. But what?
“Hello,” she managed and then sighed.
Hello? That was the best she could do.
But as silly as it was, it seemed to break the spell. Andrew took a long step toward her.
“Hello, Lysandra. Carlsworth tells me you only just arrived yourself, but I hope what you have seen of your home thus far is satisfactory to you.”
Lysandra blinked. “You cannot be serious in that question. It is a beautiful home, no one could find fault with it.”
He tilted his head and there was a flash of something in his stare that she couldn’t properly read. “I ask because the home is a bit smaller than some mistresses require. I only thought that since we would only share an affair for a short time—”
He trailed off, and Lysandra wrinkled her brow. “Of course you wouldn’t invest in a large mansion for me. And if you had, I wouldn’t know what to do with it. Having so many servants and such a beautiful home to myself is almost too much as it is. Thank you, my lord, for providing it for me.”
He stared at her, but finally nodded. “You are welcome, but I would say that you shouldn’t be overly grateful when you take on a protector. You want them to pursue you, to be driven to give you more.”
Lysandra stared at him. “But if I’m provided for, that should be all I require. I wouldn’t be able to demand something from a person as you suggest. Why would I?”
“The chase, my dear,” Andrew said softly as he took another step toward her. “You must provide these men with a chase, otherwise they will lose interest. And since the chase will not involve the pleasures of your body, it must involve something else. Your comfort. Your company. Your approval.”
Lysandra shook her head. “I understand what you’re saying, but I have a hard time picturing being so demanding.”
One corner of Andrew’s lip lifted in a half-smile. “Then there will be much to teach.”
Wayward One
Lorelie Brown
He’ll protect her with every vicious bone in his body.
During her ten years at the prestigious Waywroth Academy, Sera Miller clung to a strict code of propriety to shield herself from rumors that she isn’t an orphan at all. She’s a bastard. Now she wishes she had never allowed her friends to talk her into snooping into the mysterious source of her tuition.
Her benefactor isn’t the unknown father she dreamed of one day meeting, but Fletcher Thomas—underworld tycoon, gambling den owner, and a man so dangerously mesmerizing that he could spark the scandal Sera has worked so hard to avoid.
Fletcher is only two steps away from leaving the life of crime he inherited from his father. First he plans to join an aboveboard railroad consortium, then claim the one thing his ill-gotten gains have kept safe all these years—Sera.
With every wicked caress, Sera fights harder to remember society’s rules and reject the painful memories his touch resurrects. Accepting Fletcher’s love means accepting her past—a risk too great for a woman who has always lived in the shadows. No matter how safe she feels in his arms.
Warning: This book contains a do-gooder heroine, an accidentally charming hero with tendencies toward caveman-itis, inappropriate household décor and fabulous sex against a wall.
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This book is a work of fiction. The names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the writer’s imagination or have been used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, actual events, locale or organizations is entirely coincidental.
Samhain Publishing, Ltd.
11821 Mason Montgomery Road Suite 4B
Cincinnati OH 45249
Wayward One
Copyright © 2013 by Lorelie Brown
ISBN: 978-1-61921-254-1
Edited by Sasha Knight
Cover by Kim Killion
All Rights Are Reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.
First Samhain Publishing, Ltd. electronic publication: February 2013
www.samhainpublishing.com
Table of Contents
Dedication
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-Two
Chapter Twenty-Three
Chapter Twenty-Five
Chapter Twenty-Six
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Epilogue
About the Author
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