A Taste of Sin Read Free Page B

with Lord Sin in hot pursuit.”
    “I’ll have her, Rudy, she can’t escape me.”
    “You don’t have to convince me, old chap. If you’ll excuse me, I’ll leave you to your games. You’re not the only one in need of female companionship tonight. Lady Grace is at loose ends. Her husband is out of town and she’s consented to favor me with her company for a few hours.”
    Sinjun laughed. “Be careful of that one, my friend. She’s a man eater. You’ll be lucky if you can hobble out of her bedroom when she’s finished with you.”
    Rudy returned his grin. “I’m quite looking forward to it.”
    Sinjun returned his attention to Lady Flora and spotted her descending the staircase, probably going to the ladies powder room. He pushed himself away from the pillar and followed at a discreet distance, determined to intercept her on her way back to the ballroom. He concealed himself in a shadowy corner and waited for her.
    While he waited, Sinjun spent a pleasant few minutes considering the places best suited for an assignation. There were several curtained alcoves off the ballroom, but they were not private enough for what he had in mind. Nor were the upstairs rooms where couples sometimes met in secret. He had used them all at one time or another, but somehow they didn’t seem right for the exquisite Lady Randall. Then he remembered the elegant garden on the grounds, with the gazebo situated at its center, and he smiled.
    Perfect
    Sin’s patience was rewarded when the lady in question came out of the powder room alone. She started violently and uttered a small cry of fright when he stepped from the shadows.
    “Lord Derby, you startled me.”
    “I’ve been waiting for you, my lady.”
    Christy frowned. “Whyever for, my lord?”
    His dark gaze flowed over her face and settled on her bosom. “I think you know.”
    The sound of voices near the staircase forestalled Christy’s answer.
    “We can’t talk here,” Sinjun said as he grasped her hand and pulled her down a dark passage. She resisted. “Where are you taking me?” He gave her one of his charming smiles, put off not at all by her token resistance. “Where we can have some privacy. There is a rear exit. It leads to the garden.”
    “I cannot, my lord. We just met. What will people think?”
    “I don’t give a damn and neither do you.”
    He found the exit and pulled her out into the star-studded night. It was warm for May, exceptionally pleasant for what he had in mind. The garden was rich with foliage and redolent with the smell of spring flowers and wet earth. As he inhaled the heady scent and felt himself swell with anticipation, Sinjun couldn’t recall when he’d last been so excited. He led Christy unerringly to the gazebo. It was unoccupied, and he whispered a heartfelt thanks to the goddess of love, for if any night was made for amour, it was this one.
    Christy had heard about her husband’s madcap escapades with women, but until this moment she hadn’t realized how finely honed his talents were. He ushered her into the gazebo and kicked the door shut. Moonlight filtered through the shutters, starkly etching Sinjun’s intense features, and Christy inhaled sharply. There was a predatory set to his mouth and dancing flames in his eyes. As if nothing occupied his mind but seduction. Her seduction. She took a deep, steadying breath. Was she ready for this? She hadn’t expected it to go so fast. Still, she didn’t intend to make this easy for him. Husband or no, he was still an Englishman and an enemy.
    “We should return to the ballroom, my lord,” she whispered.
    “Don’t try to deny that you’ve had your eye on me all night, for I won’t believe you. You’ve bewitched me, my lady, and well you know it.”
    “That’s a powerful statement, my lord.”
    “My name is Sinjun. May I call you Flora?”
    “If it pleases you.”
    He closed the distance between them and pulled her into his arms, crushing her against him in an onslaught of