Further Than Passion Read Free Page A

hunter, and from her remark about the Earl of Doncaster it was clear she had designs on him.
    Poor fellow.
    "What is he? All of eighteen?"
    "I suppose."
    "Isn't that a tad young? Even by your low standards?"
    At the insult, she bristled. "I didn't claim any heightened interest."
    "You didn't have to."
    They'd been acquainted since they were children. As an adolescent, he'd foolishly imagined that he loved her, that is, until she'd wed his widowed father. She'd been desperate to be a countess and had greedily grabbed for the distinction, which had certainly given Marcus a swift and decisive lesson in how the world worked.
    He'd never trusted anyone again. Had never cared for anyone, either.
    "I merely find him to be handsome," she contended. "And pleasant. He's a pleasant bo y — u nlike some peers of my acquaintance."
    "He's rich, too."
    "Well, of course he is."
    Marcus rolled his eyes and watched the crowd, irked to realize that he'd have to befriend naive, innocent Christopher Lewis, so as to whisper a few words of
     
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    caution. By all accounts, the lad was an unschooled country dolt. Pamela would eat him alive.
    "You're positive there's no redhead with them?" Marcus hated to raise the subject again, hated to provide Pamela with an indication that the matter was of any importance, but he couldn't avoid it.
    He was dying to learn more about the female who'd stumbled into his bedchamber the previous night. She'd looked drugged, or perhaps she'd been walking in her sleep, and he was intrigued. Pamela had begged him to tryst, and against his better judgment, he'd come by the mansio n — w hich he rarely did. During their foray, he was convinced he'd locked the door to his seldom-used suite, so he still couldn't deduce how his enticing voyeur had gained entrance.
    It had been such a strange encounter. When she'd been in the room, and he'd gazed into Pamela's face, he'd seen the other woman's face, instead, as if she was meant to have been in the bed with him, or as if he could have willed her there had he but concentrated hard enough.
    Then, there was the dream he'd had later, of the two of them having sex. It had been so stirring, so realistic, that his trousers grew uncomfortable whenever he recalled it. He knew she had a small beauty mark on her left buttock, could describe the exact shade of her nipples. How could that be?
    Their fantasy assignation had been rousing, thrilling, and when it had ended, he'd felt such joy and serenity. He was determined to meet her, to ascertain if the special qualities he'd detected would be evident, or if his sense of connection had simply been part of a bizarre reverie. But he could scarcely explain as much to Pamela.
     
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    She hadn't observed their visitor. She'd been too busy, trying to show him what a great lover she was, a pathetic ploy she'd hoped would render an increase in her allowance. She was a whore, and it was humorous to toy with her, to have her presuming she could rekindle his affection, but he was a smart man. He'd been bitten once, and wouldn't let the snake slither too near a second time.
    "Why this sudden curiosity with redheads?" she asked.
    Suspicious, she studied him, but he was a master at indifference, at remaining aloof and detached, so no hint of his intent was visible. She could stare to infinity and garner no clue as to his thoughts.
    He changed the subject. "Have you seen my signet ring?"
    "Why?"
    "It wasn't there when I dressed this morning."
    "Are you assuming this anonymous redhead stole it?"
    "Actually, I suspected you."
    Her mouth tightened into an unflattering pout "You are such a brute! I don't know why I let you in the door!"
    "Because it's my house?" He rented an apartment over the Stevens brothers' gambling hall, while permitting her to reside in the home he'd always despised.
    "As you boorishly remind me, each and every occasion you stop by. If you detest me so, why don't you toss me out into the street and be done with it?"
    "A marvelous