Lord of Temptation Read Free Page A

were drawn to
the danger he represented. He had only to smile and they fell into his arms.
They presented no challenge.
    The lady who’d been sitting before him was
different. She’d stepped through the door as though she owned the night, had
called down the rain, had commanded the thunder to rumble. With the most
gracious movements he’d ever seen, she’d reached up and moved aside the wet hood
of her pelisse.
    He’d felt a quick, almost brutal tightening of his
body in response to the exquisiteness of the face revealed. High cheekbones,
flawless skin. Her hair, piled on top of her head, was not quite blond, not
quite white. The palest of shades.
    She’d spoken to a man standing nearby, and
Tristan—who had never been jealous of any man—was envious. When the lady began
wending her way toward him, he’d anticipated her arrival as he’d anticipated
little of late. He’d made a wager with himself regarding the shade of her eyes.
Green, he’d thought. But he lost the wager. They were a faint silver, haunting.
They’d known tragedy. Of that he was certain.
    But they’d not been conquered and he was suddenly
of a mind to do so. Her fiancé was a fool of the highest order to go off and
play at war when he had her here to warm his bed.
    Sebastian had fought in the Crimea. He’d left half
his face on the battlefield, perhaps even a portion of his soul, until Mary had
come back into his life and made him whole again. So Tristan had no love for
that area of the world, for the trouble it had caused his brother, but the
notion of having Lady Anne on his ship intrigued him. Although he didn’t quite
fancy the idea of delivering her to another man. Rather he wanted her for
himself. For a time anyway. For a bit of sport, a bit of fun.
    He wasn’t surprised that she’d not recognized him.
He wasn’t decked out like a gentleman. It was also possible, since she was
betrothed, that she’d not attended the two balls where he and his brothers had
made their scandalous appearances after returning to London. The nerve of them to actually be alive and not devoured by
wolves. While Sebastian might be frequenting those circles now, it
would take a keen eye to recognize the similarities between the two men. Most
people didn’t see beyond his brother’s disfigurement.
    Tristan liked that she didn’t know how he fit into
her world—quite uncomfortably if the truth were known. He’d hid it well with
quick smiles, laughter, and teasing. But he had little desire to return to the
maze of London Society. Rafe had the right of it. Better to stay in the shadows
where they were comfortable. They’d been too long without politeness. It was a
tight shroud, one he didn’t enjoy wearing.
    He had a keen insight when it came to discovering
buried treasure. He wanted this Lady Anne who’d dared approach him and offer him
money. He could have taken it and then wooed her once she was on his ship, but
that would have made it all too easy.
    He stroked her discarded glove where it remained on
the table. In her haste to leave, she’d forgotten it. He yearned for a
challenge.
    He was fairly certain that she would provide him
with one—one he was likely to never forget.

Chapter 2
    “W ell?” Martha asked as soon as Anne was comfortably settled in the carriage and they were on their way.
    “Your brother was unfortunately mistaken,” she said succinctly to her lady’s maid. “He has not the makings of a hero at all, and he is most certainly not an honorable man.”
    “Are you certain you spoke with the correct person?”
    “Quite.”
    “I don’t understand. Johnny sailed with him, spoke so highly of him—”
    “Yes, well, I assure you that he is a man with whom I have no wish to associate.” She balled her hand into a fist. Blast it! She’d left her glove behind. Her hand was still so warm from the journey his fingers had taken over it that she’d not even thought about the silly glove. She’d never known such a sensuous touch. It