Mysty McPartland Read Free Page A

became uncomfortable thinking how they would taste. He gave his head a shake as he continued to appraise her. Long think black lashes and brows, a small pointed chin and there was no mistaking her stubbornness.
    He reluctantly admitted he liked what he saw, in fact her features fascinated him. It was a good thing he supposed, that at least he found her attractive since they were married. She was so different from her sister and remembering that woman he grew angry all over again. When the carriage came to a stop, he grasped her arm and waited impatiently for her to acknowledge him. “Where is your sister? And explain to me why she ran away?”
    “I don’t know where Bethany is or why she left. One can only assume she abhorred the thought of marrying you.” Sheldon could tell that her explanation set his temper off once again. Well she didn’t care. She wasn’t taking the blame for her sisters selfishness, not after being forced into a marriage with a renowned womanizing rake.
    His jaw clenched, Nathan fought down his anger. The little hellion certainly knew who to spike a man’s displeasure. Especially his. His jaw clenched as he remembered the night she caught him naked and fully aroused. He’d been livid at the time, yet she stood facing him with utter contempt in her eyes. His annoyance rose up several degrees, wondering just how many other men she caught in such a compromising situation. It would be another thing they would have to discuss later, because it was damn sure not going to happen again. He intended to put a stop to her visiting whore houses, or any other undesirable establishments.
    Sheldon stood up and shrugged in unconcern, but inside she quivered in trepidation. “I know we’ll talk about this later.” Lord, the man was maddening.
    Nathan also rose to his feet and clasped her elbow. “Damn right we will.” He snarled out the side of his mouth as he alighted from the carriage and helped her down. “For the time being though, I recommend you portray the happy bride.”
    Her eyes rolling, Sheldon was tempted to give a scathing reply, but the unbridled warning and anger in his eyes made her decide to keep her remark to herself. The argument between them wasn’t over by a long shot, and she knew the next few hours were going to be nerve racking as it was.
    While they strode together up the steps, Nathan was preoccupied. His thoughts were on how he was going to explain the change in brides. It was damn humiliating, but what could he have done about it other than what he did. His wife’s sister was what everyone called a true beauty, tall, willowy and blonde hair. The complete opposite to the woman he married as night and day. Bethany, though lovely to look upon, didn’t have a sensible or intelligent thought in her head.
    Which suited him just fine. He didn’t want a wife to have an opinion on matters that didn’t have anything to do with a woman. He only wanted a wife that would satisfy him occasionally in bed and give birth to his children. Other than that, he wanted nothing else from her. He knew though that the woman walking beside him would be none of those things. She would be argumentative on just about everything. She was quite adamant that she wasn’t going to satisfy him in bed or have his children.
    So just what he was going to do about the situation he wasn’t quite certain? Although, he did know for a certainty that they would stay married. He definitely wasn’t going to go through this nightmare again. Well, that only left one alternative, he would have to charm the damn little spitfire and seduce her into bed. How hard could it be? After all, no woman ever denied him before, so he didn’t see any problem with his plan. Just because he’d never needed to do it before didn’t mean he couldn’t.

Chapter Three

    Across the room, Nathan observed his wife and was surprised to see her smiling and looking so animated while she conversed with the other two women. He could feel the