Pure Temptation Read Free

demure woolen dress of inferior quality, sporting no ornament whatever. He’d never known a whore to dress in such drab clothing. One would expect to see women of her sort garbed in flaming scarlet with most of her bosom exposed. Turning her slightly, he unfastened the row of buttons marching down her back andpulled the dress away from her body. The pervading dampness had rendered her chemise all but transparent, revealing lush breasts topped with ripe, cherry-red nipples. When he heard Pettibone open the bedroom door, he quickly slid back the quilt and pulled it over her.
    “The water, sir,” Pettibone said, presenting a steaming pitcher and a stack of towels. “Will you be needing anything else, sir?”
    “You’re completely unflappable, aren’t you, Pettibone?” Jack said with a hint of amusement. “I knew I acted wisely when I kept you on. Though I can little afford servants, I don’t regret retaining your services.”
    Pettibone looked enormously pleased. “Living with you has taught me to expect anything, so nothing you do surprises me, sir. Will the lady be all right?”
    “We won’t know until the doctor examines her. Send him up the moment he arrives. Tell Fenwick to await me in the library. We would appreciate something to eat later.”
    Pettibone left the room, and Jack turned back to the woman occupying his bed. She was shivering, and he placed another blanket over her, wondering how long she had been out in the brutal weather. Did she have no sense at all? Didn’t she know she’d find little business on a night like this?
    The disgruntled doctor, perturbed at being routed out of bed at such an ungodly hour, arrived a few moments later and shooed Jack out of the room. Jack joined Spence in the library.
    “Well, how is she?” Spence asked, smothering a yawn behind a lace-edged handkerchief.
    “Still unconscious,” Jack said, frowning. “I fear I may have done the woman irreparable harm. She’s my responsibility now, though Lord only knows what I’m going to do with the wench once she’s recovered. It would be a travesty to send her back out on the streets. She’s younger than we thought,Spence, and probably new at her trade. I may be a black-hearted rogue, but I’m not a devil.”
    “Hire her on as a maid,” Spence said, wagging his eyebrows suggestively. “Or keep her to warm your bed.”
    Jack sent him a black look. “As you well know, I can’t afford a maid. As for warming my bed, I have no problems on that score. My tastes are rather discerning. I prefer women who don’t ply their trade on the streets.”
    “Lud, Jack, I think you’re stuck with the woman until she recuperates and you can send her on her way.”
    “The woman upstairs in that bed isn’t going anywhere for a while, gentlemen.”
    The doctor entered the library and plopped into an overstuffed chair that had seen better days.
    “What’s wrong with her, Doctor…I’m sorry, I didn’t catch your name.”
    “Dudley. For starters, her left arm is broken. She has numerous bruises and most likely will develop pneumonia, which can be quite serious. Pretty little thing. Who is she, and how did she get hurt?”
    Jack hesitated, suddenly at a loss for words. For some obscure reason, he didn’t want to reveal the fact that the woman was quite likely a whore.
    “She’s a distant relative of Jack’s, from the Irish side of the family. Her father is a baron. He sent his daughter to London to be introduced to society,” Spence said, warming to the subject. “She’s Jack’s ward. She was injured when her coach overturned on the outskirts of London. She lay out in the rain several hours before help arrived and she was brought here.”
    Jack groaned in dismay. Spence’s fertile imagination would be the death of him one day.
    Enormously pleased with his quick thinking, Spence sent Jack a smug grin. Jack’s virulent scowl was anything but amused.
    “That would explain the injuries,” Dr. Dudley said. “I’ll leave