Shayla Black Read Free Page A

that wound to the center of her tingling palm and back. Maddie gasped as she felt the hot, needy clenching of her womb. With her heart beat quickening beneath his touch, he smiled.
    Maddie pulled on her wrist, only to find herself locked in his steely grip. “Release me.”
    Brock held her a long moment—to prove that he could—before he let go. “Once we’re wed, Maddie, I will never release you.”
    “ I do not believe you’re willing to bind yourself to me for the rest of your life to—well, simply for...”
    “ Sex?” His low voice rang with mischief. “It will be interesting to see if you still blush when I undress you.”
    “ Stop dallying and tell me what the hell you want.”
    “ My, my, my. What shocking language, Lady Wolcott. What would the ladies of the ton think?”
    Maddie pursed her lips, refusing to reply.
    Turning away, he paced past an armchair and gazed into the empty hearth, his expression contemplative. “Money has afforded me almost everything I’ve ever wanted, except entry into society. I count some of the wealthiest lords in England as my clients. I’ve helped them regain their fortunes with well-placed financial advice. They come to my office willing to pay staggering fees for my guidance and connections to lucrative investments. Some have even begged. Those same men ignore me when they see me on the street. I rival their fortunes, sometimes exceed them, yet they will not recognize me.”
    That hardly surprised Maddie. Brock, a self-educated man born to the serving class, had little hope of that. The ton fraternized only with those who possessed the proper bloodlines.
    “ They never will.”
    “ Wrong. They will invite me into their homes, to their balls. I’ll make certain of it.”
    “ You cannot force people to like you,” she pointed out.
    “ I hardly care if they do.” A wicked grin curved his mouth. He relished the challenge.
    Did he see her as a challenge, as well?
    “ Let them loathe me, in fact. But if they want my help, they must accept me in their midst. The right social connections will enhance my business. But to gain entrée, I need you. After all, with a well-born wife, like an earl’s daughter, the ton could not ignore me quite so easily. The doors of my clients—and their friends—would open for me.”
    The realization that Brock’s plan might indeed work zapped Maddie’s last hope that he had been trifling with her for the mere sport.
    No! She would not sacrifice herself for his ambition. Nor could she conceive of placing her body legally in his possession. Instinct told her he was not the same boy who had taken her in a sweet but hurried loving once upon a time. Gossip painted him as feral, ruthless to his enemies. He would treat her no differently. Though she had endured much during her marriage to Colin, Brock frightened her more. He was more calculating—and dangerous for it.
    Maddie could not let him use her again or coerce her back into matrimonial hell.
    “ So you seek to buy a well-born wife,” she said with contempt, refusing to show fear. “Tongues will wag about our reasons for wedding.”
    He scoffed. “Let them. That will not change the fact that we’re married.”
    “ I will not marry you.”
    In a handful of strides, he was across the room, his hot green stare drilling into her. “Are you certain? Think very carefully.”
    She swallowed. Fleet was a terrible place, infested with vermin and lice. She would be made to exist on one tiny bowl of flour-based slop each day. She would never see the sun.
    Maddie pushed aside her fear, praying he merely sought to scare her. “No.”
    “ You have more than yourself to consider.” He sent her a thoughtful stare. “What of your daughter?”
    Maddie felt her face drain of blood. A buzzing roared in her head as blackness crowded her vision. Dear God, when had he learned of Aimee? How? And what exactly did he know?
    “ And though your late husband was stupid, I doubt he ever intended a