Something In Red (Fancytales Regency Romance Series) Read Free

number of costumed guests milling along the cobblestone walk edging her grandmother's front courtyard.
    His dark brow rose mockingly, and Rhiad groaned. She tugged at his arm. “Let me pass, Lord Wolfe.”
    He shook his head in refusal, and Rhiad dropped onto the cushioned seat, head back, eyes closed.
    “You've nothing to gain from my ruination,” she pointed out. “There have been too many before me, my lord. The debauching of one more innocent will bolster your reputation not a whit.”
    “Perhaps not.” He shrugged, nonchalant. “But then...”
    He sat back against the squabs once again, head tilted at a studious angle, the barest hint of a question in his gaze. “What say you to a reprieve of sorts, little Red?”
    Now he wanted her to bargain with him? Rhiad wanted to slap the studied look off his face. She wanted to rap her delicate, glove-encased knuckles upon the ceiling of the carriage and have the driver continue their journey until dawn, so their time together inside the carriage might never end.
    She wanted to know if his embrace were as warm as the hint of sultry passion in his gaze, but more than anything, Rhiad wished her grandmother hadn't forced her to attend tonight's masquerade ball. If she had not, Rhiad realized, she would never have found herself sitting across from this frustrating, delightfully intriguing but completely out of her league heartless rogue who taunted and tempted her with naught more than his presence.
    “A reprieve?”
    He nodded. “Aye. Rather than exit the carriage here in front of the house, as your grandmother's invited guests must do, perhaps we could have the driver go 'round to the back instead?”
    Rhiad considered his proposal. If she fled the carriage here, her grandmother's guests would certainly notice and wonder at her reaction, even if Lord Wolfe remained inside. But if they did not join the gathering crowd of carriages in the lane and drove round to the stables instead... was it possible to escape the curious stares of her grandmother's guests and certain ruination after all?
    She peered at him, considering. What, now, was his game? “Why the sudden change of plan, my lord, for I know you have no heart.”
    “Of course,” he said, his tone mocking. Then, without waiting for her capitulation, he thumped his knuckles against the roof of the carriage and called out instructions to the driver before continuing his explanation. “I've only just recalled the story, Red. To remain true, as you so kindly pointed out before, I must first take care of your grandmother.”

Chapter Four
     
    After what seemed like hours, an upstairs maid had finally reported that Red had been received and dutifully tucked into her family's private wing and was even now safely ensconced in a bedroom which he believed the earl and countess kept prepared for her occasional visits here in the country.
    Certain Rhiad had made it safely inside without mishap, Damien quietly made his way across the Earl of Ashwood's back lawn, where he then stole through a matched pair of stained glass doors from the terrace into the Countess's private sitting room.
    Carefully, he closed the doors behind him, but the barely audible click must have been enough to alert the countess to his presence because she turned immediately to find him lounging against the frame.
    “My grand-daughter is safe?”
    The lady's solemnly intoned question hung in the semi-silence of the room, as much a demand for positive affirmation as a sincere query. Her eyes held concern, even if her voice did not.
    Not if she continues to play bold with the less than honorable members of theton , Damien thought. But he said, “For the moment.”
    Lady Althea Hoode rose, bent to retrieve a small pouch from a drawer at the front of her writing desk, and then, taking the gold and ivory feathered fan from her escritoire with her, she confronted him boldly. “What of Lord Woodhurst?”
    “The young lord will, at the very least, be detained