Kat Martin - Rule's Bride

Evelyn said nothing more, but her cheeks still carried an angry flush, and he could see that ending their affair had disturbed her far more than she had admitted.

It didn’t matter.

It wasn’t Evelyn Dreyer he wanted in his bed. It was the woman he had married.

A jolt of desire speared through him and his shaft went hard. He wanted Violet Dewar and he meant to have her.

It was only a matter of when.

Violet stepped back into the shadowy alcove indented into this section of the hallway. Her heart was beating, thrumming like a bird trapped in her chest.

She had been on her way to the ladies’ retiring room when she spotted Rule in the corridor in conversation with a woman. She was tall and statuesque with high, carved cheekbones and a lush bosom no man could miss. Her eyes were dark, her lips full and red. She appeared to be several years older than Violet and she was beautiful. Violet couldn’t hear the conversation, but clearly the woman was angry.

She took a deep breath. Setting a hand over her heart, she willed it to slow. She knew exactly who the lady was, the only person it could be.

She recalled the most recent conversation she had overheard in the ballroom.

“You don’t suppose his marriage has anything to do with his mistress, Lady St. Ives? I heard they parted on very bad terms. Perhaps he married the chit out of spite.”

He hadn’t, of course. He had married her for money and power, not vengeance.

She thought again of the beautiful Lady St. Ives. Violet wasn’t surprised to learn Rule had kept a mistress. Most married men did.

And in truth, as he had said, they were not, in the strictest sense, actually married.

Still, it bothered her. She didn’t like to think of him kissing the blonde, doing more than kissing.

I will show you what is more than kissing , he had said, almost as if it were a vow.

She drew in a shuddering breath. The man is a rogue of the very worst sort , she reminded herself, but she couldn’t get that kiss out of her head.

Checking to be certain the pair no longer stood in the hallway, Violet continued on to the ladies’ room. She was on her way back, nearing the alcove she had hidden in before when she heard Rule calling her name, and a little shiver went through her.

“There you are. I’ve been looking all over.”

She thought of the elegant blonde. “Have you? I thought perhaps you were looking for someone else. Lady St. Ives, perhaps?”

He frowned. “So you’ve heard. I imagined you would, sooner or later.”

“Actually, I saw the two of you together in the hall.”

He glanced away, released a weary breath. “I won’t lie to you, Violet. I’m a man and a man has needs. The affair is over. Has been for some time. I have no interest in Evelyn Dreyer and won’t anytime in the future.”

She pondered the words, wondered if they were true. “I see.”

“I hope you do.”

Her eyes widened as he began to ease her backward into the alcove. His arms came around her, drawing her close, and his mouth came down over hers.

It wasn’t the same gentle kiss as before. It was a hot, taking ravishment so powerful it made her dizzy. Her fingers curled into the muscles across his wide shoulders. Her mouth parted under his fierce assault and his tongue slid over hers.

Violet made a little mewling sound and simply clung to him, swamped with sensation and completely unable to think. He tasted of brandy and she could smell his spicy cologne. Her body was thrumming, pulsing. Every feminine part of her ached with the need for more of what he offered.

Rule finally ended the kiss, but kept an arm around her as if he knew he had left her weak in the knees.

He reached out and ran a finger down her cheek. “God, I want you.”

Violet stood there trembling. “You…you can’t keep doing that.”

“Kissing you? I’m your husband. I can kiss you whenever I wish, and furthermore, I intend to do it every chance I get.”

“But…but…”

“You gave me thirty days to convince you. That is what I am doing—convincing you.”

“But I can’t just…You can’t just…We can’t just…”

“Yes, we can. Come along, sweet wife. Let us collect your cousin. It is past time we went home.”

Violet swallowed, but she didn’t argue. She had mistakenly thought she would be safe from Rule at a very large, well-attended ball.

She had just discovered there was no place she was safe from Rule Dewar.

Violet lay on the mattress staring up at the ice-blue canopy above her head. Guilt rested like a heavy weight on her chest. She shouldn’t have been kissing Rule. She was going to marry Jeffrey. She shouldn’t have responded the way she did.

Dear God, why had she agreed to Rule’s ridiculous arrangement in the first place?

But, of course, at the time it had seemed the best solution, the easiest way out of the marriage. No attorneys, no scandal, just a quiet annulment to which Rule had promised to agree.

She sighed into the quiet of the room, trying not to remember tonight’s kiss, the incredible sensations that had burned through her body. Surely it was merely a physical response. If Jeffrey kissed her that way, she would feel exactly the same.

A sound reached her from the hallway outside her bedroom. She jerked upright at the squeak of the silver doorknob turning. Surely Rule wouldn’t—

She relaxed as Caroline slipped into the bedroom and told herself she didn’t feel a flicker of disappointment.

“We didn’t get to talk after the ball,” Caroline said, plopping down on the edge of the mattress in her nightgown and pink silk wrapper. Low flames curled over the grate in the hearth, banishing the chill and lighting the room with a soft yellow glow. “Wasn’t it simply magnificent?”

Violet scooted back, propping herself up against the headboard. “I suppose it was.”

“You suppose? Good heavens, I had a marvelous time. I danced until my slippers were nearly worn out.”

“You weren’t the one having to pretend to be something you are not.”

“Like a wife, you mean?”

“Like Rule’s blissful bride.”

Caroline wound a lock of long blond hair around the tip of her finger. “I think his family liked you. I don’t suppose that truly matters, but still…”

“I wanted them to like me. They are very nice people.”

Caroline eyed her with suspicion. “You aren’t thinking you might stay married?”

“Of course not.” She examined a fold in the satin counterpane. “Rule had a mistress. Did you hear?”

Caroline sighed. “I heard the gossip. Everyone was buzzing about it. She was there, you know.”

“I saw them together. Rule says the affair is over, but that doesn’t mean he doesn’t intend to replace her with someone else. Most married men think nothing of keeping a mistress.”

“You are better off with Jeffrey.”

“I know.”

“Did you meet anyone interesting?” Caroline asked.

“Actually, I did. A potential buyer for the company. A man named Burton Stanfield. Apparently he made an offer but Rule turned it down.”

“Did you ask him why?”

“Not yet, but I intend to. Of course, he couldn’t have accepted without my approval even if he had wished.”

“Maybe he doesn’t want to sell. Maybe he likes running the company.”

“Once the marriage is annulled, I become sole owner of Griffin and I can do whatever I want. I don’t want to make weapons that could be used in a war to kill my family and friends.”

“It’s going to come to that, isn’t it? We’re going to have some sort of revolution?”

“Yes, I feel certain we are. At any rate, Rule has done a good job thus far and I’d like to know his thoughts on Stanfield as a buyer. At the same time, I don’t want to alert him to the fact I intend to sell. I’ll have to tread carefully.”