Total pages in book: 87
Estimated words: 82367 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 412(@200wpm)___ 329(@250wpm)___ 275(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 82367 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 412(@200wpm)___ 329(@250wpm)___ 275(@300wpm)
No hesitation, she simply walked to the bed and laid the dress out. “Very good, miss.” Then she was gone.
Rushing, Rosamunde ripped off the other dress and moaned as her body protested the fast motion. Glancing down, she saw marks all over her pale skin and she smiled. Those were from Bryn. Her nipples tightened at the memory and she cupped her breasts, marveling at the difference between her touch and his. With his large, callused hands, he created a fire deep within her. Her own touch? Passable.
Head back as a low moan slipped from between her lips, she pulled on her nipples, wishing again he was there with her as a needy tug shot directly to her core. With a curse, something else that hadn’t been a thing before she’d begun spending time with Bryn, she lowered her hands and shook herself. The maid would be back in moments and it wouldn’t do to be in the midst of pleasuring herself when she walked in.
The dress fit her perfectly, and she had to say was very comfortable and a lot warmer than she’d expected it to be. There were no stays or multiple layers, it was merely a simple dress.
Rosamunde had just stepped in front of the mirror when the door opened, admitting the maid.
“That is stunning on you, miss. Would you like me to do your hair?”
Arms aching, she nodded. “A simple bow in the back, please.”
“Of course.”
The idle chitchat didn’t bother her as the woman brushed her hair and gathered it at the nape of her neck with a ribbon matching her dress color.
“Thank you.”
She curtsied. “Anything else you need?”
“Not right now, thank you.”
Another curtsey and Rosamunde found herself alone once again. Feet in the deliciously warm moccasins she’d been given by Lady Heartstone, she exited the room and walked down to the first floor.
“Let me get this straight,” a deep, deceptively calm, masculine voice said. “You’re accusing my son of this?” A tense pause. “My son?”
She hesitated at the bottom of the stairs, unsure if she should continue or retreat. Keely came into view and shot her a look of pure exasperation.
“What’s going on?”
“Your daddy’s pissing off my daddy. Wanna watch?” No anger in her tone, only amusement.
Keely hooked their arms and began moving them toward the voices.
“I shouldn’t.”
“Don’t worry, my family still looks at you as one of theirs.” She stopped them closer to the study. “We’ll stay here.” Keely patted her on the arm.
“My son is beaten and bruised.”
“From what I heard, he wanted to learn boxing. That kind of thing happens when a boy tries to fight a man.” Lucien St. Martin sounded bored.
Yet there is something else in his voice. A warning, perhaps.
“This didn’t happen at the academy, because your boy refused to train mine any longer.”
“I’m only going to say this one time, Lord Barberaton.” Honey-smooth with a chest-tightening dose of menace. “Mind your tongue how you speak of my family. I’m not a man you want as an enemy, especially given your financial issues. I know exactly how you have spoken of my son, what name you call him, and let’s not forget the insults to my wife.”
A cold wave of embarrassment hit her. Keely leaned close. “We know you don’t feel that way and we don’t hold his actions against you.” Another pat. “You’re family, we protect family.”
This was so bad. She longed for nothing more than to run out into the winter weather and let it do what it did best. Freeze everything.
“I would suggest you and your son think very hard before you come after my family. I know exactly who you are and what you’re doing. I hear the slightest bit of a slander against my son or the love of my life and you’ll see exactly why they used to refer to me as the Black Marquess. I will have zero mercy as I take from you everything you hold dear. Every fucking thing. If there is anything left, I’ll let my father have a turn and we all know how gentle the Duke of Stokley is. I will ruin you and your family without hesitation.” The tone, short, clipped, did nothing aside from promise everything the man had just declared.
“You wouldn’t.” A deaf man could have picked up on the desperation in her father’s voice. “You daughter is my daughter’s friend. This would hurt our daughters.”
“I would in a second.” No forgiveness.
Rosamunde tried to curl into herself and pull away from Keely, but she held fast, disturbingly strong.
“But…”
“Everyone knows you’re selling her to get money to pay off your debts. She won’t be in the picture. So it will have no bearing on either of them.”
“I have two other daughters.”
“Whom I care nothing about. They’re your children, not mine.” A sigh. “We’re done. You may see yourself out.”