Captain Durant's Countess - By Maggie Robinson Page 0,6
his warm breath on her cheek.
“Just one little taste, I think. To see what I’ll be missing,” he murmured, before his lips came down on hers.
Chapter 2
Reyn Durant was a dog. A right bastard, even if his rackety parents had been married. His behavior thus far had been outrageous. He knew it, but how was he supposed to have recognized the very proper Countess of Kelby? She was the last person in the world he expected to see at the Reining Monarchs Society.
It was not uncommon for an interested party to wander into a discipline session, and the unpredictability of the place had amused him for a time. However, once she’d identified herself, he should have insisted she leave immediately, then crawled into the bed to shock her further if she wouldn’t. Or draped himself in a fringed curtain. At the very least, hollered for Fisher.
He’d done none of those things. He’d flaunted himself like an actor on a stage in his vain attempt to drive her away. And instead of firmly refusing her offer and leading her to the door, he was pressed against her, the quivers of indignation unbelievably tempting.
Damn it, the woman needed kissing in the worst way. Reyn had been in enough scrapes with uncertain outcomes to have learned to always seize the moment, so he touched her lips intending to teach her a lesson and scare her away for her own good.
And was rewarded for his trouble by a sharp knee to his groin.
Fortunately his reflexes were excellent and he avoided the worst of it. The least of it was still painful. He took a deep breath and steadied himself against the wall.
He was an idiot. He should be putting yards between himself and Lady Kelby, but her struggle against him only intensified his desire to master her.
He wasn’t sure why. Despite her finding him in such a compromising position, he did not naturally need to subdue a woman. The Reining Monarchs Society was simply one of those ports in a storm for him, an amusement, nothing more. He had no intention of going through with the unamusing proposition and attempt to impregnate a woman who obviously held him in contempt. A plain, shriveled-up bluestocking to boot.
No, that was wrong. Perhaps she wasn’t so plain now that her color was high and her brown eyes sparked in anger. Up close, he saw her eyelashes were long and batting like butterflies trapped against glass. Beneath her ugly gray dress she was lushly curved, and if she hadn’t partially unmanned him, he might have appreciated her figure more.
She was handsome enough, but totally unsuited for what her husband had in mind. If she couldn’t bear his kiss, how could she endure the rest?
Reyn had been damn near his wit’s end when he responded to the oddly-worded advertisement in The London List. The owner of the newspaper, Mr. Ramsey, had been evasive, but had vetted him thoroughly, asking him so many questions Reyn felt like he was sitting for all those exams he’d so spectacularly failed at school. That strange fellow Ramsey knew more about him than his own mother had. Whatever Reyn had said had pleased him, and the newspaperman had arranged for him to meet with the old earl two months ago. Reyn couldn’t believe his luck at the money that was dangled before him just to go to Kelby Hall.
The travel expenses—and what was promised if he had a satisfactory interview—were much too generous. Reyn had known from the first that something was off, but his sister Virginia needed his help, and he needed money to help her. His efforts had come late, but at least her days were being spent in what little comfort he could provide. He’d hired a nurse and leased a cottage with clean air outside Richmond. He’d given her a dog, because Ginny had always wanted one from the time he could remember. Their parents had never set down roots anywhere long enough to acquire one. An animal was an expense, something Anthony and Corinne Durant could ill afford after their excesses at the tables.
Reyn was really no different. He’d lived everywhere and nowhere, deserting his responsibilities to his sister as he marched through Europe and Canada. But he still had some scruples. He’d never, ever been serious about following through with the Earl of Kelby once he learned what the old man wanted.
The worst that could be said about him was that he’d borrowed money under false pretenses. So