A Week to Be Wicked (36 page)
Her mouth quirked in a droll, self-conscious smile. It was reassuring to see, and at the same time, devastating.
“When you put it that way, I find myself unable to refuse.”
For God’s sake, don’t say that
.
“Thank you,” she added. She laid a gentle touch to his sleeve.
For your own sake, don’t do that
.
He pulled away from her touch, and she looked hurt. Which made him want to soothe her, but he didn’t dare try.
“Mind the pup,” he said.
Thorne helped her into the saddle, boosting her at the knee, rather than the thigh, as might have been more efficient. He mounted the gelding, taking the reins in one hand and keeping one arm about her waist. As he nudged the horse into a walk, she felt soft and warm against him. His thighs bracketed hers.
Her hair smelled of clover and lemon. The scent rushed all through his senses before he could stop it. Damn, damn, damn. He could discourage her from talking to him, touching him. He could keep her distracted with a dog. But how could he prevent her from being shaped like a woman and smelling like paradise?
Never mind the beatings, the lashings, the years of prison . . .
Thorne knew, without a doubt, the next three hours would be the harshest punishment of his life.
TESSA DARE is a sometime librarian, full-time mom, and swing-shift writer. Recently,
Booklist
magazine named her one of the “new stars of historical romance.” She makes her home in Southern California, where she shares a cozy, cluttered bungalow with her husband, their two children, and a big brown dog.
Visit Tessa Dare at
www.tessadare.com
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A Week to Be Wicked
A Night to Surrender
Three Nights with a Scoundrel
Twice Tempted by a Rogue
One Dance with a Duke
A Lady of Persuasion
Surrender of a Siren
Goddess of the Hunt
Coming Soon
A Lady by Midnight
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
Excerpt from
A Lady by Midnight
copyright © 2012 by Eve Ortega
A WEEK TO BE WICKED
. Copyright © 2012 by Eve Ortega. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive, nontransferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse-engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.
EPub Edition APRIL 2012 ISBN: 9780062049865
Print Edition ISBN: 9780062049872
FIRST EDITION
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