Heiress in Love (49 page)

No.
No, she couldn’t mean she’d willingly suffer his advances. It was all a ploy to get him to the altar. She’d do her duty and marry him, then wait until the wedding night to reveal her revulsion.

The tangles in his belly drew into tight knots. Were his prospects so attractive to her? No other woman had been willing to risk herself in pursuit of his worldly expectations.

As he stared down at her, a smile trembled on those plump, pink lips. Gently, as if speaking to a child, Rosamund said, “I’m not afraid of you.”

The bottom seemed to fall out of his stomach. Apart from Jacks, he scared the living daylights out of every female he met.

Unreasoning anger filled him. Suddenly, he wanted to scare her, to make her admit her fear. Otherwise, what chance did he have against her?

With a strangled groan, Griffin gripped her waist and lifted her up and planted his mouth on hers.

Fire surged through his veins at the first touch of those soft, warm lips. He ravished her mouth, hardly registering whether she responded. He wanted to punish her, to show her how much she’d loathe suffering the intentions of a man like him. To strip away her veneer of acceptance and make her admit her disgust.

But her soft, fragrant femininity called to him, a siren’s song that drew him, stirring not only his body but shaking him down to his soul. With a hoarse groan, he wrapped his arms around her waist and angled his head to delve further into her mouth.

“One of the most compelling heroes I’ve read in years.”

—Anna Campbell, author of
Midnight’s Wild Passion

This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, organizations, and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.

HEIRESS IN LOVE

Copyright © 2011 by Christina Brooke.

Excerpt from
Mad About the Earl
copyright © 2011 by Christina Brooke.

All rights reserved.

For information address St. Martin’s Press, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10010.

ISBN: 978-0-312-53412-7

St. Martin’s Paperbacks edition / July 2011

St. Martin’s Paperbacks are published by St. Martin’s Press, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10010.

eISBN 978-1-4299-8647-2

First St. Martin’s Paperbacks eBook Edition: June 2011