Nicole Jordan (51 page)
Authors: Lord of Seduction
For a moment, Antonia simply stared at his strong, rugged features. It was disconcerting to find him on her doorstep, and even more disconcerting to remember how thoroughly he had occupied her thoughts only a short time ago. Could he tell that she’d been entertaining erotic visions of him all morning long? That vivid dreams of him had haunted her sleep last night and so many other nights?
Closing the final distance between them, she forced herself to offer him a calm greeting. “Were you waiting for me, Mr. Deverill?”
“No, I thought I would call on the milkmaid,” he replied, a lazy, amused charm in his sea-green eyes. “Of course I was waiting for you, sweeting.”
Beyond him, Antonia saw, her groom stood holding the bridles of her skittish bay mare along with his own hack, while a strapping chestnut stood patiently nearby, chewing the bit—evidently Deverill’s mount, she deduced.
“How did you know to expect me? I suppose Mrs. Peeke told you I usually enjoy a daily ride in the park?”
Deverill shrugged. “It wasn’t difficult to determine your routine.” He glanced at her solitary groom. “Your betrothed isn’t accompanying you, I see.”
“He doesn’t care to rise so early,” Antonia answered truthfully. “Nor is he as fond of riding as I am.”
“Good. I prefer to enjoy your company uninterrupted.”
Antonia arched an eyebrow. “I don’t recall inviting you, Mr. Deverill.”
His smile was innocent and devilish at the same time. “You didn’t. But I have a business matter to discuss with you that wasn’t appropriate to introduce at the ball last night.”
Antonia didn’t know whether to believe him, but she made no further protest. A morning ride in Hyde Park with Deverill, chaperoned by her groom, was unexceptional, and since he wasn’t the kind of man to give up, she suspected she would do better to give in gracefully now and get any conversation over with.
She hadn’t counted on Deverill touching her, though. When she went to mount, he ignored her groom and took hold of her waist. Antonia drew a sharp breath, her spine tensing as her body eagerly responded to the memory his touch evoked. For a moment their eyes locked, and she felt certain Deverill understood exactly how he affected her. Then, with an ease that betrayed immense physical strength, he lifted her onto her sidesaddle.
Lord of Seduction
is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
A Ballantine Book
Published by The Random House Publishing Group
Copyright © 2004 by Anne Bushyhead
Excerpt from forthcoming novel by Nicole Jordan copyright © 2004 by Anne Bushyhead
All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. Published in the United States by Ballantine Books, an imprint of The Random House Publishing Group, a division of Random House, Inc., New York, and simultaneously in Canada by Random House of Canada Limited, Toronto.
Ballantine and colophon are registered trademarks of Random House, Inc.
eISBN-13: 978-0-345-49404-7
eISBN-10: 0-345-49404-0
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