Lessons of Desire (Rothwell, Band 2) - Softcover

Hunter, Madeline

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0440243947 ISBN 13: 9780440243946

Verlag: Random House Publishing Group, 2007

Inhaltsangabe

Handsome, suave, and carnal as the devil, Lord Elliot Rothwell awaits readers in Lessons of Desire, bestselling author Madeline Hunter’s latest book in the Rothwell series and her most provocative novel to date. A man used to getting what he wants, Elliot is every woman’s most secret fantasy in the living flesh.

He first appears beneath her prison window as her savior—a sinfully attractive man whose charm and connections have ensured her release from an unjust arrest. But author and publisher Phaedra Blair quickly learns that the price of her “freedom” is to be virtually bound to her irresistible rescuer. For Elliot Rothman didn’t come solely on a mission of goodwill. He came to extract a promise that Phaedra won’t publish a slanderous manuscript that could destroy his family’s name, and he’s not above bribery, threats, or bedding her to get his way. And with each erotic encounter raising the stakes between them, Elliot discovers he’s ever more reluctant to lose this sensual game…or the one woman who’s every bit his match.

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Über die Autorin bzw. den Autor

Madeline Hunter is a nationally bestselling author of historical romances who lives in Pennsylvania with her husband and two sons. In a parallel existence to the one she enjoys as a novelist, she has a Ph.D. in art history and teaches at an East Coast university.

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Chapter One


A man who has committed a crime needs to cover his tracks, even if he made them while wearing the best shoes that money can buy.

In order to cover his, Lord Elliot Rothwell reentered his family's London home amidst the late arrivals to his brother's ball. He acted like a young man who had briefly gone out to take some air on this glorious, breezy May night.

With one step over the threshold he no longer entered but instead greeted. The tall, handsome, youngest brother of the fourth Marquess of Easterbrook—the Rothwell sibling considered the most amiable and normal—bestowed smiles on everyone and very warm ones on certain ladies.

A quarter hour later Elliot slid into a conversation with Lady Falrith as smoothly as he had just slipped back into the ballroom. He resumed a topic aborted two hours earlier, and flattered the lady so adroitly that she forgot that he had excused himself long ago. Within minutes Lady Falrith ceased to care about the passage of time.

While Elliot charmed Lady Falrith he scanned the crush in the ballroom for his brother. Not his brother Hayden, who along with his new wife, Alexia, was hosting this ball. He sought the eye of his other brother, Christian, Marquess of Easterbrook.

Christian's gaze never met his but Elliot's return to the ball was noted. Christian disengaged from a circle of lords on the far side of the room and walked to the door.

Elliot danced a waltz with Lady Falrith before continuing this night's mission. He did so in penance for using the lady, and in silent thanks for her unwitting aid. Lady Falrith's sense of time could be fluid, and her memory very optimistic. By the morning she would believe that Elliot had attended on her all night and was in pursuit of her. Her confidence in her own appeal would prove useful should something untoward develop regarding his activities in the city tonight.

The waltz over, he again excused himself. Unlike Christian, who had walked in isolation and with purpose for the door, Elliot strolled down the ballroom sociably, greeting and chatting until he sidled next to his new sister-in-law, Alexia.

"It is going well, don't you agree?" she asked. Her gaze swept the chamber, seeking empirical confirmation.

"It is a triumph, Alexia." And it was, for her. A triumph of spirit and character, and maybe a triumph of love.

Alexia was not the sort of woman whom society had expected Hayden to marry. She had no family and no fortune. She was so sensible that she had never learned how to dissemble, let alone flirt. Yet here she was hosting a grand ball in the home of a marquess, her dark hair impeccably styled and her headdress and garments the last word in fashion. The penniless orphan had married a man who loved her in a way he had never loved before.

Elliot trusted the marriage would be a good one. Alexia would see to that. History had proven that love was a dangerous emotion for Rothwell men. Sensible, practical Alexia would know how to use the love to keep the danger corralled, however. Elliot suspected that she had already tamed the beast several times.

He joined her in admiring the night's success. In the far corner a small, pale woman held court. One too many plumes flourished in the headdress decorating her blonde hair. All the while she kept one gleaming eye on the male attention being paid to a pretty girl nearby.

"The triumph is yours, Alexia, but I think that my aunt intends to take home the biggest prize this hunting season."

"Your aunt Henrietta is understandably happy about Caroline's first season. Two titles have paid addresses of late. However, she is vexed with me tonight because I did not invite one of those titles to this ball, despite her command to do so."

Elliot had little interest in his aunt's vexations. He did, however, have a strong interest in the guest list.

"I have not seen Miss Blair, Alexia. No black habits. No undressed hair. Did Hayden forbid you to invite her?"

"Not at all. Phaedra is abroad. She embarked over a fortnight ago."

He did not want to appear too curious, but . . . "Abroad, you say?"

Her violet eyes warmed with humor. She gave him all of her attention, which, considering the subject, he would rather not have.

"Naples first, then a tour of the south. I told her that you say it is unwise to visit Italy in the heat of summer, but she spoke of desiring to investigate the rituals and feasts of that season." She inclined her head confidentially. "I believe that her father's passing affected her more than she admits. Her final meeting with him was an emotional one. It distressed her. I believe she undertook this voyage in order to lift her spirits."

He did not doubt a deathbed parting with a father could be emotional. His own had touched him indelibly. Tonight, however, he was more interested in Miss Blair's whereabouts, and in matters that had been discussed with her father before they made that permanent farewell.

"If you know where she planned to reside in Naples, I will call on her when I go if she is still there."

"She did leave a residence that she hoped to use. She had learned about it from a friend. If she has not returned prior to your own journey, I will be grateful if you call on her. Her independence sometimes leads to carelessness, so I do worry about her."

He doubted Phaedra Blair took well anyone's worrying about her. Alexia was very good to do so anyway.

"Oh, dear," muttered Alexia.

He saw what caused the sigh that followed. Henrietta aimed for them, her plumes dancing and her dreamy, sparkling eyes displaying glints of determination.

"I think she is after you," Alexia whispered. "Float away, or she will bend your ear complaining how Easterbrook permitted me to host a ball without asking for her agreement. She thinks her residence in this house makes her the mistress of it."

Elliot could float with the best of them. He was long gone downstream before his aunt arrived.


After a quick cut to the servants' corridor and a fast nip up the back stairs, Elliot approached Christian's chambers. He entered the sitting room to find his brother lounging in a chair in the corner.
The sharp look Christian shot at him proved Easterbrook's mind was not nearly as relaxed as his body.

"I did not find it," Elliot said, answering the question those dark eyes asked. "If it is in his offices or his home, it is very well hidden."

Christian audibly exhaled. The sound carried his annoyance that this matter had recently interrupted his freedom to spend his days doing whatever it was that he normally did. Elliot had no idea what those activities might be. No one really knew what Christian was about anymore.

"On knowing he was about to die, he may have burned it," Elliot suggested.

"Merris Langton displayed a character that was unlikely to think of sparing others, even when he was at death's door." Christian crooked a finger under the top of his perfectly tied cravat and gave a little yank to loosen it.

Christian appeared splendid tonight, every inch the lord of the realm. His coats and linens announced their superior quality with every thread. His gesture with the cravat hinted at his discomfort with the night's formality, however, as surely as the long queue of his unfashionably long, dark hair indicated his eccentric bent.

Elliot assumed his brother longed to shed the sartorial symbols of civilization and swathe himself in that exotic robe he often wore. One normally found him barefoot in these chambers, not wearing silk hose and pumps. Currently the only hint of his normal...

Details zur Ausgabe

• Verlag: Random House Publishing Group
• Erscheinungsdatum: 2007
• Sprache: Englisch
• ISBN 10: 0440243947
• ISBN 13: 9780440243946
• Einband: Taschenbuch
• Anzahl der Seiten: 416
• Kontakt zum Hersteller: Nicht verfügbar
• Verantwortliche Person: gpsr@libri.de; gpsr@libri.de; ; Europaallee 1; Bad Hersfeld; 36244; Deutschland