The Rules of Seduction (Rothwell, Band 1) - Softcover

Hunter, Madeline

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0553587323 ISBN 13: 9780553587326

Verlag: Random House Publishing Group, 2006

Inhaltsangabe

Dangerous. Sensual. Handsome as sin. Meet Hayden Rothwell, the shamelessly erotic hero of The Rules of Seduction and author Madeline Hunter’s most irresistible alpha male yet: a man of extraordinary passion and power, a man who can bring out the seductress in any woman.…

He enters her home without warning or invitation–a stranger of shadowy motives and commanding sensuality. Within hours, Alexia Welbourne is penniless, without any hope of marriage. Until Hayden Rothwell takes her to bed. When one impulsive act of passion forces Alexia to marry the very man who has ruined her, Hayden’s seduction of Alexia is nearly complete. What Alexia doesn’t know is that her irresistible new husband is driven by a secret purpose–and a debt of honor he will risk everything to repay. Alexia is the wild card. Reluctant to give up their nightly pleasures, Hayden must find a way to keep Alexia by his side...only to be utterly, thoroughly seduced by a woman who is now playing by her own rules.

Über diesen Titel

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.

Auszug. © Genehmigter Nachdruck. Alle Rechte vorbehalten.

Chapter One



A shadow entered the house with the early visitor. Alexia sensed trouble even before she saw who had called.

The low voices in the reception hall caused her to pause on the steps as she descended with her workbasket. She heard the tone of firm demand, even if she could not make out the words. She heard the servant's deferential resistance have no effect. Falkner, the butler, was called. Faced with determined, quiet power, the house's forces retreated.

Foreboding entered Alexia much as it had when the men arrived to tell the family about Benjamin. She had too much experience with the sensation to ignore its warning. Bad news alters the world at once. It changes the air. A human heart knows grief is coming as surely as a horse senses an approaching storm.

She could not move. Carrying her workbasket out to the garden to join her cousins in the early afternoon sun flew from her mind.

Legs appeared, heading her way. Long legs, sheathed in black trousers and fine boots. They followed the butler toward the staircase. Falkner wore the expression of a servant who had been commanded by a king.

The visitor's torso appeared, then his shoulders and dark crown. As if sensing someone observed him, he looked up to her spot on the landing.

Alexia immediately understood Falkner's submission. This visitor's stature, face, and demeanor could intimidate even if one did not know his exalted station. Dark hair, unruly as if the brushes had been forgotten this morning, framed a handsome face composed of strong, chiseled planes. Signs of fatigue dulled his deeply set, midnight-blue eyes. Strained forbearance tightened his square jaw and firmly set mouth. Lord Hayden Rothwell, brother of the fourth Marquess of Easterbrook, presented the image of a weary man determined to see through an unpleasant task. It went without saying that he had not come in response to the many calling cards Timothy had left at Easterbrook's home over the last year.

As they approached her, Falkner caught her eye and communicated his dismay. The butler also sniffed the storm.

Lord Hayden paused on her landing and made the slightest bow. She had been introduced to him once, but he did not address her. As his head rose, his gaze scanned her from toe to head. The assessment was so complete, so oddly interested, that she felt her face warming.

The planes of his face vaguely rearranged themselves. As if a statue had come to life, warmth entered his eyes and his mouth relaxed. Sympathy subtly softened him.

In a blink, his stern demeanor returned and abolished the kindness, but she had seen enough to make her heart sick. She recognized pity in the look he had given her. Oh, yes, this man's arrival heralded nothing good.

"Are you bringing Lord Hayden to the drawing room or the library, Falkner?" She was being too bold, but she did not care. Over the years she had learned that anticipating bad news was much worse than actually hearing it. She had no intention of submissively waiting and worrying.

"The drawing room, Miss Welbourne."

Lord Hayden guessed her intentions. "Please do not disturb Miss Longworth on my behalf. This is not a social call."

"We will not send for her, if that is your request. However, it may be some time before Mr. Longworth can attend on you. We can at least see to your comfort."

She did not wait for approval but turned on her heel and led the way up to the second level.

She set aside her workbasket in the drawing room and saw to the comfort she promised. She played the hostess even though he did not want one.

"It is uncommonly fair for January, don't you think?" she asked after he agreed to sit on the new, blue-patterned divan. "The day thus far has been glorious."

His eyebrows rose a fraction at the unfortunate emphasis she put on "thus far."

"Yes, unseasonably warm these last days," he said.

"I think such days are cruel, much as I relish them."

"Cruel?"

"They tease one into believing spring is coming, when there are months of cold and damp ahead."

For a second a mischievous light sparked in his eyes. "It may be no more than a tease, but I prefer to enjoy the pleasure and worry about the cold when it comes."

It almost sounded improper when he phrased it that way. She changed the topic with an observation about the recent holidays. He agreed with whatever she said. With fits and starts, she cobbled together an awkward conversation.

His mind was not with her, she could tell. It was on his meeting with Timothy. The air in the drawing room grew thick from the impending doom this man exuded.

She could not bear it any longer. "My cousin is ill, Lord Hayden. Composing himself enough to meet with you may be impossible. Could this not wait for another day?"

"No."

That was all she got. That one word, spoken flatly, simply, and firmly.

He turned his attention away, to nothing. He kept doing that, just as he had on the stairs. She wondered if he found her company presumptuous. She was not the mistress of the house but merely a cousin. Since he had refused to have Roselyn informed of his visit, it was not her fault he was stuck with a poor second-best.

"Perhaps, sir, if I brought a message to my cousin on the purpose of your visit, he would . . ."

Her voice trailed off as he stared her down much like a vicar does when silencing a whispering child in church.

She did not care for the expression in his eyes that said he knew what she was doing either. Hayden Rothwell was reputed to be brilliant and brusque and arrogant. She could not disagree with that assessment thus far.

Then again, she had not approached this inquiry very artfully. She tried a different tack. Since he was renowned for his financial acumen, she turned the conversation to that in order to make him amenable to other questions. "Have you heard any news from the City today, Lord Hayden? Does the bank crisis continue?"

"I fear it will continue for some time, Miss Welbourne. Such panics usually do."

"You have some dealings with my cousin's bank, I believe. All is well there, I trust."

"As of an hour ago when I left the City, Darfield and Longworth was still solvent."

"Thank goodness. There has been no run, then. With so many other banks suffering them, I have been concerned."

A dark, hard amusement entered his eyes. "No, there has been no run on the bank."

That relieved her. Several large London banks had failed in the last month. The newspapers were full of stories of the ripples of insolvency hitting smaller county banks. Everywhere one went, there was talk of failure, ruin, and bankruptcy. She suspected that Timothy's current illness came from worry over his bank's future.

"Do you have funds there?" He seemed actually interested.

"A mere pittance. My concern is for my cousins."

She had succeeded in garnering his attention with her financial questions. Rather too well. He looked her over again, longer this time, with a casual arrogance that implied he was entitled to such forwardness while lesser men were not. It was the examination of a man who knew his worth too well and who assumed a dispensation from etiquette as a result.

His attention lingered intensely on her eyes, absorbing her so completely that she had to blink to find her thoughts again. Slowly and deliberately, he took in the rest of her. Her face warmed, and an uncomfortable liveliness prickled all her skin. He flustered her badly, in ways that echoed other flusters caused years ago by another man's...

Details zur Ausgabe

• Verlag: Random House Publishing Group
• Erscheinungsdatum: 2006
• Sprache: Englisch
• ISBN 10: 0553587323
• ISBN 13: 9780553587326
• Einband: Taschenbuch
• Anzahl der Seiten: 415
• Kontakt zum Hersteller: Nicht verfügbar
• Verantwortliche Person: Dell GmbH; 6997927350; DE.CustomerSupport@dell.com; ; Unterschweinstiege 10; Frankfurt am Main; 60549; Deutschland