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Prologue

London, 1815

"Do you truly intend to steal your best friend’s mistress?"

Gerard Faulkner, the sixth Marquess of Grayson, kept his eyes on the woman in question, and smiled Those who knew him well also knew that look, and its wicked portent "I certainly do"

"Dastardly," Bartley muttered "Too low even for you, Gray Is it not sufficient to cuckold Sinclair? You kno Markham feels about Pel He’s lost his head over her"

Gray studied Lady Pelham with a connoisseur’s eye There was no incertitude about her suitability for his needs Beautiful and scandalous, he could not have designed a wifehis mother if he’d tried Pel, as she was affectionately referred to, was of ly curved, and built for a man’s pleasure The auburn-hairedof the late Earl of Pelha, or so ru decline after she ended their affair

Gerard had no difficulty seeing how alights of the littered like a precious jewel, expensive and worth every shilling

He watched as she s of her lips, lips which were considered too full for conventional beauty, but just the right plumpness to rim a man’s cock All around the roo for the day when she ht turn those sherry-colored eyes upon them, and perhaps select one of the was pitiable The woman was extremely selective, and retained her lovers for years She’d had Markha interest

But that interest did not extend to ed for her hand, she refused hi a second time Gray, on the other hand, had no doubts whatsoever that he could change her mind about that

"Cals ork out Trust ive you five hundred pounds if you drag Markham away frohtened his spine and his waistcoat, neither action capable of hiding his widening htly to his greedy acquaintance who took off to the right, while he made his way to the left He strolled without haste around the fringes of the ballroo his way toward the pivotal object of his plan The journey was slow going, his way blocked by oneafter another Most bachelor peers sirimace with annoyance, but Gerard was known as much for his overabundance of charm, as he was for his penchant for eously, kissed hands freely, and left every fe on her with a forlance toward Markham, he noted the exact moment Bartley lured him away, and then crossed the distance with purposeful strides, taking Pel’s gloved hand to his lips before the usual throng of avid adht her eyes laughing at him "Why, Lord Grayson A wole-minded approach"

"Lovely Isabel, your beauty drew me like a moth to a flame" He tucked her hand around his forearm, and led her away for a walk around the dance floor

"Needed a respite from the ambitious mothers, I assume?" she asked in her throaty voice "I’h toYou are simply too delicious for words You shall be the death of one of these poor girls"

Gerard breathed a deep sigh of satisfaction, an action which inundated his senses with her lush scent of so famously, he knew He had come to know her well in the years she had been with Markharee None of these wo of her bare shoulders, her pale skin set off beautifully by her dark blue gown and sapphire necklace "You are young yet, Grayson Once you are h to not completely torment your bride with your appetites"

"Or I cana perfectly shaped brow, she said, "This conversation is leading somewhere, is it not, my lord?"

"I want you, Pel," he said softly "Desperately Only an affair will not suffice Marriage, however, will take care of it nicely"

Soft, husky laughter drifted in the air between them "Oh, Gray I do adore your humor, you know It is hard to find men so deliciously unabashed in their wickedness"

"And it is lamentably hard to find a creature as blatantly sexual as you, my dear Isabel I’m afraid you are quite unique, and therefore irreplaceable for lance "I was under the i that actress, the pretty one who cannot remember her lines"

Gerard smiled "Yes, that’s true All of it" Anne could not act to save her life Her talents lay in other, more carnal activities

"And honestly, Gray You are too young for me I am six and twenty, you know And you are…" She raked hilance "Well, you are delectable, but--"

"I am two and twenty, and could ride you well, Pel, never doubt it However, you misunderstand I have a mistress Two, in fact, and you have Markham--"

"Yes, and I am not quite finished with him"

"Keep him, I have no objections"

"I’m relieved to have your approval," she said dryly, and then she laughed again, a sound Gray had always enjoyed "You are quite mad"

"Over you, Pel, definitely Have been from the first"

"But you’ve no wish to bedin the ripe swell of her breasts above the low bodice "Now, I did not say that You are a beautiful woman, and I aether, e decide to fall into bed with one another is moot, yes? We shall have a lifetime to make that leap, if we decide it would be mutually enjoyable"

"Are you in your cups?" she asked, frowning

"No, Isabel"

Pel stopped, forcing him to stop with her She stared up at him, and then shook her head "If you are serious--"