When Lady Viola’s father died, his title
and income reverted to another branch of her family. Her
weasel of a cousin
refused to support Viola’s mother and soft-headed sister,
so she turned to
lifting jewels to keep their threadbare household together.
Greydon Quinn
wonders if Viola fully considered all her possibilities.
"You didn’t have to
resort to thievery to provide for your family, you know,"
Quinn said. "A woman
has other options. Marriage, for example."
"Not if her dowry has
disappeared in a blink." Lady Viola had been all ginger
sauce up to this point,
spicy but not the least sour. The sudden bitterness in her
tone surprised him.
"You’re undoubtedly
well-educated. You might have become a governess."
"How deliciously
lowering. The earl’s daughter takes a position tending a
baron’s brats." She
laughed mirthlessly. "The ton would have eaten that
for breakfast with a
spoon."
"There’s another choice
they’d consider more even more lowering, but some women
make it."
Quinn wondered, not for
the first time, about her level of sensual experience. She
was old to still be
unwed, probably in her mid-twenties, and hadn’t been under
a man’s protection
since her father died. When he insisted on sharing this
cabin onboard with her,
she had protested, but not with a virgin’s horror at the
scandal of it or with
demands that he marry in truth to protect her good name.
And she kissed like a woman
who knew what passion was.
"Are you suggesting I
sell myself, lieutenant?"
"As frank a woman as
you are, I’m certain you considered it." He moved closer
and realized she was
trembling a bit, but trying to control it. "You’d cut a
wide swath through the
demimonde. A gentleman with plump pockets would snap you up
in a heartbeat to
keep you—"
"As his own private
plaything," Viola finished for him.
"His cosseted,
protected, adored plaything. You could name your own terms.
What man wouldn’t
want you? You’re well-born . . . beautiful . . .
accomplished . . ." Without
conscious volition, Quinn found himself reaching to cup her
cheek. She didn’t
pull away. In fact, she inhaled a hitching breath when his
thumb feathered over
her skin. "Passionate."
"How could you know
that?" she whispered, her lips barely moving.
He bent to lower his
lips to within inches of hers. "A man just knows."
Then to his very great
surprise, she slipped her fingers under his lapels and
stood tiptoe. Eyes wide
open, she closed the distance between their mouths.