Read On a Wild Night for Free Online

him was an acceptable risk.
    Martin was not at all sure what he should make of that. Perhaps nothing beyond the fact that Connor was inordinately shrewd. For he was perfectly correct—Amanda Cynster stood in no danger from the raffish Earl of Dexter. He harbored no designs on her at all. He knew precisely who he was, who she was, and she wasn’t for him. He’d enjoyed the past hours in her company, but he wasn’t about to let a pair of jewel eyes and rosebud lips—not even a skin like satin and hair like silk—change his careful ways.
    Ladies such as Amanda Cynster had no place in his life. Not now, not ever again. Ignoring the regret that whispered, a faint, suppressed echo through his mind, he turned into Park Lane and strode for his house.
    Â 
    â€œI’ve found him!” Eyes alight, Amanda dragged Amelia into her bedchamber and shut the door. “He’s perfect. Simply magnificent —I couldn’t wish for more.”
    Amelia squeezed her hands. “Tell me.”
    Amanda did. When she finished, Amelia looked as stunned as Amanda had. “Dexter?”
    â€œThe mysterious, elusive, rumor-cloaked Earl of Dexter.”
    â€œAnd he’s handsome?”
    â€œ Dev -astatingly. He’s . . .” Amanda struggled for words, then waved. “Simply better than any other I’ve seen.”
    â€œWhat else do you know of him?”
    â€œHe’s intelligent, astute—he actually thought enough to get Mellors to change my wine for water and to do it so no one knew.” Amanda flopped back on her pillows; they’d taken refuge on her bed. “In short, on a physical and intellectual level, Dexter’s perfect. Add to that he’s as rich as Croesus—far too rich, anyway, to be after my dowry—and that, if half the rumors are true, he’s led the most amazingly exciting life, far, far wilder than anything I would even think of doing, and his perfection takes on an even brighter gloss.”
    â€œHmm, but there is that old scandal, don’t forget.”
    Amanda waved the caveat aside. “If none of the matronsnor any of the grandes dames consider it worth remembering, who am I to argue?” She frowned. “Did you ever hear what it was about?”
    â€œOnly that it involved some girl whom he supposedly seduced who then took her own life, but it was all years ago when he first came on the town. Whatever the truth, he was banished by his own father—”
    â€œAnd only returned to England last year, a year after he’d succeeded to the title—that much I know.”
    â€œHow old is he?”
    Amanda raised her brows. “Thirty? About that. I think he appears older than he is. He’s . . . serious.”
    Amelia stared. “Serious?”
    â€œNot that sort of serious. I mean . . . deep. Reserved—no!— controlled. That always makes men seem older.”
    Amelia nodded. “Very well—I’ll allow he seems just perfect for you, but how are you going to tackle the big problem? Every hostess in the ton has been trying to lure him back into society, but he refuses every invitation.”
    â€œLet’s be perfectly frank—he ignores every invitation.”
    â€œPrecisely. So how are you going to meet him often enough to convince him . . .” Amelia’s words trailed away. She studied her twin’s face. “You’re not going to try to draw him into our world—you’re going to go into his world instead.”
    Amanda grinned. “That’s my plan, at least until he’s well enough snared so he’ll follow me anywhere.”
    Amelia giggled. “You make him sound like a dog.”
    â€œHardly a dog—a lion, perhaps. A huge tawny beast who delights in lazing in his lair and who hunts at night.” Amanda nodded, her expression determined. “That’s exactly what I need to do—snare and tame my