Read The Viscount's Kiss for Free Online Page A

her? He sounded genuinely sincere, yet how could she trust him? How could she trust anyone?
    Besides, she’d lied to him about who she was. “The only thing amiss, my lord, is that you won’t let me pass. Let me go or I shall call for help.”
    His voice dropped even lower. “No, you won’t.”
    Sweet heavens, had she completely misjudged him? Was he a man to be feared after all?
    But she didn’t dare rouse the innkeeper or other guests, either, so she kept her voice low as she commanded him again to let her pass.
    A door opened below and heavy footfalls sounded on the wooden floor of the taproom, then started toward the stairs.
    She mustn’t be found here, especially with him, especially dressed as he was.
    She turned and ran back to her room. He followed and before she could get the door shut, he was inside the room, closing it behind him.

Chapter Four
    Someday, we may learn what forces move the salmon to make that dangerous journey upstream to spawn, or why a dog will sit for hours by the bed of its deceased master. Yet for now, there remain instincts and emotions, reactions and defensive intuitions, unknown and mysterious, that govern every living creature upon the earth.
    â€”from The Spider’s Web , by Lord Bromwell
    P anting, aghast, Nell’s whole body shook as she faced him. Yet in spite of her distress, she stayed silent, for the footsteps came up the stairs, then past the room. Another door opened farther along the corridor. Mrs. Jenkins’s voice mumbled a sleepy greeting to her husband, who muttered something about a sick horse before the door shut again.
    â€œGet away from the door,” Nell ordered with quiet ferocity, gripping the handle of her valise, prepared to swing it at Lord Bromwell’s head. She had been trapped by a man before and fought her way free, and she would do it again if necessary.
    Unlike Lord Sturmpole, however, the viscount addressed her not with arrogant outrage, but as calmly as if they were conversing in a park on a summer’s day. “Are you planning to walk to Bath in the dead of night?”
    His tone and his distance were a little reassuring, but she wasn’t willing to trust him. “I’ve told you what I’m doing. Now let me pass!”
    â€œThere’s no need to be frightened,” he said, still not moving any closer. “I won’t hurt you. I’m hoping I can be of service to you.”
    Service? What kind of service did he have in mind? Lord Sturmpole had claimed she would benefit from his attentions—and suffer if she refused.
    Yet there was one important difference between her situation in Sturmpole’s study and this. She had been horrified by Lord Sturmpole’s advances; she had not been by Lord Bromwell’s.
    Nevertheless, she wasn’t about to let him know that, or to have anything more to do with him. “Perhaps my impulsive reaction to your impertinent embrace has given you the wrong idea, my lord. I assure you that I do not go around kissing men to whom I’ve not been introduced. Or those to whom I have been introduced, either,” she added.
    â€œI’m delighted to hear it, but the service I wish to offer is not the sort you seem to be assuming. Despite my lapse of manners earlier today, I’m not a cad or scoundrel who seeks to take advantage of a woman. It’s obvious something is amiss here, and my only intention is to find out what it is and help you if I can.”
    â€œBy holding me prisoner?”
    He ignored her question. “If all is quite well, why areyou travelling alone, wearing gowns that don’t fit properly and neglecting to use your title? And why, my lady, are you attempting to leave this inn in the middle of the night?”
    It felt as if the room had grown very cold. “I am not a lady.”
    â€œYou’re not Lady Eleanor Springford?”
    Nell struggled to hide her growing panic. She wasn’t Lady Eleanor,