My Lady Vixen Read Online Free Page A

dark passageway. Then a door opened and Alexa found herself inside a small, damp cabin with little to commend it. A langern hung from a hook on the ceiling swinging slowly too and fro as gentle swells lapped against the dark hull of the mystery ship that was to be her prison. Once inside Adam set her on her feet. Gazing at him, Alexa could read nothing in his expression for it had become a mask constructed of stone.
    “Your castle, milady,” he mocked, affecting an exaggerated bow.
    Forgetting everything she had ever learned about how ladies should act. Alexa flew into a rage. “Damn you!” she cursed. “You’ll pay for this! My father won’t rest until you’re caught and punished for this cowardly act!”
    “He’ll have to catch me first.” Adam smiled grimly, his dark face set in a vicious expression. With trepidation Alexa noted his tightly clamped mouth and glazed eyes and her heart sank. Instinctively she realized none of her wiles, or even her anger, would have the slightest effect on a man of Adam Foxworth’s calibre.
    “Why do you hate my father?” she asked in a burst a resentment. “I’m sure he doesn’t even know you exist.”
    “He’ll know, all right, after tonight. And he’ll remember, more than you know,” Adam assured her confidently. “Now I’ll bid you goodnight, milady. I hope you’ll be comfortable.” His tone suggested he caredlittle for her comfort.
    “You’re leaving?” asked Alexa, dismayed. “Where are you going? You’re not going to leave me alone, are you?” As if to emphasize her words she clutched convulsively at his satin-clad arm.
    “I thought you’d be pleased to see me go.” Adam quipped. “Don’t worry, you’ll be well taken care of in my absence. No one will harm you.”
    When she continued to cling to him, her wide violet eyes dark with fear, Adam nearly lost his resolve as her nearness began to affect him in a strange way. She seemed so helpless, so lost that he felt an urge to protect her, to keep her safe, even from himself, which was impossible. For some unknown reason he wanted no other man to touch her, not even the estimable Charles, particularly not Charles, he thought grimly. He wanted to be the one to initiate her to love, to awaken her desires, to hear her cry out his name in passion.
    Frozen in the grip of his storm-gray eyes, Alexa could neither move nor breathe. Her mouth was dry, her breath a hard knot in her throat. His face wore the smile of a wolf just before it closed hungry jaws on the rabbit. There was a hard arrogant strength in his expression, a repressed violence about him that called forth feelings she had never experienced before.
    Then suddenly, in heated, vibrant and explosive need, his mouth caught hers in a kiss so deep that she was filled with wonder. Never had she been kissed in such a manner. Not even by Charles. When his tongue plundered the moist cavern of her mouth, she felt shock … and something else. A yearning in the secret recesses of her young body. Almost like an awakening.
    When Adam slid his lips against the soft skin of her neck, slowly stroking it with his tongue. Alexa gasped aloud, tossed on the waves of her near-surrender. Thesound served to clear her head. It also alerted Adam to the passage of time and he reluctantly pushed Alexa’s limp form away from his own hardening body. Now was not the time to dally with his enemy’s daughter, he thought ruefully. Plenty of time for that when they were safely away from London.
    Finding herself without visible means of support, Alexa sat down heavily on the narrow bunk, eyeing Adam warily as he straightened his clothing. “As pleasant as this has been, milady, you’ll have to wait until later for my … uh … attentions. I must hie myself back to your party so I won’t be connected with your disappearance. There is also the matter of a note to be delivered to your father. Until later. Lady Alexa.” Then he was gone, the harsh grating of the key turning in