My Lady's Choosing: An Interactive Romance Novel(101)
“As surely as you realize that your claims of being the rightful heir of this place are as dubious as that warm smile you wear, sir.” You level your gaze at him, and he laughs at the pleasant rarity of a master being beaten at his own game.
“Wheresoever did my bore of a half brother find you?” He lets his eyes slide down your frame with the lazy, luxuriant hunger of a predator who has thoroughly trapped his prey. Before you can snap back your reply that he did not find you anywhere, Cad continues. “Tell me, are you one of Crosby’s girls, brought here on the low?”
You open your mouth to admonish him, but he claps an elegant hand over it to silence you. He uses the other to spin you and pin you tightly against his well-muscled, elegantly dressed body. His mouth is at your ear. His breath is the ocean, your ear the shell. Your bodies roar with the knowledge of each other.
“Be mine,” he urges, and your body has half a mind to submit to this wild desire, here and now. But you think of Henrietta’s tears and steady yourself. His hand releases its hold upon your mouth but stays to rub your lower lip with his thumb. You shudder in disgust and desire.
“I will never marry you. Swine.” You spit this last word into the air. He tightens his grip around your waist.
“Do not mistake me, sweeting. I want your honor, not your hand. I have no wish to marry. Bother my dear brother Benny for all that, if you have it in you to pine for a stuffed-shirt pauper. Still, a sweet little chit like you could do worse than to be the kept woman of a man like me. Rich. Well-stationed. Legitimate. So hungry and so satisfying in all the ways that matter.”
You admit feeling some titillation at Cad’s little speech, but the best part has been his provision of time, during which you have repositioned yourself for a little…reproach. Your aim is true, and with a sharp movement of your leg, you send the handsome devil careening in pain into the wall. As you do, Lady Evangeline appears in the archway of the curtained alcove.
“Honestly,” she says, shaking her head pityingly.
“Men,” you say and then make haste to join her.
Turn to this page.
About the Authoresses
Kitty Curran and Larissa Zageris are ardent admirers of trash, brooding men, and genre fiction. They write work that is sharp as a knife and soft as a secret lover’s kiss. Kitty also draws. They are co-creators of viral hit Taylor Swift: Girl Detective and chroniclers of intrigue in all its forms. They live in Chicago.
Acknowledgments
We are forever indebted to the steadily burning fire that is Maure Luke.
We also share deep gratitude for the Quirk Books team, including the keen eyes and sharp style of designers Andie Reid and Molly Murphy, project editor Jane Morley, proofreader and editorial assistant Rebecca Gyllenhaal, the marketing and PR team, and finally, the fair Blair Thornburgh, our editor.
Larissa would like to especially thank Danielle Zageris, Sharlene Zageris, Janis Zageris, Matthew Thomas Thompson, Joseph White, Ellen Domonkos White, Megan Anstrom, Drew Krehel, Jaime Calder, Charlie Rubin, Katie Tibaldi, Joe Tracz, and James Dolbeare for their support.
Kitty would like to thank Tristan Cooper for love, support, and real-life broodingness, Cassia Curran for being a sister in torrid teenage reading and also literally a sister, James Curran, Margaret Hung, Mo McKibbin, Rachel Price-Cooper, Alli Brookin, Vladimir Skofenko, and Joanne Smith and Rebecca Corbishley for being the subjects of her first romance-novel parody.
Final thanks to you, dear reader, for choosing to indulge yourself with this book.