To Tempt An Angel (Book 1 Douglas series) Read online

  “What knowledge?” Robert asked, smiling.

  “I could teach you to cheat without getting caught.” She glanced at his wrinkled attire and added, “Obviously, you have fallen upon hard times, too. Not only would I be willing to give you twenty percent of whatever you win, but you would carry that knowledge with you for the rest of your life.”

  Robert stared across the garden and appeared to be pondering her proposition. Finally, he looked to her and said, “Fifty percent.”

  “Twenty-five percent.”

  “We have a deal.”

  “I need to fetch my dice and cards,” Angelica said, rising. “You’ll stay for dinner, of course.”

  Robert stood when she did. “I have a previous engagement but will return tomorrow.”

  “I understand,” Angelica said, unable to hide her disappointment.

  “How about sealing our bargain with a kiss?” Robert asked, stepping closer.

  Angelica felt a heated blush rising upon her cheeks. She glanced in the direction of the cottage and stammered, “My aunt—”

  “Your aunt is not watching,” Robert said, taking another step toward her.

  Angelica stepped back and felt the trunk of the oak tree preventing further retreat. Trapped against the tree, she had no way or desire to escape.

  Robert captured her lips in a kiss that stole her breath away and made her senses reel. His insistent lips parted hers, and his tongue explored the sweetness of her mouth, sending ripples of desire dancing down her spine.

  Without taking his lips from hers, Robert traced a finger down her silken cheek. He slid his hand down the column of her throat and then lower. His caress on her breast was seductively light.

  Angelica moaned low in her throat. Unaware of what she was doing, Angelica entwined her arms around his neck and returned his kiss in kind.

  “Swear that you won’t go to the fair or engage in any gambling,” Robert whispered against her lips.

  “I promise.” Angelica closed her eyes for another kiss.

  “Until tomorrow, angel,” Robert said and planted a chaste kiss on her lips. He turned away, whistled for his horse, and left the garden.

  Angelica leaned back against the oak tree. Closing her eyes, she raised her fingertips to her lips and tried to recapture the incredible feeling of his lips covering hers.

  “Bravo, darling.” Aunt Roxie called from the window.” ‘Twas well done of you.”

  Angelica groaned and burned with shame. Her aunt had witnessed her wanton behavior and sounded as if she actually approved.

  Oh, Lord, Angelica thought. This mysterious stranger had kissed her, and she’d enjoyed it, had even wanted more. Did he affect every woman that way? Only her? How would she ever face him again?

  And then a smile touched her lips. When he returned, she would pretend nothing had happened between them. She only hoped that he would kiss her again.

  “Don’t worry, darling,” Aunt Roxie called from the window. “The man is hot for you.”

  Chapter 3

  He wanted to kiss her again.

  Sitting in the Campbell box at the Royal Opera House, Robert smiled at the bent of his thoughts. He couldn’t get her out of his mind and wanted to do more to his Primrose Hill angel than kiss her. Feeling their naked bodies entwined and pressed intimately together appealed to him. He could hardly wait to initiate her into the ways of carnal love and mold her into whatever pleased him.

  Robert smiled with anticipated satisfaction. How many men of his acquaintance were fortunate enough to deflower their mistresses?

  “The woman on stage is dying,” Duke Magnus whispered. “Why are you smiling?”

  Robert glanced at his father and assumed a suitably somber expression. He always attended the opera alone to think and disliked being bothered. Tonight, he’d been saddled with his father and his sister-in-law.

  Without taking her gaze off the stage, Venetia leaned close and whispered, “I hope you’ll reconsider and come to Lord Randolph’s with us. My father and brother are meeting us there.”

  Robert stared through the semidarkness at her perfect profile. He dropped his gaze to her cleavage and knew her display of flesh was for his benefit. Her flawless ivory skin looked soft and oh-so-inviting.

  “I’ve made other plans,” Robert said, standing, deciding he’d had enough of the opera. He nodded to his father, left the Campbell box, and walked outside.

  The warm night seemed almost magical. A low mist clung to the ground and swirled around his legs, but stars shone overhead.

  “Mack, take me home,” he instructed his driver.

  Robert leaned back in his carriage. He wasn’t tired at all and knew he would never sleep, but going to White’s for a nightcap held no appeal to him. He wanted only one thing at the moment.

  The ride to Park Lane took fifteen minutes. When the carriage halted, Robert climbed into the front seat and lifted the reins out of his driver’s hands.

  “What are you doing?” Mack asked in surprise.

  “I’m going to visit a friend.”

  “If you start driving yourself,” the man complained, “I’ll soon be unemployed.”

  “I’m giving you a paid holiday,” Robert told him.

  “Thank you, my lord.” Mack climbed out of the carriage.

  Robert drove in the direction of Primrose Hill. He knew he was behaving like a schoolboy, but he’d never felt this way about any woman. Too bad her father had bankrupted the family. If circumstances had been different, he would have married his angel in a heartbeat. On the other hand marriage might tarnish her allure.

  After midnight, Robert stopped his carriage in front of the pink stucco cottage. Staring at the darkened windows, Robert wondered what Angelica was doing at that moment. Was she dreaming of him?

  In spite of a few eccentricities, Angelica Douglas had more honor and gentility in her little finger than any woman of his acquaintance. At the tender age of eighteen, she bore the heavy burden of her family’s survival and wore this cloak of duty with grace. She was more than worthy to be his mistress, and he knew she was a woman who would never stray into another man’s arms.

  Robert closed his eyes and conjured her hauntingly lovely image. Her blue eyes made him feel as if he were drowning in a Highland loch, her full lips begged to be kissed, and her streaked blond hair topped with that crown of flowers had lent her an ethereal, otherworldly appearance.

  “Bull’s pizzle!”

  The voice in the darkness sounded exactly like his sweet angel’s.

  “Darling, a lady never—”

  “Be quiet!” The voices emanating from the garden belonged to Angelica and Aunt Roxie.

  “We need the money,” a third voice argued.

  “Samantha is correct,” said a fourth voice. The sisters, Robert thought. Just what in hell was happening back there?

  Robert climbed out of the carriage and walked silently around the side of the cottage. He saw the soft glow from a lantern as he neared the garden. Pausing at the corner of the cottage, he watched them for a moment.

  “How disrespectful to poor Mr. Lewis,” Aunt Roxie said, shaking her head in obvious disapproval.

  “I don’t give a fig about that,” Angelica snapped. She rounded on her sisters and asked, “Do you want to hang on Tyburn Hill?”

  “What is the problem?” Robert asked, stepping into the garden.

  All four women cried out in surprise. Angelica and her sisters drew their daggers.

  “It’s Robert.”

  “Sacred sevens, what are you doing here?” Angelica asked.

  “You’ve been on my mind all day,” Robert said easily, walking toward her. “I couldn’t wait until tomorrow to see you.”

  “How sublimely romantic,” Aunt Roxie sighed, making her two younger nieces giggle.

  Robert placed the palm of his hand against Angelica’s burning cheek. She was blushing again.

  “Can I be of service?” he asked.

  “Mr. Roy, you are heaven-s
ent,” Samantha said.

  “We need help with Mr. Lewis,” Victoria added.

  Confused, Robert stared at them blankly. Then he glanced at the ground and spied a corpse in burial clothes.

  “Good God, what is this?” he demanded.

  “This is Mr. Lewis,” Angelica told him.

  “I don’t care what—”

  “Girls, I forbid you to sell Mr. Lewis to those surgeons,” Aunt Roxie interrupted.

  “Sell him to—” Robert rounded on Angelica and asked, “Have you robbed a grave?”

  “Mr. Lewis will bring us good money,” Victoria argued. “Ten pounds, at least.”

  “We misjudged his weight and had the devil of a time dragging him here,” Samantha added. “How will we get him to the surgeons?”

  “We could have managed if you didn’t have that damned limp,” Victoria told her sister.

  “If it weren’t for me,” Samantha countered, “you would still be trying to read those tombstones.”

  Ignoring her sister, Victoria turned to Robert, asking, “May we use your horse?”

  “Everyone will go back inside the cottage,” Robert ordered, taking charge of the situation. “Now.”

  “What about Mr. Lewis?” Aunt Roxie asked.

  “Mr. Lewis isn’t going anywhere,” Robert told her.

  Aunt Roxie, Samantha, and Victoria marched around the cottage to the front door. Behind them walked Robert and Angelica, carrying the lantern.

  “I’m sorry you had to witness this,” Angelica said. “I had nothing to do with Mr. Lewis’s abduction.”

  “Be thankful I drove out here tonight,” Robert said, “or the lot of you would have hanged.” Once inside the cottage, he ordered, “Sit down, ladies.”

  Aunt Roxie and the girls sat on the settee in front of the summer-darkened hearth. Only Angelica remained standing.

  “Hello,” the macaw called from inside his blanket-covered cage.

  “Good night,” Angelica called to the bird.

  “Good night.”

  Robert ran a hand through his black hair and wondered what kind of an asylum he’d stepped into. No wonder the earl had lost his fortune. The whole damned Douglas family was mad.

  Robert turned to Angelica, whose gaze was fixed on his formal evening attire. She looked surprised.

  “Your revenge requires that I renew some old acquaintances,” he said by way of an explanation. Without giving her a chance to think, he asked, “Where is your father?”

  Angelica shrugged. “My father won’t return until he needs drinking money.”

  Though it made him uncomfortable, Robert decided to play the role of father. He turned to raven-haired Samantha and asked, “How old are you?”

  “Seventeen,” she answered.

  “And you?” he asked the flame-haired Victoria.

  “Sixteen.”

  “Have either of you ever witnessed a hanging?” Robert asked, his voice filling with anger. “Let me tell you what happens to a—”

  “Please don’t,” Aunt Roxie cried. “My nieces are delicate creatures who couldn’t endure the shock, and speaking of vile things will bring us bad luck.”

  Robert inclined his head and then turned his attention again to the delicate creatures who’d dragged Mr. Lewis out of his coffin. “Hanging is an unpleasant death.”

  “The money is worth the risk,” Samantha told him.

  “We were lucky no one else tried to steal Mr. Lewis,” Victoria agreed with her sister. “There are organized gangs that steal bodies, you know.”

  “You little blockheads, the anatomical schools are in session from October to May,” Robert informed them. “There’s no demand for corpses in the summer.”

  Aunt Roxie burst out laughing. Angelica covered her mouth with her hands and tried to stifle the laughter bubbling up in her throat

  Robert flicked a glance at her but managed to maintain a stern expression. “Samantha and Victoria, go to your room, and do not dare show your faces until morning,” he ordered.

  The two younger Douglas girls rose from their chairs and headed for their bedroom. After she’d passed him, Victoria stuck her tongue out at his back

  “We’ll need a shovel to put Mr. Lewis back into his grave,” Robert told Angelica.

  “We left ours there,” Samantha called from the doorway. “We couldn’t manage the shovel and Mr. Lewis.”

  “Take the lantern,” Robert ordered Angelica.

  “What shall I do?” Aunt Roxie asked.

  “Guard those two miscreants.”

  Stepping outside the cottage, Angelica glanced sidelong at Robert. Almost magically, he had appeared to rescue her and her family.

  “We’ll drive into the garden,” Robert told her. “I don’t want anyone to see me loading Mr. Lewis into my carriage.”

  “Thank you,” Angelica said, touching his arm. “I appreciate your help.”

  “Damsels in distress are my specialty,” he said, smiling at her in the darkness.

  Robert helped her onto the carriage and handed her the lantern. Climbing up beside her, he drove the carriage into the garden.

  “Leather seats?” Angelica remarked. “How did you manage—?”

  “I borrowed it,” Robert said, helping her down.

  “Bring the lantern over here.”

  Angelica held up the lantern. She expected him to lift Mr. Lewis into his arms. Instead, he began undressing the old man.

  “What are you doing?” Angelica asked in a horrified whisper.

  “Being caught with a corpse is not illegal unless it’s dressed in burial clothes,” Robert told her without looking up.

  Bull’s pizzle, Angelica thought. Her first sight of a man’s nakedness would be dead Mr. Lewis. Oh, she could cheerfully choke her sisters and sell their bodies to the surgeons.

  “We’ll bury these in the garden when we return,” Robert said, setting the man’s clothing aside.

  Angelica refused to look at Mr. Lewis’s naked body. She blushed when she heard Robert chuckling at her reaction and was glad the darkness hid her embarrassment.

  “The graveyard awaits us,” Robert said, setting the body inside the carriage.

  “I don’t find this situation particularly amusing,” Angelica said primly, settling herself atop the carriage and taking the lantern out of his hand.

  “Someday, angel, we’ll laugh about this night,” he replied, climbing onto the driver’s seat beside her.

  Angelica marveled at the quietness of the night. She’d never been out this late. The only sound was the horses pulling the carriage down the road.

  A few minutes later, Robert halted the carriage outside the graveyard. He leaped off the driver’s seat and then helped Angelica down.

  Robert lifted the dead man out of the carriage. After positioning the body over his shoulder, he turned toward the graveyard. A low mist blanketed the ground. Only the tops of the tombstones were clearly visible at a distance.

  “I don’t like this,” Angelica said, frightened by the sight of the graveyard. “Let’s leave him here.”

  “If we did that the authorities would investigate,” Robert told her. “I think we had better put Mr. Lewis back where he belongs.”

  “Spirits roam at night,” she argued. “What if his spirit—?”

  “Pass me the lantern. I’ll go alone.”

  “And leave me here?”

  “I haven’t mastered the trick of being in two places at once,” Robert said with laughter lurking in his voice.

  Angelica realized she’d be safer with him than waiting alone. Summoning her courage, she squared her shoulders and ordered, “Lead the way.”

  “You have the lantern,” he reminded her.

  Angelica held up the lantern and forced herself to step into the graveyard. After wandering around for several minutes, she found the opened grave. Beside it lay her sisters’ shovel.

  Robert set Mr. Lewis down and rested his shoulder for a moment. Then he lifted the lantern and said, “Shit.”


  “What’s wrong?” Angelica asked, beginning to panic.

  “Your sisters dug out the entire grave,” he answered.

  “How else could they abduct Mr. Lewis?”

  “Professionals only dig the top of the grave and then pull the body out by the shoulders,” Robert explained.

  “How do you know?”

  “I have friends in low places.”

  Without bothering about the casket, Robert pushed Mr. Lewis into the opened grave and picked up the shovel. Then he began tossing dirt onto the corpse.

  “Why don’t we put him inside the coffin?” Angelica asked.

  “I assure you, angel, Mr. Lewis doesn’t know the difference,” he replied, and tossed another shovelful of dirt onto the man.

  “I’m sorry my sisters disturbed you, Mr. Lewis,” Angelica said, fingering her diamond pendant for protection. “Please accept my apology.”

  Robert burst out laughing.

  With her hands on her hips, Angelica rounded on him and asked, “What do you find so amusing? Sacred sevens, the plague must bring tears of mirth to your eyes.”

  “I never heard anyone apologize to a dead man before,” Robert told her. “I find your kindness endearing.”

  “Thank you.”

  In silence, Angelica watched him work. Though their task was morbid, she couldn’t help but admire the way he looked by lantern light. Those borrowed evening clothes fit him as perfectly as if they’d been custom-made for him.

  A perfect specimen of manhood, Robert Roy had dropped into her life like Prince Charming coming to her rescue. Perhaps someday, when her revenge was complete, they could have a life together. She had no dowry and never expected to catch any man’s attention.

  “Thank you, God,” Angelica whispered her thought out loud.

  “Did you say something?” Robert asked, and held the shovel out to her.

  “No,” she answered, blushing.

  Without complaint, Angelica took the shovel out of his hand. She pitched it into the mound of earth and then tossed the dirt with such ferocity that she toppled headfirst into the grave.

  Robert laughed and pulled her out, saying, “You don’t know your own strength, angel.”