How To Vex A Viscount
Read How To Vex A Viscount Online
Authors: Mia Marlowe
Tags: #Romance, #England, #Love Story, #Historical Fiction, #Regency Romance
| How To Vex A Viscount | |
| Mia Marlowe | |
| Novel Ideas (2009) | |
| Rating: | *** |
| Tags: | Romance, England, Love Story, Historical Fiction, Regency Romance |
As children they'd sparred with wooden swords. She'd scarred his chin and he broke her heart. Now that they're all grown up, the true battle is only beginning...
Daisy Drake needs Lucian Beaumont. Tired of being "on the shelf," she craves adventure and Lucian holds all the clues to a long-buried Roman treasure. Too bad the devilishly handsome viscount doesn't want her help.
Until she masquerades as a French courtesan who offers to teach him all she knows of the pleasures of the love couch. Of course, all Daisy knows about that she learned from the memoirs of a real courtesan, but she's always been a fast learner.
In each other's arms, will they discover a treasure neither of them expected to find?
This book was previously published with the title "Vexing the Viscount"
HOW
TO
VEX
A
VISCOUNT
B
Y
M
IA
M
ARLOWE
CRITICS ARE CHARMED BY MIA MARLOWE!
HOW TO PLEASE A PIRATE
“For me, you could call this book, How to Please a Reader.” —Barbara Vey,
Publishers Weekly’s
Beyond Her Book Blog
“Touches of humour, naughty bawdy dialogue and colourful descriptions capture the era, adding dimension to this charming tale of a landlocked pirate, the hellion who tames him and their wild adventure.”—Romantic
Times BOOKreviews
“A delightful, witty romance...with a pace fast enough to keep me fully engaged. The dialogue between Jacquelyn and Gabriel is clever and full of such sly fun that the pages really flew by. A perfect 10 in my book, and I know that readers will love reading Jacquelyn and Gabe’s story.”—Romance Reviews Today
“With precious nieces underfoot, a friend of dubious character, a hunt for treasure, lots of sexual tension, and danger and action woven throughout the story, many will find Gabriel and Jacquelyn’s story to be a page-turning read.” —All About Romance
“A refreshing tale with a fantastic spin on the classic theme of two hopeless romantics who have everything in common except the wealth they need to make it work (or so they think).” —Once Upon a Romance
MORE PRAISE FOR MIA MARLOWE!
HOW TO DISTRACT A DUCHESS
Mia Marlowe “has a great handle on the material and her characters, creating a charming, colourful story with an intricate, fast-paced story line.”—Publishers
Weekly
“A delightfully unique tale....Great dialogue and quite a bit of humour add to this enjoyable tale. There are some sizzling hot love scenes that will have readers fanning themselves! A totally fun read.”—Romance Reviews Today
“A sexy, fast- paced romp that will appeal to fans of Cheryl Holt, Lisa Kleypas and Celeste Bradley.”—Romantic
Times BOOKreviews
“Wickedly witty writing and wonderfully entertaining characters are the key ingredients in Bryan’s sinfully sexy historical romance, which touches shrewdly on many key elements of the Victorian era, from extreme decorum to empire building to passions for the classical past, science (including anatomy), and art.”—Booklist
“Fun, fresh and sexy!”—Dear Author
Winner Takes All
“Right now, you and I are partners in my search for the Roman treasure, split in half when we find it,” Lucian said. “For each hand I lose, one percent more of the money we find will be yours.”
“Ah! And if I lose, that one percent shifts to you,” Daisy guessed.
“No.” A slow smile spread across his face. “I’ll take my winnings now in satin.”
“How do you mean?” she asked, thankful he couldn’t see her puzzled frown from behind the half mask.
He reached forward and gave the top ribbon on her camisole a tug. The knot gave and her bodice sagged open enough to bare the meeting place of her breasts above her pounding heart.
“Do we have a wager?” he asked. “Or are you afraid you’ll lose?”
A true courtesan wouldn’t be able to resist such a naughty game. “Ah!
Monsieur le Vicomte,
either way, I win.”
OTHER BOOKS BY MIA MARLOWE
The
Touch of Seduction
series:
Touch of a Thief, Touch of a Rogue, Touch of a Scoundrel, Touch of a Lady
Collaborative novels with New York Times bestseller Connie Mason:
Sins of the Highlander, Lord of Fire and Ice
Rock*It Reads:
How to Please a Pirate, How to Distract a Duchess, Erinsong, Maidensong, A Duke for All Seasons, My Lady Below Stairs
Anthologies:
Improper Gentlemen
COPYRIGHTS
How To Vex A Viscount
By Mia Marlowe
Copyright @ 2009, 2012 by Diana Groe
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including photocopying, recording or by any information storage and retrieval system, without the written permission of the publisher, except where permitted by law.
Previously released as
Vexing the Viscount
ACKNOWELDGEMENTS
To my dear husband, a man who knows a woman only vexes the one she loves.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Critics Are Charmed By Mia Marlowe!
Item:
One clay lamp after the fashion of an erect phallus —from the cache of Roman oddities, found near London, England, 3 July, in the Year of Our Lord 1731
CHAPTER ONE
“Hmm! I wonder if that’s life-size,” Miss Daisy Drake murmured. She leaned down to inspect the ancient lamp on display in the corridor outside the Society of Antiquaries lecture hall. Talking to herself was a bad habit, she knew, but since none of her friends shared her interest in antiquities, she often found herself without companions on this sort of outing.
“Of course, it would be on the most inaccessible shelf in the display case.” Solely to vex her, she suspected. Daisy scrunched down to get a better look at it.
The clay lamp was only about four inches long, but in other respects, so far as Daisy knew, was perfectly lifelike. The terra-cotta scrotum served admirably for an oil cruse, but even though she knew the ancients decorated their homes with such unseemly things, she still wondered about how the lamp worked. She opened her small valise and drew out paper, quill and inkpot in order to take a few notes. “Where
does
the flame come out?”
“Right where one would expect,” a masculine voice sounded near her.
Daisy’s spine snapped suddenly upright. The crown of her head clipped the man’s chin with a
thwack
and she bit her tongue.
“Jupiter!” One of her hands flew to her throbbing mouth, the other to the top of her head, where her cunning little capote was smashed beyond recognition. Her sheaf of papers fluttered to the polished oak floor like maple leaves. The small inkwell flew into the air and landed squarely on the white lawn of the man’s shirtfront.
“Oh, I’m so dreadfully sorry.” Daisy dabbed at the stain with her hankie and succeeded only in spreading it down his waistcoat. A black blob dribbled onto his fawn-coloured breeches. She decided not to chase that stain with her handkerchief.
At least, thank heaven, plastering the man with ink covered her unmaidenly interest in that lewd little lamp. It was clearly a mistake to come to the museum today, but the topic under discussion at the Society of Antiquaries was the possible discovery of an ancient Roman treasure. The lure of an adventure drew her like a lemming to the sea.
“How clumsy of me!” She made the additional mistake of looking up at the man. Her mouth gaped like a cod’s.
Lucian,
she almost said aloud. When she saw no trace of recognition in his dark eyes, she drew her lips closed by sheer strength of will.
He’d grown into himself since she’d seen him last. His fine, straight nose was no longer out of proportion to the rest of his face. As he rubbed his square jaw, Daisy saw that the little scar on his chin was still visible, a neat triangle of pale, smooth skin. She’d recognize that anywhere.
After all, she’d given it to him.
His dark hair was hidden beneath a dandy’s wig. Oh, she hoped to heaven he hadn’t taken to shaving his head, as some did. Daisy’s uncle was a dogged opponent of the fashion. Said it was nothing but French foppery. Since Uncle Gabriel’s opinions were only slightly less authoritative than a papal bull, his aversion to wigs had rubbed off. Besides, hiding a head of hair like Lucian’s was a sacrilege. Or ought to be.
An ebony wisp escaped the wig near his left ear.
Good.
Daisy breathed a sigh of relief. His dark mane was one of Lucian’s finest points, after all. Not that there weren’t plenty of others.
His lips twitched in a half smile.
“An interesting piece, isn’t it?” He was still the same old Lucian. Still direct, even at the expense of propriety. He wasn’t going to play the gentleman and pretend he hadn’t caught her ogling that Roman phallus.
“Indeed.” She met his gaze, determined to make him understand that her interest was purely intellectual. “Obviously a cultic object of some sort. It is certainly a curiosity.”
“It is gratifying to find a young lady who is . . . curious.”
Daisy lifted her chin in what she hoped was a confident manner. “Of course I’m curious. Such an item makes one wonder what the people who used it were like.”
“I suspect the ancients were more like us than we want to admit. People have been born into this world with the same wants and needs since Eden. Though I’ll grant you our taste in home decoration has changed,” he said with a laugh.
