Wargrave’s mouth tightened slightly as he sat again, a fact that pleased Reggie. “Particularly when that person pays my allowance.” “I make it a point to obey summons from the head of the family,” he drawled. I’m glad you were able to come by.”Īfter a brief, hard handshake, Reggie took the indicated chair and stretched out his long legs. The Earl of Wargrave rose to his feet behind the massive walnut desk and offered his hand. Which is why Reginald Davenport, notorious rake, gambler, and womanizer, known in some circles as “the Despair of the Davenports,” greeted his noble cousin with a terse, “Good day, Wargrave.” Hence, it was not surprising that relations between the two were somewhat strained. In this case, however, the gentlemen in question were first cousins once removed, the younger had come from nowhere to inherit a title and fortune that the older had assumed would be his, and their relationship had been formally announced moments after they had come within a sword slice of killing one another. When two gentlemen are closely related by blood, they do not usually address each other with formality. Īll copyrighted material within is Attributor Protected. She caught her breath and her lips parted, wanting more. The desire in his eyes was a potent aphrodisiac, releasing the hidden part of her nature as surely as he had unbound her hair. “You have beautiful hair,” he said softly, his fingertips drifting across her cheek and throat in an erotic caress. After releasing her hair from its maidenly restraint, he raked the shining strands with his long fingers until they spilled in a silken mantle over her shoulder and tumbled halfway to her waist. She thought he would pull her close for a kiss, but instead he grasped her heavy braid and untied the ribbon at the end. His intense virility was drawing her as if they were opposing poles of a magnet seeking their mates.įor a long moment they stood that way, motionless and utterly intent on each other. She rose and walked to him, halting an arm’s length away.

The rake by mary jo putney