Read To Tame a Scoundrel's Heart (A Waltz with a Rogue Novella Book 4) for Free Online

agitation, or perhaps, her pent-up energy. “Had you not cared for his grace, he might have ended up a pitiable, uneducated urchin instead of a respected privateer.”
    His grace . God above, how would Nic ever get used to that form of address?
    A log shifted, and the flames crackled with renewed vigor.
    Percival hopped to the floor, and after stretching and yawning, pattered to the hearth and plopped his corpulent self before the fire.
    A man of Nic’s prior profession wasn’t typically respected or embraced by the upper ten thousand, not that he gave a damn what that pernicious lot believed. He did, however, care what she thought, dammit.
    Relaxing against the settee, he draped an arm across the top. Miss Needham’s shoulder was but a hand’s width away. “Please, when we are in intimate company, Miss Needham, might you address me more informally? Perhaps merely Nic or Saint, or if you must use my new title, Pendergast?” He winked and bent nearer. “Though I cannot guarantee I’ll answer to the latter.”
    “That’s not at all proper, as I’m sure you’re aware.” A sable eyebrow swooped upward as she teased. “However, since I’ve always thought of you as St. Monté, if you’ve no objection, I’ll address you as such.”
    “I would be honored.” She’d thought of him? How often?
    From the pink tinting her face and her sudden fascination with her spencer’s buttons, often.
    She captured her lush lower lip between her pretty teeth.
    Quite often.
    Satisfaction burgeoned behind his ribs. Well now. What an interesting, and most agreeable, development.
    “And there were the children to think of too,” Aunt Bertie said, her tears finally dried.
    She prattled on, oblivious to the intense, sensual undercurrent between him and Miss Needham.
    “As a bastard—oh, I quite hate that word—poor Nic suffered rejection and humiliation, but he possessed the strength of character to overcome the jibes and ridicule.” Aunt Bertie folded her serviette. “Leopold, though sweet, was a soft, weak hobbledehoy. And those darling girls ... Well, I’ll tell you, they’ll suffer the most from their sire’s perfidy.”
    “And that is why I must wed. To ensure their wellbeing and futures.” Nic drummed his fingertips atop the settee’s carved wood. “Perhaps you’d consider aiding me in my venture, Miss Needham? With your parents’ permission, naturally. I’m not up to snuff on niceties, and my dancing skills are rather rusty.”
    No understatement there.
    Why not make her an offer now? No, she didn’t seem the type to rush pell-mell into things. Well, actually she did, but best to woo her for a week or two at least. Make certain she didn’t possess an objectionable trait or habit.
    Aunt Bertie fairly beamed, appearing perkier than she had since he’d arrived. “What a grand notion, Nic.”
    Eagerness lent a becoming glow to Miss Needham’s already rosy cheeks. “I should be delighted to, and I’m sure I speak for Mama when I say she will be as well. We must start by introducing you to all the eligible misses in the area. No, no, not yet.” She shook her head, and the mahogany tendrils she’d repinned tumbled forth once more. Absently tucking them behind her ear, she said, “We need to make a list of what attributes you require in a duchess and what things you cannot abide. That will save time and avoid introducing you to ladies who won’t suit.”
    “But of course.” Almond brown hair, blue eyes that change color depending on her mood, an exuberant smile, a penchant for speaking her mind, as well as a sumptuously rounded form topped his preferences. In a word—her. “Since I intend to return to the sea when my sisters are raised and wed, she’ll need to be amenable to spending months alone.”
    Miss Needham’s face puckered before she smoothed the delicate planes once more. “Why not take her with you if she’s of a mind to accompany you?”
    He chuckled and raked a hand through his long hair.