Emily's Seduction by Natasha Blackthorne

have not done with others.”
    She swallowed hard, called on all her bravery and stared back up into his boyish, handsome face. His startling sky-blue eyes. “I am just not quite used to being so indifferent about things like this. I was completely innocent before Alex.”
    “I never thought otherwise, though, you know, innocence is not always a virtue.”
    “For women, it always is.”
    Peter made a wry expression. “No, I don’t believe that. Virgins are a dreadful bore.” His eyes glittered warmly.
    “You actually asked—I mean you suggested such a thing to Alex and he…he…”
    He shook his head. “I was tweaking at Alex. He has been so deliciously touchy and vulnerable of late. I tell you, I expected to get my arse trounced. Certainly I didn’t expect him to take me up on it.” He straightened his cravat. “This is not a good thing. No, it is not. Alex will not look on this well in his reflection upon it.”
    “If you knew that, then why did you go along with it?”
    He grinned. “Ah, but you were very enchanting…so uninhibited. How could I possibly resist? I don’t regret it. I can’t.”
    She nodded slowly then took a deep drink of coffee.
    “I don’t know what is wrong with Alex lately. Delaying the announcement of your engagement. Keeping you here in his house while his aunt is away.” He raised his brows. “Doing…allowing what he did last night.” He sighed. “He’s not the cousin I used to know. He hasn’t been since he returned from France—or wherever the devil he spent those missing years.”
    She caught her breath then leaned forward. “What do you know about those years?”
    “Probably no more than you’ve heard from others. His arguments with his father. His decision to sign aboard a privateer rather than attend Harvard. The wreck of the Pollyanna, his years in France when he didn’t bother to inform anyone that he was alive.”
    “You know something else…you must.”
    Peter’s expression went grim and he rubbed his chin . “There was something.”
    “Well, you must tell me. I need to understand him.”
    “I had this mistress and she… Oh…” He laughed, the sound ringing with discomfort. “We were at an end and she didn’t take it well. Alex—he is too sympathetic to women. He took her on. She wasn’t really someone who could hold his attention any more than she’d held mine. She was appeared very quiet and meek at first but she was very volatile in her emotions. God, her tantrums could wear a man down. Alex grew weary of her quicker than I did. It was too soon after we had ended and she was never strong of mind. She took her own life rather…” His voice grew thin and he cleared his throat. “Dramatically.”
    The floor seemed to drop several feet at once.
    “What did she do?” She whispered, as if that could soften the moment.
    He went chalk pale and would not look at her. “She threw herself from the roof of his mansion—no, not here, on the Schuylkill.”
    Poor Alex! Emily put her hand to her throat. “My goodness!”
    “He did not take it well. He blamed himself but Alice was—” He glanced up at her and chuckled nervously. “Eh, I ought not have said her name. You cannot repeat her name to Alex. Promise me.”
    Emily stared at him, dumbstruck with shock at his tale. “Of course.”
    Peter took a deep breath and sighed. “Good. Because it won’t help anything. It will only make him worse about what…whatever is preying on his mind now.”
    He looked spent, even a bit ill. She felt the same. She poured them both another cup of coffee and in silence they drank. Slowly she regained her equilibrium.
    “Whatever is plaguing Alex, he must have space and time to sort things out.”
    “I think what he should have is a stout kick to the arse.” Peter frowned then rubbed the back of his neck. “Emily, I came here last night to convince you to come with me to my sister’s house. We could still go there. It’s early and Cornelia always has a