A Taste of Seduction by Bronwen Evans

them under the avalanche of her betrayal, deep in his heart where she could never hurt him again, but here he was doing her bidding once again. He would have to proceed with caution if he was to remain unscarred from this encounter.
    The only thing to give thanks for was that Evangeline appeared to be agitated by his inner strength. He hadn’t rolled over and let her beauty turn him into her lap dog once more. She now viewed him with a tad more respect. He almost laughed when she first began to understand that her womanly wiles would no longer work on him. He was immune to her tears, having cried too many over her betrayal.
    He would prove to Evangeline that he was a stronger man than before. He would not succumb to her charms again. He would show her the letter and she could be on her way by morning, back to the wilds of Scotland, where she belonged.
    Then I’ll never have to see you again,
he was thinking as he stepped out of the carriage. He turned to help her down, but she dropped her muff. He bent to pick it up, and as he did, a shot rang out and a rush of air passed over his head. A gunshot. Instinctively he reached up and pulled Evangeline down to the ground beside him, rolling her under him as he used the wheel for some kind of protection.
    Her driver stood and fired down the street at a man fleeing on horseback. Then there was simply silence.
    Hadley sprang to his feet and held out his hand to Evangeline. She didn’t take it. He looked down and a curse hurtled from his mouth. Blood was spreading over her cream gown. A slight trickle covered her right shoulder. She’d been hit.
    Icy fear gripped him and guilt consumed him as he dropped beside her and pulled her into his arms.
    He pushed his fear away and picked her up, quickly carrying her into his family’s townhouse, calling for Mrs. Booker, the head housekeeper.
    Mrs. Booker immediately took charge, arranging for the doctor to be fetched, and Hadley carried her to his room, on the second floor.
    He kept thinking about the last thought he’d had about her:
Then I’ll never have to see you again.
He looked down at her pale face as he carried her upstairs, and suddenly he didn’t want there to be a world without Evangeline in it. She might have stomped on his heart, but she didn’t deserve to die from a gunshot he was pretty certain was meant for him.
    Their villainess had decided to strike, and he should have known what she would do. Setting up a second son for disgrace and ruin would be pointless; no one would care. Dead did the job just as well.
    Just then Evangeline let out a moan and her eyelids fluttered open. “What happened? Why are you carrying me?” she asked. She let out a small cry when she tried to move in his arms.
    “Lie still. You’ve been shot.”
    Her eyes widened and her wan cheeks got paler. “Shot? Who? Why?”
    “It was meant for me, but when I bent down to collect your muff, the shot must have hit you instead.”
    “So it’s not just me you have angered recently.”
    He chose to ignore her jibe, not wishing to upset her further. Her eyes were struggling to stay open against the pain, and when he tried to lengthen his stride, her hand gripped his arm where it wrapped around her torso, careful to avoid one plump breast.
    No sooner had he laid her on his large bed than Mrs. Booker entered with one of the maids.
    “Off with you, my lord. We will see to the lady.”
    “My name is Lady Evangeline Stuart. You may call me Eva,” she said to Mrs. Booker.
    Hadley stood near the bed, not sure what to do. The shot couldn’t have been too serious, as the blood was beginning to slow and congeal. He hadn’t had a chance to examine the wound, but it was near the top of her right shoulder. He hoped it had not broken any bones and that the bullet was not still in there. According to Sebastian, who had been shot in the buttocks last month, it hurt like the devil to get it out.
    His hands itched to tug down the shoulder of the gown to see, but