Invitation to Ruin by Bronwen Evans

she’d be left languishing in the country, missing him terribly, while he cavorted in London with his latest paramours. She just knew it.
    Her friend Lady Sarah Campbell endured her husband’s disinterest. She bore the humiliation of his affairs and was often the subject of gossip and pity.
    Melissa would rather not love at all than love a man who would never love her. So it was imperative to nip this indiscretion in the bud, before she fell under his spell any further.
    Melissa felt her cheeks heat. “I don’t want to marry you.”
    His gray eyes darkened to the color of coal. “Am I that terrifying?”
    She shook her head.
    “I realize my deflowering of you could have been better, but I won’t hurt you again, I promise.”
    Melissa’s bottom lip quivered as she tried to forget the feel of his body holding her, or his enormous member inside her … “I have no doubt you would make a marvelous lover, but you would likely be a wretched husband.” She shrugged her shoulders. “To me anyway.”
    He ran his hand through his hair. “You are right of course. I would make a terrible husband. But you forget one thing.”
    “That is …”
    He strolled over to her chair and looked down at her. “You have forgotten the most important thing of all. You might be with child.” The word “child” seemed to stick in his throat, and his eyes widened as if he was in shock. He shook himself, drew in a deep breath, and added, “I am not heartless enough to leave you to face Society’s wrath pregnant with my child.”
    Melissa felt the blood drain from her face. She hadn’t thought of that. “We could wait and see if I am with child before rushing into anything.”
    Anthony’s face clouded in anger, his eyes narrowed and darkened like the sky before a thunderstorm. Melissa watched the tick in his taut jaw with fascination. She’d just given him a way out, yet he seemed very displeased.
    “You must think I have no honor at all.”
    She pleaded with him. “No, it’s not that. I think, so far, you’ve proved to be very honorable; I applaud you for it. But there is no need to sacrifice yourself for me.”
    He crouched down before her chair and swallowed her hand in his. “I want to protect you from a Society that would hurt you. Why are you fighting me on this?” His eyes never left hers as he raised her hand to his lips.
    A hurricane of emotions swirling around her, Melissa could hardly think. What was he up to? For a man so vehemently opposed to marriage, he seemed desperate to find reasons for the marriage to go ahead. She eyed him wearily.
    That was a mistake. Her body stirred at his closeness. No man ever aroused her the way Anthony could. Merely looking at him now rekindled the delicious sparks between them.
    She swallowed, aware of her humming nerves, the hollow flip-flopping sensation in her stomach, and the tingling warmth between her thighs.
    Before she could help herself she uttered, “I just want to be happy.”
    “Your pulse is racing, I can feel it.” His lips brushed the sensitive skin of her wrist like a feather. “At the moment what would make me extremely happy would be to lock the door and make love to you in a manner more fitting than last night’s performance. To hear your small cries of passion, to make you wet with desire, and to sink between your soft thighs and let you touch heaven.”
    Now she was afraid. Something was wrong. He was trying to beguile her into this marriage—why? Melissa couldn’t hold his seductive gaze. Warmth seared her skin at his touch.
    Before she could even think to pull away, he leaned forward and kissed her … giving her a long, lingering, completely devastating reminder of the sensual power he held over her.
    When he straightened, leaving her dazed and longing, his face was serious. “We will be married as soon as I obtain the special license. That is the only course open to us. I know it’s not what you would have chosen, but I could make you happy. I can’t