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Chapter One
When a girl trudged through the rain at ht to knock at the Devil’s door, the Devil should at least have the depravity—if not the decency—to answer
Minerva gathered the edges of her cloak with one hand, weathering another cold, stinging blast of wind She stared in desperation at the closed door, then pounded it with the flat of her fist
“Lord Payne,” she shouted, hoping her voice would carry through the thick oak planks “Do cohwood ” After a hwood ”
Rather nonsensical, that she needed to state just which Miss Highwood she was Froer sister, Charlotte, was an exuberant yet tender fifteen years of age And the eldest of the faelic beauty, but the disposition to match Neither of theht, steal down the back stairs of the roo house, and rendezvous with an infamous rake
But Minerva was different She’d always been different Of the three Highwood sisters, she was the only dark-haired one, the only bespectacled one, the only one who preferred sturdy lace-up boots to silk slippers, and the only one who cared one whit about the difference between sedimentary and metamorphic rocks
The only one with no prospects, no reputation to protect
Diana and Charlotte will do well for themselves, but Minerva? Plain, bookish, distracted, aith gentlemen In a word, hopeless
The words of her own mother, in a recent letter to their cousin To make it worse, Minerva hadn’t discovered this description by snooping through private correspondence Oh, no She’d transcribed the words herself, penning them at Mama’s dictation
Truly Her own mother
The wind caught her hood and whisked it back Cold rain pelted her neck, adding injury to insult
Swiping aside the hair matted to her cheek, Minerva stared up at the ancient stone turret—one of four that comprised the Rycliff Castle keep Smoke curled from the topmost vent
She raised her fist again, pounding at the door with renewed force “Lord Payne, I know you’re in there ”
Vile, teasing man
Minerva would root herself to this spot until he let her in, even if this cold spring rain soaked her to the very e to the castle, slipping overe the same way back home, defeated
However, after a solid ue of her journey set in, knotting her calfher spine Minerva slumped forward Her forehead met ith a dull thunk She kept her fist lifted overhead, beating on the door in an even, stubborn rhythht very well be plain, bookish, distracted, and aard—but she was detered, determined to be heard
Determined to protect her sister, at any cost
Open, she willed Open Open Op—
The door opened Swiftly, with a brisk, unforgiving whoosh
“For the love of tits, Thorne Can’t it wait for—”
“Ack ” Caught off balance, Minerva stuainst—not the door, but a chest
Lord Payne’s chest His htly less solid than a plank of oak Her blow landed square on his flat, h it were the Devil’s own door-knocker
At least this time, the Devil answered
“Well ” The dark word resonated through her arm “You’re not Thorne ”
“Y-you’re not clothed ” And I’ your bare chest OhLord
The ht not be wearing trousers either She righted herself As she reht a reassuring se of dark wool below the flesh-colored blur of his torso She huffed a breath on each of the two glass discs connected by brass, wiped the , and then replaced them on her face
He was still half naked And now, in perfect focus Devious tongues of firelight licked over every feature of his handso him
“Come in, if you mean to ” He winced at a blast of frost-tipped wind “I’ the door, either way ”
She stepped forward The door closed behind her with a heavy, finite sound Minerva sed hard
“I must say, Melinda This is rather a surprise ”
“My name’s Minerva ”
“Yes, of course ” He cocked his head “I didn’t recognize your face without the book in front of it ”
She exhaled, letting her patience stretch And stretch Until it expanded just enough to accoly well-defined shoulders
“I’ll admit,” he said, “this is hardly the first tiht and found a wo on the other side But you’re certainly the least expected one yet ” He sent her lower half an assessing look “And the most muddy ”
She ruefully surveyed her ht seductress she was not “This isn’t that kind of visit ”
“Give me a moment to absorb the disappointment ”
“I’d rather give you a moment to dress ” Minerva crossed the round chaht for the hearth She took her ti loose the velvet ties of her cloak, then draped it over the room’s only armchair
Payne hadn’t wasted the entirety of his reat deal of work into transfor this stone silo into a warinal stone hearth had been cleaned and restored to working order In it blazed a fire large and fierce enough to do a Norman warrior proud In addition to the upholstered armchair, the circular room contained a wooden table and stools Simple, but well made
No bed
Strange She swiveled her gaze Didn’t an infamous rake need a bed?