ButLilah…
Well, she was an altogether different person.
Or she could be.
His forearm planted against the trap door above his head, holding it in place, he pinched a nail between forefinger and thumb and hammered it in place. One nail down, about forty to go if this fix was going to withstand two hours of stomping feet every night.
Right.
Truth told, he should reconsider this plan to travel with the company for the remainder of the summer. As he’d gotten to know the Albion Players, he saw that Delilah was perfectly safe here.
Further, he’d never seen her like this. She’d always been confident, but this Delilah—Lilah—was different. She not only knew what she was about, but she was capable. She didn’t need her family name to thrive—and she certainly didn’t need him to tell her what was good for her.
He hammered a nail in place, then another, and another. It was only when he took a rest from all the hammering—an activity that was surprisingly settling for the mind—that he realized he wasn’t the one causing all the racket. Heels drummed on the boards near him… heels that advanced with a light, efficientclick-clack… heels that didn’t slow as they approached the half-secured trap door.
Sebastian was considering the possibility that he should move when a booted heel came down on the trap door, then the other. It was on the third step that the rickety contraption gave way, allowing him the split of a second to react as a body dropped into the hole. Though he was on his knees, his arms reactively shot out even as one of those booted heels planted itself in the center of his chest and kicked, knocking the wind out of him and shoving him onto his arse.
But gravity wasn’t finished as the body continued its descent, crashing down on him as its landing cushion. Next thing he knew, he was flat on his back, a pair of long, slender legs straddling his chest, a woman’s skirts flung over his face. His hands instinctively grabbed the woman’s waist to steady her.
Except these weren’t just any woman’s skirts flung over his head.
They were Delilah’s skirts.
Which made these Delilah’s long, slender legs straddling him.
Delilah’s womanly scent he was inhaling.
His cock went from still and unbothered to full and ready in an instant.
Frantic hands began shoving skirts aside. Over the hem, wide, startled azure eyes stared down into his.
Delilah’s eyes.
Both speechless, their gazes remained locked…his hands clutching her waist…her cunny close enough to his face that all it would take for him to have a taste of her would be to pull her a few inches closer…
She swallowed, and his eyes followed the undulation of her elegant throat.
Here they were…
Not Ravensworth and Lady Delilah.
But Seb and Lilah.
Staring into each other’s eyes longer than was strictly necessary.
And he wanted her with a ferocity he’d never once let himself experience.
Because he’d always known if he ever allowed himself to want her…
He would pursue her with the single-minded intensity that he pursued everything.
He wouldn’t stop until he’d had her.
Chapter Four
Along with hermind, Delilah’s lungs refused to move.
Both were decidedly stuck.
