But she couldn’t.
“If I approached you at Vivien’s,” Winstead continued. “Would you welcome that?”
She swallowed hard. “I would,” she said, though the sound of the words was hollow. “I hope you will and we can get to know each other better there.”
He smiled and looked even younger. Lord, she would rob a cradle before this was finished. What a ridiculous notion that was.
He took her hand and lifted it to his lips, pressing a brief kiss to her glove before he said, “I ought to go in. But I hope to see you again soon, Your Grace.”
“Good night, Mr. Winstead,” she said. “I’ll stay here for a while.”
He nodded and left her on the terrace. She looked around after he was gone. It seemed her unwanted presence had inspired all the others to leave, as well. It was just as well. She didn’t think she could take more pointed stares and whispered insults tonight. If she could hide outside for a long enough time, perhaps she could find some way to convince Ambrose to allow her to go home.
She stared up at the sky with a sigh and a prayer for just that. The moon was just a sliver tonight and she looked up at that hint of beauty, focusing on it rather than her own awful circumstances.
“Elise.”
At the sound of her name, she gripped her fist tighter on the stone. She didn’t have to turn to know who had said it. But she did and caught her breath.
She’d seen Stenfax once tonight, but it didn’t matter. Every time she looked at him, he took her breath away. He was as beautiful dressed formally as he was naked while he took her.
Well,almostas beautiful.
“You shouldn’t be out here with me,” she said, forcing herself to look away. “I’m suretheyare watching you.”
He ignored the comment and took a long step toward her. “It doesn’t matter. Elise, we need to talk.”
Elise didn’t respond to him immediately, and for that Stenfax was glad. It allowed him an extra moment to look at her, a tiny sparkle of moonlight bouncing off her luminous skin. Her dress was shocking, but it was beautiful. All that perfect flesh, teasing at more but not revealing it. It made a man want to glide his hands inside the folds of fabric and touch her until she shattered.
She licked her lips and he fought hard against the urge to do just that to her and more.
“Did you come out here to tell me that Mr. Winstead is evil?” she asked.
He frowned. Oh yes, he’d marked young Winstead’s interest in Elise. Watching her walk outside with the man was one of the most difficult things he’d ever done. Harder still was not bursting out behind them and tossing the man into the bushes below.
“I have nothing negative to say about Winstead except that he’s a pup,” he said through clenched teeth.
She looked at him evenly, one fine eyebrow arching. “Well, he won’t be forever, I suppose.”
He shook his head. “No. I suppose not. Truly, I have never heard anything untoward about him.”
She folded her arms. “Are you encouraging me to choose him as my protector then?”
“No,” he whispered, trying to ignore the intense pain that ricocheted through him at that thought. The thought of someone like Winstead touching her. Giving her pleasure and having her return it. They were painful, erotic images that flooded his mind. “I could never do that.”
“Why?” She turned away as she asked the question, but her pain was clear whether she faced him or not. It dripped from her voice, it sat on her rolled shoulders. “You don’t want me. In fact, all this must thrill you.”
“All this?” he repeated, uncertain what she meant.
Her shoulders bent further. “This idea that I am here in the height of humiliation. Being rejected by people I once called friend. Being forced to fuck for my freedom, my life.”
He heard the wavering tears in her voice, even though she hadn’t yet begun to weep outright. Suddenly he had a wild urge to take her in his arms, to take her away from this night and this life. To save her. To keep her.
But he couldn’t do that. There was too much history between them. Still, he found himself moving toward her.
“None of those things give me any pleasure,” he said as he reached out and placed a hand on her bare arm. She looked at it sitting there, her entire body shaking. “Once I wanted to hurt you. I wanted to make you feel the same brokenness I did when you left.”
She lifted her gaze and a single tear escaped her eye, trailing down her cheek. She didn’t move to wipe it away, but let it drag down to her chin.
