Between her and Kit, she had always been the more stoic one. The one with a greater sense of responsibility. Kit had been raised knowing that he would inherit the title, lands, and fortune. Juliana had been taught that her duty was to the family.
But what if she shed off the shackles that had bound her for years? What if she allowed herself to let go of any sense of responsibility, as her brother had donead nauseam?
Vaguely, she was aware that the room she was now in was unoccupied, save for the masked man who had allowed her to enter with him. She felt his hands drift from her shoulders to her waist, boldly caressing her curves as if her body were his to explore by some divine right. When his lips pressed against the juncture of her neck and shoulder, Juliana could not help but let a soft sigh escape her lips.
What if I let go? What if I shed all pretense of decorum and allow… this?
She felt her skirts rising over her shins, her thighs… His demanding fingers sparked heat wherever they met her skin. She had become a molten flame in his arms, eager only for whatever ecstasy his every caress wrought in her. She wanted more. She wantedallof it.
When she felt his fingers hovering just beyond the spot between her thighs, drifting just out of reach, she let out a soft sigh of frustration.
“Scoundrel,” she admonished him.
“A scoundrel I may be, my sweet, but I would never force myself upon an unwilling woman,” he chuckled into her ear. “Tell me now—what do you want to happen tonight?”
His fingers had become a teasing torment, evoking a deep desperation in her. She had never before wanted anything as much as his carnal touch, and if she spoke otherwise, she feared he might withdraw and leave her.
“Everything,” she gasped. “I wanteverything.”
Chapter 4
“Everything. I want everything.”
That single word, released upon a breathy sigh, had his cock punching through his breeches. Hell, the woman had the voice of a siren, and he was more than eager to plunge into her depths.
And yet, it struck a familiarity in him that made his blood run cold even as it raged with lust in his veins.
Cassian drew back so quickly that the lady barely managed a surprised gasp before stumbling backward.
No, it cannot be…
But it was. There was no mistaking it.
The recognition had come to him faintly at first, like the tendrils of warmth that seeped around him in a bathhouse. And then it was like an unmistakable haze that enveloped him.
“Miss Hawthorne, what the hell are you doing in a place like this?” he demanded.
She had no business gallivanting around, rousing his desire as easily as the most skilled courtesans would an untried youth.
And Cassian was neither untried nor a youth. Not by a long shot.
The cold air from the gardens had already begun its familiar work on his hip, a dull, grinding reminder he had learned to breathe through and ignore. He ignored it now.
The infernal woman even had the temerity to scowl at him, and it took all of his will not to press her against the wall and have his way with her. Oh, there were better ways to put her mouth to use than that lust-inducing scowl.
Ways that did nothing for the growing discomfort in his breeches.
“How do you know my name?” she demanded. “Who are you? Are you one of my brother’s associates?”
“Do not insult me,” he clipped, desire and frustration raging through him. “It is the Duke of Stonevale that stands before you.”
“The Duke of—” Horror clouded her features, and she stumbled away from him. “You-you…”
He smiled coldly at her. “As you were saying, my dear?”
“Scoundrel!” she burst out, her chest heaving. The same chest she had arched so delectably into his hands earlier, when his lips had hovered mere inches from hers, denying her the kiss she had begun to crave. “Is this your twisted revenge on my brother? Seducing his sister?”
Oh, so shewasfeeling seduced. Cassian could not help but grin at her inadvertent admission.
