He really ought to teach her a lesson for her impertinence. Maybe kiss her soundly enough to rattle her wits. Just so she would know that he was not one to be crossed.
Cassian cursed the wayward path of his thoughts. It would seem that his sanity just seemed to dissipate in the presence of Miss Juliana Hawthorne. He would do well to stay the hell away from her—except that he was finding it increasingly hard to do so with each encounter.
He and his hard cock.
“What if I—” he took a step toward her. She took one back, and he noted her breath hitching in her chest, her breasts rising tantalizingly over the lacy hem of her neckline. He raised his finger to lightly trace her cheek, watching her eyes turn dark as he did so.
“What if I insist on seeking access to the dark part of the gardens?” he asked her softly.
Her gaze, warm and limpid, turned hard and glacial. Impenetrable.
“Then, I am afraid I cannot let you pass,” she said.
He crossed his arms over his chest. “Whyever not, Miss Hawthorne? Whatscandaloussecrets are you hiding out here in the dark? A lover, perhaps?” The words felt like acid on his tongue. The thought of her trysting with another man in the dark made him want to commit murder.
“N-nothing of the sort, I assure you.” Her tongue darted out to nervously swipe her bottom lip, and Cassian nearly gave out an embarrassing groan at the sight.
“Good,” he said before he could stop himself. It would have been damned difficult to explain to Lady Hampton why her hydrangeas were bathed in blood in the middle of a ball.
Cassian inwardly shook his head at his folly. Contemplating murder because of a woman? How was it that he, a grown man, could be brought to his knees by a mere slip of a girl? If Sebastian and Benedict caught wind of such drivel, he would never hear the end of it.
“Still, I cannot let you pass,” she persisted most stubbornly.
He narrowed his eyes at her. “My dear Miss Hawthorne,” he told her silkily. “You will find that when I desire something, I damned well will get it. Whether you stand in my way matters not.”
“Well then, I regret to inform you that there is a first time for everything.” Her smile told him she was anything but regretful.“You will not be getting your way tonight, Your Grace.”
She was a stubborn one, and fortunately, much more desirable than her scoundrel of a sibling. It would have been even more aggravating if he were dealing with Kit Hawthorne at present. But even the passing thought of that traitorous lout was unable to dampen his arousal.
He took a step toward her, stiffening when her fragrance assailed his senses. She took a step back in response, her mouth opening in a little gasp that sparked the depravity in him. Fortunately, the wayward minx remained oblivious of her effect on his sanity.
He, however, was not so naive and unaware.
Cassian recognized the telltale signs of her blooming desire in the deepening blue of her eyes. The way her nostrils seemed to flare just the slightest bit. The tempting blush that rose from her chest to her cheeks.
It would appear that he was not the only one affected by their proximity.
And tonight, Cassian was determined to emerge the victor.
Juliana had never met a more contrary man than the one before her.
For all his claims of only the deepest contempt for her entire bloodline, he was the one who kept appearing where she least expected him to. And heaven help her traitorous little heart, but it never failed to give that slight little jump of excitementwhenever she spied him.
Now that he was close to her, so close that she could practically count his eyelashes, the faithless thing all but cartwheeled in her chest.
Not only that, but that strange tension she felt in her belly had returned, along with that ache between her legs that she dared not mention. Ever since she met him in the bathhouse, she had been plunged into a tumultuous whirlpool that only served to drag her deeper under with every encounter.
And who could blame her? Those wicked green eyes of his glittered with sensual promise, his smile a carnal calamity. Those of lesser fortitude would have found it nigh impossible to resist him.
But Juliana was no fool. She was well aware that being caught alone with a man—no, arogueof his caliber—would be disastrous for her and her entire family, and they were already teetering on the brink of ruin, thanks to Kit’s proclivities for gambling and bad investments. Yet, she could not look away from the compelling man whose arms had now encased her like bands of velvet-wrapped steel.
But she could not allow him to triumph over her either.
She glared at him with all the hostility she could summon. “Unhand me, sir.” She struggled in his grasp, but that only served to make him tighten his hold on her.
Unfortunately, it might not have been enough, for the miserable lout seemed to take even more delight in her predicament, if his deepening grin was any indication. He was already a disarmingly handsome man, curse him, and he had no compunctions about using his irresistible charm on her.
“Miss Hawthorne, by now you should be well aware that I do not take kindly to being ordered about,” he said, his voice brushing over her overstimulated nerves like fine silk.
