His stomach tightened again, and Lucian was just about to return to the house and demand that his servants search the entirety of the estate when a startled scream rang out further down the path.
He tossed the map back on the seat and ran toward the sound, stopping only when he reached the footbridge, noting broken planks in the center.
Had Eliza fallen through?
Lucian pulled his suitcoat from his body and was about to dive into the water when she emerged, her red hair plastered to her head and dripping wet, and droplets of water on her face, no different than ten years ago when she had fallen into the lake.
“You really should have your bridge repaired,” she called as she began to swim toward him.
Lucian stilled himself for when she emerged from the water. He already knew that the dress would cling to her perfectly formed body, but he would not give in to desire as he had before.
He must not!
Lucian’s mouth went dry as she reached the shore and pulled herself from the lake and onto the grass.
She had been desirable when she had just turned eighteen. That had been nothing compared to now. At eighteen, she’d been thin, though delightfully formed. Now, her body had reached a maturity often lacking in younger misses. Eliza was designed for passion and pleasure and Lucian’s body began to immediately react.
What didn’t help was that she wore a pale pink gown, nearly white and if she wore a shift, it did not offer much in shielding her body. Lucian noted the soft curves and fullness of her breasts, peaks tight from the cold water, the gently rounded hips that tapered to longer, shapely legs that he would not mind having around his hips as he…
Lucian blinked and shut down the thoughts that had controlled him the first time she’d ever emerged from the water, and the ones that nearly led him to seducing her.
He also was no longer two and twenty but one and thirty and should not have such a sudden and intense physical reaction. Except…
How long had it been since he bedded a woman?
Long enough, and Lucian didn’t want just a quick tumble. He wanted to savor, taste, and explore ever part of her.
Lucian stifled a groan as Eliza stopped before him.
For both of their sakes, he lifted his suitcoat and placed it around her shoulders.
She shrugged it off and handed it back to him. “I do not need that,” she insisted. “I was baking in the heat earlier. The dip in the lake was quite refreshing and I prefer to dry off and be warmed by the sun.”
“You do not realize just how exposed you are in such a light and thin material, Miss Weston.”
She glanced down and shrugged then looked up at him, her grey eyes questioning. “Miss Weston? Why not Eliza? You have addressed me as such before. In fact, you seem to go between the two.”
She was going to be the death of him.
“Miss Weston, I must insist that you cover yourself,” he bit out.
“Why, Lucian?”
“I did not give you leave to address me by my given name.”
“Yet, you have not corrected me previously,” she reminded him. “Besides, we have known each other long enough, and as I am temporarily residing in your home, should we not be on a first name basis?”
“What are you about, Eliza?” Lucian asked, not certain he was prepared for her answer.
Instead of saying anything, Eliza stepped forward again, placed her cool hands against his cheeks and drew him down before placing her lips against his. Just as she had done ten years ago and the other night. This was the third time she had kissed him, and his defenses were weakening.
It had not beenEliza’s intention to kiss Lucian she but could not help herself when she saw the heat and desire in his darkening blue eyes as he looked her over from the tips of her toes to the top of her head and back down, stopping at her breasts.
Heat rushed through her veins and she did not need the sun’s assistance in warming her.
She had expected him to push her away. Instead, his fingers slipped through her wet curls and to the back of her head and deepened the kiss. Eliza stepped closer until they touched. His other arm wrapped about her, pulling her tight against his body as he invaded her mouth, mating his tongue with hers, his arousal pressed against her lower abdomen. Eliza grew lightheaded and clutched onto his shoulders.
When Lucian’s hand slipped lower and grasped her bum, Eliza groaned and heat pooled in her nether regions.
