ONE FOR LOVE

Wicked Warlock Society 1

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Emma Wildes

EROTIC ROMANCE

Siren Publishing, Inc.

www.SirenPublishing.com

A SIREN PUBLISHING BOOK

IMPRINT: Erotic Romance

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ONE FOR LOVE

Wicked Warlock Society 1

Copyright © 2008 by Emma Wildes

E-book ISBN: 1-60601-015-8

First E-book Publication: April 2008

Cover design by Jinger Heaston

All cover art and logo copyright © 2008 by Siren Publishing, Inc.

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED:This literary work may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by
any means, including electronic or photographic reproduction, in whole or in part, without express written
permission.

All characters and events in this book are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual persons living or dead is
strictly coincidental.

PUBLISHER

Siren Publishing, Inc.

www.SirenPublishing.com

DEDICATION

For Kayleigh Jamison, a kindred spirit.

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Emma Wildes

ONE FOR LOVE

Wicked Warlock Society 1

Emma Wildes

Copyright © 2008

Chapter 1

Temptation had never been his forte.

Well, that wasn’t precisely correct, thought David Barrett as he rode along in seeming nonchalance at
odds with his inner turmoil. It was more accurate to say he’d never been good atsuccumbing to
temptation.

Today was different.

He was going to do something both outrageous and unforgivable and for once in his respectable, staid
life, he just didn’t care.

“I hope this lovely weather holds.”

The comment jolted him out of his reverie. He glanced over at his companion, her horse ambling along
next to his, her face tilted upward as if she studied the vast cobalt blue of the sky above. It gave him a
view ofVictoria ’s perfect profile, but he didn’t need it. He had every detail memorized from the
straightness of her small nose, the delicate structure of cheekbones and chin, that soft, tantalizing mouth,
and her most compelling feature, a pair of enormous striking indigo eyes.

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Indigo. Yes, it really was the only color that described them. Several years ago he’d written a terrible
poem about her eyes called Ode to Indigo and he really should destroy it because he’d be embarrassed
as hell if anyone actually read it, but for some unfathomable reason, he hung on to it. That wretched piece
of doggerel was lodged in a locked drawer in his desk along with a handkerchief he’d lent her when
she’d gotten the news of her grandmother’s death. It looked like an ordinary piece of linen, like dozens
he owned, the crest of the Earl of Dunreith embroidered on one corner. But because he was an idiot, he
kept it enshrined and unwashed because her tears had once soaked it.

He wasn’t the only man she turned into a lovesick fool, and that was part of the problem. The wait had
gotten him nowhere and things were getting a bit touch and go.

Bloody hell, even without the possibility she might actually accept Lord Firth’s proposal, he was sick of
being miserable. Four years of it was too much, and quite frankly, even though he was going to do
something despicable in every way, he’d always had the means and hadn’t yet, so he gave himself that
much credit anyway.

“Yes,” he murmured in response, “the moderate temperatures have been very good for the crops.”

Now that was brilliant, Dunreith, he thought sardonically, no wonder she views you in an entirely platonic
way. Some comment about how the sunlight brings out the golden highlights in her hair might have at least
sounded remotely romantic.

It did too. She’d removed her hat earlier in deference for the lovely day and he admired the way one
tendril danced across the slender column of her neck, pale gold against her ivory skin as it moved in the
late morning breeze. The next thing he’d know, he’d be penning a sonnet to throats and disheveled
chignons, he thought with self-mocking amusement.

Victorialaughed, the musical sound ringing out. She gave him a sidelong mischievous look. “David, you
are always obsessing over crops. Really, don’t you have an estate manager for that? You should come
toLondon more often, not stay here stuck in the country all the time.”

“I come when Parliament is in session.”

“Yes, and are stuck with a bunch of stuffy old men the whole time. I meant come for enjoyment.”

“I don’t care much for society, which you realize full well, Tori.”

“You will have to care sooner or later, at least enough to find a wife. What better way to meet someone
suitable than attend one of those crowded balls?”

He lifted his brows. “You make it sound rather like going to the market.”

“In a way it is,” she admitted, brushing the errant curl aside with a sigh and tucking it beneath her ear.
“You know that, though.”

Yes, he did. He knew all about responsibility, about duty, about doing the right thing like finding a wife
and producing the requisite heir. It was doing the wrong thing that had him a bit nervous.

“Of course I know. Notice my absence during these calculated hunts.”

She laughed again, those bewitching eyes glimmering. “You are a young titled gentleman with a fortune.

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You’d be most popular.”

“How charming. To be valued for one’s possessions.”

The dry tone of his voice brought forth a small frown, her smile fading. “Surely you don’t think that is all
you have to offer, David. I know you are a bit on the quiet side, but honestly, when someone gets to
know you, you’re…different.”

Well, he was glad she thought so, because they were about to get to know each other very well indeed if
all went according to plan.

It was supposed to work.

God, he hoped it would. If it didn’t, he’d probably lose her friendship forever, and up until now, if he
didn’t have more, at least he had that.

Up ahead was the lazy meander of the river, picturesque willows leaning down to trail languid fingers in
the water. Across the small bridge was the boundary of his family’s estate and their destination. He
wasn’t leading her up to the house—that he was the earl didn’t matter, this was the country and privacy
was hard to come by, even in his own home. Everyone knew everything and servants would talk if they
were sequestered alone together for any length of time. He had agonized over how to handle this, but
finally come up with what he hoped was a tenable solution.

Diabolical deliberate seduction took some planning.

The folly, once used as a summerhouse, had been abandoned years ago, and truthfully, he’d never paid
any attention to it, but it was sheltered, private, and he hoped, now comfortable enough for the interlude
he had planned. He’d ordered the restoration himself, but hadn’t seen any way to explain requesting a
bed be put in, so he’d settled instead for coming down earlier in the morning with soft blankets and
pillows, the result not exactly subtle, but hopefully suited to a romantic interlude of a sexual nature.

It bothered his conscience to be so calculating about the whole thing, but obviously not enough to stop
him. He’d been waiting for the right time, and with the news her potential fiancé might be arriving that
very afternoon to attend a small house party her mother was giving, well, he didn’t feel he could be
patient any longer.

It was now or never.

In what he hoped was a casual tone, he said, “Did I tell you I decided to have the folly repaired?”

Victorialooked a little surprised. “I thought you’d talked of tearing it down. Didn’t the roof leak terribly
and birds certainly used it enough to make the inside less than appealing.”

“True. But I changed my mind. It’s rather a charming little building and I suppose whichever of my
ancestors decided to build it would resent me destroying it completely. Maybe I’m a bit superstitious, but
I decided not to incur their ghostly wrath and had workmen fix it instead.”

“You? Superstitious? Much less afraid of ghosts?” One gloved hand competently holding the
reins,Victoria looked amused, her mouth twitching. “I don’t believe that.”

Nor should she. He really wasn’t much for flights of fancy. “Whatever my reasons, would you like to see

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it?”

Heknew her. Her movements, the fascinating power of her smile, the bright curiosity of her agile mind.
How she adored children and pets. How she deplored tea even though it was very un-English to do so
and she drank it anyway…how she’d fallen off the roof of the stable when she was seven, broken her
arm, and lied about what happened and still felt guilty over it. How she’d cried after her coming out
because she’d discovered later there was a deplorable stain on the hem of her silk gown the entire time.

More importantly, how she’d apologized for crying over something so stupid and inconsequential when
there were people in the world who were much less fortunate.

She talked to him. She always talked to him. He was the big brother she’d never had.

Only he didn’t wish to be her brother in any way.

He wanted to be her lover.

The roof of the small gothic building came into sight, nestled between two trees, the river placid as it
flowed in leisurely passage, the bright sunlight making the scene serene and delightful.

“I’d love to see it,”Victoria said, her attention on the clean line of the roof and the Grecian pillars. “Oh,
David, from here even it looks marvelous.”

She’d agreed. He felt relieved and a thousand other things, though he had been sure she would be
intrigued.

He opened his mouth and softly recited the spell.

* * * *

Victoria Caldwell turned her head and stared curiously. What on earth was he saying? David never said
nonsensical things—not ever. It sounded like Latin, but then again, David wouldn’t spout Latin verses.

David. The sunlight glinted off his hair. It was brown…well, she supposed, more of a chestnut color,
nicely threaded with lighter golden strands. His eyes were an unusual amber hue, something she had
noticed before but never really thought about too much. She’d known him all her life and though he’d
gone from boy to man during that time, she had always taken his easy camaraderie for granted.

“What?”

He simply looked at her, a faint smile on his face.

Secretly, she’d always thought he was very handsome in an understated way. Not at all like his rakish,
good-looking younger brothers, but with the fine-boned elegance of medieval aristocrat, all reserve and
aloof distance, his expression usually a bit enigmatic. As usual, he was dressed impeccably in a dark
coat, pristine cravat, tan breeches, and polished Hessians. His long-fingered hands rested on the pommel
of the saddle, his large gelding simply walking beside her smaller mount.

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“What what?” he asked politely.

“You just said something.”

“Did I?”

Now what was that supposed to mean?Victoria gave him a perplexed look. For whatever reason, her
gaze dropped to his mouth. A small flush spread over her skin all of a sudden, and she quickly glanced
away.

As long as she could remember, David had been…well, David. Calm, kind, practical, the mantle of his
title settling easily on his shoulders four years ago even though he was only twenty-one when he inherited.
Since they were neighbors, their families naturally had always been friends and she just remembered him
always beingthere . If she ever wanted someone to talk to, he was the perfect choice because he actually
listened. Her older sister, Vanessa, commented now and again he was a bit dull, butVictoria didn’t agree
in the least. Since he was five years older, they hadn’t been precisely playmates but he had never minded
her tagging along behind him and as they grew up, acquaintance settled into firm friendship. Just a few
months before, uncertain whether to possibly accept a marriage proposal from Lord Hetherington, she’d
found herself bypassing the normal route of speaking with her father and mother and instead gone straight
to David to talk about her mixed feelings over the match. He’d listened, advised her against accepting
since she seemed so unsure, and she had turned down the gentleman in question.

David was, in short, nice.

A bit on the reclusive side, but then again, the estate probably took up a great deal of his time and with
his personality, she wasn’t really surprised he favored the peace of the countryside to the bustle
ofLondon . His brothers more than made up for his reticence.

“What do you think?” He pointed ahead, shaking her out of her abstraction.

The folly was a small summerhouse, built with the traditional pillars on the front and perched on a grassy
knoll by the river. As their horses walked across the bridge, she saw it had been painted a gleaming white
in contrast with its usual drab look, and the roof was new. There was also glass in the windows for the
first time in her memory, and even a pot of brilliant blooming flowers by the door. Set against the green of
the wooded park behind it and with the curve of the river meandering in front, it was actually very
appealing.

“It’s lovely.” Restoring it was a bit of a whimsical gesture on his part, and David was rarely that way.

“I thought it turned out well, considering it was about to fall down.”

“Will you actually use it?” She was curious, for she had a hard time picturing him simply sitting and
admiring the view.

“I hope to,” he responded, giving her an oddly intense stare.

She stared back. For a momentVictoria felt a bit light-headed. For some inexplicable reason she found
herself focused on his mouth again and for the first time in her life wondered what it would feel like if
David kissed her.

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Where did that come from?

When they rode up he dismounted in a lithe movement and came around to grasp her waist and lift her
to the ground.Victoria averted her gaze, both disconcerted and off balance, well aware of the feeling of
his hands as he easily lowered her. He was quite tall, and she only came up to his shoulder, and suddenly
he seemed verymale . The clean scent of his cologne mingled with the warm summer air.

“Tori, are you quite all right?”

“What?” She blinked, realizing she was holding on to his arms, and quickly dropped her hands.

David didn’t move, but simply looked at her, probably wondering what the devil was wrong with her all
of a sudden.

There were darker flecks in the amber of his eyes and his lashes were absurdly long. Why had she never
noticed before?

More importantly, why was she inconveniently noticing now?

“I…er…well…”

His brows went up a fraction at her inarticulate stammer. “It’s quite warm. Maybe the heat is bothering
you. Come on, let’s go inside. I suspect a bit of shade would do you good.”

He took her hand and she felt the light clasp of his fingers right down through her toes. Surely he’d held
her hand before on dozens of similar occasions, when escorting her up and down stairs, or in to tea, or
when leading her out for a dance. Yes, they’d danced together often enough and she’d never felt this
way, not even when held in his arms.

Well, maybe a little bit. There was always a part of her that wondered if she wasn’t in love with David.

No. It couldn’t be.

She let him urge her up the steps, listening to him explain in his even voice that he’d had them repaired
but tried to use as many of the original bricks as possible. Why he’d even say that was a mystery,
because of course he would. David would never throw away anything useful, he wasn’t like that.

Whatwas he like?

If anyone had asked her that before they left on their ride earlier she was certain she would have been
able to offer an easy explanation. Now, for whatever reason, she suddenly wasn’t sure.

The inside was cooler but she didn’t think the warm morning was the reason for her flushed skin and
rapid heartbeat. Long windows, open at the moment, overlooked the river, the bucolic view soothing.
There was a small settee on each end of the small space placed so the occupants might enjoy a glass of
wine while watching the water flow lazily by, and for whatever unfathomable reason, an arrangement of
soft blankets and pillows in the very middle of the room.

David hadn’t let go of her hand. He asked, “So what do you think?”

Not an earth-shattering question, but for some reason—maybe the slightly husky note in his voice she’d

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never heard before—it left her speechless.Victoria stared up at him and it seemed like the world stopped
turning. He looked the same as he always had, the clean line of nose and jaw, the familiar reserved
expression, but there was something else there too. This time she couldn’t even summon a ridiculous
stammer. He waited, just gazing back at her, and finally she managed to say, “Yes.”

Yes to what? She hadn’t answered his question, had she? She couldn’t even remember what it was.

His lashes lowered a fraction. “I was hoping you’d say that, Tori.”

Chapter 2

The tactic, underhanded or not, worked beautifully. David looked down into the face of the woman he
desired so much he was willing to sacrifice his honor, and saw the confusion in her lovely eyes. Since
explaining was out of the question, going ahead with the seduction seemed a better way of settling things
between them.

He lifted a hand and touched her chin, tilting her face up a fraction more. She was more than beautiful,
her features fragile, those incredible blue eyes wide, her mouth slightly parted as she waited for what was
coming. She knew it, too, for her eyes drifted shut as he lowered his head.

It was simply impossible to not pour his soul into that first kiss. However it was gained, the sentiment
was there, the passion existed, and he could no more help but reveal it than he could stop breathing. The
first touch of his lips on hers was a soft brush and then he settled his mouth more fully, taking her, his
tongue easing inside the warmth of her mouth.

To his delight, she’d never been kissed that way. He could tell by the way she stiffened, just a little, and
the hesitation of her response. Considering the tremendous success of her debut into society and the
number of lovesick young men courting her on a constant basis, he really hadn’t been sure. Her
father—who would have his head on a platter if he realized his current intentions—had confided over a
glass of brandy the other evening he’d had no less than a dozen offers for her already, and David wasn’t
surprised in the least.

Who wouldn’t want to marryVictoria ?

God knew he did. Enough to ruin her to get his wish.

He should probably rot in hell, for the only reason he was allowed to be alone with her was because her

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family trusted him implicitly. The fact he was wildly in love with her didn’t matter, he still wasn’t being
honorable, but with her slender body resting against him and their mouths molded in an shattering
unforgettable first kiss, he didn’t give a damn.

Even through the material of her jacket, blouse, and chemise, he could feel her breasts against his chest.
Full, pliant yet firm, so female and so arousing. His cock was already hard, filling the front of his
breeches, the restricting cloth uncomfortable. One arm slid around her slim waist and urged her closer so
she nestled fully against him, and he tried to curb the sheer depth of his pent up hunger so as not to
frighten her to death.

He kissed her. And kissed her. It wasn’t until he realized her arms were now firmly around his neck that
he broke away, his breath fanning across her cheek. She smelled like roses, sweet and soft, and her
lashes lifted very slowly.

“I want you.” It was such an understatement he stifled a mirthless laugh. “Badly,” he expounded because
he felt the need to be at least a little honest.

“Oh.” She looked bewildered and he wasn’t surprised. Never had he given her the slightest indication of
his feelings, at least not something an innocent young woman would interpret correctly. There were things
certainly. That he rode over almost every single day whenever she was in residence made his family lift
their brows, but they so far refrained from commenting. Since they’d always had been such good friends
with theCaldwells anyway, why shouldn’t he visit?

The incantation was working, he could tell. Even after he stated so bluntly his intentions, she didn’t pull
away but stayed lax and willing against him. When he pulled out the pins holding her simple chignon in
place, she didn’t object, the pale mass of her hair cascading downward over her back. It was like fine,
warm silk and he felt it brush his hands with a reverent wonder.

It was really going to happen.

He should feel guilty.

He didn’t. Maybe afterwards he might. Oh hell, he knew he would, or he wouldn’t have waited so long
to take this step, but that didn’t matter with her finally in his arms.

His cock throbbed, his skin felt warm, and the light in her incredible eyes held him mesmerized.

She murmured, “Kiss me again.”

As if he would ever resist that invitation. He did as she asked, his tongue exploring every inch of her
mouth as he eased the jacket from her shoulders and discarded it. His fingers felt clumsy on the fastenings
of her blouse and it didn’t surprise him, but he did manage to get the job done and it went next, falling to
the floor of the small enclosure in careless discard. Through the material of her chemise he cupped one
firm breast and they both made a sound at the same time, his of pure male approval at the warm weight
cradled in his palm. He rubbed his thumb over the crest of her nipple and she quivered.

David tore his mouth from hers, kissed a path down her neck, and found the taut peak with his mouth.
He suckled gently through the lace of her chemise andVictoria sank her fingers into his hair, a wordless
gasp escaping her lips. Since he knew full well she was a virgin, her artless response was gratifying and
he wondered if that was part of the incantation, but didn’t care, as long shedid enjoy what was going to
be between them, it was enough for him.

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“Let me undress you.” He murmured the words against the now damp material of her shift. “Sit down.”

He guided her to one of the settees and knelt at her feet, slipping off her boots one at a time, and slowly
sliding his hands upward, under the hem of her riding skirt and shift, so he could remove her stockings.
His fingertips brushed smooth enticing skin and he took his time, knowing she watched the progress of
his hands.

“Shall I take off the rest?” Still kneeling, he looked at her, holding her gaze. “I want to see all of you,
Tori.”

“I…” she faltered.

He tensed. If at any time she objected, spell or no spell, he would stop. Persuading her to make love
with him by fair means or foul was one thing, forcing her was absolutely something else altogether.
“Yes?”

“I want you to,” she admitted ingenuously. “Don’t ask me why because it’s utterly shameless, but—”

“It isn’t shameless,” he interrupted, pulling her back to her feet to turn her and unfasten her skirt. “It’s
meant to be.”

Her skirt slid to the floor and he admired the graceful curve of her back, and her long legs. David lifted
her hair and kissed her nape, inhaling her sweet fragrance. She shivered as his hands came around to
caress her breasts. “David.”

“Yes?”

“I never imagined…this.” There was shock in her voice.

He had. One thousand—no, more—sleepless nights. Not to mention the restless afternoons, the early
empty mornings, the litany went on and on. How long had he been in love with her? Probably since the
day they met. Even as a young child he remembered being fascinated by her angelic beauty and her
spirited, lively temperament. “I’ve imagined it enough for the both of us,” he admitted quietly, his body
screaming for him to get her out of her chemise. “Lift your arms.”

God help him, she did. Slowly, in a graceful motion, she elevated them over her head and he lifted the
hem of her shift and pulled it off. Then he took her shoulders and gently turned her back around to face
him.

At that moment, he might just have stopped breathing.

Eyes downcast, gloriously nude in the slanting sunlight coming in the long windows, her long lustrous hair
tumbled down her back and brushed her hips. She was every masculine fantasy he’d ever had, worth
every tortured moment when he imagined her someday marrying someone else. “You are so very
beautiful, Tori.”

The emotion in his voice made her look up finally despite the evidence of her embarrassment in her pink
cheeks. Those glorious blue eyes held a hint of reproof. “I never knew you thought of me in that way,
David.”

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She had every right to wonder why he hadn’t courted her like an ordinary gentleman would have,
sending flowers and the sappy poems he’d written, paying social calls, but aside from the fact he wasn’t
an ordinary gentleman in the least, he really wasn’t interested in discussion at the moment. He tugged his
cravat free and his shirt came off in record time. He gave both a toss and sat down to take off his boots,
his admiring gaze skimming her body. Those glorious full breasts were tipped with delicious rosy nipples,
her waist slim, the downy triangle at the apex of her thighs a dark gold.

“Believe me, I think of you as a woman, Tori. You’re about to see proof of that.” His fingers went to the
fastenings on his breeches.

* * * *

Maybe this was all some bizarre dream becauseVictoria really could not imagine standing stark naked in
front of anyone in the middle of the day, much less David.

Who was now naked as well.

It was probably unladylike to stare, but she couldn’t help it. The stiff length of flesh high up against the
flat plane of his stomach was not at all how she expected a man would look, but then again, she was still
pretty ignorant over such matters. The most her mother had said to her was a vague explanation about
how it took both a man and a woman to create a child—she’d known that much already—and they had
to lie together to do it.

A flutter of panic stirred in her stomach. She was still not sure how she’d suddenly found herself in
David’s arms, or why she’d let him take her clothes off, or even why now, as he took a step forward and
reached for her again, she didn’t resist.

Maybe it was the beautiful way he kissed her. She’d been kissed before, stolen moments from hopeful
suitors, and those chaste lip to lip touches were nothing like what it felt like when David took her in his
arms. It was last thing in the world she expected from him, but obviously under the reserved persona he
showed the world, there was a passionate man. Even with her lack of experience, she’d clearly felt his
sexual hunger.

Without his clothes, also, he seemed so…so different. For one thing he was much more muscular than
she imagined, his bare chest hard and well-defined. In fact, with the predatory gleam in his tawny eyes,
his chestnut hair slightly tousled from their ride, and a faint sinful smile on his mouth, he looked almost
wicked.

David Barrett. Wicked? It was hard to believe but then again, hewas seducing her.

And for some reason, she was doing nothing to stop him.

He drew her close for another hot, long mind-drugging kiss that made her forget her misapprehensions,
his tongue scandalously exploring her mouth, his hands sliding over her hips, over her bare bottom, urging
her up against him. The unyielding length of his erection pressed against her stomach and for whatever
reason, she rubbed against it a little, rewarded when David gave a low groan.

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“Let’s lie down,” he whispered against her mouth, urging her toward the makeshift bed. “I need to touch
you, Tori.”

“As far as I can tell, you’ve touched me quite a bit already,” she responded breathlessly, his long
fingered hand still cupping one buttock with startling possessiveness.

“I’ve only just started, I promise you.” A dark smile lit his face and before she could move he lifted her
easily in his arms and deposited her on the soft blankets.

David lay down and reclined next to her, holding her gaze, up on one elbow. “Even as a child you were
remarkably daring, Tori. Are you afraid now?”

Was she? No. She was a bit overwhelmed maybe, not just by what was happening, but by the
tumultuous feelings she’d never experienced before. She shook her head, as it was a bit hard to speak
when he traced a caress over the curve of her shoulder and down to her breast. One long forefinger
circled the nipple, which already felt tight and tingled. He watched himself touch her, and she could
almost feel the heat of his gaze. “So perfect,” he murmured in that husky tone, so unlike his usual cool
voice.

When he put his mouth there through her chemise she’d been shocked a little at the jolt of pleasure.
When he leaned forward and took the aching crest in his mouth without the barrier of thin lace, the
sensation was magnified.Victoria closed her eyes at the warm dance of his tongue on the sensitive peak
and found it made an odd coil of excitement curl in the pit of her stomach.

He continued the gentle, teasing play, fondling her flesh, lifting it in his palms, sucking her nipples to high
wet points, first one, then the other, until the room started to fade into the background, the sound of her
rapid breathing loud to her own ears. The attention he lavished on her breasts made her entire body feel
strange, tense in a way she’d never felt before, and she didn’t even realize what was happening when his
fingers slid between her legs.

“It will feel good,” David promised in a persuasive murmur, kissing the side of one tight breast. “Trust
me and relax. Spread your legs just a little. I’ll do the rest.”

She had stiffened, and took some effort to obey, but she managed to part her thighs enough to give him
access to her sex.

To her mortification, he said, “You’re almost wet enough but not quite.”

“Wet enough?” She didn’t have the slightest idea what he meant.

“For me.”

That didn’t clarify it too much, but she lost the desire to make him explain when he actually found her
female opening and slid a finger inside her. Deep.

He was right, it did feel good she realized with hazy confusion, not quite able to suppress a gasp. The
sound turned into a moan when he gently began to slide that same finger in and out and did something
with his thumb, rubbing it against her, parting her most private place, teasing her with magical results.

Truly magical.

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It was as if he’d found a key, for she spread her legs apart without even thinking of the wantonness of
the act, as if she almost just couldn’t help it. “David…oh.”

“You’re responding to me, love. Just think about how it feels and let it come.”

What the devil was he talking about and what was she doing letting him touch her so intimately,
and…oh, God, she had never felt anything like his invading fingers and skillful thumb in her life.

Pleasure filled her, flooded her body, and moments later she gave a small, undignified cry as something
she never imagined could exist took possession of her body. It was rapturous, intense, and such a
surprise she felt a swamping sense of revelation even as David shifted to settle on top of her still trembling
body. His smile held a hint of male smugness. “See?”

What did he want her to see? That he’d done something deliciously outrageous to her? The blissful
throbbing between her legs was evidence of that, and when he lowered his head to kiss her again, she
clung to him like a drowning person latches on to a piece of flotsam, disoriented a little, unsure but sure
also at the same time.

“Easy, Tori.” His whisper was faint, suggestive, the softmidnight words at odds with the bright sunshine
and the trill of birds outside. “I’ll be gentle, you know that.”

If she wasn’t sure what he was saying, the wet glide of his fingers leaving her and being replaced with
something else—something much larger—was her answer.Victoria swallowed, the pressure of his
entrance stretching her wide, and his cock penetrating her body was as unique a sensation as what she’d
just experienced. He covered her, the tall length of his body a little overpowering but the touch of his
mouth reassuring as he grazed her temple in a tender gesture.

She wasn’t even aware why he stopped until she felt the stinging pressure, and then he took in an audible
breath and pushed forward. It was impossible not to flinch, but then again, it was also impossible not to
be a little overwhelmed by the invasion of his hardness as they became fully joined.

David. Inside her, over her, consuming her. His mouth whispering reassuring words in her ear, his arms
braced on either side of her body, his cock pressing all the way to her womb.

Lean hips wedged her legs open wide and she could feel every inch of that long, rigid length.

Is this really happening?Her hands grasped his upper arms, holding tight, those impressive muscles
tense under her grip.

He moved, backwards and then forwards again to sink deep, his lashes half-shut, his expression intense,
riveted, and she felt a glimmer of that same pleasure after a few strokes, the discomfort easing.

It felt incredible. Anticipation curled in her stomach and she began to arch involuntarily into each gliding
penetration, accepting him, encouraging his erotic possession.

All too soon, he stiffened, and with a low groan, stopped moving altogether. To her amazement, she felt
him shudder and a sudden inner warmth. The pulse of his cock was unmistakable and she realized
whatever he’d been seeking he’d just found it. His head dropped forward and she could feel the
scorching exhale of his breath across her cheek.

The aftermath was as bewildering as the beginning. He adjusted his position so he lay to the side and

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held her against him. She could hear the steady thud of his heart and the dampness on his skin matched
her own, but he didn’t speak.

Not one word.

She had to admit she had no idea what to say either.

* * * *

Lydia Barrett, Dowager Countess of Dunreith, strolled down the path, spying the domed rooftop as they
emerged onto the rambling path along the river. “It does look charming, doesn’t it?”

Her sister, being a bit nearsighted, squinted a little. “Well, I must say I think it does. I’ll give you a
definite answer when we get closer.”

Asking her if she’d ever consider spectacles was a fruitless endeavor, soLydia didn’t try. Ester was five
years older, but quite vain. “Of course, David being like he is, he really didn’t even tell me he was having
it repaired. I heard it from Justin, who thankfully confides in me now and again.”

Well, not everything. She knew better than to think any of her sons told her everything, but of the three,
Justin was the most forthcoming. When he mentioned his older brother had decided to restore the folly,
she had been surprised, but then again, David was much deeper than the surface he presented to the
world, she knew that.

Speaking of David, she saw her oldest son’s favorite horse leisurely grazing in the grass by the small
pavilion, along with a smaller mount, the saddle giving away the identity of its owner.

“It rather looks like he broughtVictoria over to see it,”Lydia remarked. “They still ride together most
mornings. I suppose that will stop when she marries, but it’s a pity really, as you know how difficult it is
to get David out and about. He tends to stay in that stuffy office far too much, but that is a mother’s
opinion.”

Ester, who had six children of her own, nodded. “And you have every right to have an opinion, my dear.
My goodness, the workmen did do a lovely job, now didn’t they?”

The brick steps were inlaid with a crisscross pattern, and the pillars, which had been crumbling, looked
good as new and were painted a soft white. The windows were open due to the warm weather, but
oddly enough, she didn’t hear anyone inside talking. “Hello. David?” she called out, starting up the steps.
“I just couldn’t resist bringing Ester down for a look—”

The door had been slightly ajar and she froze in the act of pushing it the rest of the way, her mouth
dropping open. She was just in time to see her tall son jerk his breeches up over his hips, his fingers
fumbling with the fastenings as he muttered a low curse. What was even more astonishing was
thatVictoria was on the floor of the summerhouse, her loose, golden hair framing her scarlet face, a
blanket pulled up far enough to cover her breasts, but not enough to hide her bare shoulders. Clothing
was strewn about in small careless piles, both male and female.

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Bare-chested and tousled, with a look of irritation on his face, for once her son didn’t appear his normal
unruffled self but gave her what even could have been interpreted as a glare.

Nonsense. David didn’t glare. Especially not at her. She blurted out, “What on earth are you doing?”

“Please tell me you just didn’t ask that, Mother.” He lifted a brow in an ironic arch and reached for his
shirt, slung over the back of a chair. “From the expression on your face you have a very fair idea of the
answer to that question.”

Still huddled on the floor,Victoria said in a low moan, “Oh God.”

“David…you…you…wouldn’t.”

“Apparently I would.” David started to put on his shirt. It was inside out and he grimaced and jerked it
off. “Now, please, perhaps you could excuse us a moment?”

“Have you lost your mind?”Lydia demanded. Her oldest son was the responsible one, not at all given to
rakish seduction, much less that of a well-bred young lady. Had it been Marcus or Justin, well, she
wouldn’t have been nearly as bowled over.

“My mind? No, but my patience is beginning to go. In case you haven’t noticed—and I am certain you
have—we aren’t dressed. A bit of privacy would be nice so we can take care of that detail.”

The note of exasperation in his voice andVictoria ’s obvious mortification made her realize she was being
a little inconsiderate, but she was still stunned.Lydia was suddenly aware of Ester standing behind her and
peering over her shoulder, probably in the same state of shock.

Oh wonderful. She loved her sister, but the woman couldnot keep a secret.

“We’ll wait outside,” she said.

David shook his head decisively. “No need. I am going to seeVictoria home. I am sure we can discuss
this later.”

“We will.” He might be a grown man and the earl, but she was not above giving a lecture to one of her
sons if needed. She’d just never had to give one to David before.

He inclined his head, but the polite gesture was made a bit incongruous by the fact he was barefoot, his
shirt unfastened, and with a naked, embarrassed and compromised young lady.

Turning, she practically pushed a very interested Ester out the door. As they went back down the steps,
her sister exclaimed, “Good heavens.”

“Yes,”Lydia murmured, though now that the initial shock had passed she was a little thoughtful. “You
know, in retrospect, I always wondered about his feelings forVictoria . They seemed to just be
friends—after all, they really grew up together in a way, but she is a very lovely girl. It was hard to
believe he didn’t notice, and apparently he does.”

Ester gave an inelegant snort. “I’d say so.”

Well, that was difficult to deny. “He’ll have to marry her, of course.”

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“I should think with all due speed.”

“That’s rather a cheery thought, actually.”Lydia had always been very fond ofVictoria and the idea of
her as a daughter-in-law wasn’t unpleasant in the least.

“Grandchildren are nice and from the looks of things back there, one could be on the way already.”

That would translate no doubt to a rumor thatVictoria was pregnant.Lydia tried a modicum of damage
control. “It would be best, of course, if word of this indiscretion did not get out.”

“Oh, I won’t tell anyone.” Ester looked sincere. She was sincere actually, but when she got the chance,
she’d still let it slip. Everyone in the family knew she had good intentions but no one confided anything in
her that they didn’t want spread about.

“I’m sure,”Lydia muttered, wondering if her sister would catch the note of sarcasm in her voice.

Chapter 3

At least there weren’t tears, but the silence wasn’t promising either. Lucky for him, Victoria wasn’t the
weeping kind, because he guessed plenty of young ladies who’d been caught naked in her lover’s
arms—by his mother, no less—might be humiliated enough to shed more than a few.

Well, that part of his plan had gone awry.

Before this, he’d always known what to say to her, but David had to admit to being somewhat at a loss.
They rode back toward the Caldwell country house without their usual companionable conversation, and
he hoped with what he’d just gained, his worst fear hadn’t happened and he’d lost something precious as
well. Her friendship was valuable to him.

Finally he tried, “I expect years from now we might laugh over this.”

It didn’t happen to be the right thing to say.

Victoriafinally looked at him, her eyes luminous. “I’ve never been so embarrassed in my life. Now your
mother thinks I am a…a strumpet.”

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“She most certainly does not.” He could not keep the tender exasperation from his voice.

“David…please. Not even I am sure why I acted like I did today, but I do know we have always spent
quite a bit of time together and she will wonder if maybe…all along...”

One lone tear did ease out from beneath her lush lashes and trailed down the curve of her cheek.

Good God, he could not take it to see her in distress.

“Tori, it was allmy fault.” Bloody hell, that was true, in more ways than she knew. “When I speak with
her, I’ll make that clear enough, don’t worry. The last thing I want is for you to regret what happened
between us. I don’t.”

Not one minute of it, his mother’s bad timing aside. Actually, her timingcould have been worse. If she
and his Aunt Ester had arrived just a little bit before, well…things would have been even more awkward
if they’d been stumbled upon while actually making love, not the aftermath.

The next time, he’d giveVictoria a closed bedroom door and a soft bed, he vowed silently. And a
wedding ring on her finger.

“When do your mother’s guests arrive?” David asked neutrally, noticing she didn’t comment on her
feelings one way or the other over what had happened between them. The perplexity was expected, for
her life had just changed dramatically whether she quite realized it yet or not.

“This afternoon, I suppose. Why?” She wiped the wet trail from her face and thankfully there didn’t
seem to be more tears to follow.

“I’d like to talk to your father before, naturally.”

Sitting on her horse with the ease of someone who has ridden all their life,Victoria stared at him.
“W…why would you want to talk to him?”

This must be the day for normally intelligent females to ask him nonsensical questions. David explained
with cool practicality, “We have to get married, Tori. It’s protocol that I ask his permission to wed you.”

It was impossible to interpret the expression on her face accurately. Disbelief was at least part of it.
“Married?” She said it as if she wasn’t sure what the word meant. “You and I?”

He was insecure enough before the incredulous way she said the words, especially sensitive of the way
he’d coaxed and tricked her into their current predicament. David said stiffly, “You didn’t find me
distasteful just a bit ago.”

She blinked and said nothing.

It was not very flattering. He knew she’d enjoyed her introduction to lovemaking—he’d very much felt
her climax—but maybe the consequences weren’t worth it to her. “It’s done,” he said more shortly than
he intended. “I need to do the honorable thing.”

Those soft lips he’d tasted so thoroughly parted, but she still didn’t seem capable of speech.

He tried again. “I pledge I will try to be the—”

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“David, could you be quiet for just a moment, please?” she interrupted and made a helpless gesture with
her hand. “I never said I found you distasteful…obviously I don’t. I am just trying to assimilate
this…well, abrupt change in our relationship. You don’t seem surprised, but quite frankly, I’m…”

She trailed off, apparently searching for the right word, and he gritted his teeth, waiting for it. What was
she? Appalled? Upset? Disappointed?

“Confused.”

Well, that wasn’t too bad. He could live with confused. “In what way exactly?” he asked cautiously,
knowing how he handled this was important. Very important. “Maybe I can help.”

She stared at the path ahead of them as if she didn’t see it and there was a flush in her smooth cheeks.
“Is today the first time you’ve ever…well, wanted me that way?”

“No.”

The honest answer seemed to leave her nonplussed. How long, David wondered, would it take her to
figure out that certainly there was not a convenient pile of blankets on the floor of the summerhouse at all
times.Victoria was as bright as she was beautiful and she’d know then he’d lured her deliberately, and
the seduction had been planned and executed with the sole purpose of giving her no choice but to marry
him. She was too bemused right now to think of it, but he had no doubt she would.

As long as she never learned how exactly he gained her cooperation, he could accept she might resent
the manipulation at least for a while. He loved her and had every intention of doing whatever was within
his power to make her happy. Surely at times the means truly did justify the end.

Even if he’d used a dark talent he kept carefully hidden from the world.

Their horses walked side by side just as they had when they’d ridden out several hours before, but while
then she’d been smiling and laughing, now she looked instead thoughtful and a bit distant. As beautiful as
ever, maybe more so, but definitely not lighthearted. He’d helped her as much as possible to restore
some order to her hair but he was definitely not as skillful as her maid. If he wasn’t sure it would make
matters worse, he would try to diplomatically suggest she head straight up to her room to straighten her
appearance or everyone might guess something had happened, but he kept silent. He doubted his cravat
was tied with the usual crisp neatness either without a glass to check it.

The sprawling outline of Caldwell Hall came into view. The ivy covered walls and trim lawn looked
serene in the warmth of the sunny day and to his relief there were not yet any strange carriages in the
circle of the drive. The fewer witnesses to their return with them both a bit disheveled the better. He
wanted to marry her, not humiliate her.

When they were almost to the house,Victoria suddenly stopped her horse, so abruptly he had to halt his
and turn around. She said in a quiet voice, “I feel betrayed in a way, David.”

If she only knew. His heart felt as if it froze mid-beat in his chest. “How so?”

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

“That I had a passion for you?” He wanted to make sure he answered the correct question, for there

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were quite a few things he’d never told her.

She blushed at the word passion, becoming color staining her cheekbones as she no doubt remembered
how they’d consummated it. “Yes.”

In this, anyway, he owed her the truth. He looked into her gorgeous eyes, holding her gaze. “I was
rather hoping you’d realize it all on your own.”

For a momentVictoria sat there, so lovely with her loosened hair framing her fragile features in a golden
halo, her slender figure a bit tense, and then she shook her head and whispered, “I didn’t. And I thought I
knew you so well. Now I have this feeling after all these years I don’t know you at all.”

* * * *

The knock on the door was not a particularly welcome interruption.Victoria stared in the mirror,
wondering if whoever it might be could tell just from looking at her that everything,everything , had
changed.

Outwardly, she looked the same, she supposed. Same color of hair, same eyes, nose and mouth as
always, but surely she was different now.

Because of David.

She shivered when she remembered how he’d kissed her. His mouth both gentle and yet demanding, his
arms strong around her, his fingers exploring her body, doing the most outrageous things, and not to
mention how it felt as he’d actually been a part of her, their bodies joined with shocking carnal intimacy.

It had been bewildering, exciting, pleasure and pain combined at first, then just the glorious pleasure as
he glided in and out and finally shuddered against her. They’d stayed just that way, still nestled in that
scandalous embrace, his sex inside her, until that awful moment when his mother’s voice had rung out.

If ever she could wish for a crevasse to open so she could fling herself into it, that was the exact
moment. He hadn’t looked too happy either, but not exactly embarrassed, just irritated with the
interruption. Maybe he was right, she thought in wry introspection, maybe one day she’d recall his
sudden withdrawal and scramble for his breeches with amusement, for she supposed it was actually a bit
comical but not right now. He’d even said a word under his breath she didn’t recognize but guessed was
not one a gentleman said in front of a lady.

The knock came again. “Victoria? Are you in there?”

She wasn’t exactly in the mood for conversation, but Vanessa could be persistent, so she said with
resignation, “Yes.”

The door opened and her sister breezed in, shutting it behind her. Pretty in rose silk, only a year older,
she was built a bit more statuesquely but otherwise they very much resembled each other. Vanessa was
currently engaged to a baronet, the wedding scheduled in a few months. It was a good match,
andVictoria was happy for her, but right at the moment she did not want to discuss flowers, wedding

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gowns, and other fripperies while her world was in chaos. Her sister was quite absorbed in the subject.

Dear God, David said they wereobligated to get married. For all she knew he was talking to her father
at the moment.

Yes, her world was definitely tipped upside down.

“You aren’t dressed and luncheon is almost ready.”

She’d come inside after the fateful morning ride and gone straight upstairs, noticing her tousled
appearance with chagrin. More than that, her thighs were sticky with the evidence of her fall from grace
and she realized she could smell a faint hint of David’s cologne on her skin, the scent evoking a myriad of
emotions. After washing and putting on a clean chemise, she fell to musing as she’d brushed out her
tangled hair.

In light of her less than circumspect behavior that morning, she wasn’t sure she could face a meal with
her family quite yet.Victoria said in what she hoped was a normal voice, “I might just take a tray in my
room. For whatever reason, I’m a bit fatigued.”

Vanessa went and dropped into a silk-covered chair by one of the windows and looked at her in
concern. “You do seem a bit flushed. Dear me, I hope you are not getting ill. The viscount will be most
disappointed.”

Good heavens. She’d forgotten momentarily about Lord Firth. An ardent suitor was not what she
needed right now. Handling this complication with David was going to be quite enough to deal with in her
opinion. “I am sure one of the other young ladies coming to the party can keep him company.”

Vanessa looked startled. “I thought you liked him.”

Victoriashrugged. “I do. He’s charming and handsome enough.”

Her sister frowned. “Just last week you said you might consider marrying him.”

“Did I?”

“You know you did.” Vanessa’s eyes narrowed a fraction. “Is something wrong?”

Wrong? Well, that wasn’t the correct word, but definitely something wasn’t right. She still couldn’t
decide if she was angry, happy, bemused, or maybe all three.

David had essentially lied to her, if you counted omitting the truth as falsehood. He didn’t tell her he
viewed her with romantic interest, which was entirely unfair. Because he’d never indicated it in any way,
she’d never even thought about the possibility of marriage to him, so how could she know how she felt
about it? Neither had she ever thought him capable of seducing any young woman, much less her.

“I…er…don’t know.”

“You don’t know.” Vanessa looked understandably puzzled.

While she was certain she could trust her sister, she still wasn’t sure if she could confide exactly what
happened. She settled for saying, “David and I had a misunderstanding.”

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“Oh.” Vanessa waved a graceful hand in dismissal. “That’ll mend. Though I admit I never even saw the
two of you squabble, even when we were children. What did you do?”

Victoriasent her a level glare. “What makes you think it’smy fault?”

“David is unlikely to be the culprit.”

“He might not be as saintly as you think.” Those convenient blankets on the floor of the folly came to
mind.

At her tart tone, her sister leaned back a little in her chair and lifted her brows. “Is that so? Enlighten
me.”

“I…well, he…uhm…”Victoria sighed. Since David’s mother and his aunt, no less, knew full well what
happened she certainly was entitled to talk to someone, wasn’t she? “I’m unlikely to be marrying the
viscount, let me put it that way.”

“What has David to do with that?”

“He kissed me.”

“Did he?” Vanessa’s eyes widened.

Well, it was a bit of an understatement. When she recalled the feeling of his mouth fastened on her
breast, she actually tingled and felt warm between her legs. “Perhaps a bit more,” she confessed. “Or a
lot more.”

Vanessa digested this with a blank expression. After a moment, she asked carefully, “Which is it, a little
more or a lot more?”

“The latter.”

The resulting silence was punctuated by the ticking of the clock on the mantle. Outside the sky didn’t
show a single cloud andVictoria found herself thinking how odd it was that it was only just afternoon .

Eventually, Vanessa seemed to find her voice. “Victoria Elizabeth, are you telling me that you and David
Barrett actually…that he compromised you?”

“Yes.”Victoria got up to pace across the room restlessly. She turned and gave a shaky smile. “Rather an
interesting development, isn’t it? I can’t quite decide how I feel about it, to be quite honest. I know you
don’t think he’s attractive, but I’ve—”

“Why on earth would you say I don’t think he’s attractive? All the Barrett men are handsome, David
included. He could be the most good looking of the lot, actually. What I’ve said before is that I think he’s
a bit…stodgy.” Vanessa tilted her head to the side and pursed her lips. “No, that’s the wrong word.
Boring doesn’t work either, because he’s intelligent and pleasant to be around, but he isn’tdashing .
That’s it.”

That was probably true. David wouldn’t even attempt to be a devil may care charmer. He’d probably
be amused at the idea of it,Victoria thought. A mirthless laugh escaped. “After this morning, I’ve decided

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he is a bit more complicated than what is visible on the surface, Van. Dashing or not, when I realized his
intentions I didn’t even attempt to resist. It was as if Icouldn’t .”

“If we’re being frank, I would have thought he’d be the last person who’d be so rash. I didn’t think he
had it in him.”

Victoriarecalled hot wicked kisses and the skillful touch of his hands. “He does.”

A blond brow went up and Vanessa said softly, “I see. Actually, this is quite romantic in a way. You and
David have always been such good friends. There’s no question he’s an excellent catch also, with an
earldom and a solid fortune. He’s just never made any kind of effort to look for a wife.”

“He’s only twenty-five and doesn’t care forLondon .” It was natural to loyally jump to his defense.

“He has looked now.” The statement was made with pragmatic sisterly firmness. “If you are ruined—”

“Quite frankly, I have never cared for that particular label slapped on a young woman who has simply
done what men feel free to do all the time.” Victoriasank back down at her dressing table and added, “I
don’t feel ruined. The whole thing was entirely different than what I expected.”

Since she was about to be married, it was no surprise Vanessa looked curious. “Was it now?”

Recalling the exquisite pleasure she’d experienced,Victoria nodded.

* * * *

Sir Edward nodded affably and offered brandy. David accepted, sat down in one of the comfortable
well-worn chairs inVictoria ’s father’s study as he’d done many times before, and took a bracing sip.

“I assume you all were invited for dinner tonight, Dunreith. We’ll have a few extra guests, didVictoria
mention it? Not a grand affair, but hopefully enjoyable.” Edward settled back behind his desk and smiled.
He had the weathered look of a man who spent a great deal of time out of doors, his eyes not quite the
same shade as his daughter’s—none were in David’s opinion—but still a deep blue, and his hair was
more gray than blond. Shrewd and kindly, Sir Edward had been very good friends with his own father
and consequently, he hoped this interview went well for the sake of both their families.

“She did, sir.” David inclined his head. “I believe my mother reminded me just this morning we were
supposed to attend.”

“Excellent.”

“I realize you have company coming and won’t keep you long. I am here now for a different purpose
entirely than how we usually see each other.”

Sir Edward raised his brows a fraction in question.

David cleared his throat, a little amused at his own nervousness. He saw Edward frequently, they had

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even invested in several business ventures together, and he’d never felt uncomfortable before, but then
again, he’d never coerced the man’s daughter into his arms before either. “I would like your permission
to marryVictoria .”

“Oh. I see.” It was clear the request was a surprise. The older man rubbed the side of his jaw
thoughtfully. “I must admit I didn’t see this coming.”

As much as he’d endeavored to make the world think he thought of her with the same platonic affection
one would have for a sibling, it was a bit irritating no one could see he was in love with her, not even
Victoria. In some ways it was gratifying to know he was that good an actor, but honestly, surely someone
could tell.

He waited politely. If he didn’t have to confess he’d compromised her, he’d rather not. If it became
necessary, he would play it that way, but he valued his friendship with Sir Edward and didn’t want to
tarnish it if possible.

Victoria’s father said, “I don’t think I realized you were in the market for a wife yet. You don’t seem
interested in the Season.”

“I’m actually not in the market for a wife particularly,” David explained. “I want to marryVictoria . Just
her. No one else. It’s quite different.”

Understanding seemed to dawn and Edward’s mouth tilted up in one corner. “A love match?”

“On my part.” David inclined his head a fraction in acknowledgement. “With your blessing, of course.”

“Just last week Lord Firth approached me, you do realize that.”

He did realize it. It was what prompted his precipitous action that morning. “I heard. But as far as I
know they are not engaged.”

“No, not yet. She said she wanted to think about it. My father forced my sister to marry as he wished.
After I saw how miserable that turned out, I told myself a long time ago I would never insist my daughters
accept a man they didn’t favor no matter his wealth or status.” Edward smiled wryly. “I am sure that is
why I have an unmarried daughter of twenty-one, and one of nearly twenty. At least Vanessa is engaged
now, butVictoria is still dragging her feet.”

Slowly, David said, “So you are telling me it is her choice.”

“Yes, that’s exactly what I’m telling you. Naturally, I would be more than delighted if she accepted you.
Not only am I personally fond of you, but I could keepVictoria close by. For that matter, your title and
fortune are superior. It’s a perfect match in my opinion, but hers is the one that counts.” Edward fingered
his brandy glass, his gaze speculative. “Quite frankly, I hoped you would show interest several years ago
when she came of age, but things between you just seemed to stay the same.”

Several years ago it just wasn’t possible. Things were different now and he’d settled into an acceptance
of his life. Oh, he’d loved her back then, and agonized over who she’d marry, but she hadn’t, to his
relief. “Things aren’t the same now,” David said with firm conviction, remembering the beguiling sensation
of holding her soft, voluptuous body in his arms. “I believe she will agree with me on that.”

“Ask her this evening then, if you can get her away from Firth long enough. He’s besotted and she has

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displayed more interest in him than any man so far. I refuse to influence her either way.”

That was fair enough. Except when they’d parted earlier, she hadn’t been happy with him at all. It
wasn’t the seduction itself that seemed the issue, but how he’d kept his feelings secret for so long.

Positive proof he’d never understand the female mind.

So he’d have to convince her somehow. Normally he would never worry over her making a
level-headed decision, but he knew down deep somewhere, he might have frightened her, not just with
his impetuous passion but because she didn’t understand what was happening precisely.

The last thing he wanted was to drive her into Firth’s arms.

There was another alternative, of course. He could disclose to her father in frank terms now what had
happened in the summerhouse just hours ago. That would give her no choice.

It was tempting, but then again, the spell was a short-lived one, for seduction only, and would have worn
off by now. She was free to make the decision without influence and he found after the disillusioned way
she’d looked at him earlier he needed to give that to her.

David stood and said tightly, “Very well. I’ll see you later, sir.”

Chapter 4

The drift of incense cast a thin haze over the elegant room. Camille lifted her teacup to her mouth and
smiled in triumph over the rim. “He’s used his magic.”

“I thought you’d given up on him,” Greta, her current favorite, grumbled, plucking an éclair from the tea
trolley. She had a weakness for sweets and it showed in the generous curves of her body, now clad in
her version of the latest fashion, a great deal of creamy bosom exposed. Gleaming red hair was piled on
her head, and her beauty could have influenced the old masters, even at only nineteen she was all
voluptuous, sensual womanhood. Except, of course, for the calculating gleam in her green eyes. The girl
said thoughtfully, “Now that he’s crossed, he’s available.”

“I have a feeling it still won’t be easy. His father was rather stubborn, and I sense a great deal of that in
him. Why else would he be so resistant?” Camille set aside her cup and sighed, leaning back negligently
on the velvet chaise. “I have to admit I’m curious as to what influenced him to finally give in. He already

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has money and power, so my guess is a woman.”

Greta licked a spot of cream from the corner of her mouth in a languid sweep of her tongue. “You are
rarely wrong, so I’m going to assume that’s correct. Won’t that make it more difficult?”

“It might,” she admitted, narrowing her eyes. “I hope he realizes once you play with fire it is impossible
to forget the flames.”

The answering laugh was a mixture of a snort and a cackle at odds with her companion’s loveliness.
“Such concern. A bit late in the day and entirely out of character.”

“I am not concerned, merely intrigued.”

“Is that so?” Greta wiggled her arched brows and took another confection.

It was true. David Barrett, heir to an earldom, wealthy, polished…but also reclusive and able to deny
temptation for so long, was interesting in an abstract way. He was also useful, or he would be, once she
decided how to go about it.

With a sigh, she said, “I suppose I shall have to go toBerkshire soon.”

* * * *

The evening was going to be difficult. No interminable, that was a better word.Victoria took a forkful of
braised chicken and barely registered the savory taste as she chewed automatically and swallowed.
Across the table and down a few seats, David seemed his usual composed self, except once or twice she
caught him looking at her with that enigmatic expression on his face she’d grown to know, and apparently
misinterpreted for so long. He looked like he always did, only since she now knew all too well what
existed under his tailored evening clothes, somehow more male, more dangerously attractive, more not at
all the man she’d thought he was for so long. The flickering light of the candles gleamed off his thick hair
and lent the highlights a golden touch, plus did very nice things to the elegant bone structure of his face.

“…rather pleasant, I suppose, don’t you think, my dear Miss Caldwell?”

She abruptly jerked her attention away, hoping she hadn’t been staring like some gaping fool. “Oh…yes,
yes, very pleasant,” she replied, having no idea to what she referred.

Next to her Lord Firth smiled. “I’m glad you agree.”

What had she just agreed to?

“It will give us a chance to talk a bit.” He leaned in a little closer, but not too close for propriety. “In
private.”

“What will?” She realized she held her empty fork in mid-air still, and quickly set it on her plate.

A small frown furrowed Lord Firth’s brow. “A walk in the garden after dinner. I thought you just agreed

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it would be pleasant.”

If she had, it was all David’s fault, she thought in irritation, both because he hadn’t really spoken to her
yet during the course of the evening, and for being so distracting. “Oh, yes.”

The rest of the meal passed at a snail’s pace, and when they all finally rose, Lord Firth offered his arm.
Vanessa gave her a sympathetic look but as far as she could tell, David didn’t even notice their departure
from the dining room.

Damn him anyway.She knew he had actually done as promised and spent some time sequestered in
her father’s study, but that was allshe knew and it was irritating. Very. The matter concerned her directly
and she certainly should be included.

At least itwas pleasant in the garden, she thought as they strolled out onto the terrace, her fingers resting
very lightly on his lordship’s sleeve. The breeze cooled her face and brushed her bared shoulders
andVictoria took in a deep calming breath. Above, a blanket of brilliant stars speckled amidnight sky and
the faint tinkle of a fountain lent a musical note.

“Lovely evening,” she murmured, knowing it was a banal attempt at conversation but in her defense
she’d had an extraordinary day.

“Yes,” he agreed, but he was looking down at her. “Lovely.”

It was a compliment and it was nicely done, but she really wasn’t in the mood to be gracious and
charming. Actually, what she wanted to do most was strangle one very secretive and devastatingly
attractive earl. “I suppose it was much more pleasant for your drive to have such fine weather.”

The innocuous tone remark didn’t seem to bother his lordship. James Norton, Viscount Firth, was tall,
fair, and good-looking. He was also amiable and open with his admiration, something she now
appreciated, considering the events of the morning. He said, “Yes, it was a nice drive, especially with my
destination. I knew when I got here I would get to see you.”

“You are very gallant.”

He smiled. “It is a truthful statement, I assure you. I have been waiting for a chance to—”

“Excuse me.”

The cool interruption made Lord Firth stiffen andVictoria whirl around. David stood behind them on the
path, though she could swear he hadn’t seen them leave nor did she hear him follow them. In the faded
starlight, it was hard to read his face, but she assumed it was the usual inscrutable expression he wore
most of the time. He stepped forward and very gently removed her hand from Lord Firth’s arm. “My
apologies, but I need a word withVictoria .”

For sheer nerve, she had to give him credit. Since David was usually so reserved and quiet, Firth didn’t
seem to know what to do either. He looked both surprised and nonplussed. “I say…Dunreith, now? The
lady agreed to a walk, and I—”

David stared down into her eyes, holding her captive with his gaze, and she felt her breath catch in her
throat. “She may walk with you later, if she wishes.”

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“S-since when do you dictate what she does?” Firth sputtered a little as he said the words.

“I don’t. Yet.” David didn’t even glance at the man standing next to her. “Tori, will you give a moment of
your time?”

Yet?

Why were her palms suddenly damp and she found it hard to swallow? There was something forceful
about David, rather like that morning when he’d taken her into the folly. Not that he’d forced her to do
anything—no, he hadn’t had to do that to her complete chagrin—but something powerful, something
smoldering under his normally composed façade.

It was incredible to think it, but he seemed a little bit dangerous.

Even Lord Firth seemed to sense it for he stood there uncertainly for a moment, and then gave a jerky
bow and strode off with a mutter she didn’t catch.

“Will you walk with me instead?” The question was soft.

She nodded, since it was easier than speaking, and when David put his hand at the small of her back and
urged her toward one of the shrouded paths, she went. He guided her to where a small bench sat by the
fountain, the sound of water bringing to mind the times they’d waded in it as children. Well, she had.
More often than not David had simply watched her and Vanessa play, but he’d done so with a small
smile, and even though now and again they’d thought it great fun to splash him, he’d taken it in stride with
his usual equanimity.

“Do you want to sit?”

It was best, since her knees were a little weak. She sank down and folded her hands primly in her lap.
He looked very tall, with starlit hair and shadowed features. She gave a small shiver.

“Are you cold? Surely you can’t be.” His voice sounded ordinary, the usual slow, calm drawl. “It’s a
warm night.”

“What did you wish to speak to me about?” she asked, ignoring the question.

“Are you still angry with me?”

Was she? It was hard to say. “I’m not sure. Yes and no.”

The twitch of his mouth showed a hint of amusement. “Spoken like a true female. An answer that is not
an answer at all. Let me rephrase then. Are you still angry with me because I was unable to tell you how I
felt about you? I’m not good at it I admit freely, but we’ve known each other a long time and I suppose I
thought you knew that about me.”

“I thought I knew pretty much everything,” she admitted, looking away, studying a rose bush with
drooping blooms close by. Some of the petals had fallen, like scattered droplets of blood on the path.
“But then you proved me wrong.”

“Let me make it right.” He sounded so matter of fact, as if he hadn’t lain with her, and touched her, and
seen her entirely naked.

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She looked up and asked poignantly, “How?”

“Will you marry me?” He lifted a hand, as if to stop her answer. “Not because you should now, but
because you wish it.”

Did she want to marry David? Before the events of the morning, she hadn’t considered it would ever be
an option, no matter she might not have looked at him entirely as just a friend. Actually, when she had
thought now and again in the past about how he would marry someoneelse, she’d known the event
would leave her bereft. No woman wanted her husband to ride every morning with another female, much
less have him be her confidant. For that matter, the manshe married would probably not allow it either.

This way, of course, she wouldn’t lose that, which was a point very much in favor of accepting. That and
how she’d allowed him the ultimate intimacy without even the pretext of a protest.

Marriage. To David. She hadn’t thought about anything else since he first stated it with his usual
pragmatic directness. The more she did think about it, the more she found the idea appealing. However,
such easy acquiescence as a simple yes rankled, because no matter he thought she should have known he
had more than just platonic affection for her, he still should have given her at least some sort of sign. The
truth was that he’d hidden it.

“Tori?” He said her name softly, with question.

“What did your mother say to you?” She glanced up, trying to gauge his reaction to her avoidance of
giving an answer.

Being David, he simply looked bland except for a small wry smile. “I received a very thorough dressing
down for my less than gentlemanly behavior. Speaking of which, you do realize there could be a child.”

He said it so conversationally she didn’t register the meaning at first, and then it sunk in and she couldn’t
help but just sit there and stare at him. “What?”

With just a hint of dry humor in his voice, he expounded. “You could, even now, carry my child, Tori.
The next Dunreith heir, or perhaps a beautiful daughter. Has that not occurred to you yet?”

Since she had been so off balance weighing everything else, it hadn’t, and she felt like an ignorant fool.
“No,” she admitted, her voice uneven. Her face heated and she experienced a certain resignation over
knowing she’d blushed more this particular day than any other in her life.

A baby? David’s baby.

He would make an excellent father. Calm, intelligent, patient.

Say yes, an inner voice chided.You’ve already made up your mind .

Don’t make this too easy on him, another one argued.

“Besides that possibility, tell me why I should accept you instead of Lord Firth.” She lifted her chin in
challenge.

As usual, he saw right through her. He gave her one of his rare, devastating smiles. “It would be my

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pleasure.”

He sat down next to her on the bench and lifted her onto his lap despite her gasp of protest, settling her
across his hard thighs. Her skirts spilled over his long legs and she was suddenly bosom to chest as he
held her scandalously close. He whispered, “Since it has been established I am not particularly good at
expressing myself with words, I think I will show you rather than tell you. I prefer it anyway.”

“David, I—”

The sentence was cut off when he kissed her. Hard. No, soft. Actually, both at the same time
somehow, his mouth insistent on hers, but gentle and seductive, his tongue stealing between her parted
lips to tangle with hers, his arms cradling her effortlessly in a close embrace. Her hands crept to the lapels
of his jacket and she clung to him, swept away by the force of his unspoken desire.

It ran like a licking flame, from him into her, heating her blood, making her wish they were back in the
little summerhouse amid the tumbled blankets. The way he held her, the stroking of his tongue and lips,
the strong thud of his heart, all did tell her more than simple words. Time and again he changed the angle,
slanted his mouth against hers, then kissed her neck, her jaw, the sensitive spot below her ear, and then
her mouth again.

“Say it,” he urged, whispering against her lips what felt like an eternity later. “It’s just one word, Tori.
Not so difficult.”

Easy for him to say, she could barely breathe and her entire body tingled. Finally she managed to
murmur, “Yes.”

* * * *

The flicker of triumph was genuinely won this time. David cradled the weight ofVictoria ’s slender body
in his arms and felt his throat tighten with emotion. Her head rested against his shoulder and he could see
the perfection of her features in the illumination of a scattering of stars overhead. She wore a deep blue
gown—in his opinion she should always wear blue with her magnificent eyes—the soft silk a foil for her
flawless skin and shining pale hair. He could see a hint of the tantalizing cleft between her breasts and
remembered with vivid intensity the warm, satin feel of her mounded flesh in his hands.

Mine forever.

His arms tightened possessively.

In retrospect he shouldn’t have relied on anything but his ability to persuade her himself earlier, but then
again, he might not have been successful. The fact it had all worked so well excused the method in which
he obtained her original cooperation, didn’t it?

He wasn’t going to analyze it, he was too happy.

“I should go back inside,” she murmured, stirring a little. “A short walk in the garden is one thing but my
father will be unhappy with a prolonged absence.”

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Since she was perfectly right, he reluctantly stood and placed her on her feet. She fussed with her gown,
smoothing her skirts, and gave a small sigh. “I suppose if I am a bit rumpled, our engagement will excuse
it. Poor Lord Firth. I feel rather terrible about this. He’s supposed to stay the weekend.”

As the winner, David could afford to feel generous towards his fallen rival, though he had to earlier stifle
the murderous urge to lunge across the table during dinner and snap the handsome viscount in half. He’d
flirted with Victoria the entire meal, and more than once became absorbed in her décolletage, the
lascivious interest quite obvious to someone watching as close as David had been. He said in a dry tone,
“I feel confident he will recover and find another young lady to squire into a starlit garden. He seems like
the resilient type to me.”

Victorialooked at him from under her thick lashes. “You simply ooze sympathy, David.”

“I was violently jealous of him up until a few moments ago. I like him much better right now.” He
grinned.

“Were you?” She looked startled. “One could never tell. You spoke with him earlier and you seemed
quite normal and pleasant.”

He offered his arm. “I can control my baser instincts most of the time. Speaking of which, with this
morning fresh in my mind, I’ll be honest and tell you I prefer a very short engagement, Tori. I have a
feeling it would be torture to…hmm, how shall I put this? To wait to have you naked in my arms again.
That’s blunt and to the point, I suppose.”

She truly had the most endearing blushes. “David.”

“Besides, since it is possible that you could be pregnant, I think sooner is better than later, don’t you
agree?”

Her fingers were light on his arm, and even that subtle pressure sparked a reaction. If the lighting was
better and the cut of his coat different, she would see the bulge of his erection, just from holding her and
those arousing kisses. The way she responded told him her innate sensuality was going to make him a
very lucky man indeed, and he looked forward to teaching her every nuance of lovemaking possible.

“A wedding takes some planning, David. Vanessa has been working on the arrangements for hers for
the past half a year.”

Six months? He’d go mad in six months. Six days might push him over the edge. They gained the steps
to the terrace and he halted so she looked up at him in inquiry. He stared down into her face, struck as
always by her delicate feminine beauty and decided to simply tell the truth. “I don’t trust myself. Even
now, if I could, I’d sweep you into my arms and find the nearest bed. I realize most women want a grand
wedding and I’m more than willing to give you anything in my power, but perhaps we can compromise.
What about a quick wedding now in deference for your possible condition and a celebration later to
announce our nuptials. I will give you carte blanche to make it as lavish as you wish. It will be good
practice in how to spend my fortune.”

She gazed up at him, a small rueful smile on her soft lips. “I suppose after this morning, I don’t really
trust myself either. You can be rather persuasive, David. Now that I think of it, even as a child you had a
tendency to get what you want. You went about it in the quietest way possible, but it does seem to me
when you set your mind to something, it happens.”

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“There is another consideration and that is my aunt is rather notorious for her lack of discretion. If we
choose to wait to get married, our little assignation in the summerhouse will probably become public
knowledge long before the ceremony takes place. She isn’t mean-spirited, just a hopeless gossip.”

“Oh.”

“My apologies for their inopportune arrival this morning.” He wasn’t actually all that sorry, but once
again, hadn’t meant to cause her embarrassment. “But when you think about it, if rumors begin, they will
die just as quickly if we are already married.”

In the thin illumination, she frowned, but it was hard to read too much into it. After a moment, she said
quietly, “Maybe you’re right.”

“Is that agreement for my suggestion?”

One delicate brow arched upward and she laughed, the light-hearted sound encouraging. “It’s more
resignation that arguing the matter with you will probably result in a losing battle on my side. Besides,
quite frankly, all the details of flowers and gowns are a bit boring in my opinion. Vanessa is having the
time of her life, but I don’t think I’d enjoy it half as much.”

After all the waiting, the agonizing over whether or not to declare himself, the uncertainty and self-doubt
and the secret he didn’t want to share with anyone, much less Victoria, he found he was filled with an
inner peace and more remarkably, a serene happiness.

“I will take care of the arrangements then. Shall we go in? I want to tell your father the matter is settled.”

Chapter 5

The little inn was a shade on the dingy side, but charming enough in a way, and it would do for her
purposes. Camille Langtry poured herself a glass of claret and moved to the window, peering out and
seeing the bucolic countryside with an inner sense of resignation. She preferred the city for a thousand
reasons, the most prominent being anonymity. Her comings and goings were less noticeable in a city
teeming with people, the company she kept less a source of interest, and there was plenty of opportunity
for entertainment.

She did enjoy her lovers, both male and female, among other diversions that society would deem quite

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unusual.

The faster she could get to David Barrett the better. Arranging a meeting should be simple enough once
she identified herself. It was getting him to cooperate with her purpose for coming in the first place that
might be tricky, depending on what kind of man he’d turned out to be. Oh, she knew well enough the
public details such as where he’d attended school, how he treated his tenants and servants, how he
handled his seat in the House of Lords, but the man himself was still an unknown quantity.

Until he’d become one of them, she hadn’t cared particularly about his boring life. All she felt was
disdain that anyone intelligent, wealthy, and handsome would choose to bury themselves in the
countryside. The obvious lack of interest in vice, much less the careful avoidance of his power gave her
pause, but since he had finally stepped over the line, it opened the door.

A very dark door. She wondered if he realized it. With that one simple foray into her world, he’d joined
their lives and invited her into his. Into his past and most certainly his future.

Unfortunately, when she causally mentioned to the elderly innkeeper she was a friend of the Barrett
family, the man had given her the gladsome news that the earl had just gotten married, expecting her to be
delighted.

It was a complication she really didn’t need, but not one she couldn’t overcome.

“My lady?” Her maid had finished hanging up her clothing and stood there, an inquiring look on her face.

“I need to send a note,” Camille said decisively. “Bring me paper and summon Kertz. I want it delivered
immediately.”

“Yes, my lady.”

* * * *

It seemed decadent to watch the sunset from bed, but then again,Victoria thought, stretching a little
against the linen sheets, itwas her honeymoon. So far it had been idyllic in the sense they’d spent almost
every minute together and just an hour before, when they’d returned from a lovely afternoon ride, David
had practically dragged her upstairs to make love to her.

Wild, passionate love. The past four days since their impromptu wedding had been an interesting journey
into womanhood and her new husband proved an excellent instructor.

David had offered to take her anywhere she wished,Capri , the Greek islands,Rome …but there was
one advantage to knowing someone all your life and she doubted, despite his generous offer, he really
wanted to drop everything and take an extended trip on short notice, so she’d declined. Perhaps later,
she’d told him, she would take him up it. For the moment, she was content enough to adjust to moving
into Dunreith Manor and settle into the role of countess and wife.

It felt absurdly natural, she realized after the first few days.Lydia welcomed her with motherly affection,
openly supportive of the match. His brothers, Justin and Marcus, were like her own brothers anyway and

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at the wedding they teased, joked and acted if they’d seen the marriage coming all along, which might be
possible, but why she hadn’t seen it, she wasn’t sure.

Most certainly she was in love with her handsome husband. That much she had realized. All the declined
proposals, the continued sense of waiting for something indefinable to happen, all of that, she’d come to
ascertain, had been because of David.

David.

It was like walking past a painting in a hallway every day of your life. It was a beautiful piece of art, and
you knew you admired it, but you took for granted it was there, on the wall, for you to enjoy every single
day. Then one day you stop and really look at it. At the quality of the brushstrokes, the vision of the
artist, the genius of execution. That’s when you realize you value the painting and if it was gone and you
no longer had it, you would be devastated. Only, of course, in her case, the analogy wasn’t significant
enough to describe her feelings, for David was not an inanimate object but a flesh and blood man, very
much alive, and now a permanent part of her life.

“What are you thinking?” A long fingered hand touched her shoulder, shaking her out of her abstraction.

Victoriaturned and smiled. “I was making a rather bad comparison in my mind of our situation.”

Nude, his tall body relaxed in a careless sprawl next to her, her husband lifted his brows. He looked
deliciously attractive with his chestnut hair rumpled from her fingers running through it and his lashes a
little lowered over his unusual tawny eyes. A quixotic smile touched his well-shaped mouth. “Situation?”

“Our marriage.”

“That sounds ominous. Our marriage is a ‘situation’? Complaints already?” His voice was teasing and
light, but she wondered if there wasn’t just a slight edge.

“No, of course not.”

He relaxed. It wasn’t precisely visible, but she sensed it. “Go on, what about our marriage?”

No matter she’d discussed personal things with David she might not tell anyone else but Vanessa, she
still felt a bit shy over revealing how she felt abouthim . “I was thinking how nice it is we don’t have to go
through getting to know each other.”

“Oh, but we are getting to know each other. In a biblical sense, that is.” His hand slid from her shoulder
to her bare breast. It caused an instant reaction, the nipple hardening against his palm, a betraying
physical response she couldn’t control. He gently squeezed, molding the flesh in his palm, leaning closer.
“I agree, however, it is convenient we get along in the other aspects of our lives as well.”

“Convenient?” She tried to feign indignant reproach to the less than romantic selection of words that was
fairly typical for David, but failed, mostly because he distracted her with his skilled, stroking fingers.

What he said wasn’t romantic, but how he looked at her and the delicacy of his touch, that was
something else entirely. A heavy low heat began to build between her legs. She was already saturated
with his semen, wet and slick, and it glistened on her inner thighs, physical evidence of his desire.

“Like you, here next to me and very naked. That’s what I’d call convenient. See my enthusiasm?”

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She did see, in the lengthening of his cock against the taut plane of his stomach. As she watched, his
penis grew more erect, at the same time his fingers fondled the sensitive peak of her breast, massaging
her tingling nipple, making her sigh even though they’d already made love several times. “Yes,” she
murmured, “it’s quite obvious.”

“Touch me.”

Her eyes widened a little, because though he certainly freely explored her body, she’d been hesitant to
do the same to him. “There?”

At the way she said the word, a chuckle escaped him. “Yes, there. You needn’t look so aghast, my
love. I touch youthere .” A wicked grin curved his mouth. “And you like it quite a lot.”

“You do seem to know what to do,” she said tartly, not certain how outraged she was allowed to be
about what he’d done before he married her. “I can’t say I’m an expert judge, but you appear to have
some experience.”

He looked bland, which David could do very well, but there was a teasing light in his eyes. “I’ve read
extensively on the subject. The female body fascinates me.”

“Hmph.” She sniffed, only half in jest because the idea of him with other women bothered her.

Immensely.

“Aren’t you curious about the male body? If so, please help yourself.” He removed his hand and folded
his arms behind his head, the nonchalance of his pose belied by the jutting length of his now completely
rigid cock. “I’m all yours.”

Yes, she thought possessively,you are .Victoria was curious she found, and she sat up first, and then
shifted so she was on her knees next to his lean form. She leaned forward, well aware of his
heavy-lidded observation, her breasts swaying provocatively. First she touched his shoulders, feeling the
strength there, the impressive bulge of the muscles under the warmth of his skin. “You’re so…hard.”

He gave a muffled laugh. “At this moment, I certainly am.”

With exploring fingertips she traced the ridges and contours of his chest, a little astonished to find when
she brushed his flat nipple it hardened in a similar way her body responded to him. “Does that feel
good?”

“Anytime you touch me it feels good.” His voice had a husky timbre she recognized very well after the
past few days.

Experimentally, she leaned forward and licked in a small round circle, mimicking what he did to her. He
shifted a little, and she could hear his breath go in abruptly.

The reaction was nice and she found she liked being the seducer instead of the seduced. Not that she
had any objection to either role, but when he touched her hair, sliding his fingers through the loose
strands, she ordered, “Put your hands back up, please. I believe you told me to help myself.”

His brows shot up but he obeyed with little more than a small twitch to his lips. “As you wish, my lady.”

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She moved lower, across the plane of his stomach, the muscles contracting a bit under the glide of her
hands. There was a line of dark hair from his navel downward, and she traced it, the backs of her fingers
just touching his erection at the base. Then she cupped his testicles, feeling with wonder the soft fullness
of the sacs as she cradled them.

This time, he visibly jerked in reaction, a low hiss escaping his lips. “Jesus, Tori.”

“Am I hurting you?”

“Hell, no.” He took in a shuddering breath. “Pardon me. I meant no.”

David losing control? That had some appeal.Victoria grinned mischievously. “You like this then?” She
lightly stroked upward, measuring the hard pulsing length of his cock, amazed how hot and rigid it was,
how it felt satin smooth yet unyielding. At the tip, the opening oozed a clear sticky fluid. She wiped it off
and looked at her finger curiously. “How can this make a baby?”

“It can, trust me. Are you done with your examination?”

He didn’t wait for an answer but instead moved in one smooth athletic lunge and suddenly she was
beneath him, her legs pushed apart by his knees, and that long length probed, found entrance, and slid
inside her.

“God, you feel like heaven.” He began to move, in and out in a relentless rhythm, each plunge bringing a
small gasp from her lips. He said between his teeth, “So tight, so perfect even my fantasies didn’t do you
justice.”

She liked the idea he’dhad fantasies and she arched into his possession, the pleasure of it ravishing her
body, captivating her senses. By now she knew that rising sense of excitement, the yearning, the delicious
climb upward.

Their breathing accelerated in accord, filling the room with sharp, synchronized gasps. He moved, she
moved in automatic reflexive response, and rapture began to shimmer like a desert mirage, hovering,
elusive but perhaps real.

Victoriamoaned, her nails skimming her husband’s shoulders, almost frantic. He reached between them
as if he understood the signal perfectly. The delicate pressure of his fingers on just the right spot made the
first tremor begin. She felt the spasms of her vaginal passage as it constricted around his penetration and
his answering groan reverberated in her heart as he stiffened and forced himself as deep as possible, so
they hung in that crucial, shattering moment of sexual climax together.

Together. She and David.

He poured into her, the throb of his ejaculation warm and wet. There was that critical moment of silence
when neither of them could speak, and then he murmured hoarsely against her ear, “I think I just stopped
breathing.”

She agreed. Wholeheartedly. “I doubt I’ll ever move again. You’ll have to just carry me around for the
rest of my life.”

“My pleasure.” He nibbled on her earlobe, his lips warm and beguiling. “I should move. I expect I’m

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crushing you.”

His weight was balanced enough she felt just pleasantly trapped beneath him, exactly where she wanted
to be.Victoria rubbed her hands down the muscular curve of his back. “It’s so odd, to think I didn’t
really picture us ever this way, but it feels so right now. As if Iknew , but didn’t know in a way. Is it the
same way for you?”

To her disappointment he withdrew then, his half-rigid cock sliding free. Her husband rolled to his back
and he flung one arm over his head, his chest still heaving. “I am too weak for cryptic observations right
now, Tori.”

She looked at him. The clean profile, those mesmerizing topaz eyes, his faint, signature ironic smile.
“Please answer,” she asked softly.

* * * *

She didn’t ask much, did she?

All she wanted was his soul. Well, if he owed it to anyone, it was her. David turned his head and met her
eyes. In the aftermath of passion they were slightly dilated, impossibly blue, and framed by those luscious
long lashes. Her body glistened with a mixture of their mutual perspiration, and in repose, was as alluring
as any mythical goddess, both lush and yet slender, the very epitome of woman incarnate.

“I always knew,” he admitted quietly. “And I very much pictured us this way.”

Her fine brows drew together in a perplexed frown. “I still don’t understand why you didn’t say
something long before now.”

The conversation was inevitable, because though they’d touched on it before, he had never explained.

He didn’t want to explain now either.

“When my father died, you were still only sixteen, Tori. Much too young for me to say or do anything.”

“That was four years ago,” she pointed out with unerring logic.

“My life changed considerably on his death.” It was an abbreviated version of the truth.

“I am sure you miss him very much.” She reached out and touched his arm, her voice soft with
sympathy.

He did, but it was a mere fraction of the problem. “I was at a loss,” David told her, the memory of that
dark time haunting. “My mother needed me, the estate business was a little overwhelming, and my
brothers just coming of age and suddenly my responsibility. It wasn’t the time to think about myself.
Before I knew it you were off toLondon for the Season and your debut and I resigned myself to the
knowledge it was only a matter of time before you married.”

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“But I didn’t.” She brushed a wayward tendril of hair from her cheek, her eyes shadowed. “I can’t say I
was always thinking of you, but I think you were there in my mind constantly, because what I was
looking for was someonelike you. Calm, intelligent, easy to talk to, considerate—”

Secretive, cursed, selfish as all bloody hell. He had a long list to describe himself also but didn’t care to
look at it too closely. “If I told you how I felt,” he interrupted more abruptly than he intended, “and you
didn’t feel at all the same way, nothing would ever be the same. I waited so long because I was, in short,
a coward.”

His beautiful wife simply looked at him, her soft lips, still damp from his kisses, parted.

“Friendship was better than nothing at all.” He ran his hand through his hair and sighed. “I confess though
I am happy with how everything turned out, I am not proud of myself in some respects, not the least of
which is luring you to the folly with less than chivalrous intentions.”

“Itwas rather devious,”Victoria agreed with a glimmering smile. “But one cannot argue the results. I have
to say, although, rebuilding an entire structure with the intention of having it handy for a seductive
rendezvous is actually pretty romantic, David. A bit on the underhanded side, I suppose, but definitely a
gesture a woman can appreciate.”

If she felt that way, it was a relief. Ruefully, he said, “I thought it would be private enough that if I ever
worked up the courage to try, we could actually be alone. Lord Firth’s imminent arrival forced my hand,
but then again, I didn’t count on anyone actually being interested in the blasted place after it had sat
rotting away and neglected for so long. My brothers have now christened it “The Earl’s Folly” and think
it highly amusing I was caught by our own motheralmost in the act of sexual congress.”

The ribald remarks were not likely to end anytime soon, either, but he could endure them and gladly
sinceVictoria was now his.

She quirked a blond brow, her luscious nude body curled next to him. “I’m still a little embarrassed, but
I get the impression your mother thinks it’s funny now that we’re married.”

“I love you, she knows that.”

Bloody hell, he hadn’t meant to say it that way for the first time. Not in a plain, matter of fact voice, in
the context of discussing his mother, for God’s sake. It should have been on a moonlit evening, with
roses on the table, the champagne poured…

As usual, he was less than skilled at saying the right thing at the right time.

Victoriasimply stared at him, her glorious eyes suddenly shimmering. “What?”

Surely he could do better. David reached over and took her hand, holding her slim fingers. “I love you.
Since the proverbial cradle, I suppose, since I can’t ever remember not feeling that way. Every single
day.”

“David.” It was a hushed whisper, barely audible.

Was his name said that way a good or bad thing? He essayed a smile, which probably came out a bit
strained. “I’m as bad at this as I am at secret seduction, aren’t I?”

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Victoriareached up and touched his cheek. “You’re actually very good at it. Tell me again.”

He’d walk to the end of the earth to see that dreamy expression on her face. He said, “I love you, Tori.
More than my own life.”

Her response was a slow, very womanly smile. His breath caught in his throat as she edged closer, lifted
her mouth in an unmistakable invitation and murmured, “Show me.”

Like he would resist the promise of heaven? David bent his head, his mouth a minute distance from hers.
“Believe me, I will.”

Chapter 6

Lydiaeyed her guest with apprehension. The woman was lovely, with rich dark brown hair, fine pale
skin, a shapely figure that could only be described as voluptuous, and she had the most unusual eyes. Not
gold. Not amber precisely, but the tawny color was almost unique.

Almost.

David had very similar eyes.

She said stiffly, “Would you care for more tea, Miss Langtry?”

“Yes, thank you. That would be delightful.” The woman leaned forward and gracefully offered her cup.

There was something almost feline in the way she moved, a sort of sultry elegance in even the way she
sat in her chair, her rose-colored silk gown a foil for her unblemished fair skin. When she smiled, it
revealed perfect small white teeth. “I do so appreciate you agreeing to see me, my lady.”

“Your note said it was a matter of some urgency and family importance. Naturally, I am most curious.”
Shewas curious, but once again felt an almost sickening twist in her stomach, a premonition that this
beautiful creature was about to introduce disaster into her life.

Into her son’s life, just when he’d found happiness.

Camille Langtry lifted her brows just a little. “You know who I am, don’t you?”

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Lydiahad no idea how to answer the question. Was she really going to sit in the confines of her very
civilized parlor, with the embroidered settees, polished mahogany tables, and water color landscapes,
drinking tea from her favorite set of china on a lovely fall morning with the woman who long ago seduced
her husband?

There were good manners, and then there were good manners. She’d always thought she was a fairly
generous person, but everyone has their limits. Her voice was cool and wobbled only a little. “I can make
an educated guess at your identity, Miss Langtry.”

“And that would be?” The other woman looked infuriatingly amused over her discomfiture.

As calmly as possible,Lydia set aside her teacup, afraid since she’d started shaking the liquid inside it
would spill on her gown. Taking a deep breath to compose herself, she said in indirect response, “He’s
twenty-five years old and a married man. He assumed the title four years ago and is every bit as efficient
as his father ever was at running the affairs associated with it, including a seat in Parliament. Your arrival
in his life now won’t mean much to him, one way or the other. I do not see the point of your intrusion.”

“Intrusion?” Those amber eyes held a glint of laughter. “How awful that sounds. Rather like a drunken
relative stumbling into a dinner party for the Prime Minister or—”

“Your husband’s mistress showing up on your doorstep many years later.”Lydia folded her trembling
hands in her lap. “Once again, I cannot see the point of ever telling David the truth.”

“Oh, but I have every reason to think he already knows, my lady.” The woman across from her took a
dainty sip from her cup, watching her over the porcelain rim.

No, it couldn’t be,Lydia thought, feeling stricken. “It’s not possible.”

“Why isn’t it possible? Because he has never said anything to you? You just told me he is a very
responsible young man. Did it ever occur to you that Jason might choose to purge his soul, as it were, to
his eldest child? He was ill for a long time. He knew he was dying.”

How did she know that,Lydia wondered, nausea clawing at her throat. How dare she use her husband’s
first name so causally, as if she had the right.

The blasted woman was correct, she realized. If David thought the subject of his birth would upset her,
he’d never mention it.Lydia put a hand to her forehead, feeling a little dizzy. “How couldyou know
anything about David? You abandoned him.”

A secretive smile curved her visitor’s mouth. “Call it…intuition.”

The sound of laughter in the hallway madeLydia go very still and her heart tightened in her chest.Victoria
said something, a deeper male voice answered, and she laughed again. A moment later the door opened
andLydia saw her daughter-in-law come into the room, looking both beautiful and a bit breathless, her
cheeks flushed becomingly. David followed, also smiling.

“We’re late,”Victoria said apologetically. “We took a walk and lost track of the time.”

They’d only been married a short while, and it was a pleasure to see their absorption in one another, so
the tardiness was neither unexpected nor irritating and quite frankly,Lydia wished they hadn’t
remembered tea at all.

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Not this day.

“Entirely my fault...” David’s smile faded a little as if the tension in the room suddenly registered, not to
mention her unmoving silence and the presence of a stranger she made no effort to introduce.

Lydiastared at her son—yes, he washer son no matter who had actually given him birth—and had no
idea what to do. Even if she had been capable of speech, what did one say in circumstances like this?
She didn’t even have any idea what her husband’s former lover wanted. To see her child after
twenty-five years? Somehow she doubted it. Even upon slight acquaintance Camille Langtry did not
seem like the motherly type.

There was something hard about her, something disturbing and implacable.

David frowned over her continued silence, and then turned politely and bowed. “Lord Dunreith, at your
service. This is my wife, Victoria.”

Camille Langtry purred, “A pleasure, my lord. I’ve been dying to meet you.”

* * * *

Something was very wrong. For one thing,Victoria could see her mother-in-law was pale as death, her
fingers wound together in her lap so tightly the knuckles shone white, and her normally refined features
cast like a stone mask. Even her eyes looked hollow, as if she’d just seen a ghost, her mouth compressed
into a bloodless line. Normally she was vivacious and gracious, still pretty despite a few lines of gray in
her dark hair, andVictoria really could not remember hearing her raise her voice or say an unkind word
to anyone.

The uncharacteristic stony silence was disturbing. It was almost as ifLydia was afraid to speak.

“Your mother and I were just reminiscing.” The other woman smiled but it did little to lighten her icy
exterior. She was actually very beautiful but it wasn’t the first thing you noticed about her somehow,
thoughVictoria couldn’t say what the quality was that struck her. Maybe it was the aura of
self-possession, of complete control. The visitor added in a smooth, amused tone, “We had a very good
mutual friend once.”

Lydiamade a small inarticulate sound.

Neither she nor David had even sat down andVictoria could hear her husband take in an audible breath.
She glanced up and saw his eyes narrowed a fraction as he stared at the visitor.

His eyes.

Good heavens, she realized with shock. Those unusual tawny eyes, the ones she’d looked into so many
times, were the exact same color as their mysterious guest’s. Even the color of David’s hair, rich chestnut
brown with those attractive scattered golden strands, was identical to the lustrous upsweep framing the
woman’s lovely, cold face.

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She’d known his father and there wasn’t much doubt David was the spitting image of him in many ways,
but not his coloring, and certainly not those telltale eyes.

David didn’t move, but stood there, his expression impassive. “Victoria, could you please take my
mother upstairs so she could lie down. She looks a little pale. Perhaps a glass of sherry would help.” He
added almost curtly, “Close the door behind you, if you will.”

He was right,Lydia looked downright white, and whenVictoria went to take her arm and help her to her
feet, she found her mother-in-law was trembling.Lydia faltered, “David, I—”

“I’ll take care of this, no need to worry.”

They went, andVictoria obediently shut the door behind them, her intense curiosity at war with her
concern for her mother-in-law. They climbed the stairs in silence and when they reached the suite of
rooms the dowager countess now occupied, the older woman collapsed into a chair as if weak-kneed.

“Shall I ring for your maid?”Victoria asked, alarmed.

“No.”Lydia shook her head. “I’ll be quite fine. I’m just a bit off balance. David is right. Maybe a small
glass of sherry will help.” One shaking hand went to smooth her hair. “My dear child, what you must be
thinking,” she murmured.

Since she had no idea what on earth might be going on,Victoria didn’t comment but instead went to
where a small crystal decanter sat on a small table by the elegant fireplace in the sitting room and poured
them each a small glass of fortified wine. She gave one toLydia , took a bracing sip herself, and sank into
an opposite chair. “Only explain if you wish it.”

“What I wish is forthatwoman to never have shown up here.”

“Who is she?”Victoria wasn’t sure how much she should ask, but she was now a part of the family and
David’s wife, and it certainly seemed to concern him.

For a minuteLydia didn’t answer but simply stared at her glass, her mind obviously elsewhere. Then she
roused and looked up, visibly squaring her shoulders. She said succinctly, “I suppose, in the most
technical sense of the word, she is David’s mother.”

Having guessed already there was some sort of blood tie,Victoria wasn’t entirely surprised, but still
hearing it out loud was shocking. Upon her life she couldn’t think of a single thing to say.

“She doesn’t look old enough, does she? It’s like she doesn’t age.”Lydia ’s face held a bleak
expression. “Jason did his best to discover what he could about her but could never find out anything.
Whatever she told him was a lie, and at that, it wasn’t much.”

The former earl had an affair? It seemed so unlikely because whatVictoria remembered of him was his
kindly nature and how well-matched he and his wife had been. “I’m sorry.” It was a woefully inadequate
thing to say, but it was all she could think of.

For the first time,Lydia looked a bit more like herself. “Don’t be. It gave me David. You see, at the time,
I thought I was barren. When that creature contacted Jason and informed him of the coming child, I
wanted a baby so badly I was the one who immediately suggested we arrange it so it looked as if it were

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our own. I offered to raise him as mine, and in my heart, he is. It is that simple. We retired to the country
where I feigned a pregnancy, and in due course, since Camille never wanted the child in the first place, he
was given to us.”

Victoriadigested this and then took a decided unladylike gulp of sherry. “Why is she here now?”

“I have no idea.”

* * * *

He’d wondered once or twice how he’d feel if he ever actually met the woman who’d given him birth.
The truth was, it was hardly earth-shattering. David walked over to the sideboard, poured himself a
brandy since tea was hardly strong enough considering the situation, and took a sip. Then he said with no
inflection, “My father warned me you might turn up someday.”

“Did he? That was intuitive of him.” Camille Langtry smiled and waved a hand with cat-like grace.
“What else did he say?”

“None of it was very flattering, believe me.”

Her eyes glittered unnaturally. “How disturbing. He was very fond of me at one time.” She added with a
light laugh, “Obviously, or you wouldn’t be here, darling.”

David stood negligently, hoping he looked calm and unruffled. “Why now?” he asked abruptly.

“You used your magic, David. It brought me.”

Something tightened inside him in warning.Bloody hell, I knew I shouldn’t have done it. But who
would think for something so simple, it would send a beacon to her. Is the tie that strong?

“Does she know?”

“Who?” he asked warily.

“Your pretty little bride. Does she understand who and what you are, much less who and what you are
not.”

He said nothing, just stood there with his brandy snifter in hand and weighed his options.

Camille stood in a swish of expensive silk, her indolent smile a compliment to her languid movements.
“Let me be more clear. What you are is one of the blood. My blood. Generations like us that throughout
the centuries have possessed the power. You can’t deny or escape it, though I admit you held out longer
than most. Why you kept from using it for so long is a mystery to me, but finally you yielded and that is all
that matters. Tell me, did the spell come from the book I gave your father the same day I turned you over
to his care?”

It had, damn her. Still he simply regarded her in grim silence.

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“What you are not,” she went on blithely, pacing across the lovely room, “is the earl. You are a bastard,
David, born of lust. Your younger brother should have the title and fortune because he is the first born
legitimate son. Would your beautiful wife still want you if she understood all that came along with a
lifetime alliance to someone like you?”

As if he hadn’t asked himself that question a thousand times. As if it hadn’t kept him from
courtingVictoria , torn between his love for her and knowing he wasn’t at all what she thought, right
down to how he’d been born on the wrong side of the blanket. In the end he’d finally yielded, knowing
he couldn’t endure her marrying someone else if he had the power to make her his, even if it meant a
marriage based on deceit.

With emphasis, he replied, “The fortuneis mine, specifically willed to me. As for the rest, I would gladly
give Justin the title, but my father asked me on his deathbed to never reveal to anyone the truth about
you. He wanted to protect my mother, as doI. I cannot stop you if you wish to start sordid rumors and
dispute my parentage, but I can’t see the point of you doing it either. If it is money you want, I am sure
we can come to an arrangement. I don’t want my mother upset in any way, and neither do I want to
causeVictoria distress.”

“I don’t want money.” Her eyes narrowed into calculating slits and suddenly she did not look beautiful at
all, but scheming and unpleasant. “Your father was quite generous.”

“Pray don’t leave me in suspense, then,” he said through his teeth, “for youdo want something.”

“How clever of you to realize it.”

“Once again, my father warned me.”

She stopped near one of the tall windows overlooking the back garden and stared at the glass for a
moment, and when she turned back, the smug smile on her face gave him pause. “It’s quite simple,
really.”

“Somehow I doubt it but go on.”

The sardonic edge to his words didn’t even faze her. She simply continued to look at him with a sort of
assessing interest that made his blood run cold. “I want you to come visit me. I think three days should be
enough for my purposes. At that point, if all goes well, we need never see each other again.”

“A visit?” His laugh was harsh and incredulous. “While as appealing as the idea of going the rest of my
life without setting eyes on you again might be, I think I will pass, Madame. I cannot imagine what you
and I could have to discuss for five minutes, much less three days and quite frankly, your use of the word
‘purposes’ makes me leery. Do not forget, I also know very well what you are. I know you bewitched
my father and that is why he bedded you in the first place, and since you were more than willing to give
me up, I can’t see I owe you anything.”

“You owe me your power, David. Without it would you have your beautiful bride warm and willing in
your arms each night? Tell me, does she realize you cast a seduction spell on her?”

He was more afraid to tellVictoria it waspossible for him to do such a thing than confess to the spell
itself. His whole life he’d known he was a bit different, but the last thing he wanted was for the woman he
loved to think he was in any way unnatural. Their current state of happiness had nothing to do with any

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magic except love. “I am not a warlock, running around muttering incantations. It was an experiment, a
one time attempt to see if what my father told me was true. I do not even know if it worked or if it was
simply passion. Certainly Victoria and I have that now without any of your little verses.”

It was a lie. He’d seen the confusion in Victoria’s eyes that fateful morning and though he firmly believed
it had been so simple to get her to succumb because she already had feelings for him, he still knew she
probably would never had done so as easily without that damned spell.

“No, you are not a warlock because you do not use your power. It is like a muscle that needs to be
flexed and made strong.” Camille still looked at him steadily, her amber eyes holding a slight hint of
disparagement. “If you had decided to embrace your gift, I would have come for you much sooner.” She
shrugged her pale shoulders. “Since you choose instead to be stubborn about the whole thing, I have
given up on the idea of you ever truly joining us. However, you can still be useful.”

“Us?” He didn’t like the sound of that word, much less being useful to a female who made no secret she
was a student of the dark arts.

“I have a group of followers.” Her smile was a baring of her pearly teeth. “Quite naturally, there are
thirteen of us.”

“A coven. Somehow that doesn’t surprise me.” He took a gulp of brandy so large he almost coughed. It
burned his throat. “I am not going to even ask how I could possibly be useful. Look, we have both
existed happily enough for the past quarter of a century without any contact. Let’s continue the tradition.
I will have one of the footmen show you out.”

“Aren’t you the least bit curious?”

“No,” he said truthfully, not willing to negotiate with this woman, the stricken expression on his mother’s
face—his true mother, the one who had nurtured and raised him—clear in his mind.

To his surprise, Camille Langtry didn’t argue further but simply watched as he went to the door and
called for the butler. As she passed him in a swirl of silk and perfume, she actually brushed against him
and he stepped back, repulsed by the physical contact. She murmured, “You might want to remember,
my darling son, you are vulnerable.”

A cold eddy of icy air marked her exit from the room.

Chapter 7

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Victoriadismissed her maid with murmured thanks and knotted the sash on her dressing gown, staring at
the closed door. It connected her bedroom with David’s and though she normally waited for him to come
to her, this particular evening she wanted to talk to him.

Dinner had been a less than comfortable affair.Lydia had been chatty and too bright, her demeanor
reflecting her discomfort. David, in turn, had been even more quiet than usual and thoughVictoria had
never seen him do so before, he’d had a conspicuous amount of wine. Not that it showed in his actions,
but that was part of the problem. He kept things to himself—his feelings for her being a prime
example—and though she realized old habits were hard to break, she was his wife now, and that meant
their troubles were to be shared, not hoarded like ill-gotten treasure.

Taking a deep breath, she went to the door and opened it.

Her tall husband stood by the window, only partially undressed, his coat and cravat discarded carelessly
on the back of a nearby wing chair, shirt undone and open to show the strong column of his throat.
Apparently he’d dismissed his valet for the young man was nowhere in sight. David turned and lifted his
brows as she came in, his expression still infinitely unreadable. Except she was getting to know him in a
myriad of new ways and she sensed his disquiet.

“I was afraid you wouldn’t come to me,” she said candidly. “And I wondered if we could talk a bit.”

“I see. I am now going to guess my mother told you the truth.” He leaned one shoulder against the wall
by the window in a deceptively nonchalant pose. She could see a tantalizing glimpse of his well-muscled
chest through the unbuttoned front of his shirt.

Victorianodded uncertainly.

“You’re married to a bastard with no actual claim to the title everyone thinks is mine. I would not blame
you for feeling deceived.”

She stared at him. “Is that what you thought I was feeling? I didn’t marry your title, David. I married a
man.”

“Ah yes, the flesh and blood of an immoral woman who would seduce another woman’s husband with
trickery and then disdain to raise the child of that unholy union.”

“It hurts you to think she gave you up?”Victoria tried to imagine how it felt, but couldn’t. He’d been so
much better off withLydia anyway, surely he knew that?

“Good God, no.” His answer was emphatic and he ran a lean hand through his hair, for the first time
showing emotion. “I have been blessed a thousand times over. My mother—the only woman I will ever
think of as such—is a kind, generous person who has always treated me with love and affection. My
father, also, despite how things look, was a good man.”

“Then forget today ever happened. Forget she came here, and let’s just put it behind us.”Victoria
walked toward him and placed her hand on his chest, between the open material of his shirt over his
heart, feeling the strong beat against her palm. His skin was smooth, almost hot to the touch.

“I somehow don’t think Camille Langtry will be dismissed so easily, but I would love to believe it is

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possible.” He stared down at her and didn’t move.

“Maybe I can distract you from thinking about it,”Victoria murmured, moving closer, close enough she
could feel the heat from his body.

“What did you have in mind, Mrs. Barrett?” The bleak look in his eyes was replaced with something else
entirely, an unmistakable vivid gleam of pure male interest.

“I am still rather new at this, so perhaps you can help me come up with an idea.” Her fingers dropped
and slipped loose the last fastenings on his shirt and she tugged the hem free from his breeches. Running
her hands suggestively up his torso, she pushed the linen garment from his shoulders.

“I believe I can come up with an idea or two.” David caught the sash of her robe and pulled it loose.
Both it and her nightdress were on the floor a moment later, and when she fumbled to undo his breeches,
with the same swift efficiency he did it himself and stepped free.

Without ceremony he picked her up and carried her to the bed. Depositing her nude body, a wicked
smile gracing his handsome face, he murmured, “How about a little taste as a beginning, my love?”

Uncertain, she looked at him from under the veil of her half-lowered lashes.

One hand trailed in a leisurely journey from her shoulder, down to circle an erect nipple, and lower, past
her ribcage and stomach to graze the curls between her legs. “I want to kiss you…here.”

Instantly,Victoria felt a flush spread over her body at what was surely an outrageous suggestion,
anticipation making her pulse start to race as he parted her legs with subtle insistence, and lay down
between them. Not on top of her, but lower, his mouth moving over the sensitive skin of her inner right
thigh, teasing and inching higher, higher…

His fingers parted her labia and she let out a wordless gasp as he exposed the most intimate part of her.
It was incredibly erotic to see his head nestled between her legs and even more so to feel the first gentle
lick. “Uhm,” he murmured, his breath warm against her, “delicious.”

Her spine arched as he worked his mouth against her sex in a seductive scandalous way that she was
sure was wanton to allow. But it felt so incredible, so pleasurable she spread her legs wider and moaned
in unhidden enjoyment, her fingers sifting through the thickness of his hair. He teased and probed with his
tongue, spiraling her upward on the wings of decadent sensation.Victoria sobbed, panted, shuddered,
and he didn’t pause until she finally cried out as the intensity of the pleasure burst and splintered her
apart, her entire body shaking.

Then, when she was still and limp finally, he did it to her again with that same magical expertise.

It was too sinfully wonderful, she thought in a sated haze afterwards as he caressed the back of her bent
knee and gave a low masculine laugh at her lethargic sprawl across the bed. Who would have thought
reserved, conservative David Barrett would ever do such a wicked thing?

His complexity intrigued her, and not just in the bedroom either. There was more to discover, she sensed
it. Much more.

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* * * *

His beautiful, beguiling wife was a genius.

The fact it hadn’t been the most auspicious of afternoons was the last thing on his mind with her inviting
body lax in post-orgasmic repose on his big bed, her skin flushed a lovely pink hue, her long slender legs
still invitingly apart. David adjusted his position, his throbbing cock urging him to hurry, an arm on either
side of her shoulders as the swollen tip of his erection gently nudged her vaginal opening, seeking
entrance, and he whispered, “Look at me, Tori.”

Long lashes fluttered and lifted. Those incredible indigo depths were a place he could lose himself, lose
his askew world, lose the jumbled mess of his identity. He was her lover, her mate, would be the father
of her children. Nothing else really mattered—not the title of Earl of Dunreith, not money, not even the
circumstances of his birth.

With deliberate slow penetration, he began to make them one. It was torture to go slowly, to feel the
tight satin of her inner walls stretch to take him, holding him in perfect wet heat. The impulse was there to
thrust in and wildly take his pleasure like his body demanded, but he wanted to prolong the moment, and
the sheer intimacy of their joining.

He had imagined it so often in the past. The reality of it now never failed to humble him.

Every time he made love to her he marveled at his good fortune and felt some measure of disbelief it was
really happening. It was the same each morning as he sat across from her at the breakfast table and she
smiled at him. The act of passing the marmalade was almost as intimate as what they were doing at the
moment, but, he thought as scorching, feverish sensation ignited and set his body on fire, if he had his
choice he preferred this.

Fully sheathed in her lush body, he closed his eyes, dragged in a breath, and lowered his head to kiss
her. His testicles tightened, and as aroused as he was, he knew if he moved, it would be over. Patience
wasn’t easy to come by when orgasmic release hovered like an anvil weight over his head, but he waited,
fought for that control, and found it, rewarded whenVictoria moaned into his mouth.

He began to move in long, slow thrusts, in and out, his weight braced on one hand as the other caught
her right knee and lifted it, allowing him to go as deep as possible.

“Oh…” Her neck arched back, exposing the pale arc of her throat, and he could see the beat of her
pulse beneath the alabaster perfection of her skin.

“Yes,” he said on a low exultant hiss of breath. “Come for me again, Tori. I want to be with you this
time.”

“David…can’t…please…”

She could though, her body already in a high state of arousal from his oral ministrations. The first ripple
of her third climax of the evening clenched around his cock and his brain lost all function. All thought was
obliterated by the exquisite splendor of the moment, by his body’s tuned response to each delicate
shudder beneath him, to the light bite of her nails on his shoulders, to the breathy cries of pleasure.

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His ejaculation was so forceful he jerked, sperm spilling from him in a hot flood, filling her as he fought to
get air back into his lungs.

They drifted back together and he smiled as his wife gave a small kitten-like yawn, her body nestled in
his arms. He touched her flushed cheek. “If you ever wish to distract me again, please feel free.”

She laughed, a weak sound. “I’m glad it worked.”

“I’m glad you’re in my life.” His voice was somber, the words slow. “Or shall I say, I am more thankful
than you will ever know you’llstay in my life. You’ve always been there, but I was so afraid I’d lose you.
This is twice I’ve deceived you, and twice you seem to have forgiven me. No doubt I don’t deserve it,
but I am selfish enough, I suppose, to be happy in spite of it.”

It was true. He’d never told her how he really felt, and she’d said outright it made her feel betrayed. The
seduction had been calculated enough he winced every time he thought of his methods, but wasn’t sure
he’d change a thing if given the same set of circumstances. If he had waited and she’d accepted Lord
Firth, he would have lost her. Then, of course, there was how he was bastard born, the title should
belong to his younger brother but he was bound by oath not to say anything, and all the complications
that went along with that sticky situation.

Apparently she’d actually forgiven him three times.

Unfortunately, for every deception there was a price.

What was this all going to cost him?

Victoriadrifted to sleep easily, like a child, all tousled golden hair and gleaming nude perfection, but he
was still restless despite his physical contentment. Eventually he gave up trying for slumber and slipped
out of bed, adjusting the blankets up over his wife’s creamy shoulders, tucking them in with a tenderness
that made his throat a bit tight. Donning his dressing gown, he quietly left the room and went downstairs.

His study was dark and silent, the familiar scent of musty leather-bound books and a hint of brandy
comforting, and David lit a lone lamp. Then he dropped into the chair behind his desk—the desk that had
belonged to his father and generations of Dunreith earls before him, and brooded at the bottom drawer.

Finally, with grim resignation, he went to the bookcase, removed the hollowed volume used to store the
keys, and went back and opened the damned drawer. The binding on the book he removed was split
and the leather worn and dried, but the writing was surprisingly still dark and bold. He didn’t recognize
the word embossed on the cracked cover and wasn’t sure he wanted to know precisely what it meant
either. When his father first told him about the volume—the only legacy from his birth mother—he’d
disdained to even look at it, so shocked by the truth he had no idea how to deal with it. That, coupled
with his father slowly dying and his entire family looking to him for support, had left him impotent to really
process the revelation. Over time, once the funeral was past and the estate matters settled enough he
wasn’t entirely overwhelmed, he’d finally gotten the courage to look at it.

He could still recall the chill when he realized exactly what the volume contained. The instructions were
detailed, each spell neatly categorized for its purpose, some of them benign enough, but some of them
truly frightening.

David rubbed his jaw, and then flipped the book open to the page he’d marked, reminding himself he
hadn’t known if the spell would work when he’d used in onVictoria . He’d certainly never done anything

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like that before, still dubious over whether or not just because most of his life he’d felt a bit different,
there was a real reason he wasn’t just the rather staid David Barrett he presented to the world.

The minute he chose to use his legacy, he’d crossed an unseen line. In his distraction overVictoria , he
hadn’t thought it might bring him to the attention of his nefarious parent.

What did she want from him?

Maybe this afternoon he should have taken more time to find out. He’d just wanted her gone, but her
vague threat lingered, like a noxious odor in the air.

* * * *

She really couldn’t stand it any longer.Lydia clutched her dressing gown closed at the neck and crept
down the stairs. It was very late, the house was dark and quiet, and though for years she’d kept her
questions to herself, given the unwanted visitor of the afternoon, she felt she was due some answers.

If they existed anywhere, it was her husband’s study. Well, now her son’s study, but she would always
remember Jason there, behind that desk, his brow furrowed in concentration but always a smile for her if
she interrupted.

The truth was, she missed him terribly. Up until now, she’d consoled herself with the knowledge she had
her three sons, but the lingering fear she might lose David haunted her and sleep had been impossible.
She was more than culpable, since she’d been the catalyst in some ways for the entire deception. When
her husband had finally told her about the baby, she’d wanted him so desperately it didn’t matter it was
another woman’s child. It was part of Jason and though the knowledge he’d strayed hurt very much,
she’d loved him enough to forgive him and the babe had been more than compensation.

To her dismay, she saw the line of light under the door.

She stopped, debating whether or not she should turn like a coward and go back up to bed, even if it
was to toss sleeplessly. However, David had been very quiet at dinner and she hadn’t had a chance to
speak with him yet, so maybe this was as good a time as any. God knew there were things to be said
between them.

Though normally she would have knocked, she instead opened the door and cleared her throat. “I see
you’re awake also.”

He was reading something and his head snapped up. Swiftly he rose to his feet in a habitual polite
gesture. “Mother.”

If he still regarded her that way, it was a relief. With as much dignity as possible, she asked, “May I
come in and sit down?”

“Of course.” Clad in a dark silk dressing gown, his hair a bit rumpled, he reminded her of the young boy
she remembered. The one with the clever sense of humor behind his serious façade, the remarkable
self-discipline that earned him high points from all his tutors, the child who rarely laughed, but when he

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did it lit up the world.

She chose a chair, sank into it, and clasped her hands together. “I came here to pilfer your desk. It
appears your presence has foiled me, but maybe it is best we simply talk anyway.”

David’s mouth twitched into a humorless smile. “You make an unlikely burglar, and besides, all you
really have to do is ask and you can look at whatever you’d like.” He sat back down and sighed. “I
assume we are about to discuss this afternoon.”

“Do you despise me?” Her voice was low and she glanced away for a moment and swallowed. “I have
essentially lied to you your entire life.”

He countered with, “Do you despiseme ? I have known for four years and said nothing.”

“It isn’t the same.”

“Perhaps you can explain to me how?”

Well, maybe he had a point. It was a bit hard to decide how to handle all of this. “I wanted a child,” she
confessed, the conversation not an easy one. “I don’t know if a man can ever understand how a woman
feels when she comes to the realization she might be barren. I was bereft and inconsolable because I
couldn’t seem to conceive. It’s probably why your father sought someone else—”

“No,” he interrupted curtly, “it isn’t, I assure you, but go on. He adored you. What happened?”

She stared at him for a moment, but something in his expression made her realize though he seemed
angry, it wasn’t with her. “I…I was shocked when your father came to me and told me the truth. He was
so pale, so shaken. There was going to be a child, he said, and yes, it could be his. For the first few
moments, I felt my world was coming to an end, but then, well, I realized maybe this was a blessing
instead.”Lydia struggled to make sure he truly understood. “Iwanted you. Very much.”

“Which makes me very lucky indeed.”

God, she truly prayed he felt that way. “I do not know how the exchange was made and up until this
afternoon, I had never met her. I still have no idea what she wants from us. I suppose it was naïve of me,
but I assumed we’d never hear from her, and as the years passed by, my fear she’d change her mind and
want to claim you passed. That she would come now seems odd.”

“Yes.” David’s face looked tight. “I confess I didn’t give her much of a chance to explain either.”

There was something in his voice that told her he knew more than she did, andLydia eyed him
uncertainly. “What are you going to do?”

One brow arched upward. “What do you mean?”

“Did she threaten to expose you?”

“She mentioned I am not the legitimate heir, though I did point out the wording of Father’s will passed
on the bulk of his fortune to me in name. He made sure of it, so the title is more of courtesy thing anyway,
but somehow I doubt she really wants to cause a huge scandal. It didn’t seem to be the point of her little
visit, just a scare tactic to emphasize she had some power to hurt me if she wished it.”

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He sounded blasé about something that surely raised at least a few complicated feelings. “It would be
her word against ours,” she said stoutly. “I doubt she could do more than raise a few whispers.”

“Victoriadoes not seem to care, and that is really all that matters to me, though I would do whatever I
could to protect you as well, Mother. Unfortunately, it seems I resemble our unwanted visitor at least a
little.”

He did, if she were honest with herself, though she’d always thought he looked like his father. Those
tawny eyes, however, were undeniable. “Justin would not be happy with the idea of becoming the earl.”

David laughed, a low sound. “That’s true enough. He has thanked me more than once for being born
first. Responsibility is not his forte and he makes no denial of it.”

Relieved he didn’t seem as upset as he might have the right to be,Lydia laughed as well. She made a
face. “He does have a wild streak. I hope he will calm down a bit as he matures, though I admit his name
and the word mature do not often get said in the same sentence. Besides, no matter what, your father
always considered you his heir and you are his oldest son.”

“And if your concern was at all that I would look at you any differently,” David said in his understated
way, “please keep in mind I have known the truth for quite a while, and quite frankly, it raised my regard
for you rather than otherwise.”

The momentous weight lifted off her shoulders made her practically sag with relief. She leaned back in
the chair and fought off a sentimental sniffle. Men became positively paralyzed at the sight of a woman’s
tears and he had had a difficult enough day already.

“Tell me,” he asked into the resulting silence, “what did you hope to find in my desk?”

It was not in his nature to ask idle questions, though it sounded that way by his lack of inflection.Lydia
said simply, “I don’t know. Your father carefully kept the bottom drawer locked and asked me to never
look in there. I always assumed, since he wouldn’t hide anything else from me I know of, that it had to do
withher .”

A muscle tightened in his jaw, so subtly she almost didn’t notice. “In this case, I think maybe it’s best
you adhere to his wishes.”

Chapter 8

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The clearing held a ghostly illumination from a low crescent moon hanging just above the trees, and the
air was warm, caressing her bare skin. Camille arranged the stones, the pyramid perfect, aligned as it
should be. She bent and picked up the velvet bag she’d brought, pulled loose the satin tie, and extracted
a single golden hair from the interior.

How convenient her hostile offspring had such a penchant for his wife. Taking the hair from his otherwise
immaculate dark jacket had been a simple matter after she’d been so summarily ordered to leave
Dunreith Manor, and he was going to pay indeed for his haughty dismissal. She couldn’t wait to have him
groveling at her feet for her help.

Naturally she would cooperate, of course, being a loving mother, she thought with sardonic amusement,
once he agreed to every single thing she wanted from him.

The idea of it brought forth a low cackle of laughter.

Naked, she raised her arms and began to speak, the words pouring out into the night, the harsh rasp of
her voice vying with the twitter of the occasional bird and the teem of insects.

Until everything fell silent except the intonation of her words, as if the forest itself knew her power and
was afraid.

After it was done, she tucked the hair away for future keeping and donned her cloak in a swirl of black
silk.

Tomorrow, she knew with measured, smug assurance, would be a very satisfying day.

* * * *

“My lord, I’m glad you’re home.”

The first frisson of foreboding hit him as David stopped in the entry, registering the hovering presence of
the butler. Normally Cotton was genial and composed, but he looked pained, his chubby face pinched.
“The dowager countess has been most anxious for your return.”

He’d had several appointments that afternoon, all estate business, one of them requiring a two hour
journey into Newbury. Though he had been loathe to be absent all day, there didn’t seem any point to
acting any different than usual, besides, he’d taken some precautions. “Miss Langtry didn’t call again, did
she?” he asked sharply, the idea of the woman upsetting his mother once more infuriating.

“No, my lord, she did not. If she had, I would have refused her entrance as you requested.” Plump and
proper, Cotton looked unusually rattled. “Perhaps it is best if you go straight upstairs.”

Puzzled and apprehensive, David asked, “Upstairs?”

With audible reluctance, the man answered, “The physician is here.”

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“My mother is ill?”

There was a palpable hesitation. “It is your wife, my lord.”

Victoria?

David didn’t even remember dashing down the hallway but suddenly he was taking the stairs two at a
time. The door to his own bedchamber was open and he remembered with a sickening lurch in his
stomach how he’d left her, still peacefully slumbering as he quietly dressed and went down to breakfast.

His mother sat in a chair by the side of the bed, her normal cheerful expression replaced by somber
concern. When she saw him in the doorway, she said in a voice that quivered poignantly, “David, thank
God you’re here.”

A small dapper man with a small mustache and two deep furrows between his brows rose from his
bedside perch at his entrance. “Lord Dunreith.”

“What’s happened?” He strode across the room, almost afraid to look, his heart squeezed in a vice.
“Why are you here? Where’s my wife?”

“Here, my lord.” The man stepped aside so he could seeVictoria , unmoving, just as he’d left her, one
hand tucked under her cheek, her blonde hair tumbled across the pillows.

She looked fine, he saw with a physical wash of relief, her cheeks their normal color, her breathing
visible in the faint lift of her chest under the blankets.

Except, he realized like a hammer blow a moment later, she was exactly as he’d left her. The same
position, not a detail changed.

His mother said in a tear-choked whisper, “We cannot wake her. Her maid started to become
concerned when it was pastnoon . The girl waited several hours and then came to me. I tried to no avail
to rouseVictoria …and then thought it best to summon the doctor. She seems to just be sleeping, but…”

As she trailed off, David turned to the physician. He had no idea of what his expression might be, but the
man flinched. He demanded harshly, “What’s wrong?”

The doctor lifted his shoulders in a slight shrug, his frown pronounced. “I cannot tell. I have seen
unexplained trances before, but usually after an illness or injury. By all accounts Lady Dunreith merely
went to sleep and somehow has stayed that way. Upon my examination, I could find nothing at all amiss.
Her pulse is strong but her catatonia so deep her pupils do not even respond, I’m afraid, and smelling
salts did nothing.”

It hit him then, a reeling blow to his mind, a jab of revelation so intense he felt physical pain.

You are vulnerable…

He went to the side of the bed and sat down next to his wife, tentatively touching her cheek. She felt
warm and soft, as usual. “Tori?”

Not a flicker of an eyelash.

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More than a little frightened, he gently shook her bare shoulder. “My love, wake up.”

He understood then, the drawn look on his mother’s face for the utter lack of a response of any kind
was complete.

“It’s…unnatural,” his mother whispered, her voice thick with tears.

Yes, it was.

That cold, heartless vindictive bitch.Shaking with both anger and fear, David thrust himself to his feet.
“Stay with her,” he said in a voice that didn’t even sound like his own. “I want someone here all the
time.” He turned to the doctor. “Do whatever you can and I will be most grateful.”

The man inclined his head. “I will care for her ladyship to the best of my ability, of course.”

“Did ourvisitor ,” he ground out the word, “from yesterday happen to say where she was staying?”

His mother looked bewildered, her eyes luminous with tears, a handkerchief clutched in her hand. “At
the inn, but, David, surely—”

Never in his life had he impolitely walked out on his mother while she was speaking to him but he did so
without thought, exiting the room as impetuously as he entered it, his mind battling rage and despair.

What if this state was permanent? No, he rejected that outright in fierce denial. If Camille Langtry
wanted something from him, she wouldn’t harmVictoria and thereby alienate him forever. This mysterious
malady was to gain his cooperation, wasn’t it?

God please, he prayed as he descended the stairs at a reckless pace.

Please.

* * * *

Patience was not one of her virtues and Camille tapped her foot as she sat in the inn’s shabby parlor and
sipped claret from a long stemmed glass. She’d brought the vintage herself, and the glass for that matter,
quite certain in the nauseating bucolic setting finding something civilized would be nearly impossible.

Smiling, she took a sip of the ruby liquid and let it dribble down her throat. He came. She could feel the
furious energy of his approach.

There was nothing as compelling as fear, she thought with a deep amused, inner satisfaction. Who would
think any child of her womb would be sentimental and romantic enough to fall deeply in love? That must
be the tainted Barrett blood, for she did not even believe in the emotion.

“Madame…” The innkeeper, slightly out of breath, appeared in the doorway. “You have a—”

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“Never mind, I’ll announce myself.” David shouldered his way past the astonished man and gave her a
lethal look. “I’m here. Remove the spell.”

Despite her self-assurance and experience, for a moment, she felt a glimmer of trepidation and took in a
deep breath. Though he disdained using it, his power was not something to be taken lightly. Untrained, he
was no match for her, but he was also young, male, and strong. The force of his fury traveled across the
room and for a moment, she couldn’t exhale.

Literally. Lights danced before her eyes and the glass dropped from her hand to shatter on the floor.
“She dies,” Camille gasped out, fighting a swoon, “if I do.”

“I think you’re looking at this the wrong way,” he said furiously, “if she dies, you do.”

But to her relief, he must have exerted some measure of control for the compression on her chest eased
and she let out a shuddering breath, gratefully filling her lungs with air again.

Lesson learned, she thought as she coughed for a moment. Her son was not to be taken lightly. For
someone without formal knowledge, that moment had been extraordinary.

Perfect. It was exactly what they needed. Strength and virility and potent power.

Regaining her composure, she gave him a level look. “Impressive, darling.”

He turned and closed the door in the gaping innkeeper’s face. “I’m not trying to impress you. My wife is
my concern. Whatever you’ve done to her, undo it.”

Camille smiled serenely. “The poor child needs her rest.”

Taking a step forward, he seemed to dominate the small room, tall and looking nothing like the
composed, well-dressed aristocrat from the day before. He wore no cravat, his white shirt open at the
throat, his thick hair windblown, those tawny eyes full of glittering menace. Fawn colored breeches clung
to long legs and polished Hessians emphasized strong calves. Though he was a bit pale with rage, the fine
bone structure of his face was striking and it pleased her he was a rather beautiful young man.

Moreover, it would please her following.

“I do not think it is in the interest of your continued health to jest about this,” he said, some semblance of
restraint giving a hint of coolness to his tone. ‘For the third time, undo what you’ve done at once.”

She gave a theatrical sigh. “You are quite tedious on this subject, darling. Fine, I agree to release your
pretty little wife if it distresses you so much, but first we make a bargain. Agreed?”

“Release her.” A muscle twitched in his jaw.

“Now why would I do that before I have your word you will do this one small favor for me?”

“The question is more why would I trust you to honor any agreement between us. It is clear you have no
scruples. I know full well my father wasn’t seduced by your person, Madame, but by some vile spell. I
do not understand your motives, but I am aware that is what happened. He knew it also, the day you
gave me into his care and gifted that book to me.” David stopped as if he needed to gain control again.
His hands fisted at his sides.

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Camille merely lifted a brow. “My motives? Ah, well, I am a woman, darling, and your father was an
attractive man.” She shrugged, remembering seeing the handsome earl for the first time, in his youth much
like David but much more light-hearted and charming. “I wanted him but he was a bit resistant, if you
seek the truth. The ‘vile spell’, as you call it, worked nicely. By the way, I believe that is the same spell
you used yourself, so do not judge me too harshly lest you take a close look at your own actions, my
son.”

That struck a blow, for something flickered in his eyes. “Pray do not lump me in with you, Madame. I
loveVictoria . What you felt for my father was simple lust, nothing more.”

“True. And I was still testing myself then, unsure of my power. He was a challenge. A chance to see if I
could overcome even his formidable sense of honor toward his wife. It turned out I could.” The memory
was one she relished. It had made the encounter so much more exciting, so much more sexually
exhilarating to know Jason wished to resist, but couldn’t.

“He was bewitched.”

“True again.” Her smile was contemptuous over his obvious sense of outrage. “What happened between
your father and I was nothing but fleeting pleasure. Meaningless. Do you not want to move back to the
pertinent subject of your precious bride? Here is my bargain. Three days of your time. You will
cooperate in every way I ask, and then you will be free to go back to your dreadfully dull existence
counting crops and playing lord of the manor. Do you agree?”

“Cooperation in what way?” He stared her, distrust evident in his expression.

“I am not going to elaborate, darling. Let’s see how much you do love your little sleeping bride. Your
word as a gentleman you will honor the pact and I will lift the spell.”

He only hesitated a moment and then gave a brief, grim nod.

Triumphant, Camille rose from the chair. “It is getting dark. Come with me.”

* * * *

Her body ached.Victoria was aware of that first, of a singular sense of stiffness, her mouth dry, her
eyelids weighted with lead. With a small muffled sound of distress she rolled over and blinked. She felt so
odd, not precisely ill but disoriented.

She was in bed, she realized as the room came into focus. David’s bed, his room, with the large carved
armoire in the corner and the dark velvet hangings around her.

“David?” she whispered, feeling a sudden shiver. She’d had the worst dreams. Terrible awful dreams
she didn’t care to recall.

“My dear child.”Lydia ’s face suddenly swam into view, her tremulous smile a bit puzzling. “Oh, thank
God.”

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If she was naked in her husband’s bed, why was her mother-in-law there?Victoria self-consciously
tugged the blankets higher and blinked. “Where’s David?”

“How do you feel?”

The evasiveness of the reply made her open her eyes more fully. “I’m…not sure, actually. What’s
happened?”

“You fell into a trance, dear.”

That was a baffling explanation if there ever was one.Victoria stared. “What?”

Lydiapressed her hand. “I am so glad you’re awake.”

Clutching the blanket to her chest, she struggled to sit up, her head swimming. She took a deep breath,
steadied herself, and asked again, “Where’s David?”

“Are you hungry?”

The small surge of panic she felt was very real. “Is he hurt? Please, what’s happened?”

“He’s not hurt,”Lydia hastened to say, though she couldn’t quite hide the worry in her eyes. “I’m sure
not.”

What the devil did that mean? It was full dark she saw, the curtains not yet drawn, filtered moonlight
sifting into the room at war with the low illumination of several lit lamps.

Slowly, enunciating every word,Victoria repeated, “You are sure not? Please excuse me, but I don’t
understand.”

Her mother-in-law fluttered her hands. “He left. He was beside himself with worry over you. I am sure
he will return soon.”

He was beside himself with worry so he left? That didn’t sound much like the sensible man she knew. If
he were concerned over her health, he would have stayed.

Something was very, very wrong.

Unfortunately, her head ached like a beating drum and it was hard to think.

Lydiasaid helpfully, “I send for tea. You’ll feel so much better.”

For the first time in her life she admitted to someone other than David, “Actually, I despise tea.”

The older woman looked properly horrified. “You do?”

She nodded and it was a mistake. Lord, her body hurt. “I would not mind a hot bath. I think that would
help.”

“Whatever you wish, child, of course. I’ll ring for hot water to be brought up.”

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It was a little later, as she reclined in the tub soaking away the stiffness from lying in one place for so
long, that her maid brought up the note. Recognizing David’s handwriting, she eagerly tore open the
envelope, still a bit mystified over his continued absence.

Dearest Victoria:

I trust this missive finds you well. Unfortunately I must be away for a few days. Please forgive my
precipitous journey. I will explain upon my return.

All my love,

Your husband, David Barrett

She stared at the flowing script, more confused than ever. If she understood whatLydia had told her,
they had been unable to wake her for almost an entire day, David had been absolutely stricken when
he’d returned home and discovered her state, but he’d immediately left. Now, apparently, he wasn’t
even coming home.

None of it made much sense.Victoria rubbed her temple, grateful the headache was beginning to fade as
she tried to think of any explanation possible for his erratic behavior. The only thing unusual that had
happened lately was the arrival of his mother. Whether or not he admitted it outright, it had upset him, but
how it could be connected to the bizarre events of the day, she had no idea.

However, she decided as she stood and reached for a towel, she was going to at least look for some
sort of answer.

Chapter 9

The mansion was modest enough byMayfair standards, right at the edge of a fashionable street, with a
sedate private entrance and a high wall. The gate was ornate, and only because he was well-aware of

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Camille’s unusual hobbies did he realize there were interesting symbols cleverly hidden in the ironwork
design. Two upside down crosses that looked merely like part of the scrollwork gave him a chill.

And welcome to hell, he thought sardonically as a servant opened the entrance and they rolled forward
into the courtyard, discreetly hidden from the street. Enjoy your stay.

“Did my father’s money buy this?” He indicated the house, an elegant brick structure with two sprawling
wings. “I know he paid you over the years. Dearly, if my calculations are correct.”

Her laugh was a low musical sound, but it resembled more breaking glass than mirth. The woman across
from him looked scornful. “Do you honestly think you are my only child? Their fathers all paid, and quite
generously, I might say.”

He stared at her in open consternation. At her beautiful, utterly cold oval face, those amber eyes alight
with dispassionate amusement at his shock. That there were other children really had not occurred to
him. Since she hadn’t wanted him, he assumed he was her only mistake and she would not have allowed
it to happen again. “I have half-siblings?”

“How charming of you to look at it that way, darling. Now, here we are. Let’s go in, shall we?”

A footman, clad in an all black uniform, opened the carriage door. David was more than grateful to
clamber out, relieved to be out of such close contact with a woman he despised. He didn’t even turn to
politely help her alight from the vehicle because he had no desire to touch her in any way, but instead
examined the façade of the mansion with jaded assessment. Undoubtedly she told the truth for the
address alone was expensive. Since he’d known the truth he’d been able to decipher the payments made
to her by his father over the years from looking at the estate ledgers. She was right, even a small fortune
would not cover the cost of a house like the one in front of him.

What the devil does she want with me?

With reluctance, he followed her up the wide stone steps, his only consolation the knowledgeVictoria
was safe. He’d insisted they wait at the inn until a servant could be dispatched with a note and returned
with the news the countess was now awake and seemed well. Only then had he agreed to leave
forLondon .

The journey had not been comfortable, and though he asked more than once, Camille had refused to
explain precisely what she wanted enough to blackmail him. Finally he lapsed into silence, not wanting to
speak to her anyway, and eventually into an uneasy sleep.

It had passed the time, though he felt like hell after he woke. It was ironically unfair that in his joy after
finally marrying the woman of his dreams, he was swept into this farcical nightmare.

He had the terrible feeling it was about to get worse. Since Camille refused to elaborate on why she’d
dragged him toLondon , he could only assume he was not going to like what happened next.

The foyer was grand, with floors of ebony polished tile and soaring frescoed ceilings. Once again he got
the subtle feeling something was amiss and as he followed her down the hallway, he realized that amid the
murals of cavorting cherubs and languishing naked ladies, all masterfully painted, were the faces of leering
satyrs, the jarring juxtaposition extremely effective.

Delightful, he thought cynically, his booted feet ringing on the polished floor.

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Camille—he refused to think of her as his mother—stopped once they gained the main hall. It was
dominated by an enormous fireplace and held scattered groupings of furniture, all upholstered in crimson.
She waved a hand in one of her languid gestures. “Kertz will see you to your room. We’ll have luncheon
in a few hours.”

If Kertz was the enormously tall, impassive man dressed in the same severe black clothes, his flat dark
eyes reflecting absolutely no emotion as he stood by his mistress, he was hardly reassuring. David said
with even, forceful intonation, “I am not here to have social meals with you. I am not even sure I could
eat in your presence because you turn my stomach. I gave you my word and I have honored it by letting
you bring me here. Tell me what you want or let me return toBerkshire .”

Her amber eyes gleamed like twin jewels. “You play the demanding arrogant lord much better than I
expected. I have always heard you were both quiet and a bit diffident.”

“You have a very adverse effect on my self-control, Madame, and that isnot a compliment.”

“Ah, but I relish it just the same.” She inclined her head. “I will see you at luncheon, my son.”

“I am not your son. Your spawn, perhaps, but let’s not make anything more of our relationship than an
alley cat might of dropping a litter of kittens.”

Her lustrous hair caught the slanting light from twin sets of windows on an opposite wall. She didn’t look
a day older than he did, and the fact men might be tempted by her wasn’t perhaps surprising, though
there was no mistaking the icy edge to her beauty. He’d forgiven his father before he ever met her, and
understood even more now, for he was also exactly where she wished him to be, at her mercy. Even
though he despised her with every fiber of his being, there were people he loved she could harm and he
knew she had no such weakness.

How did one battle a heartless monster?

Apparently his last insult drew blood. She said in clipped tones, “You wish to know so badly why you
here, David? Fine, I will tell you. I was going to wait, to allow you to meet the Following, but since I have
your word you’ll fulfill my wishes, I can’t see the harm. As I said, there are twelve of them. Young,
eager, spreading their wings. The art was slowly dying, fading away, and I have decided to revive it as a
sort of personal project, if you will. Through them, through my blood. You have the power I gifted to
you, but refuse to use it. I have resigned myself to your truculent denial of what could be, but that doesn’t
mean you can’t pass on the ability I gave you.”

He didn’t feel any more enlightened. “Believe me, if anyone wants your dark legacy, they are welcome
to it. I would toss it away faster than a glowing coal. Take it from me with my gratitude.”

“It isn’t that simple.”

That sounded ominous. He gritted out, “Feel free to get to the point.”

“I can’t withdraw your power. It’s yours and inviolate. But,” she murmured and gave him a look of sly
triumph, “I can breed it into the next generation of followers. Exponentially, our numbers will grow.”

Whatever he expected, it wasn’t that. David felt paralyzed, completely unable to speak.

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She went on blithely, “They are all young and beautiful, ready for you, darling. Eager to please, to accept
your seed. You’re young, vital, strong. There are other males of our kind I could ask, men who would
relish the task, but I have no illusions over the struggle of power that would ensue.” She delicately lifted
her brows. “On the other hand, should you be the one to impregnate my apprentices, I know full well you
would not challenge me. There is too much you value you could lose. If you’d wanted power, you’d have
seized it long ago.”

David took a physical step backwards, so appalled he could not help himself. He’d known she was
grasping, emotionless, and evil, but he hadn’t quite realized she was insane. “You can’t be serious.”

“Can’t I?”

“You wish for me to…”

“Fuck twelve women for the next few days?” she supplied with delicate sarcasm. “What a hardship.”

“I loveVictoria ,” he managed to say in a credible voice.

“This has nothing to do with love.” Camille dismissed the sentiment, her voice brittle. “Remember our
bargain? I released her and promised you could go home. What I ask is something most males would
very much enjoy, darling.”

“Not if they made a vow of fidelity.”

“How naïve of you to think so.”

“Not me,” he clarified hoarsely. “I am not going to be unfaithful to my wife.”

“What about giving me your word?”

He had to admit he had no idea how to respond.

“There is another choice, of course,” she went on in that smooth, chilly tone. “If you refuse, I could gain
my legacy another way. No doubt you will have children anyway, born of your union with your
golden-haired little wife. I could take them instead.”

The sheer madness of her suggestion made him grow cold. “Over my dead body,” he said flatly.

“If necessary.” She shrugged negligently. “Kurtz, please show him upstairs.”

* * * *

Victoriastrived to be patient. “So, he waited for you to return with a report on my welfare and then he
left?”

The young man nodded, kneading his cap nervously in his hands. “Yes, my lady. They both drove off
together in her carriage.”

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“Do you have any idea where they might have been going?”

It was the innkeeper who spoke up. “London, Lady Dunreith. At leastways, I overheard the lady
mention they’d reachMayfair by morning if the weather held. Muddy roads are more difficult in the dark.”

She turned and looked atLydia , not sure what to think. Her mother-in-law also looked bewildered.
“Why would he go with her toLondon ?”

“I have no idea, dear. I admit this is very puzzling and not at all like David.”

“His lordship seemed most put out when he arrived,” the innkeeper expounded helpfully. “But when
Robert here came back from the manor, he was somewhat calmer. They left almost immediately.”

As illogical as it seemed,Victoria could only conclude that somehow her mysterious hypnotic sleep sent
David straight to confront his mother. Since she knew full well he disliked the woman, that he’d left with
her was all wrong and she felt more than uneasy, she was downright disturbed. All night long she’d lain
awake and thought about his note, and that’s why as soon as it was light, she’d decided to go into the
village and make a few inquiries. Nothing about the situation rang true.

“Thank you. You have been most helpful,” she said and dropped several coins in the man’s hand. He
bowed and scurried off

Squaring her shoulders, she made a decision. “I’m going toLondon . Something is very wrong.”

“I’ll go with you,”Lydia said firmly, nodding. “I am worried about David. He wouldn’t voluntarily go
anywhere with that creature.”

“I agree.”Victoria recalled all too clearly the haunted look on his face the other night. “She forced him
somehow, though why she’s taken this sudden interest in him after all this time escapes me.”

Neither one of them mentioned the most irregular thing of all, and that was why the minute David learned
ofVictoria ’s trance-like state, he’d thought of Camille Langtry.

It gave her an eerie sense of not knowing something vital, of being on the edge of his confidence once
more, but not included.

For someone she’d always thought of as being rather ordinary and respectable, her handsome husband
seemed to harbor a great many secrets.

* * * *

“Delicious.” Greta licked her fork, her green eyes gleaming, the leisurely sweep of her pink tongue
suggestive.

Camille stifled a laugh at the salacious delight in her favorite’s expression. “You think so?”

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Greta’s gaze remained fastened on the man sitting across the table. “Oh yes.”

David didn’t respond in any way to the open innuendo, his face holding so little emotion it might be a
mask. He’d eaten very sparingly, just toying with his food, though he had downed several glasses of
wine. Little did he know it was tainted.

She wanted him to be relaxed and capable of performing his duties. Already her apprentices were
whispering over his refined good looks, twittering with each other over the upcoming next few days. All
twelve had taken a fertility potion she’d brewed herself, and she expected this particular venture to be a
great success. His conception had been a pleasure, but the pregnancy a nuisance, and the least he could
do for her was to pass on her special talents to a chosen group of those who recognized her power.

It would also give each girl a chance to try out the seduction spell, always a good place for a fledging to
start, case in point, David. Camille sipped her cool, amber wine and narrowed her eyes, curious to see
how well it would work on him. He’d showed an amazing natural ability to block any kind of outside
influence, hence the sedative in his wine. In the carriage on the tedious journey fromBerkshire toLondon ,
she’d tried a sleeping spell, and he’d been resistant. Finally, she’d prevailed, but it had taken hours, and
she hadn’t expected him to be so immune.

It was a bit disconcerting, but she wondered if he wasn’t even more powerful than she was and the
young fool just didn’t know it. Of course, channeling the energy was as important as having it, but if he
ever learned, he could be someone to fear.

All she wanted was for him to service her handmaidens, giving her a new generation of her own progeny
to mold and train in the art.

Three days of pleasure. What young, healthy male wouldn’t want that? All his babbling over his marriage
vows was nonsensical, a product of an idealistic mind. Once his promise to her was fulfilled, he could go
back to his little golden-haired wife and fuck her only for the rest of his life if that was what he wished.
Personally, it sounded pitifully dull to her, but then again, he had also declined his gift.

The legacy she gave him. She resented his casual dismissal of the power, and hence her determination to
make it endure. If he refused to use it, at least her grandchildren could be influenced and guided.

“More wine?” she asked in honeyed politesse.

David gave her a cool, dispassionate look. “No, thank you.”

Greta sent him a lascivious wink. “Anxious to get started, no doubt. I’m to be first. Isn’t that delightful?”

“You couldn’t be more wrong.” David’s mouth tightened. “Tell me this, what happens if I
can’t…er…come up to your expectations? The physical reaction to desire cannot be feigned by a man.”

Camille waved a careless hand, amused. “They’ll all arouse you, don’t worry. They’ve been trained.”

“By you?”

“Of course.”

“Here I thought you were a witch, not a brothel owner.”

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“They won’t charge you, darling, don’t worry.” She smiled over the rim of her glass, but felt a twinge of
annoyance at the sarcastic comment.

“You certainly charged my father.”

“He owed me. I gave him a child”

“Apparently he agreed, but I don’t, though money is the least of it. The cost of your mad scheme,” he
said softly, “is entirely too high. I could never sire a child and walk away, much less leave it to you.”

Greta avidly watched them face off, her plump fingers wrapped around her wine glass, her expression
greedy with interest.

“What of our bargain?” she reminded him.

“My promise toVictoria comes first.”

“Indeed? Shall I send the dear child back to sleep then? It doesn’t take long. A few days without food
and water and the body begins to waste away. The dying is the easy part. It’s the suffering before that is
the worst. The victim has some unpleasant dreams, I’m told.”

“You bitch.” Her tall son stood so abruptly the heavy table actually shifted a little and his face reflected
his revulsion.

“Whatever you wish to call me, let’s not forget what is at stake here.” Camille reveled in his loss of
control.

Poor boy, he looked actually physically ill. If she was capable of pity, she might even have felt some.
Torn between wanting to protect his wife and having to betray her. What a dilemma for an honorable
young man.

Of course, he wasn’t entirely honorable or he wouldn’t have seduced Victoria Caldwell to begin with, so
maybe some of her blood did flow in his veins after all. Camille set aside her wine. “I have a small…shall
we say, “celebration” planned for later. Afterwards, you will begin.”

Chapter 10

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Wherever he was, he hadn’t stopped by the Barrett townhouse, andVictoria felt more helpless than
ever. If David was inLondon , he was obviously still with Camille, and since the city wasn’t exactly a
small place, finding him was not going to be as simple as she hoped.

Maybe even impossible.

She dropped into a chair in the parlor, weary from the day long trip and her restless night. “I so hoped
he’d be here. Even if he left with her, surely he wouldn’t stay there, would he?”

Lydiahanded her a steaming cup. “I admit I am as mystified as you, my dear. Now drink this and we’ll
decide what to do. I wonder if Justin can help us. He’s supposed to be due back here at any moment.”

Both of David’s brothers had returned briefly to Berkshire for the hastily arranged wedding, but
immediately went right back to London, preferring as always the more exciting pursuits available to young
men of means in the city.Victoria liked them both immensely for their devil may charm and easygoing
dispositions, but she didn’t see how on earth either of them could help.

She took a sip from the cup, discovered it was chocolate, and smiled in gratitude. “This tastes heavenly,
thank you. However, I must admit I don’t understand how Justin could aid us. Surely he doesn’t know
anything about David’s birth.”

Her mother-in-law sighed and sat down, looking resigned. “I don’t know. Justin doesn’t want the title,
I’m sure, so that isn’t an issue, and David does a far better job of managing the estate and the money
than he would anyway. It’s rather a dilemma, I suppose, but all this secrecy is wearing, if you ask me.”

“Amen,”Victoria muttered.

“The one thing that can’t be contested is that Justin knows just about everyone in society. Camille
Langtry moves in the right circles, you can be sure, and I don’t doubt he’s met her. Maybe he can point
us in the right direction.”

“Who am I supposed to know?”

The sound of the deep voice madeVictoria glance up just in time to see the subject of their conversation
stroll into the room, a slight smile on his face. “Burtontold me you had arrived unexpectedly. What a
lovely surprise, Mother.”

David’s younger brother was a contrast to his sibling, with raven hair, striking dark eyes, and a more
rugged brand of handsomeness. But the Barrett features were stamped there also and no one would
mistake them for anything but close relatives. Justin turned and gaveVictoria an exaggerated bow. “Ah,
our new countess. So lovely to see you.”

Despite her worry, she smiled, remembering their childhood escapades. “Such a polite greeting from a
man who once put a frog in my shoe.”

“It wasn’t a large frog,” he said in mock defensiveness, his mouth twitching. “And hadn’t you, if I recall
correctly, pushed me into the mud just previous to that incident?”

“Perhaps.” She would have laughed but was too concerned and tired.

Lydiaasked anxiously, “You haven’t seen David since yesterday, have you?”

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Justin frowned. “No. Is he with you?”

“Not with us.”Victoria exchanged a look with her mother-in-law. “But we think he might be inLondon .”

“You think?” The frown slid into a stare. “That’s an interesting thing to say. He’s your husband and you
don’t know where he is?”

“No.”

“He would never leave and not tell you.” The echo of conviction rang in his voice. “That just isn’t
David.”

“It’s an interesting situation,” she admitted, self-consciously looking away. The chocolate in her cup was
going cold, but she sipped it anyway.

Maybe it was their demeanor, but Justin lost his usual light-hearted look. “Care to explain this to me?”

“I’ll explain,”Lydia said in a subdued voice. “I probably should have long ago.”

* * * *

The room was oval, hidden behind a door covered in baize, the ceiling painted black. David stumbled as
he entered, shoved by Kertz’s beefy hand, and he whirled around, still furious over being bound.
However little he’d consumed at lunch he’d still been drugged somehow, and he had woken queasy and
unsure of his surroundings until it all came rushing back.

Whatever the servant saw in his face, despite his gargantuan size, he fell back a step, which gave David
some small measure of satisfaction.

The entire thing was unbelievable. All he wanted was to be left alone, to live a calm, orderly life at
Dunreith Manor, to hold his wife in his arms at night, and to try and forget the circumstances of his
conception.

Unfortunately, at the moment, his birthright was a very distinct problem.

Camille stood by an obsidian dais that might possibly have been some sort of altar. Her robe was
scarlet, and her loose hair flowed down her back. Surrounding her, on their knees, heads bent, were
twelve young women, their robes in contrast a severe black, including the redhead he’d met at lunch. The
nauseating smell of incense filled the small chamber and David coughed, his eyes watering. With his hands
tied behind his back he could do little about it.

In a theatrical whirl of scarlet cloth, his mother turned, her teeth gleaming in a smile. “Welcome, my
lord.”

With some horrible sense of clarity, he realized she wasn’t referring to the fact he was of the nobility.
Since he’d awakened wearing only a robe, his hands bound, the sensation of being a prisoner was acute.

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The idea someone removed his clothing while he was unconscious made him more furious than ever.
“What are you doing?”

“Celebrating your arrival among us, of course. Your role here is an important one.”

He did his best to ignore the interested stares of her kneeling disciples. “Forgive my disinclination to join
you. Please untie me.”

“In time.” Camille smiled—if you could call the terrifying curve of her lips a smile. “First we need to offer
supplication.”

He had no idea what she meant until she turned and lifted her arms. “Pater noster qui erat in caelis…”

The Latin he’d taken atCambridge was enough. He felt suddenly frozen.

Our Father, who was in heaven…

Sacrilege.

A Satanic prayer, he thought, horrified, for the fallen Lucifer, cast down. Her voice droned on, but he
didn’t listen, sickened to his very soul, remembering his father’s dying confession of infidelity, of remorse,
but also of paternal love.

You are nothing like her…

At this moment, he certainly hoped that was true, watching the woman who gave him birth kneel to a
deity that made most people shudder.

Then it was over. The prayer done, the room quiet. He realized the cloistered sisterhood had turned
almost as one, and looked at him.

Bloody hell.

“What’s next,” he asked in a cold, cynical drawl, “human sacrifice? Someone going to drink my blood?”

Camille rose gracefully. “Don’t be medieval, darling. Nothing so drastic.” There was a bottle and
chalice, both patterned with onyx and ivory, sitting on the altar and she picked up the bottle, poured
some liquid into the cup and turned to him with that singular, speculative look in her eyes. “This will make
you more potent, my lord.”

The ridiculous situation was just getting worse. He was acutely aware of the young women in the room
and not only was he vastly outnumbered, but he was also naked under the dressing gown. Having his
hands tied didn’t help matters and then there was the lurking presence of the giant Kertz right behind him.

“I have no wish to bepotent , Madame. If it were a woman here, bound and expected to have sexual
relations against her will, you would call it rape.”

“Your moral posturing on the subject is tedious and noted. Kertz, untie him so he can drink this. He will
also need his hands for other uses in a moment.”

“Like hell I will,” he ground out.

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“Don’t forget your precious wife.” From inside her robe she withdrew a pouch, and as he watched, she
opened it with her slender fingers and extracted one long golden hair.

Victoria’s, he realized.

“You may have this back when you leave,” Camille said, tucking it away again. “After you’ve done as
I’ve asked.”

David felt the rope looped around his wrists loosen. He thought he heard Kertz give a low hoarse
snicker.

Was he really going to be forced to do this?

She held up the chalice. “Drink.”

* * * *

The mansion looked dark and shuttered, the lack of lights a bit daunting. Justin alighted first, then helped
Victoria and his mother out, his expression wiped clean of his usualjoie de vive by the story they’d told
him. “It doesn’t look like anyone is in residence, but I am assured this is the right address. Are you
certain they were headed forLondon ?”

Victorianodded, eyeing the building. It was now full dark, the smell of chimney smoke in the air, the
streets lapsing into little more traffic than the rattle of a passing carriage. “As sure as we can be. The
innkeeper saidMayfair , and this address qualifies.”

“I’ve heard rumors,” he admitted, staring at the house, his jaw set. “Snippets here and there not to
Camille Langtry’s credit. She dabbles in blackmail now and again, if the whispers are true, and there are
some uglier things, as well. I still find it hard to believe she is David’s mother.”

“Imaginehis disgust,”Victoria pointed out, remembering her husband’s shuttered face after Camille’s
visit. Maybe it was why he so studiously avoided any involvement with thehaute ton , for knowing he
would run into her face to face surely had to be something difficult to reconcile.

Lydiaasked quietly, “What other things, Justin? The time for hiding truths is past, though God alone
knows I am more guilty than anyone.”

He paused for a moment, and then said simply, “Witchcraft. Believe me, the bored young bloods find it
intriguing. She has more than her share of admirers. But if it’s true, she’s discreet. I know nothing solid,
just a sly comment here or there.”

Dear God, witchcraft?

“I wonder if David hasn’t heard those same rumors.”Victoria shivered as she remembered her unusually
deep sleep and the horrible dreams it produced, not to mention how ill she felt afterwards. Apparently
the first thing he’d done was race off to find Camille.

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What price had he paid to free her from that wicked trance?

She didn’t dare to think. If there was one thing she knew, it was David sincerely loved her. “Let’s see if
the house is as abandoned as it looks. Somehow, I doubt it.”

“I agree.” Justin escorted them both up the steps, and reached for the heavy knocker. It fell with a dull
echoing sound and they stood there, waiting, the silvery moonlight creating shadows everywhere.

Justin tried again, pounding with more vigor this time.

Finally it was answered by a nervous young footman in black livery. “My mistress is not receiving. If
you’d care to leave a card…”

Justin was nothing if not a bit impetuous and he simply shoved the servant aside, and held the door for
them. “If we’re wrong and David isn’t here, we’ll apologize and be on our way. But frankly, I’m too
worried to haggle with one of Miss Langtry’s hirelings.”

Normally,Victoria couldn’t imagine herself barging into anyone’s home, but in this case, she was more
than glad for Justin’s bold presence. She followed him inside,Lydia right behind her. It was a bit gloomy,
but she could see it was richly furnished, and the floor gleamed underfoot, giving an impression of wealth,
if it was on the ostentatious side.

Justin turned and demanded, “Does your mistress have a visitor? A man a little taller than myself? We’ve
reason to think the Earl of Dunreith is here and we need to see him at once.”

The footman stammered, “I…I’m not at liberty to divulge anything, sir.”

Despite his usual easy charm, Justin could look formidable upon occasion. He scowled. “Unless you
wish to be associated with anything unusual going on in this household, I suggest you speak up. I can
have the authorities here in the blink of an eye.”

“I don’t know what they do.” It was a hoarse protest and the young man crossed himself. “She pays
twice as much as anyone, and—”

“They?”Victoria interrupted sharply, the vague smell of a strange burning odor making her uneasy. It was
faint, but odd, and though not exactly unpleasant, very cloying.

“My mistress and her guests.”

That didn’t sound very reassuring.

Succinctly, Justin asked, “Where are they?”

“Sir—”

He took a step forward and grabbed the front of the young man’s coat, giving him a small persuasive
shake. “Where?”

“The third floor.” The words spilled out. “There’s a room…it’s kept locked, no one is allowed in it.
When she uses it, all the staff is sent out except for her assistant, Kertz, and someone to dismiss any

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visitors.”

“Let’s go.” Justin was already striding off.Victoria andLydia followed, practically running to keep up.
They met no one as they climbed the main staircase and the place was almost eerily silent. The way to the
third floor took some searching to locate, but they found a servant’s staircase eventually and went up,
Justin considerably in front.

The pungent smell that seemed to permeate the whole house got stronger andVictoria wrinkled her nose
but was still grateful because it made it easy to pinpoint their destination. They could also hear the low
sound of chanting or singing. It would start and then stop and she felt another quiver of dismay.

There was a door down a long narrow hallway covered in some sort of material and the room behind it
was the obvious source of both the smell and the sounds. It might have been locked at all other times, but
since it was in use, when Justin turned the handle, the door opened easily on well-oiled hinges. He was
tall and wide-shouldered enoughVictoria really couldn’t see the interior, especially when he stopped
abruptly in the doorway and muttered, “What the devil?”

The singing stopped abruptly as the occupants apparently noticed their arrival.Victoria heard a female
voice say sharply, “Kertz!”

Justin suddenly ducked as a beefy fist went ramming into the doorframe andLydia gave a cry of alarm. A
very large man with a ferocious expression on his pallid face seemed to materialize in front of them, but
she realized he must have been standing guard just inside. He said something as Justin lunged for him in
retaliation, and the two of them went reeling into the room, locked together. Someone screamed, a high
feminine sound, but with a clear view finally,Victoria barely registered it.

Her husband most definitelywas there.

David stood by a black oblong raised platform that she realized with a chill resembled an obscene sort
of altar. In his hand he held a cup of some kind which he lowered from his mouth and flung away as he
none too gently pushed aside a young woman—a very naked, lush young woman with fiery unbound hair
who was standing close to him—she saw with shock, and moved swiftly toward the struggling men. It
was not a large room and seemed to be filled with people, most of them females who scrambled to get
out of the way of the two men now rolling on the floor.

Lydiaclutched her arm. “Good God, child, what can we do?”

“I don’t know,” she admitted, stepping aside as two young women in long black robes fled past them
and down the hallway. Camille was conspicuous in a diaphanous scarlet garment, her lovely face twisted
into a glowering mask of rage, especially when a few moments later the huge man lay groaning on the
floor and both Justin and David, breathing hard, got to their feet.

Her husband wore only a silk dressing gown that at the moment gaped open to show a great deal of his
bare chest and it was not exactly an encouraging sign of whatever had happened—or hopefully not
happened if Camille’s expression was any indication. Her “guests” as the footman had called them were
now huddled together in one corner, less the two that had wisely fled, the red-haired young woman still
boldly naked.

David sawVictoria in the doorway and for a moment their gazes locked, and then he turned to face
Camille. “This is over, Madame.”

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“For now, perhaps.” She gave the half-conscious man on the floor a contemptuous look.

“Forever,” David said with no equivocation in his tone. “I’ve learned something quite valuable from this
entire experience and you will not catch me off guard again. I still have the book, and there are other
avenues of training, I’m sure. Now then, give me what you showed me earlier and I’ll be on my way.”

Camille stared at his outstretched hand and a sneer twisted her mouth. “I think not. We’ll see how
arrogant you are when you realize you will always be at my mercy.”

“I would not count on that if I were you.” The words were lethally soft.

Immediately, she gave a low gasp and took a step backwards. One hand went to her throat.

David didn’t move but simply stood there, watching, his eyes slightly narrowed.

Victoriahad no idea just what was happening but it appeared like the woman couldn’t breathe for her
hands clawed at her throat until she sagged limply against the monstrous altar.

It was the naked red-haired woman who finally ran forward, fished something from inside Camille’s
robe, and flung it at him. “Stop, my lord. Please.”

With not her first shock of the evening,Victoria realized the girl thoughtDavid was causing Camille’s
distress.

What an utterly ludicrous idea.

He bent and picked up what looked like a small cloth bag, gave the woman reclining on the floor a
glance, and said quietly, “Remember this moment.”

Chapter 11

It was a bit disconcerting to arrive at the townhouse in the middle of a fashionable neighborhood wearing
only a dressing gown, but it was certainly better than being trapped for three days with thirteen women
who had to be completely insane.

However, as mortifying as it was to alight from the family carriage in such a state of undress, it was the
least of his problems David thought in resignation as he went up the steps. The ride from Camille’s to

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theirLondon residence was thankfully a short one because the silence had been complete.

What should he address first? An explanation to his mother for why he’d been with Camille in the first
place? A discussion with his younger brother over the circumstances that caused him to conceal that the
title should belong to Justin, whether he wanted it or not? Or, perhaps, an abject apology to his beautiful
wife for a myriad of offenses, not least of which was she’d married a man who possessed yet another
dark secret.

Only it wasn’t a secret any longer. They’d all witnessed his first conscious flexing of his power, the
simple seduction spell aside. It meant they knew what he was, and he had no idea if they considered him
just as wicked as Camille with her nasty little tricks and infernal ceremonies.

Justin looked bland as they entered the foyer. “If you’d like to go up and change and then join us, I think
a stiff brandy is in order and I’ll pour a glass of wine for the ladies.”

David hesitated for a moment, trying to decipherVictoria ’s expression. He nodded. “I’ll be right down.”

She said nothing. He knew from the faint furrow between her brows she was trying to digest the events
of the evening and he certainly could not blame her. With a dismal feeling of resignation he went upstairs
to his usual suite of rooms, thankful he kept a wardrobe for the times he was inLondon by necessity for
the duties his seat in Parliament required. He slipped out of the robe and tossed it aside in disgust, and
then began to methodically dress, trying to ignore yet another uncomfortable complication.

He’d ingested that damned potion.

“David.”

His name was said so quietly, he froze, arrested in the act of picking up his boots. It was with almost
reluctance that he turned and saw thatVictoria had come into the room and stood just inside. She wore a
light blue day gown even though it was late evening, the simple style a compliment to her fresh beauty,
and her lustrous hair was very simply pulled into a twist at her nape. Slowly she turned and closed the
door.

“I wanted to talk to you alone first.”

“That’s reasonable, I suppose.” He tried to smile, but had a feeling he didn’t really pull it off. “You are
very much entitled to all sorts of explanations from me, but I am going to confess I have no real idea
where to start.”

Those eyes, such a vivid gorgeous blue, gazed at him and her soft lips compressed together. “Maybe,”
she said after a moment that hung between them in tense silence, “I can help you.”

It wasn’t what he expected to hear.

She went on, “Let me try anyway. If I start at the beginning, I am going to venture you’ve always
realized you were capable of what you did earlier, hence all that formidable self-control, even when we
were children. If you truly got angry, you might be able to hurt someone, so you just made sure you could
keep your emotions in check. Am I correct?”

It was very close to the truth and he inclined his head just a fraction, just watching her.

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“I am going to also wager the reason you never approached me in any guise except for that of a friend is
because of the circumstances of your birth and this burden you’ve been carrying around for so long.
Quite frankly, a lot of things make more sense to me now.”

He was glad they did, though he wasn’t sure what had happened between them was entirely clear to
him. “My intention was never to purposely deceive you. I value your regard more than anything I can
think of, Tori.”

“Why ever did you think you’d lose it?”

David made a helpless gesture. “What was I suppose to say? I love you, I’ve been in love with you most
of our lives, and yes, oh please, let me explain how I am the illegitimate offspring of an immoral woman
who dabbles in witchcraft and often blackmails her lovers. Let’s not forget apparently she passed on
some her dark talent to me, and for all I know, our children will be cursed with it also. I had a hard time
enough coming to terms with it, much less telling you, of all people.”

“Of all people, I am the one you can tell everything and anything, David.” Her soft mouth trembled.

It was just a small quiver but his attention riveted on the seductive curve of her lower lip and he felt a
devastating jolt of desire rock his body.

Damned potion.

“I tried to stay detached from you.” He could hear the bleak echo of those torn days in his voice.
“I…couldn’t. When I heard you were seriously considering Lord Firth, I admit I lost the battle and not
only did I plot to seduce you, I committed an unforgivable sin and sank every bit as low as my birth
mother and used her black gift.”

It cost him to say it, but he also knew she’d probably already realized what he’d done.

Victoriatook a step toward him and instead of looking disgusted and angry, she smiled with just a hint of
teasing mischief. “I can’t tell you what a relief it is to hear that. I was rather astonished I didn’t even give
a good imitation of resistance. At least I know now I am not a wanton at heart, but just under your spell.”

“No,” he said quickly, acutely aware she had moved closer, his cock throbbing in his breeches so
fiercely he could hardly concentrate on what he wanted to say. “The spell was of short duration, I
promise. It was supposed to wear off quickly.”

“That isn’t the spell I speak of, David.”

He stared down at her upturned face, not sure what to say.

“I love you. I am not sure how all the rest of it works, but that I know. Years ago, I wondered if my
feelings for you weren’t romantic rather than just friendship, but you did such an admirable job of acting
as if you were indifferent to anything remotely resembling that, I just dismissed it all.”

“I’m not denying the idiocy of my actions from the very beginning.” He flexed his hands, the urge to
touch her so strong he felt a little dizzy.

“You agreed to accompany your mother so she would free me, didn’t you?”

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Dear God, he could smell her tantalizing fragrance, the drift of roses so enticing he wanted to fall to his
knees. “Yes.”

“Did you know what she wanted?”

He had no idea how to answer the question and since his brain wasn’t exactly functioning properly, he
just told the truth. “No. It didn’t matter. I would have done anything to keep you safe.”

“I know.”

Then she did it. She touched him, just a feather brush of her fingertips across his jaw.

It was as if the world stopped, his vision blurred and he fought for control. “My love, please…”

* * * *

The impetuous way her usually reserved husband swept her into his arms would have startled her,
butVictoria was past the point of being surprised considering the events of the past few days. He crossed
the room in several long strides, deposited her without ceremony on the bed, and tore open his breeches.

He was very aroused, his cock high and glistening. She had one brief moment to wonder over the
turbulent look in his eyes before he swept up her skirts. Her gasp was muffled by his mouth as he kissed
her urgently with undisguised need, pushed her legs apart, and entered her.

Always he was a considerate lover, usually gentle and restrained, but this time he seemed almost wild
and it was over so quickly she was a little bemused as he stiffened and his cock flexed deep inside her.

When he opened his eyes, his mouth curved into a rueful smile. “Under normal circumstances, I would
be acutely embarrassed at this moment.”

“This has hardly been a typical day,”Victoria admitted with a small laugh.

“It’s a good thing I didn’t drink much of it, for apparently whatever it was in that blasted cup is a very
powerful aphrodisiac.” As he spoke he adjusted his position and began to take the pins from her hair,
sifting his fingers through the strands. “I suspect we aren’t going to join Justin and my mother for that
drink. Do you mind?”

“Making love instead? I think I can be convinced.” The hard feel of him still inside her was glorious and
her body had started to respond, her sex softening, her breasts growing taut.

“I might keep you up all night,” he warned her with a tantalizing male smile.

“We can sleep tomorrow.”

“Let me undress you, then.”

The second time was a more leisurely exploration in pleasure and carnal bliss, and David made sure she

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climaxed several times before he found satisfaction, but she found he was right, he was insatiable. Hours
later she lay in exhausted languor against him, idly running her fingers down his sweat-sheened chest. She
asked, “Would you have?”

There was no doubt he knew exactly what she meant. No one needed to tell her why he was in that
room with those young women, especially since the beautiful redhead had been naked and fawning all
over him. Since he’d been given a potion to accelerate his carnal desires, it made the objectives of his trip
toLondon even more clear.

Lounging back against the pillows, looking impossibly attractive and content, her husband lowered his
lashes a fraction. “Not willingly, Tori, surely you know that. Camille had some insane desire to pass on
her legacy through me. I didn’t realize what she was up to until I was already trapped. But, I suppose, if
your life was at stake, I would do anything. This sounds melodramatic, but I’d die for you.”

It was spoken in the understated way that was so typical for him, and he was wrong, it wasn’t
melodramatic at all, it was very moving because she knew full well he was completely sincere.

Victorialet a small laugh escape and snuggled closer. “You know, it’s rather ironic to realize you really
are rather dashing, David. If only Vanessa knew. Actually, I suppose I’m very lucky most people don’t
see it because otherwise you’d have been mobbed by smitten females and maybe we wouldn’t be
married.”

“Dashing?” He lifted his brows, his tawny eyes holding amusement. “How so?”

“When one thinks about it logically. I mean, really, most women would find secrets and magic and
intrigue to be very appealing.”

“Remind me to stop you from reading any more gothic novels, my love. Besides, I have it on very good
authority—that would be both my brothers, various assorted other relatives, and most ofEngland —that I
am impossibly boring.”

“Hmm.” Her mouth twitching,Victoria lifted her head to look at him. “Let’s see. You plotted to ruin me,
apparently cast some sort of spell over me so I couldn’t resist, lured me to a romantic spot to have your
wicked way—”

“Put that way, it sounds worse than it was,” he muttered defensively. “I’d never used that side of myself
before, I promise you. I was getting a bit desperate and it was one little incantation. One for love.”

She could not resist teasing him. “The truth is though, I was seduced by a wicked warlock.”

“Or by a very dull earl who didn’t have the courage to approach you directly.”

Victoriasettled back against him, feeling the strength of his lean body, the steady beat of his heart a
soothing rhythm. “I love them both. The staid earland the wicked warlock.”

Softly he said, “Then they are both very lucky indeed.”

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Epilogue

Rain trickled down the windows, the soporific sound giving a suitable muted background. David leaned
back in his chair and rubbed his jaw, not sure how he felt about the information.

“You say there are three?”

“Yes, my lord.” The investigator, a small wiry man of indeterminate age named Garrison, leaned forward
and tapped the report lying on his desk. “It’s all here. It took some time to ferret it out but I did as you
asked.”

“And where is she now?”

The man shrugged. “Not inLondon . Word has it she went abroad for her health.”

That Camille had decamped wasn’t a surprise exactly, but he somehow doubted he’d seen the last of
her. He thanked his informant, gave him a healthy bank draft, and brooded at the fire after Garrison
departed.

A tap on his study door interrupted his morose introspection, and he glanced up to see his gorgeous wife
peek inside.Victoria looked a bit wan, but much better than earlier. “Busy?” she asked.

“Never so much I can’t see you. How are you feeling?” He got to his feet as she came into the room.

“Better now.” She made a face. “I must admit emptying one’s stomach every morning is not the most
auspicious way to start the day.”

“I’m sorry.”

“No, you aren’t. You’re more than delighted about this pregnancy and act as if you accomplished it all
on your own.”

David laughed at her disgruntled tone. “I’ll strive to retch now and again if that will please you, but yes, I
am delighted.”

“Hmph.” She sat down in the chair his visitor just vacated and looked at him curiously. “Well?”

“I have three half-brothers. All of the aristocracy, all of their fathers powerful, wealthy men.”

“What are you going to do?” His beautiful wife gazed at him with poignant inquiry, as usual in tune with
his internal dilemma. “She’s dangerous, we know that.”

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God he adored her. Not just as a lover, but as always, as his best friend and he had made a vow to
always tell her the truth from now on. He said, “I don’t know.”

“They deserve fair warning.”

“Perhaps, but am I the one to give it?”

“You hired an investigator for a reason, David,” she pointed out with delicate, precise logic.

Bloody hell, she was right.

“I suppose I can contact them. It is going to be deuced awkward though.”

“You’ll figure out a diplomatic way.”Victoria yawned. “Good heavens, I just got up. How can I be
sleepy?”

He came around the desk and lifted her still slender body, taking the chair and settling her on his lap. “If
my child needs more rest, by all means a nap is in order.”

“Our child,” she corrected, her head nestled against his shoulder. “Arrogant man, we’re in this together.”

She was right, he thought as he watched her lacy lashes drift down, his throat tightening with emotion.

Because of love, they were one.

ONE FOR LOVE

Wicked Warlock Society 1

THE END

WWW.EMMAWILDES.COM

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

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Emma Wildes is the author of over twenty-five novels, a 2007 Eppie winner forBest Erotic Historical ,
a Lories winner in the novella category, and a number one bestselling author at Fictionwise.

Check out Emma’s latest books at

www.sirenpublishing.com/emmawildes

Visit Emma’s website at

www.emmawildes.com

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Siren Publishing, Inc.

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