Captivated

'Another note, master. From Louisa, who give it to me.'

Shit… He bolted out of bed and grabbed for his clothes.

'Maybe she find a way to write to him in secret.'

He didn't choose to comment on that. 'Where's the note?'

'I have it here.' She gave him the envelope, but he waited until she'd left the room to open it.

He didn't want to open it.

Who in his house had betrayed him?

He picked up the envelope and removed the note.

My dearest, darling Pet,

Your words do not console me. I must see you. I must hear from your own beautiful lips that you have willingly chosen this course, and you mean to honor your vows to a man who isn't worthy to kiss your feet.

Please, please, please, I beg youcome to me tonight; I will await you in the arbor by the light of the moon. No one will know. She who has delivered this is devoutly to be trusted.

If you come to me tonight, if you tell me face-to-face with your own sweet mouth that we must part, I swear on my life I will bother you no more.

But give me the chance to see you, to hear your lovely voice, to look at you one last time, to claim one last meaningful kiss if that is truly your final, irrevocable decision.

Your beloved, Gerard

He slammed his fist against the wall.

Sothe bastard wants to see her now… It's not enough that he makes love to her with his hot- blooded words. It's not enough that he covets another man's wife. No, he must ask for an audience with her as well

So be it. It is in mypower to grant his fondest desire.

And I will finally put an end to his obsession…

chapter 8

He couldn't help himself. He wanted her. In spite of common sense, cool head, male determination, and his fury over her feelings for Gerard, Court wanted her.

And she wasn't so sure about her feelings for Gerard now. Not after these explosively erotic couplings with him.

What was happening to her?

She rolled over in her bed and stared at the morning sun pouring in through the window. The window was open now. The bed had been covered with a crisp cotton sheet. There were curtains on the windows suddenly.

Changes that she hadn't even perceivedor expected. Changes in herself, changes in him. Changes in her wants, her needs, her desires. Her power.

She wanted Court.He had changed her, by teaching her to understand the depths of her power.

Thank God she hadn't answered Gerard's letter. What would she have said to him? Whatcould she say after yesterday's shamelessly carnal mating with Court?

Her body twinged. Already she wanted more, she was ready for more. And to think, this ravenous electric joining with Court would now be the tenor of her life with him.

She shivered with anticipation.How could she have known?

She stretched languidly, reveling in the freedom and safety of her naked body. If he came right now, this minute, she would spread her legs for him willingly.

She drew a deep hissing breath.Let him come. Now.

She reached across the bed for the veiling that had shrouded her head and draped it across her breasts. Her nipples protruded, erotic and mesmerizing against the black veil.

And bare. She bolted upright. The golden loops! They were goneoh, Lord… they were gone!

Noooo… She scrambled around on the bed frantically.Not on the bed.

But had she even been wearing them when she came upstairs last night?Oh, God, I can't remember…

She'd worn them last night. Yes… she remembered exactly the feel of them on her nipples as she'd done her erotic little dance to entice him.

So then… when? That thrilling moment when he had picked her up? The unbelievably disappointing moment when he set her down?

She got down on the floor and crawled around. Nothing, nothing, nothing. Not even dust, a testament to Evie's housekeeping skills.

… where?… Sheneeded those loops, she loved them…

… waitthere by the door…

… only one

She picked it up and held it to the light. It was so light, so thin, malleable… malleable

Could be squeezed and tightened…

The way her body was squeezing and tightening at the thought of it.

What an unbelievably voluptuous little thing.

And even more erotic just adorning one nipple.

She stared at herself in the mirror, cupping the one breast, trying to see whathe saw, to imagine the carnal impulsehe felt looking at her.

The bedroom door opened behind her.

Oh, yesmy fantasy

But it wasn't fantasy: he was there, bare-chested, his trousers just barely hanging on his hips, the bulge of his sex contained… for the moment.

She held her breath as he cat-footed his way behind her, close, hot, a breath away, his arm coming around her, his fingers dangling the missing golden loop.

She dropped her hand. She couldn't breathe. She felt him taking her hands and loosely binding them. She didn't care.

She arched her back against him as he began caressing her bare nipple. As he dropped the golden loop over the hard point and then gently squeezed.

A thousand darts of pleasure assaulted her body, enhanced by her sense of being held captive. She caved against him as his fingers kept up the inexorable pressure and he took the other nipple in his hand.

Both now, both tender, hard points compressed by his fingers until she was squirming for mercy. Her buttocks writhed against the hard ridge of his penis, as if she were both trying to elude his relentless touch and begging for more.

He wouldn't let her go; her nipples were so hard, so pliable, so lusciously erotic, two voluptuous pleasure points that were his to do with as he desired. His to adorn, to play with, to stroke, to squeeze, to drive her to the explosive edge of frenzy.

Never to stop; always his: his wife, his pleasure, his power, as he kept up a consistent erotic pressure on her nipples.

She had to get away. She would crack wide open if he didn't let her go. She kept backing against his hips, pressing and seeking the throbbing rock-hard bulge of him, wanting to settle herself against it and crash to the shore.

She was breathless with the sensation of it. It was unspeakable, indescribable, and heightened by the reality of the image of her watching him, watching the unrelenting press of his fingers on her nipples, watching her body's voluptuous undulations, and the way she arched herself forward and mutely begged for more.