Captivated

them and undulated her body and grasped at his penis and whimpered in the back of her throat as her body convulsed and pure molten pleasure coursed through her veins and puddled between her legs and then detonated in the writhing heat of her surrender.

'No…' she whispered, her fingers flexing against the inflexible length and hardness of him, but it was too late. Too late for her. Too late for him.

He spumed like a geyser beneath his trousers, his manhood so overheated he thought he would die from the pleasure.

It took momentsit felt like hoursto regain some semblance of sanity, and when he finally did, he gently pulled the satin tie from her wrists where she still grasped him, and slowly, tentatively, he wrapped himself around her.

She held herself stiffly away, still as dazzled and bewildered as he. He was sure of it. It was time to gentle the fawn. He had all the time in the world to wait; and soon, slowly, reluctantly, she settled back into his heat.

It was late afternoon. He had sent Drue upstairs for a long, luxurious bath, and he had had Evie unlock the collar, and he had brushed his lips against her irritated skin.

He liked the fact she had shuddered at his touch. There was nothing about her that didn't arouse him, and now that she had capitulated to him, he was very willing to accede to her demands. A bath. A maid to wield a fan in the suffocating heat. The removal of the collar.

The knowledge in her eyes that he would possess her soon.

She could not, in the throes of that convulsive climax, have been thinking of anyone else buthim.

She made his blood run hot. She made him boil. She made him hard just at the thought of her.

He was hard for her now, his penis restless, his blood throbbing with the primitive need to claim her in the most elemental way.

Lord Almighty… he couldn't keep his mind off her…he never got to suck her nipples…

Tonight…

The word thrummed through his blood. No more waiting. No more wanting and aching. He was tired of waiting for what was his; tired of fighting his body, tired of the battle for hers.

Tonight…

His penis spurted at the thought; ruthlessly, he got it under control.

A man didn't spend his seed profligately when he had a woman like Drue to service him. He planned to keep her pinned to the bed for a week, a month, a year, naked and begging for his sex between her legs.

Tonight…

He liked the fact that there was a factor of time in his decision to finally give her what she wanted. Always, the anticipation made the thought of the act seem even more deeply erotic.

They had so much time…

And he would take his time once penetration was complete. And he even looked forward to that moment, when all barriers between them ceased to exist and she could encompass all of him, tight and to the hilt.

He made a hissing sound as he imagined it. His manhood ached for it, tellingly, even now.

He shuddered at the force of his craving for it.

Noman should ever be that whipsawed by any woman…

Well, damn, he wasn't in love with her; he just wanted her, naked and writhing beneath his body…

' Master Court '

…and screaming for more

' Master Court '

Damned insistent voice jolting him out of his fantasies.

'What is it, Evie?'

'I got something here you want to see.'

'Come in then,' he said gruffly, shifting in his chair. 'What is it?'

She handed him an envelope. 'A man done give that to Louisa, and she come to me.'

'I see.' He turned it over in his fingers. No identifying marks. No address. 'And who was Louisa to give it to?'

'The mistress.'

The words fell like stones. 'Thank you, Evie. You can go.'

He waited until she had exited the room. And waited still longer, turning the missive over and over, as if the blankness of it would tell him something and he wouldn't have to open the envelope at all.

Three days… not even a week before the betrayals set inhe was a fool, and sheoh, she…

Slowly, he got up and went into his office and closed the door. Slowly, so as not to damage the flap, he slit open the envelope and took out the letter, even knowing what it probably contained.

He had to know. Even though he knew.

My dearest, darling Pet,

I can't stand it anymore. Three days knowing you have been in the arms of that monster and I'm half crazed with anger and jealousy. There must be a way. I cannot bear that he should have you. I cannot bear that I can't.

Remember the things we said to each other? The promises we made? There are other places, other possibilities. You don't have to stay with him. You can come to me. Your father will not suffer, I promise. I swear it. If that is the only reason you consented to this abomination of a marriage, you must believe me. Summerville can never harm your father. On my life I swear it.

Leave him. Marry me, as we had planned from the beginning. Don't stay a moment longer in that hell house. Tell me I may still hope to possess you, my darling love. Tell me you haven't forgotten everything we did, everything we were to each other.

She who delivers this letter to you has promised to be our go-between. Please, please, please answer my prayers, give me hope. Send your lover the one response that will open the gates of heavenfor him and for you.

Your beloved, Gerard

He read it slowly; he read it again. Three phrases jumped out:everything we did, everything we were to each other… Send your lover…

He felt like smashing something. To his credit, he thought, he did nothing. He just sat there, still as a statue, contemplating the cramped writing on the page.

…everything we did…

… everything we were to each other…

… send your lover…

The lying bastard, he thought violently; the evidence was irrefutable that Lenoir had never been her lover. He felt murderous. Uncontrollable. He wanted to teach the son of a bitch a lesson, to keep his hands, his filthy words, away from hiswife.

But he couldn't get aroundeverything they did… Hehad to know. And he didn't want to know. He wanted to kill Lenoir so that one memory ofeverything they did would be obliterated forever.

And he could only think of one sure way to efface it from hers: he was going to pound her body to oblivion and back so that the one thing, the only thing she would remember inside her washim.

He would never let her go, never; what was his belonged tohim, forever. But he had to know.

So now, yes, he would take her so she would never forget to whom she belonged, and because of this betrayal, he would test her.

But he didn't know what he would do if he didn't win.