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And so he kissed her He couldn’t help it

No, he couldn’t stop it His hand was on her arm, and he could feel her skin, feel the soft warmth of it, and then when he looked down, her face was tilted toward his, and her eyes, deep and blue but so co up at him, and in truth there was no way - si in thatelse would have been a tragedy

There was an art to kissing - he’d long known that, and he’d been told he was an expert But this kiss, with this woman - the one time it should have been art, it was all breathless nerves, because never in his life had he wanted soh

And never had he wanted quite so ht

He couldn’t scare her He had to please her He wanted her to want him, and he wanted her to want to know hi to him, to need him, to whisper in his ear that he was her hero and she’d never want to so much as breathe the air near another man

He wanted to taste her He wanted to devour her He wanted to drink in whatever it was that made her her, and see if it would transforht to be In that moment she was his salvation

And his te in between

"Grace," he whispered, his voice brushing across her lips "Grace," he said again, because he loved saying it

Shesound that told hi he wanted to know

He kissed her softly Thoroughly His lips and tongue found every corner of her soul, and then he wanted ain, his voice hoarser now His hands slid around to her back, pressing her against him so he could feel her body as a part of the kiss She was not corseted under her gown, and every lush curve became known to him, every warh He wanted the taste, the smell, the touch

The kiss was seduction

And he was the one being seduced

"Grace," he said again, and this time she whispered -

"Jack"

It was his undoing The sound of his nah hient and he pressed her one hard against her

He kissed her cheek, her ear, her neck,down to the hollow of her collarbone One of his handsher breast up until the upper curve was so close to his lips, so tantalizingly -

"No"

It waselse, but still, she pushed him away

He stared at her, his breath rushed and heavy Her eyes were dazed, and her lips looked wet and well-kissed His body was thru with need, and his eyes slid down to her belly, as if he could soh the folds of her dress, down, down to the V where her legsjust then - it tripled Dear God, he hurt with it

With a shuddering groan, he tore his gaze back up to her face "Miss Eversleigh," he said, since the oing to apologize Not for soood

"Mr Audley," she replied, touching her lips

And he realized, in a single blindinghe saw on her face, every stunned blink of her eyes - he felt it, too

But no, that was impossible He’d just met her, and beyond that, he did not do love A, overabundance of lust that was so often confused with love

He loved women, of course He liked the men He loved the way they moved, and he loved the sounds theytheir disapproval He loved how each one smelled different, and how eachabout theether I am woman, the air around them seemed to say I am most definitely not you

And thank heavens for that

But he had never loved a woman And he did not have any inclination to do so Attachiven to all sorts of unpleasantries He preferred to move from affaire to affaire It fit his life - and his soul - much better

He smiled Just a little one Exactly the sort one would expect from a man like him at a time like this

Perhaps with a little extra tilt in one corner Just enough to lend some it to his tone when he said,

"You stepped into my room"

She nodded, but the motion was so slow he couldn’t be sure she even realized she was doing it When she spoke, there was a certain dazedness to it, as if perhaps she was talking to herself "I won’t do it again"

Now, that would be a tragedy "I wish you would," he said, offering her his uess his intentions, took her hand and raised it to his lips "It was certainly," he rave"

He did not let go of her fingers as he added, "I verywith you"

It was true He had always liked the smart women best

"As did I," she answered, and then she gave her hand a gentle tug, forcing him to relinquish his hold She took a few steps toward the door, then paused, turning partway around as she said, "The collection here rivals any of the greatit with you"

"We shall begin in the gallery"

He smiled She was clever But just before she reached the door, he called out, "Are there nudes?"

She froze

"I ondering," he said innocently

"There are," she replied, but she did not turn around He longed to see the color of her cheeks

Verallery?" he asked, because surely it would be inore his query He wanted to see her face One last tiallery, no," she said, and she did turn then Just enough so he could see the sparkle in her eyes "It is a portrait gallery"

"I see" He rave "No nudes, then, please I confess to a lack of desire to see Great-Grandfather Cavendish au naturel"

Her lips pressed together, and he kneith humor, not disapproval He wondered just what it would take to nudge her further, to dislodge the laughter that was surely bubbling at the base of her throat

"Or, good heavens," he er"

She sputtered at that

He brought a hand to his forehead "My eyes," he moaned "My eyes"

And then, bloody hell, he h it waselse But he had his hand over his eyes

"Good night, Mr Audley"

He returned his hand to its proper place at his side "Good night, Miss Eversleigh" And then - and he would have sworn he’d been prepared to allow her to depart - he heard himself call out, "Will I see you at breakfast?"

She paused, her hand on the outer doorknob "I expect so, if you are an early riser"

He absolutely was not

"Absolutely I aer’s favorite meal," she explained

"Not the chocolate and the newspaper?" He wondered if he re she’d said that day

Quite possibly

She shook her head "That is at six Breakfast is laid at seven"

"In the breakfast room?"

"You knohere it is, then?"

"Haven’t a clue," he admitted "But it seemed a likely choice Will you meet me here, to escort htly with amusement (Or exasperation? He couldn’t be sure), "but I will arrange to have sohed "It won’t be the same"

"I should hope not," she said, slowly shutting the door between theh the wood, he heard, "I plan to send a foothed at that He loved a woman with a sense of hu, Grace entered the dowager’s bedroo the heavy door open for the maid who had followed her with the tray froer ake, which was no great surprise She aloke early, whether the sues, or the winter gloo Grace, on the other hand, would have gladly slept until noon if per with her drapes open since her arrival at Belgrave - the better to let the sunlight batter her eyelids open every

It didn’t work very well, nor did the chi clock she’d installed upon her bedside table years earlier

She thought she would have adapted to the dowager’s schedule by this point, but apparently her inner timepiece was her one rebellion - the last little bit of her that refused to believe that she was, and forever would be, coer Duchess of Wyndha she’d befriended the househt have Grace to start her day, but Grace had theinto her rooh"

How strange about Mr Audley She would never have pegged hirace," Grace said,to the s She pulled open the heavy velvet curtains It was overcast, with a light ood effort Perhaps the clouds would burn off by afternoon

The dowager sat up straight against her pillows, queenly in her elaborately styled, domed canopy bed

She was nearly done with her series of ers, followed by a pointing of the toes, finishing with a twisting of her neck to the left and right She never stretched it side to side, Grace had noticed "My chocolate," she said tersely

"Right here, ma’am" Grace moved to the desk, where theoff "Be careful, er waited while Grace arranged the tray on her lap, then smoothed out the newspaper It was only two days old (three was standard in this region) and had been neatly ironed by the butler

"My reading glasses"

They were already in Grace’s hand

The dowager perched theerly sip of her chocolate as she perused the paper Grace sat in the straight-back chair by the desk It was not thein theas she was the rest of the day, and would surely have her hopping up and down and across the room to her bed But Grace was not perer co to read over her shoulder

Which was true, of course Grace now had the newspaper transferred to her rooh with it It was still only two and a half days old when she read it, which elve hours better than anyone else in the district

It was strange, really, the things that made one feel superior

"Hmmm"

Grace tilted her head but did not inquire If she inquired, the dowager would never tell

"There was a fire at Howath Hall," the dowager said

Grace was not certain where that was "I do hope no one was injured"

The dowager read a few more lines, then answered, "Just a foot perished Oh my, that is a shame"

Grace did not co conversations until she’d had her own cup of chocolate, which she was generally not able to do until breakfast at seven

Her stos as she did, she’d come to adore breakfast fare If they could only serve kippers and eggs for supper each evening, she’d have been in heaven

She glanced at the clock Only fifty-five more minutes She wondered if Mr Audley ake

Probably Morning people never aith only ten minutes to spare before breakfast

She wondered what he looked like, all sleepy and ruh?" the dowager sharply inquired

Grace blinked "Wrong, ma’am?"

"You chirped" She said this with considerable distaste, as if handling so with a particularly foul smell

"I’ down at her hands folded in her lap She could feel her cheeks groarht and with the dowager’s diminished vision, her blush would be clearly visible

Really, she should not be i Mr Audley, and especially not in any state of dishabille Heaven only knehat sorts of inappropriate sounds she would make the next time

But he was handsome Even when all she’d seen of him was the lower half of his face and his mask, that much had been clear His lips were the sort that always held a touch of humor She wondered if he even kne to frown And his eyesWell, she hadn’t been able to see those that first night, and that was al quite so eer’s erined to remember, she’d risked her life (in theory, at least) to keep safe