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As a gentle wealth and property, he could never hope for a life with Julianne, yet that hat he had found hiether as only a ed to chase the shadow of loneliness fro relationship, knowing her brother would disapprove, knowing Seth would in fact see it as a betrayal, but he hadn’t possessed the strength

"May I coory?"

The question was simple--as his answer should be Yet the world stuck in his throat alongside his heart He sed Despite what the blood puth to utter, "No"

Her face fell "No?" she echoed, tightening her night rail about her and stepping back "I understand" She shook her head, her unbound ht you liked ht her wrist "No You don’t understand What I feel for you cannot be di It’s because of the way I feel for you that I’rowl of frustration, his fine thread of control snapping as he hauled her hard against hiry kiss

Her hands crept up and wrapped around his neck, the touch of her fingers silk against his nape

She h hi every reason he could not have this wo back several paces

"Go," he rasped "Leave and never coain"

Tears sheened her eyes "Why ain and he set her back gently

"Don’t be foolish, Julianne Nothing can cohter does not carry on with a valet"

"I don’t care--"

"Well, you should A wo his head "In any case, I care enough for the both of us and I’entled his voice Unable to resist one more touch, he ran his thumb over her kiss-bruised lips "It can never be, Julianne"

Her expression changed, the soft lines of her face hardening "We’ll see about that," she uttered before swinging around and striding down the corridor, one hand lightly ski the wall as she marched off with martial stiffness

We’ll see about that

Part of hi she would pursue her infatuation with him--pursue him But there was another part of hi, that fervently hoped she would persist and break down his resistance, that what she felt for him amounted to more than one overly sheltered wo and could conquer good sense and the strictures of Society

Then perhaps he could consider breaking every principle that governed him and spend his life with a wo in love

Chapter 21

Three nights and Seth had not co the occasional company of Mrs Lowery Seth occupied hie required a great deal of attention She had gleaned froiven the seaside manor much care over the years, more concerned with the Priory and the profits yielded from the labors of its many tenants Sound justification for Seth’s absence she supposed

And yet she spent her nights staring into the dark, waiting, listening, her body hungering for his touch, aching to hear his footsteps in the adjoining roo they would cross the threshold into her room

Jane read the pity in the housekeeper’s eyes and did her best to appear unbothered by Seth’s neglect She had been duly warned A practical arrangement, he had said She should not harbor expectations for anything else Yet she could not help herself Longing had wormed its way into her heart

Her days fell into a pattern Nausea plagued her in theher weak and shaken as a newborn foal On those s, she told herself it was best that Seth left her alone It would only embarrass her for hih in the afternoons to take lunch Alone in the dining roo in the corner, she picked at herloneliness and disappoint full well the sort of er to loneliness, no stranger to an ee bed

Walks on the beach were her one solace She strolled up and down the stretch of pale sand, her pace brisk, as if she could leave herself and the hollowness inside her chest behind with each step Eventually, she had to stop and return to the house to prepare herself for dinner Tiresome affairs where Seth sat cold and distant across fro had happened since the day they arrived A change had coible as the salt in the sea air that tickled her tongue He spoke little… looked at her even less Theas stone

Sitting at her dressing table after another grim dinner, Jane brushed her hair until it crackled and shone in the la door She kneould not be locked

She knew because she had tested it earlier in the day, when there had been no risk of running into Seth Curious, she had investigated his cha his dressing robe to her nose for a lingering s fro door Her heart fluttered like a wild bird in her chest as she eyed the thin line of light glowing beneath

He had wanted her once Perhaps he could again

Ignoring the nagging little voice that whispered through her ed a breath into her lungs and rapped twice

At his muffled command, she squared her shoulders and swept inside the roo as his lean form rose from the bed in one motion

Muscles danced beneath the fine lawn of his half-opened shirt like wind on water He le cat Swift and purposeful

Her mouth dried, suddenly uncertain now that she stood before hiainst her highly sensitive nerves At her silence, he pressed, "Is there so you wanted?"

Was it not evident? She stood in thelike the sea wind against the shutter Heat swept up her face "I thought you ed Blast it She made herself sound like a handkerchief to be used and discarded

"I--I ht desirein the air like s his ar her, fro beneath the heown His jaw hardened, the uneven line of his scar stark as ever against his face, leaving no doubt that he understood herperfectly