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Soht Sebastian sat up and rubbed his eyes, forcing himself awake There ork to be done He needed to pay a visit to Hal He needed to see the expression on Hal’s face when he realized Sebastian hadn’t perished in the eance

The cold water in the basin helped, and he splashed it over his head, then proceeded to dry hiorously with the towel Of course he was tired, he was still recovering from the mire, but he couldn’t afford to stop now that he ell and truly on the trail of his prey

Sebastian’s own clothing had been placed at his bedside, cleaned and pressed by h the door, onto the narrow landing, aware of the stillness around him The Jardines had put him at the farthest end of the house, far away from the family, and that amused him Mr Thorne was not respectable Did they fear he would creep into Francesca’s bedchaht and ravish her?

For a es he’d conjured Francesca, all war at him with her deliciously sensualthere…Would she be naked? Reluctantly he abandoned that idea She’d be in her nightdress, and he’d undo the tiny buttons one by one, opening it over her breasts and belly and thighs, and bending his head to kiss every inch of her

He groaned, then instantly froze, glancing around the landing This was madness! He must stop it ioing to survive the encounter

The oil lamp on the hall table flickered in the draft, as he made his way down the stairs He turned left He’d made a quick survey of the layout of the house before he went to bed, and now he moved without hesitation to the back door and reached to draw the bolt

His hand stilled The bolt was already drawn For a ave a soft, relieved laugh He was deep in the countryside here, where doors were rarely locked After all, Sebastian h to be abroad at this tih, closing it noiselessly behind him

Outside the wind had dropped and the rain had ceased, the storht He looked up, and acres of stars shone down on hih to traverse theinto any rooms, he had found, were always open to a bit of bribery—then he could ride to the village and see Hal

Sebastiana circuitous route via the lawn so that his boots didn’t crunch on the gravel path Ahead of his appeared dark and deserted, and he was thinking that perhaps he wouldn’t need to bribe anyone after all, when he felt a prickling at his back

So him

Sebastian turned slowly, already plastering a false s out here so late

Francesca Greentree stood a little way off, her curling hair like a dark halo in the starlight, and her eyes pools of shadow

“Mr Thorne?” she said, as startled as he “Whatever are you doing?”

He strolled toward her—her voice had been loud and he didn’t want to wake anyone “What aht ask the saht countryfolk went to bed with the sun”

She’d been watching hiht turn and run, but his words fired up her temper, as he knew they would “Some of us countryfolk have the sta on Wolf and his family” Her voice softened “He and his mate have four puppies”