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"Would you prefer me to be coy?"
"I prefer you just as you are."
"Even if I'm not like the women at Annie's?" The minute the words were out, Sammy wanted to kick herself.
Fiercely, Rem seized her shoulders. "What do you know about Annie's?"
"Cynthia told me," she managed, chilled by the fury in his eyes.
"So you know where your lady's maid originated."
"She's not like them. She's . . . different."
"Samantha—"
"Please don't patronize me, Remington. She is different. As for Annie's, I knew what a brothel was long before I met Cynthia. One needn't frequent them to know they exist. What I don't understand is, why do you frequent them? With scores of women like—what was that stunning marchioness's name—Clarissa . . . ? With an abundance of Clarissas anxious to sample your charms, why do you visit Annie's? Is it the feeling of anonymity that appeals to you? Is it the sense of detachment? Or is it the variety? I assume you grew used to diversity when you served in the Royal Navy."
Abruptly, Rem's anger transformed to amazement. "I can't believe we're standing here discussing—"
"Why not? I want to understand what draws you to a woman. Is it experience? Then why do you object to my gaining some?"
"Because you're not like Annie's girls. Nor like the women I met at sea."
"If I became like them, then would you want me?"
Rem knocked their drinks to the ground and caught Sammy's face between his hands. "Is that what this is all about? You don't think I want you?"
"Do you?"
"So much that it terrifies me."
Sammy stepped closer. "Show me."
"I'm not sure I'll be able to stop."
"Oh, Rem ..." With a dreamy sigh, she leaned against him, twined her arms about his neck. "Don't you know by now that I don't want you to stop?"
Restraint snapped.
Days of unsatisfied need converged in Rem's gut, pounding through his loins and obscuring his judgment ... if he ever had any where Samantha was concerned. His hands left her face to clamp her waist, dragging her closer, until there was nothing between them but the hindering layers of their clothing. Slowly, maddeningly, he lowered his head, covered her trembling mouth with his, parting her lips to accept the intimate invasion of his tongue. Her response was instant and ardent. She whimpered softly, tightening her hold about his neck and melding their tongues in an innocently seductive act that nearly brought Rem to his knees.
Somewhere in the distance a bell sounded, a silvery echo through the garden. On its heels, a bright cascade of multicolored light infused the sky with a magical glow.
"The fireworks are beginning," Rem murmured, tangling his fingers in the glorious sable waves of Sammy's hair.
"Really? I thought they'd already begun." With a siren's smile, she traced his lower lip with the tip of her tongue.
"Christ, Samantha . . ." he muttered, "I'm only human. Do you have any idea what you do to me?" He didn't wait for her answer. She never intended to give one.
Burning with a fire all its own, their kiss exploded into passion. Preliminaries cast aside, Rem possessed Samantha fully, crushed her in his arms until neither of them could speak. He absorbed her shiver, tasted as well as felt the innocent awakening of her body. Her breasts swelled against his chest, her nipples hardening through the confines of her gown. Gliding his hands down her back, he cupped her bottom, lifted her against him purposefully, determined that she should experience the full extent of his desire. Half expecting her to recoil with horror, Rem was stunned when Sammy tightened her embrace, pressed her body closer to his ... and severed yet another filament of his control.
"Samantha ..." Her name was a harsh rasp from deep in his chest, his lips leaving hers to burn urgent kisses on her cheeks, her neck, the graceful column of her throat. The scent of flowers was all around them, fragrant and sweet— as sweet as his mouth on her skin, the seductive words that spilled from his soul, unchecked and uncensored. "I want you... you can't know how much. In my bed, naked, pleading for me to make you whole. I want you under me, wrapped around me, crying out my name again and again." He moved his hips seductively against hers. "Not want you? Feel me, Samantha, and know how wrong you are." Sammy's eyes slid shut, her entire being concentrated beneath her throbbing senses. She arched her back, silently begging for more, wanting to drown in the hypnotic spell Rem was weaving.
With shaking hands, Rem eased her deeper into the shadows, unfastening the tiny row of buttons down the back of her gown. Discretion be damned, principles be damned, missions be damned. Nothing mattered but having this woman. Now. Now.
Desire pounding through him in a relentless surge, Rem tugged Samantha's gown and chemise down to her waist, aroused nearly beyond bearing by her eager attempts at assistance. He raised his head, the faint moon glow enough to reveal the incomparable treasures he'd just bared for the first time.
Rem's breath actually lodged in his throat, tenderness momentarily taming passion. Mesmerized, he stared down at her breasts, moved by an emotion he didn't quite understand, one that unfurled like warm mists of smoke in his chest. She was beautiful, so beautiful, and so very trusting, waiting for him to touch her, offering him anything he wanted.
