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"He appears to be, yes."
"Then why won't you escort me?"
/> "Imp, we're talking about your brother. A man who protects his family like a wild animal protecting his pack. All I did was mention I'd seen you at a party or two, and he coiled to strike. Imagine his reaction if I appeared at your side for a family visit."
Color suffused Sammy's cheeks. "What did he say?"
"Oh, a few pointed comments about my reputation ... and a few others about your innocence. He subtly—but emphatically—warned me to stay away from you."
"Did you tell him that we—"
"I told him nothing."
Sammy sagged with relief. "Then there's no reason why you can't accompany me to Allonshire."
"There's every reason why I can't accompany you to Allonshire, sweet." Rem trailed his fingers up the side of Sammy's neck, feeling her inadvertent shiver. "Samantha, I want you. Every nerve ending in my body is screaming to be inside you. And you want me. It's in your eyes, your touch, the intimacy of your gestures. Drake is one of the most astute men I've ever met. Do you honestly believe we could hide this"—Rem brushed his lips slowly, heatedly across hers, capturing her soft sigh with his mouth—"from him?"
Anxiety clouded Sammy's face, another worrisome thought intruding. "Rem, you're not changing your mind? I mean, you haven't decided not to ..." She blushed.
Brushing wisps of sable silk from Sammy's nape, Rem smiled at her enchanting honesty. "I couldn't walk away from you if my very life depended on it," he replied huskily. "Not for your brother. Not for anyone. Does that satisfactorily answer your question?"
"Yes." Relief surged through her.
"However," Rem rubbed his thumb across her moist lower lip, "that doesn't mean I should flaunt my desire for you in Drake's face. I admire the man. And he and I are working together, yes. But working with me is one thing. Approving of my involvement with his little sister is quite another."
"I'm a grown woman," Sammy defended hotly.
Rem's smile made her bones melt. "Yes, imp, I know." He buried his lips in hers for another long, drugging kiss. "God, how I know."
"Very well," Sammy acquiesced, languorous and dreamy. "I'll make arrangements to visit Allonshire myself, Smitty will escort me first thing tomorrow morning... if I can restrain him that long. He'll be nearly as eager to hold the new baby as her father is."
"Be back by nightfall," Rem murmured, kissing the fragrant hollow behind her ear.
"Nightfall?" Sammy wondered if her legs might give out.
"Um-hum. Be dressed by nine. My carriage and I will arrive then. There are a host of balls and soirees we'll be attending." Rem nuzzled her neck, his breath hot, explicit. "And, imp? Forget what I said about keeping me fashionably waiting. This is one night I want you to be ready for me. Very ready for me."
Samantha's eyes slid shut, liquid heat coursing through her in wide rivers of trembling need. "Tomorrow?"
"Yes."
"Rem ... how will you manage ... ?"
"Trust me."
"I do."
"Good." Ever so slowly he released her, bringing her fingers to his lips. "I suggest you retire early, my lady. I don't expect you'll be getting much sleep tomorrow night."
14
White's was bustling with activity—the perfect release for Rem's restless energy. He strolled into the card room, thinking how beautiful Samantha had looked when he'd left her, flushed and impatient, eager to retire early so the morning would arrive that much sooner. The morning ... together with her visit to Allonshire ... and the dark magic of the night to follow.
Tomorrow at this time Samantha would be his.
Just the thought of her in his bed, in his arms, made Rem's entire body harden, throb with an intensity that was as foreign to him as the tenderness that accompanied it. He wanted their lovemaking to be exquisite, perfect, everything Samantha had envisioned it to be. He wanted to join his body to hers, to thereby fulfill all her fantasies, make her every dream a reality.
He wanted to be the hero she insisted he was.
