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He took Star’s hand and felt a rush of heat infuse his blood. Every single time he touched her he was filled with wanting. When he looked into her dark eyes, he was filled with longing. What was that? Lust? For an innocent? That was not his style. He did not play with innocents. There was no need for that, but Star moved him beyond his normal needs.
Something about her made his internal temperature blaze. Something about everything she said, everything she did, made his mind feel fuzzy. He found himself staring at her when she walked, when she laughed and talked. He discovered that he desired more of her, not only sexually, but he simply wanted to be in her company.
This was not good.
Jules wanted her as well—or thought he did. Jules believed he might be in love with her. Jules was one of his dearest friends. He couldn’t take her from Jules even if she wasn’t right for his friend. He simply couldn’t…
Yet, he found that all he wanted to do was take her into his arms and kiss her, hold her, touch her in the most inappropriate way!
Hell! Bloody Hell! His cock was hard, so damn hard and…
He should just bid her goodnight.
What was driving him to get any deeper involved? He shouldn’t and yet, he found it impossible to leave.
“I don’t know how I can thank you for all your help this night,” Star said as they reached the central hall at the bottom of the stairs. She leaned into him, touched his vest and the pressure of her hand even through his waistcoat sent shivers through him.
It was all he could do to stop himself from taking her into his arms.
Drawn to her in more ways than he had ever thought possible. Her nearness made his manhood throb in his breeches and negate all logic. If she pressed in any closer, he might lose control, he might pull her in and hold her against that hardness…holy hell, what was wrong with him? He couldn’t do such a thing.
He said on a low husky note, “I could do with a glass of brandy before I leave. That will be all the thanks needed.” Damnation—certes! Brandy? That wouldn’t maintain his control. What was he doing? He hadn’t meant to ask for brandy when he opened his mouth. No, he had meant to simply bid her good-night.
She smiled, evidently pleased, turned and led him toward the library. He watched her enter the darkened room and followed thinking he should ru
n. Was he mad? He had to get away. This woman, who he had thought he was not even seriously attracted to when they first met, actually had him burning with a desire that was threatening to obliterate any good sense he had left in his brain. Back away from her now, he told himself and moved forward.
He heard Star chattering nervously to him about something inconsequential as she lit the candles on the sideboard table. She rubbed her arms and he said, “You are cold. I will light the fire.” Light the fire? He asked himself. What the deuce is wrong with you? You aren’t staying. She should go up to her room…to her bed. Bed? The thought of her naked in her bed nearly undid him. He felt breathless all at once.
He grabbed some kindling and set it in place in the grate as he worked to get the fire started, vigorously attempting to think of anything other than her lovely full breasts naked and ready to be…
Bloody hell. You are doing it again. Stop. He demanded of himself. He usually knew what he was doing. He usually knew how to escape when needed, but now all he wanted and needed was Star in his arms. He wanted to taste her. He wanted to put his hands all over her body and caress her. He wanted to pleasure her and watch that pleasure express itself on her face.
She came up to him and he unbent from the fire to take the glass she handed him. He stared at her over the glass as he sipped.
He was in control. His thoughts were wayward, but he was in control, he told himself. Damn, but hadn’t he said, she wasn’t even in his style. Yet, now he found he adored the way her short hair framed her beautiful face. He loved her frank manner of speaking, the way her full lips curved and the pertness of her nose…
Stop!
Not for you, Edward, he told himself. Your friend Jules wants her.
He sat on the sofa and patted a place beside himself and his pulse quickened when she did in fact, sit right next to him. He must be a glutton for punishment because her nearness drove him into a frenzy of heat.
Her dark eyes poured into his mind, leaving him hungry. He found he couldn’t look away from her. There was a depth of fire in her gaze that stirred him, yanked at his self control. Her full lips pursed inquiringly and he found he couldn’t speak for a moment. So instead, he pulled out the button he had been carrying ever since he found it at the Mermaid Inn, showed it to her and said, “Your button, Miss Berkley.” His voice cracked with the words he forced out of himself.
She looked at him sharply. “My button? Where…where did you get this?’
He watched her face and knew she was thinking hard, trying to remember. He answered, “Where? Don’t you know? I think you know.”
She took him on, “You are playing games with me, sir. Why don’t you just tell me where you found this button and why you choose to return it to me now?”
He considered her for a moment. She was daring him, eh? Very well. “Why Star, I took it off you at the Mermaid Inn some nights ago.”
He watched her as she took some moments to compose herself.
“I see,” she said and leaned over and put the button down purposefully on the small coffee table at their knees. Her dark eyes were alive with inquiry as she stared at him and he realized she wasn’t going to dissemble and she wasn’t going to explain. Instead, she said softly, “Thank you.”
“Thank you? We both know I am aware that you played a role that night.”
