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He started to remove his jacket and she gasped. “What are youdoing?”
“Perhaps it’s because you claim you don’t like the cold, but I’m practically suffocating in this wool, so you will have to pardon me if I remove it for a brief time.” He lifted a sardonic brow. “Unless your sensibilities are truly that modest.”
Her face heated, remembering the library. “Of course. I shouldn’t want to be the reason you perished because of the heat,” she sniffed, and moved around him to put some space between them. In truth, his presence was more stifling than anything that this enclosure could provide.
She walked among the flowers, most of which were roses. Now and then she bent down and inhaled their delicate fragrance.
“Do you know what each color represents?”
Olivia glanced at Mr. Stone who was standing at the end of the row she was inspecting.
He nodded toward the red ones. “Naturally, those mean love.” He continued down the line. “White is innocence. Pink is for gratitude, although it can symbolize a stronger affection for someone. Yellow is friendship.”
Olivia tilted her head, surprised that this gruff, staid man should know the meaning behind roses. She caught sight of a lavender one and tore it from the stem. While she had never been one to flirt, she found herself boldly doing so now. “What of this one?”
“What an interesting choice,” he murmured, as he walked closer to her. “Some might say that they are a sign of enchantment.”
“But you don’t believe that?” she asked curiously.
“On occasion, I would agree that could define them, but that isn’t what they are generally known for.”
“And what would that be?” she queried further.
He reached out and grasped the stem. He removed it from her fingers and trailed the bloom along the side of her cheek. “It is a symbol of love at first sight.”
The air abruptly became thicker. “Is it?” she whispered. “It sounds to me like something a poet might have invented.”
“Do you not believe such a strong connection could exist between a man and a woman?” His gaze captured hers, making it impossible to look away.
“I couldn’t say, since I’ve never felt anything stronger than a passing acquaintance for anyone other than my sisters, and I would hardly consider it the same.”
“Indeed, not,” he agreed softly.
Olivia swallowed nervously. The interlude in the library continued to flash through her mind, and although she told herself that she shouldn’t encourage anything of the sort again, her body wished to disagree, for her entire being hummed with desire.
She quickly spun around and closed her eyes, praying for strength against her own wayward emotions. She swiped a hand over her brow which was starting to grow damp from the oppressive heat in the conservatory. At least, that’s what she told herself. “Since lavender is a pale shade of purple, I daresay it should be gracing the royal household.” When he didn’t reply, her every nerve ending started to vibrate. Had he moved away from her? Or was that his heat she could feel getting closer? “D… don’t you a… agree?”
She nearly jumped when his presence appeared next to her neck. She heard him breathe deeply. “I agree that you put everything in here to shame. Your beauty intoxicates my senses more than the finest bloom.”
Olivia’s heart was knocking furiously against her ribs. “Sh… surely you j-jest.” Dear God, she couldn’t string two sensible worlds together!
“Not at all.” She felt the gentle pressure of his hand on her waist and sucked in a breath. “I find that I can’t stop thinking about you. I can’t stopdreamingabout you or picturing you in my bed.”
She started to tremble, but it wasn’t due to fright. This man just had a way of spinning an erotic web around her, where her fantasies intertwined with his. While she would never admit to such depravity, she had thought about him lying next to her in her chamber, his hands and mouth doing wicked things to her body.
“Say you feel something for me too, Lady Olivia.”
“I do,” she whispered with a tremor in her voice. “Dear God, I can’t help myself, but Ido.” She reached down and covered his hand with hers, and then she dared to slide it higher, toward her aching breasts.
Her courage faltered before she could fully lead him to where she yearned for his touch. But without uttering a word, he knew what she wanted. When his palm cupped her, she moaned and arched her back to gain more of that wonderful sensation. “More,” she sighed.
He complied and let his second hand join the first. He molded her flesh in his hands and she bit her lip in response. It was either that or cry out. It was bad enough that she wanted to strip off her gown and her stays and let him—
“Is anyone in here?”
Olivia instantly jumped at the sound of the housekeeper’s questioning voice and managed to upset one of the clay pots on the table beside her. It crashed to the floor, spilling dirt and rose blossoms all over the floor. “I’m…we’rehere, Mrs. Harper,” she corrected, and hastily moved around Mr. Stone to engage with the servant, who was wearing a particularly disproving expression. Olivia couldn’t resist patting her hair self-consciously. “Thank goodness you’re arrived. The door got stuck and we were locked in.”
“It opened easily enough for me,” she returned with a censorious lift of her brow, directly mainly at Olivia’s companion.
