Even though he could no longer see her, her image burned in his brain. Slender. Graceful body wreathed in white, as incendiary a sight as a blatantly naked courtesan. Her auburn plait curled across her breast, following the path that his hands itched to trace.
Battling for control, he turned as he tied the sash. She was staring at him as if she beheld the wonder of the ages. That did nothing to cool his arousal. The beat of blood in his head was so loud, he had trouble hearing her.
“I forget how…big you are. And then…”
Then he started prancing around with his tackle waving in the breeze. Maggie Carr was the one woman in creation who could make him blush. How his louche chums in London would cackle to see libertine Joss Hale turn as awkward as a boy with his first lass.
And all because that lass was so breathtakingly beautiful.
And fragile.
And strong.
All his tried and true strategies with a pretty girl seemed tired and outmoded. Because never before had his heart been involved in a seduction.
He wasn’t a fool. Nor was he in the habit of deceiving himself. From the first, Maggie had stirred something more profound than a young man?
??s natural yen to bed a comely wench.
But only now did he realize how close he came to loving her. Whatever happened tonight—whatever happened after tonight—this affair would change him forever.
“Then I see how huge you are.”
He knew she described his size as a whole, but all this talk about dimensions made his dick swell with excitement. Yet the possibility remained that he was getting all worked up about nothing. “You said you need my help.”
She squared her shoulders as if facing some great task. “I do.”
His stomach dropped. Disappointment made his voice crack. Disappointment he had no right to feel, damn it. “Are you ill?”
To his surprise, Maggie took a faltering step into the room. Even as he counseled caution, his heart turned a somersault. She must realize that entering his territory was dangerous.
“No, I’m not ill.” Maggie shifted from one bare foot to the other. She had to be freezing. But unlike their first night, he didn’t trust himself to lay his hands on her.
“Then what is it?” He cursed the impatience in his voice, but having her so near in this silent house asked too much of a mere mortal. The stillness somehow worsened his torture. When he’d gone to bed, the wind had been howling like the hounds of hell, but it had since dropped. He felt like the world held its breath to see what happened next, and every word carried the weight of destiny.
Maggie bit her lip, and he closed his eyes against the sight of small white teeth sinking into cushiony pink flesh. He rapidly reached a point where if she didn’t leave, he wouldn’t be responsible for the consequences. He wanted her so badly, each breath hurt.
“I…I could have lost you today.” Her voice was low and husky. “You tried to make light of it, but you forget I live here, and I know the risks you took by going.”
“I know the risks if I stay here.” His voice rasped. “You’re a chaste woman.”
“Yes, I am.” She grimaced. “But what use is that chastity to me?”
This time, the silence crashed down as hard as an avalanche. Before he could stop himself, Joss stepped closer. He spoke through a tight throat. “You’re not thinking clearly. You’re upset because I got caught in the snow. In the morning, you’ll regret a rash decision.”
Why in Hades did he try to talk her out of yielding, when it was so bloody obvious that was what they both wanted? But for the first time in what he recognized as a selfish life, his pleasure wasn’t of paramount importance.
“I am thinking clearly.” A stubborn expression settled on her face, banished her nervousness. “Until you came, my life was flat and meaningless. Each day was exactly the same as the last. Once you leave, that’s what my life will go back to.”
The bleak picture she painted made his gut knot with pity. A pity he knew she’d despise. “Sweetheart—”
Her voice hardened as she ventured closer, until only a few feet separated them. “In the years to come, when the nights are cold and the bed is too big for one person, I want something glorious to remember. Don’t make me beg, Joss.”
For pity’s sake, what could he do, when she said that? He knew what was right, but he needed her so desperately. “Come here, Maggie.”
The tension drained from her expression, and she launched forward. The sudden movement did for the candle, and it flickered out as Joss’s arms closed hard around soft flannel and softer woman.
Chapter 10