Persuasion by Owner Page A

Millie had said her mother and father had
    fallen in love at first sight, and Lily feared that she had inherited that trait.
    For she could easily recall the moment, in her mind's eye, when she had set
    her sights on the Earl and knew that it was a moment she would never
    forget. Regardless of the circumstances, of the pressure she was under,
    there was something about him that had touched her deeply and she knew
    that it would be something from which she would never recover.
    Trying to tune out her thoughts, she curled once more on to her side and
    tucked her legs upwards so that she rested in a fetal position. It gave her
    some sense of comfort and she desperately needed that at this moment in
    time.
    Her dreams that night were as unpleasant as they had ever been. The
    nightmares filled with a sense of fear that chased her endlessly and made
    her slumber restless and discomforting.

    ****
Settled with his head on the pillow and his eyes staring sightlessly up at the
    ceiling, Dorian grimaced as for what felt like the hundredth time since he'd
    actually jumped into bed, his thoughts were once more trained upon that
    intriguing female, Lady Mercer.
    No matter how often he determined to change the direction of his thoughts,
    they always returned to her and it was damned unnerving. He didn't want to
    think of her, he didn't want to have anything to do with her. Women were
    trouble and they could cause nothing but hurt, if one were to involve oneself
    with them. Had he not learnt that? Was his current situation not because of
    a woman?
    His friends would jeer at that, but it was the truth. They brought nothing but
    misery and distress and Camille had caused more than most, for he had
    loved her. To love was to hurt.
    He should have realized that from his parents' relationship.
    Both had loved one another but had been unable to stand the other for
    longer than a few moments. There had been a silent dedication and a
    'trueness' to their relationship, but Dorian's mother had spent the majority
    of time in London and his father at their estate.
    Whenever they had come together, the clashes had always been
    magnificent. A man did not like to think of the intimacy shared between his
    parents, but his father had once told him that their intense dislike for each
    other had caused a passion that throughout the longevity of their marriage
    had never fizzled out.
    Dorian could well understand it. His mother was still alive and he knew,
    instinctively, that even though she was an attractive woman, she had never
    even contemplated marriage to another man.
    Love could be magical but it could also be toxic and Dorian wanted nothing
    to do with it. That he could have inherited this trait to love and so unsuitably
    crushed him further.
    Perhaps it was rather premature to talk of such deeper emotions and so
    soon, but there was something about her that called to him and spoke
    purely and directly to his heart. It wasn't something he liked, hell not one
    bit, but being honest with oneself was vital and Dorian tried to always be
    that way.
    It had been torture to dance with her. Hell. Fiery infernos had gathered at
    his feet and burnt him as he had held her in his arms.
    He'd not danced with anyone since Camille and neither had he shared a bed
    with any woman since her death. Yet in that instant, when they had waltzed
    around the crowded ballroom, desire had shot through him with a power
    that, to this very moment, rocked him on his heels and forever changed the
    way he would see himself.
    He hated to admit it and felt terribly disloyal for feeling this way, but what
    she had instigated with that one dance had felt . . . apocalyptic in intensity.
    And it was something he had never before experienced. Not with Camille
    and not with any other woman either.
    What the hell had pushed her to choose him as a dance partner anyway?
    He felt like damning her for having selected him. Because of her actions, she
    had changed him and in ways he was only just