Succumb to Me by Julia Keaton Page B

limbs, melting her
against his body as if he had every right to hold her thus. She
moaned into his mouth, feeling her excitement build at the
forbidden.
     
    He tore his mouth away from hers as suddenly
as he’d begun. His breathing ragged, he released her from his arms,
moving back around the desk as if to put distance between them.
     
    Winter was left panting and shaking. She
covered her breasts with her arms and her nether region from his
probing gaze.
     
    Shame filled her every pore. If she’d been a
weaker woman, she might have cried. As it was, she felt the sting
in her eyes and blinked them hard, willing herself to remain calm
and cool. It didn’t matter that he rejected her. What mattered was
that he’d stopped before she could do something foolish.
     
    Winter found her voice at last. “Are you
satisfied? Might I get dressed once more?” she said through gritted
teeth, feigning an outrage that she didn’t quite feel.
     
    He walked to the door of his study, keeping
his back to her. “For now. You may get dressed. I expect you to
wear less petticoats tomorrow. It took you far too long to undress
for me this day. Go now, before I can change my mind.”
     
     
     

CHAPTER ELEVEN
     
     
    Winter did not know what to expect the next
day. When she was shown to Logan’s private quarters, she was
stunned to see a steaming bath awaiting her.
     
    What was he about? She wondered, nervously
pacing the room as she awaited him in his private chamber.
     
    She startled when the door opened suddenly,
but did not feel at ease to see it was Logan himself entering the
room.
     
    Logan walked in without his jacket or
waistcoat, wearing his shirt with the neck half opened down his
chest and his cravat untied on either side of his neck. Black,
springy hair peeped from the neck of his white silk shirt, drawing
her gaze like a beacon signaling safety for the coast.
     
    Except there was nothing safe about Lord
Remington. Everything about him was dangerous, and she would do
well to remember that.
     
    Inky black locks of hair hung around his
face, reminding her forcibly of some roguish pirate bent on
pillaging. Perhaps it was his swarthy complexion, undaunted by
years of higher civilized life. Perhaps it was the look in his eyes
that made her think that way, that he was undressing her with his
eyes and imagining carnal pursuits.
     
    Whatever the case, he made her supremely
uncomfortable and he knew it and exploited his effect on her.
     
    She had a difficult time remaining aloof to
him when he seemed only interested in chipping away her cool
reserves. She could feel the protective wall she surrounded her
heart with crumbling under his sensual demands.
     
    How long could she remain virtuous and good
under his onslaught?
     
    “Why have you summoned me to your personal
chamber?” Winter asked, keeping distance between them with her
hands rested on the back of a chair, as if that woodwork would
somehow protect her should he decide to press his advantage.
     
    It was merely an illusion of safety, but one
she preferred to maintain regardless.
     
    He closed the door behind him, propping his
back on the solid wood and crossing his arms over his broad chest.
“I thought it was obvious, given the bath. I want you to remove
your clothing and get into the tub. I would not have requested you
to dress more sparingly had I had something else in mind.”
     
    Her belly clenched on a hard spasm. She
swallowed hard, feeling her heart flutter in her chest yet again.
“Why?”
     
    He smiled devilishly, increasing her tension.
“I find myself wanting to bathe you and wash your hair.”
     
    Her throat seemed to close up on itself. She
swallowed again, trying to work her mouth. “Nothing more
nefarious?” she asked, willing moisture to return to her dry
mouth.
     
    “Miss Stevens, if I simply wanted to bed you,
I would have done so already. I’m enjoying the chase far too much
to allow it to just end like that.”
     
    She did not