Samantha (Barrett 2)

A charged silence surged between them.

"Samantha ..."Cynthia lay a hand on her arm. "Perhaps we'd best go home...."

"No." Rem reached forward and seized Sammy's elbow. "I want to talk to you. Now." Without waiting for a reply, he dragged her off to a private spot a short distance away from the others. "What the hell was that all about?"

"Which 'that'? My visit to Stephen's warehouse or your visit to Annie's brothel?"

"It was a business meeting, Samantha."

"So was mine."

"Concerning what?"

Sammy hesitated. "I had some questions," she hedged at last.

"Questions for Anders? Pertaining to what; his missing ship?"

"Yes." Her shoulders sagged. What was the use in evading Rem's inquiries? Anders had guessed what she was up to. She might as well be honest. "I had hoped Stephen could tell me where Viscount Goddfrey was living. He couldn't. And it no longer matters."

Rem's eyes narrowed on her face. "Why did you want to find Goddfrey?"

"Last week at Almack's I overheard Stephen talking about Goddfrey's terrible losses, his precarious financial state and his subsequent disappearance. I thought perhaps the viscount might be somehow involved in the sinkings. Evidently, I was wrong." She sighed. "I was only trying to help Drake."

"What did Anders tell you?"

"Very little. Only that he didn't know Lord Goddfrey's whereabouts, but that the viscount had fled in order to avoid a personal scandal."

"And then?"

"Then I left."

"Are you trying to tell me Anders made no advances?"

"Oh, he did. But I rejected them." Sammy inclined her head, a mischievous light coming into her eyes. "And you? Are you trying to tell me that not one of Annie's women made any advances?"

Rem stared at Sammy for a long, electrifying moment. Then he smiled—a slow, seductive smile—sliding his hand beneath the heavy sable mane of her hair. "Oh, one did. But I rejected them." He cupped her face. "All I could see was you." He bent his head, took her mouth with tender ferocity. "All I want is you."

Oblivious to the bustle of activity around them and the prying eyes of the world, Sammy twined her arms around Rem's neck, standing on tiptoe to deepen his kiss. "When?" she breathed.

"Constantly. Relentlessly. Until I'm burning with it."

Sammy began to tremble. "No ... I meant when can we be together?"

He nibbled lightly at her lower lip, running his warm fingers up and down her bare arms. "Right now, if I had my way. But that might cause quite a scandal... even in so unsavory a place as this."

"Will you find a way?" She gazed up at him with those melting, trusting green eyes,

"If I have to move heaven and earth, yes."

In that instant Sammy had to bite her lip to keep from blurting out how much she loved him. But her heart cautioned her that Rem was not yet ready to hear those words.

"Boyd and Cynthia will be worried," she murmured.

"Oh, something tells me they don't mind our absence."

Sammy's ecstatic smile made her glow like the dawn. "Is Boyd as intrigued by Cynthia as she is by him?"

"Without a doubt."