What You Desire (Anything for Love 1)

Sebastian almost choked on his wine at the last remark.

The thought that he had roused such a passion in her made him so hard he could not think straight. All he could feel was the blood rushing through his veins. All he could hear was his heart pumping in his chest. All he could see was her mussed up hair and heaving bosom.

God, how he wanted her. He wanted to bury himself inside her until nothing else mattered.

“Are you feeling well?” Her voice drifted over him, soft and musical to his ears and before he knew what was happening she walked around the table to stand at his side. “Surely you’re not shocked at such a declaration?” she continued. “I was merely stating a fact.” Her hand moved towards the lock of hair over his brow and froze.

Sebastian stopped breathing. If she touched him, he would not be able to stop himself from reciprocating; he would take what he so desperately wanted, what he so desperately needed.

“Well, will you take me with you?” she said, her hand falling back to her side.

“Yes, Miss Beaufort. You may accompany me,” he answered huskily. “As I said earlier, we are working towards the same goal.” Besides, it would be a judicious move on his part, for he could not guarantee she would sit patiently and wait for him.

“I shall be ready in twenty minutes,” she said patting her hands together as she rushed towards the door.

“What about dessert?”

She glanced over her shoulder and shrugged. “We’ll save it for later. I have always been partial to a midnight feast.”

He cast his most sinful smile. “So have I,” he whispered.

Chapter 13

Labelles was far from the licentious haunt Sophie expected. On first appearance, the house looked like any other respectable Palladian-inspired townhouse, with its Venetian windows and Doric columns flanking the doorway. Business was most definitely thriving, she thought, as she stepped out of Dane’s unmarked carriage wearing her breeches and tailcoat.

Dane looked up at Haines, who tried his best to hide his wary expression. “Wait near the corner of George Street and Seymour,” he instructed.

The coachman gave one of his inconspicuous nods and steered the carriage down the street and out of view.

“For a man who appears to be made of stone, Haines has a very soft heart,” Sophie said with a hint of affection.

“What makes you say that?” he asked curiously, gazing over her shoulder into the darkness.

“Well, besides the fact he is extremely loyal and holds you in such high esteem —”

“Of course he does,” he interrupted. “He is in my employ.”

Sophie sighed. “I was about to say, during the short time I have spent in his company, he has done nothing but defend you. One must have a soft heart to see past your transgressions.”

She must have a soft heart, too, and an addled brain. Regardless of how Dane had behaved in the past, she found it impossible not to like him.

Dane placed his hand over his heart as though mortally wounded. “So, like the rest of Marchampton, you have cast me in the role of evil villain.”

She put her hands on her hips. “Have you forgotten you scooped me up, dumped me in a carriage and left me without so much as a word?”

“No, I have not forgotten,” he confessed. His tone held a hint of regret and his eyes a spark of tenderness that touched her heart. “And for that I am truly sorry.”

Sophie took a step towards him and placed her hand on his arm, drawn by an inexplicable need to offer comfort. “I accept your apology.”

Something had changed between them.

She could not fight the feelings that consumed her. She craved his company, his witty banter, the heated looks that made her stomach flip and her heart flutter. It became increasingly more difficult to believe he was the same man who had spent the last six years bedding women instead of tending to his estate.

Perhaps he had changed.

The sound of a carriage rattling by jolted her to her senses. It would not be wise for two gentlemen to be seen in such an intimate pose and so she dropped her hand and took a step back, to what would be deemed a respectable distance.

He continued to stare at her, his hungry gaze searching her face and she became aware of the rapid rise and fall of his chest.