Free Island of the Heart by Sara Craven

finger,
    staring down at it with a faint grim smile. 'You have so many—
    irresistible attributes, Miss Beaumont.'
    'You're—hurting me!'
    'I'm trying to stop you from getting hurt, you little idiot.' He
    shrugged. 'But if you won't listen...' He smoothed the lock of hair
    back behind her ear and grinned down into her outraged face. 'In the
    circumstances, it would be tactless to hope that you sleep well, so
    I'll just wish you a pleasant night.'
    'You're revolting!' she said stormily. 'You don't understand. You'd
    never understand anyone like Crispin.'
    'I'll take that as a compliment,' said Flynn Killane. 'But I
    comprehend well enough what's going on in your head, my little
    frightened virgin. Because you are scaled of this—step into the
    unknown, aren't you, darling? And although you're dazzled by all
    the fine words, you're still not sure whether Crispin's the man you
    want to take the step with. Whether he's capable of rousing you,
    until everything else in heaven and earth slips away. And you're
    right to have doubts. You deserve better.'
    He was standing close to her—much too close, she realised, with a
    swift unwelcome thud of her pulses.
    She said thickly, 'I suppose you mean yourself. Your conceit—your
    arrogance is disgusting!'
    'Is it now?' said Flynn Killane. He bent his head, and his mouth
    brushed hers with swift, devastating sensuousness. As a kiss it could
    only have lasted a couple of seconds, no more, but she felt it in
    every fibre of her being.
    Oh God, he wasn't even holding her, yet it was suddenly impossible
    to breathe—impossible to think. As he straightened, she found her
    lips forming his name, but whether in protest or plea, she was
    incapable of deciding.
    He said softly and distinctly, 'Yes,' as if answering some unspoken
    question.
    Then he turned on his heel and walked away from her, leaving her
    staring dazedly after him.

    When Sandie reached her room, she was breathing as swiftly and
    painfully as if she'd taken part in some marathon. She slammed the
    door and leaned back against the heavy panels, trying to collect her
    thoughts and emotions.
    She felt mortified to her very soul. She'd allowed Flynn to kiss
    her—although she couldn't see very well how she could have
    avoided it—and, although he'd barely touched her, she now had to
    admit that the caress had stirred her blood to tumult.
    She shook her head slowly, staring unseeingly into space, rejecting
    the very notion. Flynn had just capitalised on a situation which
    Crispin had created. It was Crispin's words, Crispin's kiss which had
    aroused her, that was all.
    She shivered suddenly. 'Stealing and snatching.' The twins' words
    returned to torment her. Flynn was simply trying to revive the old
    malicious sexual rivalry between his brother and himself, and she
    wanted no part of it. She dared not get involved, she realised.
    He might be an unfeeling brute, but there was no doubt that Flynn
    Killane possessed a powerful sensual charisma, and knew how to
    use it. She wrapped her arms across her body in an unconsciously
    defensive gesture.
    Well, in future she would be on her guard, and Flynn would be no
    further danger to her.
    And in the meantime, there was Crispin...
    She took a slow, deep breath, her eyes going almost distractedly to
    the big bed. He was going to come to her room later, she was sure of
    it, and then she would have to make one of the major decisions of
    her life so far.
    She tried to imagine herself, undressed, lying in the bed in Crispin's
    arms, letting him kiss her—touch her—take her—and failed utterly.
    She wondered rather desperately if Crispin really appreciated how
    totally inexperienced she was. He'd talked indulgently about her
    innocence, of course, but at the same time she couldn't help
    remembering, incongruously, how impatient he became when she
    struck discords on the piano.
    She set her teeth. Now she was just being silly. She tried to
    concentrate on practicalities. She hunted out the