Free Desire In His Eyes by Kaitlin O'Riley

leave his wife. So Jeffrey had volunteered to make the voyage across the Atlantic Ocean to bring the wayward Juliette back to her family.
    He could do nothing less.
    Aside from being afraid for her safety, Jeffrey was filled with admiration for her gumption and spirit at doing something so outrageously daring. To his complete astonishment the chit had actually made good on her threat to sail to New York City one day. Only Juliette could do such a thing.
    It was what had always intrigued him the most about Juliette. She had no fear and she would go after exactly what she wanted. However, he had a feeling that this time she might have gotten more than she had bargained for.
    “You must make sure you stay safe, as well, Jeffrey,” Lisette said to him.
    “And you must come back home to us,” Paulette announced with a worried frown. “We can’t lose you to America too!”
    Yvette piped up, “Oh, that would be dreadful!” Her wide blue eyes sparkled with tears.
    Jeffrey glanced at the three younger sisters. They had all come to the dock to see him off. Lisette, another Hamilton beauty, had charmed him with her sweet and unassuming nature. With her dark blonde hair and steady eyes, she possessed an innate calmness that the others lacked. The fourth sister, Paulette, about sixteen years old now and on the verge of womanhood, would be a stunner to match her sisters. Intelligent and lively, she had a quick mind and a lovely face framed with blonde curls. Yvette, the youngest at fourteen, still had the youthful look of a child about her, but Jeffrey had a feeling she might be the most beautiful of all the sisters one day.
    How he had come to be so involved in their lives, he was not quite sure, but he now loved them as if they were his own sisters. Last year when he and Juliette had wildly conspired to force a stubborn Lucien, his trusted friend since childhood and the closest thing to a brother he had ever known, into admitting his true feelings for Colette, Jeffrey had unwittingly made himself a part of the Hamilton family. Colette and Lucien’s marriage had solidified his position in their family, for the Hamilton girls had welcomed him with open arms.
    This little band of sisters had given him a sense of family Jeffrey had never known. Lord knew his father, the Duke of Rathmore, hadn’t bothered to. Jeffrey had spent most of his childhood and adult life alone, living down the terrible shame of his illegitimacy and trying to prove his worthiness to the world. So Jeffrey would go to New York gladly and drag Juliette, most likely kicking and spitting fire the whole way, back home. He owed at least this much to the Hamiltons for all they had given him.
    These women stood before him, hopeful and anxious, placing their trust in him. Jeffrey, for the first time in his life, could think of nothing witty or amusing to say to lighten their somber mood. He felt his cheeks redden under their regard. Good God! He was actually blushing.
    “I’ll do my best,” he said to all of them.
    He only hoped he could find Juliette, for their sakes as well as Juliette’s.

8
In the Stars
    For three days Harrison managed to avoid contact with Juliette. Not an easy feat on a ship, but he had deftly kept his distance from her at all costs. For three days he had only gone to his office when he was assured that Juliette was walking the deck with Robbie. For three days he had thoroughly occupied himself with the business of sailing the Sea Minx .
    And for three very long nights had slept on a bunk in the third mate’s cabin and had thought of nothing but the feel of Juliette’s silky skin and the passion of her kisses, the sweet scent of her dark hair, the sensation of her breath on his cheek. For every one of those nights he had been tortured by sensual images of Juliette lying willing and eager beneath him, naked, in his bed.
    He had come dangerously close to crossing a line with her that first afternoon. A line which he had no intention of