Free A Thoroughly Compromised Lady by Bronwyn Scott Page B

powering. Perhaps they could play a little without too much harm, Jack’s inner devil suggested.
    He took the fetish from her. ‘Maybe it was a gift from her lover.’
    This time there could be no mistaking his statement as an academic assessment. Jack’s words were charged with explicit seduction. Something potent and hungry sprang to life between them. Jack let her see his risingneed in the slow gaze that caressed her face, in his fingers’ deliberate stroking of the little fetish—a move calculated to look absently done. He dropped his gaze down her body. It had the desired result. Dulci bit her lip, stifling a little gasp at his boldness.
    â€˜Stop it, Jack,’ she scolded, a nervous, excited tremor in her voice. ‘That was more than two seconds.’
    â€˜I am making my intentions known.’ Jack took her hand. ‘Don’t pretend you didn’t see this coming.’
    â€˜No, I won’t pretend it.’ Dulci trembled as he ran his knuckles gently the length of her arm. ‘I’ve wanted it. It’s time to finish what we started in the orangery.’ Her voice was nothing more than a breathy whisper, her desire getting the better of her.
    â€˜And the garden, don’t forget.’ Jack reached for her, pulling her hard against him for a slow kiss. She was an innocent wanton. ‘Do you know what we started?’ he whispered, testing her.
    â€˜I have no idea, not really.’ She parted her lips, wet and wanting. ‘But I want to know, Jack. I want to know everything and I want you to show me.’ Those blue eyes of hers smouldered with want; every man’s fantasy, his fantasy—Dulci in his arms, giving him permission to unleash her passion, to show her what her body was made for. It was a potent, frustrating elixir that worked all kinds of magic, undoing his tenuous grip on the realities beyond this room, this night.
    â€˜Do you know what you’re doing, Dulci?’ he asked one last time. He wanted to be patient, but it was difficult to be patient when one was rock-hard and had been for some time.
    â€˜I know, Jack. This is what I want.’
    Jack nodded and stepped away from her.
    â€˜What are you doing? Where are you going?’
    â€˜I’m locking the door. No more interruptions, not for this.’
    Â 
    Dulci waited for him at the sofa, watching him as he locked the door. He was playing for time for her sake, giving her a last moment to make her decision. The die was nearly cast.
    It wasn’t a question of wanting him.
    She did.
    It was a question of wanting him enough to live with the after math. Not the after math of lost virginity—virginity was highly over rated in her opinion, its importance a myth perpetuated by men who didn’t want women to have the same freedoms they enjoyed. It would be a relief to surrender hers and have done with it. That was not the after math that concerned her. She had grappled with the social implications of virginity since the night in the carriage.
    What worried her most in the few moments she had left was whether or not she could let Jack leave as he most assuredly would; whether or not she could stand knowing that something which would mean so much to her would mean so little to him, certainly not enough to stay. It was the way she wanted it, but she was not naïve enough to believe the event would carry no emotional weight for her.
    Jack turned from the door and faced her. This was her last chance. She could call a halt or continue with an encounter that would satisfy her curiosity once and for all and hope that it would be enough.

Chapter Six
    S he drew a deep breath and squared her shoulders in determination, her decision made. Jack could see the resolution in her eyes. He crossed the room towards her, watching as she reached a hand to loosen her hair, shaking it into a long ebony cascade, and Jack’s need ratcheted up another impossible notch. Dulci might be un