Free Masque of Betrayal by Andrea Kane Page B

of a daytime walk.
    Lost in thought, Jacqui strolled through the garden and across the lush green grass. It was not like her to be a coward, she admitted to herself. She had faced far more threatening challenges than Dane Westbrooke, and had not permitted herself to be intimidated. Yet … she had never felt so out of control as she had when they’d kissed. Sentimental weakness was an emotion Jacqui abhorred. And, if avoiding Dane was the only way to rid herself of the unwanted feeling, then so be it.
    She hadn’t expected him to be so persistent. It was only the two days past that his endless flow of notes and visits had ceased, allowing Jacqui’s life to resume as it was before Dane Westbrooke exploded into it. She’d won, she congratulated herself. Finally, he’d given up.
    She despised the disappointment that her realization elicited.
    “Good afternoon, mon chaton. ”
    The low-pitched male voice made her start, spin about in surprise. Just as she had at their first meeting.
    Leaning negligently against the tall elm tree that had shielded him from Jacqui’s view, Dane grinned. “It is a lovely day, is it not?”
    “What are you doing here?” she snapped, berating herself for allowing him, yet again, to catch her off-guard. Inadvertently, she stepped away from him. Or was it from herself? Damn the swooping sensation in her stomach! And damn Dane Westbrooke for causing it!
    “I am waiting for you, sweet. Since it would seem that you have not received any of my messages nor been told of any of my visits.” He straightened, his probing silver gaze locked on hers. “Pity that your faithful Greta is not as efficient as you had originally thought she was.”
    Jacqui felt herself color at his pointed sarcasm. She gripped the folds of her gown, feeling uncustomarily off-balance, a state that only Dane Westbrooke seemed to reduce her to. “I—I—I have been busy,” she managed lamely, knowing she sounded like a fool.
    Dane’s gaze dropped to her mouth, then lower, raking her hungrily, seeming to see clear through to the internal turmoil raging inside her. “I never thought of you as a coward, love.” His voice was husky … knowing … erotic.
    “I am not a coward!”
    “Then why have you been avoiding me?” Dane stalked her slowly, his broad shoulders eclipsing the sunlight, leaving nothing in Jacqui’s vision but his advancing, magnetic presence.
    “Nor am I a fool.”
    He stopped. “Meaning?”
    “Meaning that I do not intend to be seduced. Is that clear enough for you, Mr. Westbrooke?”
    Dane chuckled at her intentionally formal address. “Very clear. Miss Holt,” he added with a twinkle. He closed the space between them, placing his hands on her narrow shoulders and stroking his thumbs over the fine material of her lime-green gown. “You are frightened by what is between us. I understand. But you have no cause to be afraid. I have no intentions of harming you, sweet. Not ever.”
    Jacqui could feel his words, his touch, burn a path straight through her to an unknown place deep within. “But you do plan to seduce me,” she clarified in a guarded whisper.
    “No.” Dane cupped her face tenderly between his hands, wondering at the ferocity of his craving for her, aware, on some level, that it transcended the mere physical. “To the contrary, love. I plan to allow you to seduce me.”
    Jacqui caught his wrists and shoved them from her face, nearly sputtering with indignation. “You plan to … what?”
    Dane wrapped his fingers around hers, holding her still so she was forced to hear his words. “I won’t let you go, Jacqueline. I want you too much. What’s more, you want me too.” He ignored her furious protest. “But I do not intend to take what you don’t willingly offer. So you see, love,” he freed one of her hands to bury his fingers in the soft masses of her hair, “you have nothing to fear. I won’t coerce you into my bed. However, if you choose to come to me on your own, I could