Free A Dangerous Game by Julia Templeton

hands.
    Nicolette pushed at him, but he held her tight, his eyes dark, wild.
    “You have teased me mercilessly for days now. Last night you said you were too tired, and today at the cabin, the way you looked at me said what you felt. I know that look. I know that desire.”
    The way she had looked at him? Was he mad?
    She had not looked that way because of him, but rather what she’d experienced with Salvatore.
    “We can’t do this, not here.”
    “Why not?”
    “Because, it’s too cold.”
    He flashed a cocky grin. “I’ll keep you warm, I promise.”
    “Kedgwick,” she said, keeping her voice low, seductive. “I expected more from you than a tumble in the labyrinth.”
    He released a heavy sigh. “You try my patience, Nicolette.”
    “What if Elizabeth came upon us?”
    He shrugged. “I am not married yet.”
    “Yes, but you may as well be.”
    “I don’t want to talk about her.”
    “You may not, but I fear I must, for both our sakes,” Nicolette said, choosing her words carefully. “After all, what would the duke say if he found out about us? You could lose everything.”
    Darian frowned. “How do you know?”
    “Everyone knows.”
    Running a hand through his hair, he said, “I feel like a child, my every movement being watched.” Hearing footsteps, Darian pulled away from her. “Someone comes. You had better go.”
    Relieved, Nicolette already took a few steps away when Darian caught her. “Dream of me.”
    Nicolette forced a smile she didn’t feel and started back the way she had come. She had just turned a corner when she ran into Charlotte. The other woman was unsteady on her feet. Nicolette had noted the widow drank every night and tonight was no exception.
    “Nicolette, what are you doing out here?”
    “I wanted solitude. And what of yourself, Lady Mariweather?”
    “Please, call me Charlotte,” she said, wine sloshing over the glass, onto the beaded bodice of her gown. “I came out for more of the same. I can’t bear to be in the company of all those women, all of them looking down their noses at me, especially that horrible Elizabeth.” She gave a shudder. “That woman is as ugly as a post, and has a personality to match.”
    “Indeed,” Nicolette said in agreement.
    “What a waste, especially for a man like Kedgwick.” The sides of Charlotte’s mouth lifted. “He is so virile and so handsome.”
    “You have been intimate with him?”
    Charlotte snorted. “Hasn’t everyone?”
    Nicolette leaned forward and whispered in Lady Mariweather’s ear. “He is just beyond us, in the center of the labyrinth. He told me he awaits someone. Is that someone you, I wonder?”
    Charlotte smoothed a hand down the front of her skirts and handed Nicolette her wineglass. “He is alone?”
    “Indeed.”
    Charlotte licked her bottom lip. “Not for long,” she said with a wink.
    And with that, Charlotte weaved her way through the maze. Nicolette followed behind—staying far enough away from the stone bench where Darian stood, that she would not be noticed.
    His surprise upon seeing Charlotte was obvious. He lifted his brows, and she could not hear what they said to each other. For a few moments they chatted, and then Charlotte launched herself into his arms, kissing Darian.
    At first Kedgwick appeared amused, but when Charlotte caressed the obvious bulge in his pants, his expression changed completely.
    Charlotte lifted her skirts, exposing dark stockings held up by rosette garters. She turned her back on Darian, leaned over the bench, and braced her hands on the stone bench. Her bare bottom was high in the air, an open invitation if ever there was one.
    Darian unbuttoned his pants, exposing his thick arousal. He said something that made Charlotte giggle, then scanning the area to make sure they were alone, he slid his length inside the widow with a groan. His head fell back on his shoulders, his jaw clenched tight.
    Charlotte sighed loudly as Darian thrust into her again and again.