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draw her towards her captive against the young man’s chest.
    ‘Sir, I implore you!’ she gasped in dismay.
    Lord Rockhaven laughed, his white teeth gleaming in the fading light. ‘Impl … plore me?’ he drawled with exaggerated carefulness, his brandy-laden breath assailing her nostrils as he pulled her against his hard body, his right hand in the small of her back, holding her close. ‘Hap … happy to oblige, m’dear!’
    Lucy opened her mouth to protest against such unseemly handling of her but, before any words were spoken, she felt his warm lips cover hers and move upon them in a fashion that both repelled and excited her at the same time. The alcoholic fumes seemed to make her head dizzy, but there was a surprising gentleness about the action that sent a strange sensation spiralling around her body – a sensation that turned her insides to a flaming fire and her legs to jelly, causing her momentarily to lean against him. For a brief moment she felt perfectly safe in his embrace – then sanity returned and she tried to twist her head away but could not. As he firmly forced her lips apart and his tongue began to caress hers, she felt the strangest of sensations begin to stir in the pit of her stomach.
    She recognized the sensations as similar to those she had only a few weeks earlier experienced in the arms of her dance-master – only more intense – and, for a moment, she allowed the sweet spiralling of desire to sweep around her body, lost in wonder at the dizzying experience. The man groaned softly, startling Lucy back to reality. What was she doing, responding in this way to a drunken man? A response she knew to be totally unbefitting that of a well-brought up young lady! He might be the son of her hostess but, to her, he was a stranger and, at this moment, a most unwelcome one!
    Lord Rockhaven’s lips began to trace the line of her jaw and down her throat, generating a surge of alarm in Lucy’s heart. She suddenly felt repelled by the intimacy of what was happening and, from melting compliance, she transformed into fiery resistance. How dare he treat her so? Desperately, she began to struggle to free herself. At first, her struggles seemed to enflame the passion of her attacker – for that is how it now felt. An assault upon her body and virtue.
    As she persisted in her struggles, Lord Rockhaven swayed sideways a little and Lucy immediately took advantage by pushing strongly against his chest. Although she was a much slighter figure, her head wasn’t befuddled by drink and, feeling his hold on her slacken, she quickly stepped backwards, swinging her right hand against his cheek as she did so.
    In any other circumstances, Lord Rockhaven’s startled expression might have amused her, but she was now too incensed by his ungentlemanly behaviour to find any part of his assault upon her in the slightest degree amusing.
    ‘Vixen!’ Lord Rockhaven growled, instantly letting go of her. His left hand tenderly touched his cheek, but Lucy felt no inclination to apologize for her action. The man deserved all she had given him – and more. But not from her. Not now.
    Realizing that she was now free of his hold, she gathered up the hem of her gown and darted away from him through the open French windows and through the music room.
     
    Lord Rockhaven made no real attempt to follow her. Indeed, his swaying figure was incapable of doing so. He belatedlystaggered a few steps in her wake and then thankfully took hold of the framework of the glass doors. He was unclear what had happened, or, indeed, if anything had happened at all. The delicately pirouetting beauty had surely been a figment of his imagination, except his left cheek still stung and he tenderly touched it once more.
    He knew he was as drunk as a wheelbarrow. Since hearing three days ago of the death of his commanding officer and others in his regiment, he had been dipping far too deeply. It had seemed the only way to cope with those particular deaths