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perhaps not as young as she used to be nor as respectable as most imagined. And if technically she was not a lady by birth then certainly by comportment—at least on the most part.
    Mocking her were the embarrassing details of their encounters playing vividly in her mind. The kisses they had shared had been incendiary. And with it, the memories brought more heat…everywhere.
    He closed the distance between them with two long strides, his eyes glittering a sexual hunger when his regard arrested on her mouth. The burning intensity of that look sent her belly plummeting to parts of her person that made her thighs warble and clench. She swallowed, careful not to look away from him this time. If she conveyed any sign of weakness, she was done for. She may as well strip naked and spread her legs for him now.
    An image flashed. The heat emanating from her face could bake bread and roast an entire pig through and through.
    “Is it unseemly for a young woman to afford a man the liberties you did me? It was more than a kiss,” he said in a low velvety voice.
    Catherine nearly choked on her next breath and began swatting at the charged air between them as if the memory of the incident his words evoked could be cleared so easily. Dear Lord, she’d yet to rid her thoughts of her spread naked for his plundering. “I don’t know how the women in America comport themselves, Mr. Beaumont, but I assure you—”
    “Believe me when I say, Miss Rutherford—” he drawled, mimicking the strident formality of her address, for they’d gone beyond Miss and Catherine “—they comport themselves much the same way as the women here in England. Do you need a reminder?”
    Yes please. Insanity.
    Where is your pride? Logic and reason.
    The two opposing voices warred in a battle to the death.
    He was enjoying great amusement at her expense. It was obvious he saw her as an easy mark, ready to spread her thighs for all and sundry. There would be no spreading of anything. She had, after all, succumbed to him once—twice before. That she didn’t make it a habit of permitting men such liberties was a fact he probably wouldn’t believe if she told him. And what would it matter anyway? It wasn’t as if he cared for her. He’d been gone a year only to appear out of the blue with lust in his eyes, subjecting her to memories that threatened her resolve. It certainly didn’t appear he’d been pining for her. Not that she’d pined for him. She had not. Certainly, he’d been in her thoughts and starred in many of her dreams, but she wouldn’t precisely call that pining .
    “A couple of kisses does not an attraction make.” She endeavored to keep her voice crisp, her jaw firmly set, her mouth tight and her gaze as cool as a north England autumn breeze.
    He dipped his head from his intimidating six foot one inch height. Before she could squeak her outrage, his lips nipped her right earlobe. A tiny little love bite that immediately flooded her core with moisture and longing.
    Traitor. Insanity crowed at winning this battle.
    “What does it make then?” he murmured, his voice throaty and low. “At the very least, a powerful attraction wouldn’t you agree” His lips then sought the place behind her ear that literally buckled her knees and had her clutching the lapels of his coat in an effort to remain upright. He caught her easily, pulling her tight against him until they were plastered from knee to shoulder.
    “You mustn’t.” She said even as her head fell back to allow him full access to the line of her neck.
    The war raged on but logic and reason were at a decided disadvantage. Insanity was crafty and had many weapons at its disposal.
    “God, Catherine, take pity on me. It has been an entire year since I’ve held a woman like this—held you.” She felt the warm moistness of his breath against her skin and another tidal wave of desire washed over her. Although she knew she should resist him, she hadn’t the will to push him away. It