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Desires that only she could quench.

“Then what is stopping you?”

What, indeed? Principles? He had none. Scruples? Even less of that.

At that moment, the last strand of his control snapped, and he pulled her close. She was going to be his downfall, but he did not care.

As his lips descended upon hers once more, all Hudson could think of was to let it all burn.

Just as he would burn with her.

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

This was what she wanted from him—this raw, unfettered passion that would burn throughanything, leaving a trail of ashes in its wake. She would be ruined, but she did not care.

All that mattered was his lips sliding over hers, his tongue coaxing hers in a fiery dance that had her nails digging into his broad shoulders. His hand swept over her breast, dragging slowly along her nipple and drawing it into a tight, aching bud.

On another day, she might revel in all the ways her body responded to his touch, but not now. Not when her logic melted into liquid, molten desire low in her belly. Not when her skin cried out for his touch.

Definitely not when she was arching into him, her body bent in supplication and triumph at the same time.

“Do you want this, little cat?” he whispered in her ear, his lips caressing the sensitive shell as she trembled in his arms. “Iknowyou do. Hell, you must be wet right now…”

Scarlett mewled as his filthy words only intensified the carnal haze she found herself in. His soft laughter, low and deep, shot straight to the ache between her legs.

“You must know that I require your explicit obedience in this,” he continued as his fingers deftly plucked at the row of tiny buttons that ran down the column of her spine.

My, but there were certainly benefits to engaging in an illicit relationship with a libertine of his caliber—the man certainly knew how to dispatch clothing with an ease that left her in shock and awe.

Never mind that he had experience with other women,she thought hazily as his finger started tugging at the neckline of her dress.In the end, I seem to benefit from it all the same.

Not that she liked the idea of Hudson with another woman. In fact, she downrightloathedit. But it was very,verydifficult to feel piqued about a history that did not include her when his finger had started tracing circles around her nipple.

Scarlett gasped. “Hudson…”

She saw a slow smile flash in the darkness. “So, we are back to calling each other by our names. Good girl.”

The softly worded praise had her careening in a haze of desire. How could two words have such an effect on her?

“Now, turn around,” he instructed her.

Scarlett hesitated. In the tower, he had her holding onto the worktable, but now they were in the middle of the garden. In agazebo.Anyone could casually walk in on them with her hair undone and her breast hanging out of her gown.

However, instead of fear and apprehension, she felt a thrill. A strange delight that only served to heighten her arousal.

Was this item number seven on her list? She could not quite remember… only that she had once thought it impossible that a gentleman would want to do the sort of things she wanted to try.

But then again, Hudson was no gentleman. He was a rake. A libertine. AWolf.

And she was the meal he wanted.

Scarlett turned around and braced her arms on the carved marble column, feeling the leaves brush against the back of her hand as her fingers found purchase on the cold stone.

“So compliant,” he purred, his lips brushing against a bare shoulder. The contrast of the chilly evening air and the warmth of his breath had her shuddering. “Such a good little cat—only forme.”

Yes.Oh yes…

His hand slid beneath the neckline of her gown to squeeze her breast, drawing an impatient moan from her. Instead of chiding her for it, however, he simply laughed as if her body’s wanton response to his touch delighted him so very much.