Page 20

“I’d like to take a look upstairs,” Briar said as we stepped back into the atrium, the day’s light dying away as evening approached. “Apparently the owners have a small apartment up there, though they moved out last month. I thought I could use it as a base, keep an eye on the work.”

I shrugged. It wasn’t like I had anywhere else to be, after all. “Of course.”

Every new view of this place revealed something impressive, but it wasn’t the building that was capturing all my attention. It was Briar.

This woman. She didn’t even know how unusual she was.

She certainly hadn’t come from nothing, her trust was worth more than some countries—but Briar had never taken that for granted.

The staircase creaked slightly, and when we found the apartment on the second floor, the mood of the building changed. It had clearly been lived in, and recently, with a little more luxury.

A kitchen. A drawing room. A bathroom that had the most incredible claw footed bath I had ever seen. And?—

“Ah, the bedchamber,” Briar said briskly as she strode in. “Peregrine, look at this.”

I swallowed, hesitating in the doorway.

Never before had I hesitated when a beautiful woman had invited me into a bedchamber. I had never needed to. What they wanted, and I wanted, had always been obvious.

And they’d got the pleasure they’d craved.

But this was different. Briar was different. There was something about her I had never felt or seen in anyone, and living with her, working for her—even for free—had made this so much more complicated than I had ever wanted.

“Peregrine?”

I took a deep breath and stepped inside.

The bedchamber was impressive. A large four poster was covered in dark blue, almost navy silk sheets.

The hangings were there too, along with a bunch of throw pillows.

There was a pair of armchairs by the large bay window, a few empty bookcases, and a chest of drawers that had a handle missing.

A chandelier, slightly dusty but all in one piece, hung from the ceiling.

“I think I could rather make myself at home here, don’t you?”

I swallowed, trying as best I could to calm my manhood.

Lady Briar Weatherford was lying on the bed.

“Making yourself comfortable?” I said as lightly as possible as I stepped to the bed.

Then I stopped. Maybe that wasn’t a good idea.

“Well, if I do buy the place, being on site to keep an eye on things wouldn’t be the worst idea in the world,” said Briar with a teasing grin. “Come here, tell me if the bed is comfortable enough.”

My jaw tightened and I walked forward again, legs shaking, until I was standing at the side of the bed.

And then, despite everything I wanted so desperately, I shook my head. “I'm not going to do that, Briar.”

The disappointment on her face was sweet, somehow.

Damn, I was right. She wanted me.

“Why not?” Briar said, slipping off the bed onto the other side and looking at me curiously. “I thought…well. After the last few days. I thought you wanted this. Wanted me.”

I tried to take a deep breath, but my lungs were constricting.

She was right. I wanted her.

But I couldn’t afford to get distracted right now. Even if I wanted to.

“Making it up to my friends, somehow, is my priority right now,” I said, ensuring my voice was level.

Not that I felt level. I was completely at odds, the ground shifting around me. Briar was so intoxicating, so tempting. I’d been restrained for so long, and it wasn’t in my nature to hold back.

“You’re a good man,” Briar said, trailing a hand on the silk bed coverlet, drawing my attention to her once again.

Something deep within me stirred—and it wasn’t just my manhood.

Hell’s bells. I really liked this woman. Far more than I had thought. Far more than was good for me.

“You’re distracting,” I whispered, despite all my intentions.

Briar met my eye and grinned, stepping round the large ornate bed to stand before me. “I am?”

Swearing under my breath and trying to ignore how Briar laughed at my obvious discomfort I nodded.

“Pardon?”

She was doing it on purpose, I knew, but two could play at that game. It was a risk—or perhaps it wasn’t.

I looked up, met Briar’s eye, and took a step forward. “I said, you’re distracting me, Briar. You’re too beautiful, too clever, and too beddable.”

Briar’s lips parted as she took a hesitant step backwards—but her eyes held onto mine, and I could see that she wanted to hear more.

More? I could give her more.

I took another step forward, and reveled in the way that this time, Briar didn’t move away. “Every time I kiss you, Lady Briar Weatherford, I'm risking it all—that one day I’ll be bedding you again. That you’ll be under me again, squirming against me as my fingers make you come.”

Her eyes were wide now, not in surprise or horror—but eagerness. “You will?”

I nodded slowly, taking in every inch of her. Every inch that one day would belong to me. “You can’t even guess at half of the ways I could make you come, Briar. And the trouble is, you know it. You look at me and I know I want to bed you, and you don’t do anything to stop me.”

Briar lifted her chin, just slightly. “And why should I?”

I almost lost my nerve then. Any man would.

But I could feel the tingling anticipation in the air, knew it was different from anything Briar and I had shared before.

This was an opportunity, and it wasn’t one I was going to miss out on.

I may be a knave, but I knew how to play my cards.

“I could get you crying out my name in less than five minutes,” I said, my voice so low it was almost a growl as I stepped toward her, my body now only inches from hers. “And I'm trying to be a gentleman here, trying not to tease you into submission, trying to ignore the distraction that you are.”

“I didn’t know I was such a diversion,” Briar breathed, wetting her lips.

I managed to catch the groan in my throat, but only just. “Damnit, Briar, you know full well. I'm…I'm trying to be a better man. Leave behind the man I was, but?—”

“Don’t leave all of you behind,” Briar said softly. “I rather like the man who brought me to pleasure again and again after I met you at Ferncombe’s.”

“I met you,” I said, stepping so close to her, my nose brushed up against hers.

Oh, this was sweet torture—but I couldn’t step away. Though every inch of me ached for her, the longing for Briar’s touch almost making me weep, I wouldn’t cross that line.

Not yet.

“I think you’ll find I invited you back to my townhouse,” Briar said softly, every word honey.

I grinned. “I knew who you were, and I knew what you wanted the moment you saw me. And now you’re the one distracting me.”

Briar tilted her head slightly, the dying sunshine bathing the room, the bed, and us in a golden glow. “So what can I do to stop that—to get me out of your system?”