me,’ Ellery burst out. ‘Don’t toy with me.’
For a moment Larenz looked genuinely nonplussed. ‘Why am I toying with you, Ellery?’ She liked how he said her name, the trace of an accent in the caress of the syllables. ‘I want you. You want me. Really, it’s very simple.’ His expression hardened for a single second as he added, ‘It doesn’t have to be difficult.’
She shook her head. She felt her throat clog and her eyes fill damningly with tears. She couldn’t speak without giving herself away, so she bit her lip—hard—instead. It wasn’t simple at all. Not to her, at least. Yet she could hardly explain that to Larenz, especially when she barely understood it herself. All she knew was that giving herself to a man like him now—like this—would not be the simple physical pleasure he seemed to think it would.
It would, Ellery knew, be the selling of her soul.
She shook her head again, managing to get one word out of her constricted throat. ‘No,’ she said and, pushing past him, she fled from the room.
Larenz stood in the quiet of the kitchen, trying to process the last few minutes. What had started so promisingly had ended, he realized ruefully, rather disastrously. Ellery Dunant had looked, damn it, near to tears. Had such a simple little kiss really affected her so deeply, so terribly?
It didn’t bode well for his planned seduction.
Moodily, Larenz wandered to the bank of windows that overlooked the walled garden. Sunlight made the puddles shimmer, and the dew-spangled grass looked as if it were gilded with silver. There was a strange, almost ethereal beauty to the Manor grounds, and Larenz could see why Amelie had thought it would be such a spectacular backdrop for the new couture gowns De Luca’s would be showcasing next spring.
Ellery was a bit like her beloved Manor, he thought with a philosophical bemusement. She shrouded herself in plain clothes and unflattering hairstyles but she still couldn’t hide the beauty underneath, the beauty he saw in her bruisecoloured eyes and elegant bone structure. And not only beauty but desire; he’d seen it in the way her eyes darkened to storm clouds, the way her body had trembled and yielded to his when he’d kissed her.
He hadn’t even meant to kiss her right then. Leaning against a kitchen sink was hardly the most comfortable place for seduction. Yet in that moment when he’d felt the velvety softness of her lips against his finger—skin on skin—he hadn’t been able to think of anything else. Want anything else. Kissing her hadn’t been an indulgence; it had been a necessity.
Larenz expelled his breath in a frustrated sigh. Yet what had that kiss been to Ellery? Judging by her response, he would have thought it an awakening. Yet, remembering the shattered look in her eyes as she’d fled from the room—and from him—Larenz wondered if it had, instead, been, bizarrely, a betrayal.
He pushed the thoughts aside. He didn’t want to wax philosophical about an insignificant little kiss; he certainly wasn’t going to care. All he wanted was a weekend of pleasure and if Ellery Dunant couldn’t handle that then he’d leave her damn well alone.
She was, Larenz decided firmly, nothing special. And, since he didn’t mix business with pleasure anyway, he should just forget all about her. Go and pack. Move on. He was good at that.
Yet still he remained staring out at the unkempt garden and in his mind’s eye all he saw was the hurt flaring in Ellery’s violet eyes.
Chapter Four
E LLERY didn’t see Larenz for the rest of the day. After she’d run from the kitchen like a frightened girl—shame and anger warring within her—she’d gone upstairs to deal with the dirty sheets. She needed to work, to do and not to think. She needed to regain some balance and some common sense.
Yet she found neither when she stepped into the Manor’s master bedroom, with its tangled sheets and the cold ashes of a fire in the grate. Ellery sagged
For a moment Larenz looked genuinely nonplussed. ‘Why am I toying with you, Ellery?’ She liked how he said her name, the trace of an accent in the caress of the syllables. ‘I want you. You want me. Really, it’s very simple.’ His expression hardened for a single second as he added, ‘It doesn’t have to be difficult.’
She shook her head. She felt her throat clog and her eyes fill damningly with tears. She couldn’t speak without giving herself away, so she bit her lip—hard—instead. It wasn’t simple at all. Not to her, at least. Yet she could hardly explain that to Larenz, especially when she barely understood it herself. All she knew was that giving herself to a man like him now—like this—would not be the simple physical pleasure he seemed to think it would.
It would, Ellery knew, be the selling of her soul.
She shook her head again, managing to get one word out of her constricted throat. ‘No,’ she said and, pushing past him, she fled from the room.
Larenz stood in the quiet of the kitchen, trying to process the last few minutes. What had started so promisingly had ended, he realized ruefully, rather disastrously. Ellery Dunant had looked, damn it, near to tears. Had such a simple little kiss really affected her so deeply, so terribly?
It didn’t bode well for his planned seduction.
Moodily, Larenz wandered to the bank of windows that overlooked the walled garden. Sunlight made the puddles shimmer, and the dew-spangled grass looked as if it were gilded with silver. There was a strange, almost ethereal beauty to the Manor grounds, and Larenz could see why Amelie had thought it would be such a spectacular backdrop for the new couture gowns De Luca’s would be showcasing next spring.
Ellery was a bit like her beloved Manor, he thought with a philosophical bemusement. She shrouded herself in plain clothes and unflattering hairstyles but she still couldn’t hide the beauty underneath, the beauty he saw in her bruisecoloured eyes and elegant bone structure. And not only beauty but desire; he’d seen it in the way her eyes darkened to storm clouds, the way her body had trembled and yielded to his when he’d kissed her.
He hadn’t even meant to kiss her right then. Leaning against a kitchen sink was hardly the most comfortable place for seduction. Yet in that moment when he’d felt the velvety softness of her lips against his finger—skin on skin—he hadn’t been able to think of anything else. Want anything else. Kissing her hadn’t been an indulgence; it had been a necessity.
Larenz expelled his breath in a frustrated sigh. Yet what had that kiss been to Ellery? Judging by her response, he would have thought it an awakening. Yet, remembering the shattered look in her eyes as she’d fled from the room—and from him—Larenz wondered if it had, instead, been, bizarrely, a betrayal.
He pushed the thoughts aside. He didn’t want to wax philosophical about an insignificant little kiss; he certainly wasn’t going to care. All he wanted was a weekend of pleasure and if Ellery Dunant couldn’t handle that then he’d leave her damn well alone.
She was, Larenz decided firmly, nothing special. And, since he didn’t mix business with pleasure anyway, he should just forget all about her. Go and pack. Move on. He was good at that.
Yet still he remained staring out at the unkempt garden and in his mind’s eye all he saw was the hurt flaring in Ellery’s violet eyes.
Chapter Four
E LLERY didn’t see Larenz for the rest of the day. After she’d run from the kitchen like a frightened girl—shame and anger warring within her—she’d gone upstairs to deal with the dirty sheets. She needed to work, to do and not to think. She needed to regain some balance and some common sense.
Yet she found neither when she stepped into the Manor’s master bedroom, with its tangled sheets and the cold ashes of a fire in the grate. Ellery sagged
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