Swept Away by Candace Camp Page A

She had the dazed look of a woman who had just discovered passion, and though his mind knew that it must be artifice, for she was obviously a woman accustomed to men, his body responded to the lure. She was, indeed, incredibly beautiful, and he had wanted her from the moment he saw her, but now the need to have her was fierce, undeniable. He would not be at ease again, he knew, until this bewitching creature was in his bed, turning into fire beneath his hands and mouth.
    Julia saw the heavy passion in his face, the sudden, unmistakable determination to have her. It was what she had wanted to arouse in him, but the reality of it sent a thrill of unease through her. For the first time doubt assailed her: What if she could not control this situation? What if she could not leash and use the need that raged in him?
    The sudden trepidation was enough to cut through the fog that had seemed to possess her mind. She stepped back abruptly, one hand going to her stomach as if to still the tumult inside her.
    â€œNo.” He reached for her, but she quickly moved another step, and he stopped. “Don’t go. Stay with me.”
    â€œI cannot.” She glanced wildly up the street and saw, like a gift of fate, a hackney rolling slowly along the cross street. She lifted her hand and waved, calling out.
    The driver on his high perch peered down the street toward them and obligingly stopped. Julia started toward it, but Stonehaven laid a hand on her arm, stopping her.
    â€œNo, do not go yet.”
    â€œI must.”
    â€œLet us just walk a little longer.”
    She arched her brows. “I know where your ‘walking’ leads, my lord.”
    â€œIs that so bad a thing?” he countered softly. “You did not seem to think so a moment ago.”
    â€œI am not a prize so easily won,” she responded. “I fear you will find me cheap.”
    â€œNever.”
    She shook her head and started to pull away. His fingers tightened.
    â€œAt least give me your address, so that I may—”
    â€œI cannot.”
    â€œWhy? Have you a husband at home?” Anger roughened his voice.
    â€œNo. Please, just let it be.”
    â€œBut how will I find you? When will I see you again?”
    She looked up at him. His face was hard and fierce, as if the hunger in him had peeled back the layer of easy charm and exposed the powerful reality beneath. His words were not so much a question as a demand.
    Julia willed a saucy smile onto her face. She felt as if she were baiting a bear. “I am quite partial to gaming, as you know.”
    Then she tugged away and, lifting her skirts to her ankles, ran toward the waiting carriage.

3
    â€œW eren’t you scared?” Phoebe asked, leaning forward to peer into Julia’s face as they walked. They were taking their usual morning constitutional through Hyde Park, and Julia had given her sister-in-law a carefully expurgated account of what had happened the night before when she met Lord Stonehaven. “I can’t imagine talking to him. Was he purely evil?”
    â€œWell, no,” Julia admitted. “He was rather charming, actually. It makes sense, of course, when you think about it. If he were obviously wicked, people would have realized that he was lying about Selby. But because he seems gentlemanly and engaging, one assumes he is telling the truth, that he has pure motives.”
    â€œMmm. I suppose so.” Phoebe looked disappointed. “I guess I had begun to picture him wearing horns and a tail.”
    Julia smiled. “Me, too. But you have met him, have you not?”
    â€œA few times. He and Selby were not close friends, not as Selby was with Varian, say, or Fitz,” she said, naming the other two men who had been trustees of Thomas St. Leger’s trust, along with Selby and Lord Stonehaven. “They had been friends when they were younger, and, of course, they met at their club and parties. But those last few years, Selby