Something inside him cracked—not loudly, not all at once—but enough to let something dangerous through. Want. Vulnerability. The terrifying knowledge that he did not wish to be untouched anymore.
His control did not shatter.
But it strained.
And for the first time in longer than he cared to remember, Julian was no longer certain that holding himself together was the thing he most desired.
He pulled her closer, turning the kiss into something fiercer. Something that burned.
And in thatfire, his mind betrayed him.
He saw her straddling him in the chair by the hearth, skirts tangled around her waist, her sturdy hips rocking against him with a boldness that matched her fearless tongue. Saw her flushed and breathless, freckles blazing across her cheeks as she whispered his name like a challenge.
He saw her sprawled across his workbench, shavings caught in the copper strands of her braid, her generous curves pressed to the scarred wood he had shaped with his own hands. Strong, grounded—nothing ornamental about her. Nothing fragile. She would not wilt beneath him.
She would meet him.
The visions came in a rush so vivid he could scarcely draw breath. Her hair loose over his pillow. Her laughter swallowed by his mouth. The weight of her settling over him like something meant.
Beast,his mind whispered.
And perhaps it was true.
Because when his hand closed over the swell of her breast through her gown, when he squeezed and felt the answering arch of her body, the sound she made—soft, startled, wanting—nearly shattered what remained of his restraint.
He was not imagining now.
He was holding her.Ravishing her.
A sound he scarcely recognized rumbled out of his chest.
Beast. The word hissed through him again.
He tore his mouth from hers only to trail desperate kisses along her jaw, following the faintly scattered freckles down the line of her throat. The hand on her back was sliding down, bunching the fabric of her skirts, ready to bare her to him?—
But then—branches snapping. Followed by a loud bark.
Julian released her at once, stepping back as though scorched, and for a moment, he was lost to all but the rushing of blood in his ears, emptiness in his arms, the straining in his cock.
Angus bounded into the clearing, tail wagging, tongue lolling, reminding him where he was.What he was.
Julian raked a hand over his face, the roughness of scarred skin beneath his palm only fueling his curses.
She had seen all of him.
She had… touched him.
“Go back to the house,” he ordered hoarsely, before meeting her eyes.
She stood frozen, cheeks flushed, lips trembling.
“Now!”
She backed away, gathered her skirts, and then turned and ran.
What had he been thinking—allowing her to stay longer than he’d first agreed? Entertaining her questions. Entertainingher.
Yes, he understood her reasons. Even agreed with some of them. His reputation mattered—not for himself, but for the estate, for the people who depended upon it.