“Damn it, Anna! I’ve already explained the nature of my relationship with Charlotte and it has nothing to do with us.” He reached out and captured a tendril of hair that had escaped her pins. “We will be together, Anna.”

“No, we won’t. I can’t allow it to happen.”

“We can’t stop it. It was meant to be.” He wrapped the strand of her hair about his fingers and pulled her face to his. He placed a soft, light kiss at the corner of her mouth.

The touch was so tender, so soft that if Anna closed her eyes, she would have wondered if it had been real or just the remnants of a heated wish.

His eyes glinted darkly. “We were ordained by the stars. Foretold in days of old.” He kissed her, his lips brushing softly across hers, this time sending tremors through her.

Anna had to clench her hands into fists to keep from leaning into him. Waves of heat seemed to rise about her, obscuring her vision, making her shift restlessly. She already knew the delight that was held in his hands.

It was sad to realize that once she left Greyley House, she would never again have the opportunity to know those pleasures. For there was only one man she’d ever allow this close to her—and he belonged to another woman.

“Anna, please,” he whispered against her cheek. “I can’t eat, I can’t sleep. I need you with me.” He nipped at her ear, his breath sending delighted shivers through her.

She forced herself to remain still. “If you have trouble sleeping, then try a glass of warm milk.”

He lifted his head and looked into her eyes, a sardonic quirk on his lips. “Is that what you do each night? Drink glasses and glasses of warm milk?”

“Heavens, no. I never dream of anything more disturbing than falling out of my window. But then, my conscience is fairly clear.” Except for the fact that she lusted after her host and employer.

“I suppose I deserve that,” he said. “I should never have allowed our passion to go as far as it did in the library.”

In his own way, Anna realized that Anthony was apologizing. It wasn’t what she wanted, but it was something. “Especially since you are engaged.”

“I’ve told you that Charlotte would not care. In fact, I daresay she’d be relieved to know that I had made arrangements to take my pleasure somewhere else.”

Now that she knew Charlotte, Anna had to agree. The girl’s visions of love did not include hot, passionate kisses that left one feeling as if all her bones had been seared to ashes. Young and less earthy than Anna, Charlotte believed in courtly love, in poetry and flowers, in soft words and meaningful glances—none of which had to do with base passions.

Anna closed her eyes. It was a pity she was not to wed Greyley; she would have been able to deal with his passions and his ill-tempered moods, both of which were sure to put the innocent Miss Melton into a tizzy of fear. If only—She stopped. No. She would not think of the “what ifs.” She couldn’t afford to. Blinking away a sudden tear, Anna tried to free herself from Greyley’s grasp.