She could not stop herself. Her imagination sprang forth and began to roam through the wilds of her mind. The handsome young man lying next to her; her body cradled in his. Their breath as one. Their hands freely exploring. Her legs slowly unfolding to allow his caressing hand to know her intimate flesh.

“Ah.” The very thought of his touch befell Lucy with such an intense sensation that a surge of lust shot through her loins. Try as she might, she could not calm her nerves. She felt the urge to run.

All aflutter, she placed a hand on her Cousin Charlotte’s lap. “I must fetch my handkerchief from the room, I will return shortly,” Lucy whispered.

“My dear Lucia, can it not wait?” Miss Bartlett said in an attempt to suppress her young cousin.

“No, I am quite sorry. Pardon me. I won’t be long.”

Lucy quickly slipped away from her chaperon and hurried from the dining room hall. As she rounded the corner, she hurried to stairs, which led to the sleeping quarters upstairs. The clock in the hallway struck; the surprise of it almost shattered her nerves. Her head spinning, Lucy hastened to an unexpected stop and braced herself against the wall. Closing her eyes, she took a moment to catch her breath as she listened to the clock wend its way through its chords.

“Is it possible to be love-struck?” she thought. “Hit by a bolt of lightning clapping the earth?”

Lucy felt an overwhelming urge to be taken, to be ravaged, to be made love to in the most intimate and devouring of manners. Although what did she know of these matters? She knew nothing of such delicacies; these affairs were not to be spoken of till the bedroom door closed on one’s wedding night; though, the primal urge could not be denied.

“What’s come over me?” she thought. “Perhaps it’s just fatigue.” Lucy brought her hands to her raised bosom. “That must be it, only tiredness from travel.” She drew in a long savoring breath. “To be sure, that must be it, nothing more.”

The clock reached its final stanza and the only sound that remained was the faint echoes of the bells. Breathing more steadily, Lucy opened her eyes and leaned over to straighten her skirts. She would forego the handkerchief and return to the dining room instead.

Only as she turned to go, the very gentleman who had stolen her breath completely away was standing right there, in front of her, unnaturally close, in this lone hallway. It was just the two of them. Man and woman. He was so close.

Could it be a dream? Did her eyes deceive her?

It could not be. No, it could not. She felt the heat radiating from his body and pouring into her soul.

The air in the hallway instantly drained.

Frightened and filled with insatiable desire, Lucy gasped, trying desperately to draw in a breath, trying to scream, although the presence of this man had shaken her to down to her innermost core, stealing not only her breath but also her words.