He didn’t expect to lose himself so deeply in the magic of his own creation, but he did. He wouldn’t have carried her straight upstairs either, where any number of passing servants would notice, it being only late afternoon, but he did that, too. He had planned to ask her to leave her door open for him tonight, so it would be entirely her decision. He had simply meant to so heat her with desire today that there would be no other decision for her to make. And he certainly hadn’t expected to so dazzle her with one kiss that she was completely his in that moment, to do with as he would.

It was too stirring a kiss, too craved to not be. They were both ignited by it instantly, bodies crushed together, taste and senses exploding in sensual delight. It was her dazed look when he finally let her go that had him picking her up and carrying her upstairs. She had no time to come to her senses. She was still clinging to him when he got her inside her room. Unfortunately, he’d had a little time himself, and a scowling stare from his housekeeper on the way, to jolt him out of his own rashness.

This wasn’t how he meant to have her. It wasn’t going to salvage his conscience later, that he had given her no opportunity to think, let alone decide to embrace ruination for a few moments of immense pleasure.

He forced himself to set her down in the middle of her room. He kissed her again, gently now. He waited for her eyes to become focused.

Then cupping her face in his hands, he told her, “You’ve exhausted yourself today. Take a nap before dinner. I may not join you. I doubt I’d be able to keep my hands off of you long enough to eat. I will join you later, though, if you will leave your door unlocked for me tonight. Follow your heart, Larissa. I promise you pleasure unimagined.”

Incredible, to have left her there. If he didn’t think himself an utter fool for doing so, he might have been proud of himself . . .

And he made sure that his housekeeper saw him returning downstairs.

Chapter 13

Chapter 13

LARISSA DID INDEED TAKE A NAP THAT AFTERNOON. It refreshed her, though it didn’t help to clear her confusion over her latest encounter with the baron.

She wasn’t sure exactly what had happened between them, or what he had implied would happen. He had sounded like a parent—or a husband—when she had entered the house and he had railed at her for what he considered reckless behavior. And since he had never been either, what was she to think? He cared. It was patently obvious. In the brief time she had known him, he had come to care about her.