When his mouth came down on hers, she didn’t protest. She’d also seen the truth in his eyes. He had loved her. Or he had loved the pretense of her. If desire was all he could give her now, she would take it. For duty she had sacrificed love, but even for duty, she wouldn’t sacrifice the crumbs she had left.

She wrapped her arms around him. Perhaps if she could give him the passion, someday he would forgive her the rest.

How easily he could lose himself in her. The passion was edgy and achy but it didn’t seem to matter. Her mouth was warm, her body slender and straining. If it wasn’t love she felt for him, at least there was need. He’d settled for no more than that before.

“Tell me you want me,” he demanded as he moved his mouth desperately over her face.

“Yes, I want you.” She hadn’t known it possible to feel triumph and defeat at the same time.

“Come with me now.”

“Bennett, I have no right to this.” She turned her face into his throat, wanting to draw just a little more of him into her. “I’m here only because—”

With his hands on her shoulders he drew her away before she could finish the denial. “For today, for one day, we’ll put your duty and mine aside.”

“And tomorrow?”

“Tomorrow comes whether we want it to or not. Give me a few hours, Hannah.”

She would have given him her life, and somehow knew that would be easier than what he was asking now. Still, she put her hand in his.

They went on horseback. As Hannah cantered beside him, she could see that Bennett knew the route to their destination well. They turned into the woods where they’d raced once before, and he took the lead. Each time doubts rose up to plague her, she beat them back. She would take the few hours she was being offered.

She heard the stream before she saw it. It was a simple, musical sound that suited the leafy shade and towering trees. When Bennett came to it, he turned his horse south. For a quarter of a mile they rode along the bank in silence.

The stream curved and twisted, then widened at a point where a trio of willows draped over it. Bennett stopped there and swung from the saddle.

“What a lovely spot.” Hannah reined in, but found herself not quite courageous enough to dismount. “Every time I think I’ve seen the most beautiful place in Cordina, I find another. Do you often come here?”

“Not often enough.” He’d secured his horse and now walked to her. Saying nothing, he held up a hand.