But perhaps there was some middle ground. She thoughtfully picked up the bouquet of peonies and slipped one free of the silk ribbon. Grasping it by the long stem, she brought its soft, feathery petals to her lips and briefly closed her eyes as she let its scent fill her head. Reese stared, tracking the movement of the flower as though it were a rare and precious jewel.

“We cannot touch,” she said to him, her voice hoarse with regret. “But that doesn’t mean I don’t feel you—in the night breeze, in the soft quilt … in this flower.”

Before she could change her mind, she reached out and touched the blossom to the side of his face. Ever so slowly, she swept it across his cheek and jaw, thrilling at the hitch of his breath and the heaviness of his eyelids. Emboldened, she brushed the petals across his lips and savored the moan that came from deep in his throat.

“You see?” she whispered. “We are connected in more ways than you know.”

Chapter 14

Reese’s blood was on fire.

Sophie sat across from him like a river nymph, or rather, a lake nymph. Her long blond hair hung in wet waves over her shoulders, and her skin seemed to glow from within. Her thin wet shift stuck to her like seaweed, leaving nothing to the imagination. And he’d imagined plenty.

But Sophie was right—their connection was more than physical.

Unfortunately, the closer they grew, the more he wanted her. In every way.

He gestured toward the pale pink flower resting on her shapely, half-exposed thigh. “May I?” he asked.

She moistened her lips with her tongue, then nodded. “Of course,” she said, carefully handing him the flower by the stem.

He took it and gazed deep into her bottomless blue eyes for several seconds. “Sophie Kendall,” he began. “You are as mysterious to me as a mermaid and as necessary as the sun. You are everything I’d hoped for and far more than I deserve.”

“Reese,” she said softly. “That’s not true.”

“It’s absolutely true,” he insisted. “I need you to understand it—and believe it. If I were an honorable man, I’d send you away and protect you from this…” He swallowed the knot in his throat. “This thing between us. But I’m a selfish bastard, and you … you are nigh impossible to resist.”

Her lips parted and her eyes welled with tears.

He twisted the stem of the flower between his thumb and forefinger, cursing himself for what he was about to do. “I won’t hurt you. I won’t violate your rules. But you can be damned sure that I’m going to take anything you’re willing to give me.”

She gave him a wobbly smile. “That seems fair.”

Dear God—if she only knew.