London, 1868.
Lord Cameron Blake freely admits that he is a scoundrel and rogue of the highest order who uses his charm and devilish good looks to secure what he wants from any woman he desires - one night of passion, and nothing else. When Tatiana Knightley is sent to London to find a respectable husband, the first man that she meets is, instead, the notorious Cameron. The desperate attraction between them is instantaneous and overwhelming. It cannot be ignored or defied, but can one night of passion together can ever be enough?
Snatching up his hat and forcing it onto his head, he strode out of the door, down the steps and along the street, drawing a deep, steadying breath before knocking upon the door.
It opened instantly, leading Cameron to darkly suspect that Tatiana had been stood in the hall waiting for him; which in truth, she had, for she had been pacing up and down eagerly awaiting the moment when she would see him again. ‘Good evening, Lord Vaughan,’ she said brightly, her eyes sparkling as she came out of the house and shut the door behind her.
Cameron inhaled sharply as she beamed at him, his arousal instant and fierce. Tatiana’s dress was similar in style to the one she had worn for that fateful soiree, but this time a more muted pale green, the subtlety of it drawing all attention instead to those grey eyes that had him so entranced. Her lustrous ebony hair was piled on top of her head, enhancing the delicacy of her features, but Cameron found himself thinking longingly of how much more beautiful it would look loose and fanned out around her face as she laid down underneath him. The intensely erotic image drew a soft groan from his lips and with a great effort, Cameron forced himself to focus as she took his arm and they walked down the steps. ‘Miss Knightley!’ he said suddenly, his breath catching in his throat as he realised they were not being followed. ‘Where is your aunt?’
‘Aunt Emma has been taken ill, so she is staying home to rest tonight. It will be just you and I in the carriage, but she trusts you to take care of me, my lord,’ she replied, smiling at up at him as he stared at her in consternation.
‘Then she is a fool,’ Cameron muttered under his breath, not intending Tatiana to hear, but the widening of her smile told him that she had.
‘Are you saying you are incapable of seeing me safely to the party and back?’ she asked innocently.
Cameron grimaced, for the warmth of her body so close to his own was making it dangerously difficult for him to concentrate upon anything else. ‘Miss Knightley, I am more than capable of seeing you safely there and back. It is what might happen in between which concerns me.’
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