‘You will have to forgive my scepticism, Georgianna.’
‘Will I?’ she retorted sharply.
Zachary grimaced. ‘The Rousseaus, both brother and sister, have been watched constantly since it was discovered that André Duval was actually André Rousseau, a known spy for Bonaparte.’
‘I am gratified to hear it,’ she responded tartly. ‘Indeed, it is a pity his duplicity was not discovered earlier, as it might then have saved me from considerable heartache.’
And Zachary was not in the least gratified to hear that Rousseau’s treatment of her had succeeded in breaking Georgianna’s heart. ‘You speak now of having a fear of meeting Rousseau again; how is it that you did not fear meeting him again at his sister’s tavern?’
She shook her head. ‘He was present at all of those meetings, but ordinarily he had no reason to ever enter the kitchen.’
‘Even so, you were taking a huge risk, Georgianna.’
‘Have you never heard that it is easier to hide in full view than it is to run away and attempt to hide?’ She sighed heavily.
It was a ploy Zachary had used several times himself these past four troubled years. ‘I have, yes.’
‘Besides, you only have to look at me now...’ Georgianna glanced down ruefully at her slenderness ‘...to see I am nothing like the girl I once was.’
Because she was no longer a girl but a woman, Zachary conceded grimly. Beautiful, intelligent, confident, capable, but most of all, in spite of everything, utterly desirable.
And nothing Georgianna had told him this evening had lessened the pounding of the relentless desire Zachary had felt for her since meeting her again. Was it only a matter of hours ago? It seemed as if he had been in this state of constant arousal for days rather than just hours.
He gave a shake of his head in an attempt to clear his head, at least, of that desire; his body was another matter entirely. ‘You understand I shall need time to confirm this new information?’
She held herself up proudly as she nodded. ‘I expected nothing less.’
Zachary gave an inward groan at the way the straightening of Georgianna’s spine had now pushed her breasts up against the soft material of the lilac gown. They were full and pert breasts, the nipples resembling ripe berries. As her waist would be slender, her hips gently curving, with a tempting triangle of dark curls hiding the succulent fruit between her...
‘Zachary?’
‘Say my name again,’ he encouraged gruffly.
Georgianna blinked, taken aback by this sudden change of subject.
More than taken aback when she realised Hawksmere was now standing so close to her she could once again feel the heat of his body through the material of her gown.
Her heart began to pound rapidly in her chest as she found herself unable to look away from the fierce intensity of those mesmerising silver eyes.
‘Zachary, I do not...’
‘Yes,’ he murmured with satisfaction, his eyes glittering down at her intently as he stepped even closer to her, his thighs almost touching hers as he raised a hand to cup one of her cheeks. ‘Say it again, Georgianna,’ he encouraged huskily as his thumb moved caressingly across her lower lip.
She flicked her tongue out with the intention of moistening her suddenly dry lips, quickly withdrawing it again as she inadvertently caught the edge of Zachary’s thumb, instantly able to taste the tangy salty sweetness of his skin. ‘Zachary,’ she protested weakly.
His thumb was a rousing caress in the tiny indentation in the centre of the fullness of her bottom lip. ‘Are you wearing the white silk drawers tonight, Georgianna? The ones with the little lilac bows?’
Georgianna was so lost in the burning heat of that silver gaze that it took several seconds for her to realise exactly what Zachary had said. Her cheeks blushed a fiery red as she acknowledged the intimacy of his question. ‘How did you know about...? You were responsible for packing my things earlier,’ she said, remembering in embarrassed consternation.
He gave a feral grin. ‘And I have been imagining you wearing those drawers ever since.’
Georgianna breathed shallowly. Zachary’s close proximity, and that caressing thumb against her lip, made it difficult for her to think, let alone breathe.
‘And the matching camisole,’ he continued softly, his breath a warm caress as he lowered his head, his lips a light caress against the warmth of her throat. ‘Are you wearing them both tonight, Georgianna?’
His feather-light kisses burned an arousing path down the length of her throat to the sensitive hollows beneath. Georgianna was barely breathing at all now, her hands moving up to grasp his muscled shoulders even as she arched her neck into that sensuous caress. ‘Zachary, you have to stop,’ she attempted half-heartedly.
‘Why must I?’ His hands moved down to her hips, moulding the softness of her curves against his much harder ones as his tongue dipped moistly and then withdrew from those hollows at the base of her throat, sending shivers of pleasure down the length of her spine. ‘We are neither of us is involved with anyone else. Are we?’
‘No.’ The heat coursed through her body, tightening her breasts under her gown and camisole, warming between her thighs beneath her drawers, only the soft sighs of their ragged breathing now to charge the air. It made it impossible for Georgianna to think of a single reason why Zachary should stop.
That Zachary was equally affected was apparent by his ragged breathing and the throbbing length of his desire as his thighs pressed along the welcoming softness of her abdomen.
‘Are you wearing them, Georgianna?’ he pressed gruffly.
‘I am, yes,’ she confirmed softly, her legs feeling so weak now she was sure that if she were not clinging to the firmness of Zachary’s shoulders she might find herself sinking down on to the carpeted floor at his feet.
She truly felt in danger of doing exactly that, as Zachary continued to lick and taste the length of her throat even as one of his hands slowly skimmed along the length of her hip and waist before cupping beneath the firm fullness of her breast. Her nipple instantly responded, swelling, engorging beneath the thin material of her gown and camisole in reaction to that caressing heat.
This was madness.
Complete madness.
And yet Georgianna had no strength to stop it. No will to pull away from Zachary. From the pleasure created by his lips and hands. From the closeness of him. From feeling wanted, held, for the first time in months.
And that was all this was, Georgianna told herself firmly. A need, an ache, to feel wanted and to be held. ‘Have you forgotten I might be a spy?’ She sought desperately for a return to sanity.
Zachary raised his head to look at her with mercurial grey eyes. There was a flush to the hardness of his cheeks and the darkness of his hair was dishevelled. ‘I have forgotten nothing, Georgianna,’ he assured huskily. ‘If anything, I find that edge of danger only makes you more intriguing. Besides which, if you are a spy, then you are currently an imprisoned one. My imprisoned spy.’ He smiled his satisfaction with that fact.
Georgianna drew her breath in sharply as she once again felt the soft pad of his thumb caress across the hardened tip of her breast.
‘Perhaps that was my plan all along?’ She tried to fight the sensations currently bombarding her senses: pleasure, arousal, heat. ‘Has it not occurred to you that maybe my plan is to stab you at the dinner table with a knife from your own ducal-silver dinner service?’ she persisted breathlessly even as she found