back to the woman beside him. The woman he’d very much like to have as his lover. The woman who should be John’s wife. “As tempting as your offer is, I find I cannot—”

      Her hand came off the branch and rested on his leg. She moved it upward, as he had done to her. William watched, unable to stop her. Those slender fingers trailed over his thigh, then walked between his legs. Her nail brushed across the rise in his trousers. A shudder rolled through him.

      “Don’t you see?” Her voice was soft, mysteriously sexy. “By taking you as my lover, I guarantee your brother will not have me. So even if you do tell him, I still win. You cannot say no.”

      He held his breath, unable to move, unable to answer. Her finger swirled around his arousal, stroking it with torturously light pressure.

      Fire blazed through his veins. “How…how could I resist such an offer?”

      * * *

      There were names for women like her. Names she’d not say out loud. But desperation made her do things she never dreamed. Wanton desire made her lust for something she’d gone without for nearly a decade.