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certainty.”
    Esther was bitterly afraid that if she did not break away from him that very moment, his ominous words would be proved right. She forced herself to show no hint of her body’s wild reaction to his, instead staring blankly over his shoulder even as he lowered his head in search of her lips again. “Comte…”
    “Yes, darling?”
    She stiffened as he forced his hand between their bodies to reach for the neckline of her gown again and finish what he had started. “Get out, Comte, before I scream.”
    Tristan’s eyes locked onto hers. “But Esther, I want to make you scream. I would have you scream out my name as you come so hard underneath me that the very breath leaves your body.”
    The darkly erotic image of her doing just that held them both in its spell. Tears filled Esther’s eyes as her body fought for control over her mind, urging her to beg the Comte to take her; but she could not have him, not after what he had done to Charlotte. He did not deserve her. “N-no, Comte!”
    Her rasping cry frustrated him deeply, for he had anticipated that his daring words had won him the permission he craved. “Very well,” he ground out. “I can wait if I must. You, Esther, are worth waiting for.”
    “And you, Comte, are insufferable!”
    “Oh, you could suffer me to be in your bed, chérie , I assure you that!”
    Her eyes widened and filled with lust once more, but she forced herself to shake her head. “Out!”
    With a loud burst of laughter born of his renewed conviction that she would soon be his, Tristan swooped in to deliver a swift kiss to Esther’s forehead before retreating from the chamber to bide his time.
     

Chapter Four
     
    “Ah, so this is where you have been hiding.”
    Esther’s head snapped up from the book she had been attempting to distract herself with, the instinctive arching of her body like a tautened bowstring announcing the intruder’s identity even if she had not recognised the Comte’s voice. She gritted her teeth and dropped her eyes in a desperate attempt to conceal the desire that she knew was written in them. “I – I was not hiding.”
    “Liar.” With an amused smile, Tristan locked the library door behind him and deliberately dropped the key into the pocket of his breeches. He had come to the conclusion whilst searching for her that she needed to be forcibly persuaded of the strength of their passion – and he knew just how to do it. “I have been looking for you ever since you slipped away from luncheon whilst Eleanor kept me distracted, my wicked little lady. This is where you have been, then? An excellent choice, chérie . I congratulate you.”
    The book fell from her hands with a loud thud as he casually unfastened his starched cravat and tossed it aside. Her breath was already coming in shallow gasps even before Tristan’s deft fingers moved to fly across the buttons of the white shirt that was such a devastating contrast to his tanned skin.
    “Ch-choice, Comte?”
    Abandoning all attempts at aloofness, Esther pushed back in her chair and wrapped her arms defensively across her breasts as he strode towards her.
    His cock was already stiff and straining for its release as he slowly knelt down in front of her and tore her arms away. “Of location for our first tryst, Esther. Why, I hardly know where we should begin – in front of the fireplace, perhaps? Alternatively, both the writing desk and the high-backed chair behind it offer ample possibilities, as does that luxurious chaise stretching out by the window –“
    She cut his suggestive words short by pushing him aside and dashing towards the door, knowing even as she did that her flight was pointless when the Comte had taken the key. “Release me, sir!” she demanded hotly as he pursued her and snatched her into the tight and possessive restraint of his arms.
    “Not without a kiss, ma chére ,” Tristan said firmly as he pressed his lips against the pulse point of her throat to revel in the