Wolfe's Lady Read Online Free PDF Page A

available. Will it do?”
    “It’s awesome,” Stella said, draining her glass. The wine must have gone to her head, she thought, for without hesitation, she mimicked a child’s British accent and quoted Oliver Twist, “Please, sir, may I have some more?”
    Darien’s face shifted, his lips twitched and his eyes rolled until he burst out laughing. He sat down on the loveseat, wiped tears of mirth from his eyes, and drank his champagne.
    “You are the most remarkable woman I have met in years,”
    Darien said, shaking his head. “Stella, I find myself quite smitten with you. Dare I hope that it might be reciprocated?”
    She made a quick translation of his old school language and replied in her own vernacular,

    “I think you’re totally hot, Darien, so yes.” Champagne evaporated her polite façade so that she said what she felt, without restraint or embarrassment. The sweet, sparkling wine swept through her veins like liquid wildfire and she could feel not just the heat but the giddy spin it always gave her head. He tossed back his head and chortled with such gusto it almost became a howl.
    “Good. Then let me pour you another glass and we shall see where the evening takes us.”
    “Let’s do that,” Stella said, surprising herself with her boldness. She was not usually so outgoing, so outspoken, or so easily aroused but Darien and champagne brought out her latent qualities.
    They ended up in the garden, finishing off the Dom Perignon and talking until the longer shadows of dusk fell. With so many tall trees and vegetation, the night seemed to move in on fleeter feet and there were no street lamps or yard lights to mar the darkness. A soft breeze rippled across Stella’s bare arms and she shivered.
    “It’s getting cooler.”
    “It is,” he agreed and rose from the black wrought iron bench with grace. “Shall we go inside or would you prefer that I deliver you home? The night is young but your wish is my service.”
    “Could we stay outside and watch the stars come out?” Stella asked. She loved the stars, perhaps because of her name, chosen by her star-gazing parents in honor of their favorite hobby. “The moon isn’t quite full but it’s waxing enough that the moonlight should be very pretty. Doesn’t all of this look spectacular by moonlight?”
    A strange expression flitted across Darien’s face, a look of dismay, she thought, or something more. Whatever it was, it vanished in seconds, leaving her to doubt that he had ever looked anything but serene.
    “Yes, my little patch of woods and gardens is quite lovely by night,” Darien said. “We have drunk but we have not eaten. Are you hungry, my star?”
    No one until Darien ever made her name into an endearing nickname but after a moment’s reflection, she liked it.
    She had not even thought about food but now that he asked, she was ravenous.
    “Yes, I am.”
    He extended his hand to her and she took it, allowing him to lift her from the bench.

    “I can offer food. Come inside; we can come back out after we eat.”
    “Anything is fine.”
    They ate a late light supper of pastrami, cheese, and prosciutto. Again, Darien ate nothing but meat and a small amount of cheese but Stella didn’t really mind. If he had eccentric tastes in eating, his other qualities more than compensated. After the meal, they returned outside, settling onto the bench and watched the first stars appear. The blooming flowers gave off a rich, intoxicating aroma. With his arm around her shoulders, Stella was content but very aware of his male proximity. When he pulled her into his arms and kissed her, she shivered with delight and the anticipation of the way his kisses sent fire through her veins. Every nerve in her body tingled with the sweetness of desire and throbbed with fiery heat that swept through her body like wildfire. He took a single finger and ran it from her mouth, down along her throat, to the valley between her breasts. Without the bra that she normally