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.When she didn’t move away from him, he took it as encouragement and pulled her into his embrace.He bent to kiss her, but Delight pushed away, moving from the haven of his arms.“Delight?” Jim questioned, wondering at her sudden withdrawal…one minute she seemed willing, and the next…“What’s wrong?”“Nothing’s wrong.” She managed to sound cold and almost indifferent.“I’ve told you what you wanted to know; now take me home.” Delight had felt too safe and too comfortable when he’d held her, and she wanted to get away from his overpowering presence before it was too late.She loved him, but in despair, she knew he would never be hers.Jim could wait no longer to have her.In one quick move, he pulled her to him and kissed her.His mouth seared hers in a fiery brand that was breathtaking in its intensity while his hands moved over her in an intimate rediscovery of her softness.Overpowered by his ardor, Delight was lost momentarily, drowning in the ecstasy of his desire.This was Jim, and he knew who she was and he still wanted her…There was no darkness disguising them…no liquor to cloud their senses.She looped her arms around his neck and moved closer, enjoying the feel of his hard male form against her softer, more supple one.Jim rejoiced as he felt her surrender.She was his! Eagerly, he slipped a hand within the bodice of her gown to stroke the tempting silken flesh of her breast.It was the shock of his bold touch that forced Delight to face reality.He wanted her all right, but he was engaged to marry another.She couldn’t allow this to happen, no matter how much she desired him, no matter how much her body ached with the need to meld with him.“No, Jim…please, stop…” She fought to free herself from his ardent caresses.“What’s wrong now?” He released her, stunned by her sudden refusal.Would he ever understand her?“This attraction we have for each other is wrong, Jim,” she told him, struggling with the agony of the decision she had to make.He stared at her in confusion, “I don’t understand.How can anything this beautiful…this perfect…be wrong?”Delight was scandalized by his attitude.“Does your engagement to Annabelle mean so little to you?”“My engagement?” As he finally understood her reason for denying him, his love for her swelled deep within him.“Yes, your engagement.” She turned away from him, afraid that at any moment she might throw herself into his arms, regardless of Annabelle.“Delight.” His voice was like velvet over her frayed senses, and he went to her, taking her once more into his arms.He drew her rigid form to his chest.“Darling, what we have is so special…I knew that I had to find you…to make you mine.Love me, Delight,” he told her, as he kissed her softly and with infinite tenderness.“Oh, Jim…I love you, too! So much! But…” Before she could protest, his mouth descended to claim hers.As their lips met, their fate was sealed.Joined in spirit as one, they blended together, tasting and touching each other until their passion for completion drove all thoughts from their minds, except the need for that ultimate union.Shedding their clothes with a desperate urgency, they moved together to his bunk.Jim threw the blankets aside carelessly and then lifted her into his arms and laid her down on the welcoming softness.Lying on his side, he stretched out with her, drawing her full to him.He shuddered at the touch of her smooth body against his.Gone were all thoughts of right and wrong.All that existed was Jim and her undying need for him.Delight clung to Jim then, drawing his head down to her so she could kiss him, expressing her full need for him in that flaming caress.Knowing that he couldn’t hold himself in check any longer, Jim moved up over her.“My beauty…” His voice was husky with emotion as he looked down at her.“You’re no longer just a dream.”With infinite care, he claimed her as his own.Giving and taking, they melded into one as his steady rhythm stoked to life the flames of their need.Her hands were never still as she held him and caressed him, her touch fueling the fire that was already burning out of control within him.Delight was consumed by the heat of his desire.Straining against him, her body crying out for the release only Jim could give her, she joined him in a spiraling climax.She called out his name in reverent love as his mouth found hers in a gentle kiss that soothed the painful beauty of their fervid mating.Clasped in each other’s arms, they floated back to reality, and it was only then that Delight realized with a heavy heart that Jim had never declared his love.“You feel so wonderful to me,” he told her as he held her.“I could keep you like this forever.”“How would you explain that to your fiancée?” The words were out before she could stop them, and Delight was mortified that she’d revealed so much of what she was feeling.“Annabelle has nothing to do with us,” Jim began, but the moment of exquisite loving was gone, shattered by Annabelle’s unspoken presence.He wanted to tell her that by tomorrow she would never have to worry about Annabelle again, but before he could explain Delight left the bed and began pulling on her clothes.“Please…take me home now.” She kept her back to him, afraid that he would see the pain she was feeling clearly etched on her strained features.“Delight…”But she refused to listen to anything he had to say.“I’m leaving here, with or without your help, Jim Westlake.”Reluctantly he got up and began to dress, hoping that by tomorrow everything would be straightened out.Martin had observed Delight’s secretive departure from the house, and he was livid.He had seen her get into the carriage with Jim Westlake, and he knew what she was up to now…why she was nothing more than a slut!The mental image of Delight naked in Jim’s arms drove Martin nearly insane with jealousy.He was outraged by what was happening, and he threw caution to the wind as he stalked up the servants’ stairs to Sue’s bedroom.Without knocking, he entered her room and woke her abruptly.“Martin? Is something wrong?” Even though she was still half asleep, Sue could sense the violence in Martin.“Come with me.” He spoke curtly.If he couldn’t have Delight tonight, at least he could have the next-best thing…Sue in Delight’s bed.Grabbing Sue by the forearm, he practically dragged her down the staircase to the second-floor hall.“Where are you taking me?” she whispered as they headed down the hallway past the master bedroom.“Where I want to be,” he replied mysteriously as he pulled her into Delight’s room and locked the door.The ride from the levee seemed interminable to Jim, for he could not coax Delight into a conversation.To his every ventured question, her expression remained impassive—almost stony—and Jim wondered at her mood.He didn’t understand how she could have been so responsive in his bed only moments before and now wouldn’t even look at him.It was as if she wanted to forget the entire night…As the hired carriage pulled to a stop a block away from Delight’s house, he finally gave up the struggle to understand her
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