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Cool, cerulean eyes studied her quietly through a simple black strip of material. It was the mask of a highwayman. The thin, white scar curving its way across his cheek down to his jaw only enhanced the rakish air the mask gave him. The regal line of his nose emphasized the sharp, angular plane of his strong jaw, and there was just the hint of a smile tilting his sensual mouth.

She wasn’t certain what historic highwayman he was supposed to be, but he played the role well as he sat there—watching her with a devil-may-care attitude. One boot-clad foot rested on the edge of his chair, his forearm balanced on top of his knee. His other leg was stretched out in front of him in a lazy display of masculine strength. There was a pure, raw sensuality about him that sent every one of her senses into flux. The aura of nonchalance he wore might have fooled others less observant, but she knew it was a deceptive picture. He was a tiger waiting for that exact moment when his unsuspecting prey came within striking distance.

“Isis herself could not have been more exquisite.” The low cadence of his voice sent a disturbing shiver of excitement gliding across her skin.

Heat suffused her cheeks as she watched his gaze roam leisurely over her entire body. A flash of arousal flared in his startling blue eyes, and she struggled to swallow the knot swelling her throat. Not even Graham had ever eyed her with such unmitigated desire. In a fluid movement, he rose to his feet and she drew in a breath of surprise. He was as tall, if not taller, than all three of her brothers.

“So, my Egyptian beauty, how shall we pleasure each other this evening?” Again, the silky smoothness of his voice teased her senses.

She tensed. Beneath that seductive tone of his, there was a sardonic note. Dear Lord, did the man think she’d deliberately sought him out? She didn’t even know who he was. The thought didn’t stop her from imagining her mouth melding with his firm lips, which were now curled in a beguiling smile. With a slight shake of her head, she dismissed the notion.

The last thing she needed was to indulge in an affair. Besides, the man wouldn’t last ten minutes when faced with the male members of the Rockwood clan. No, that wasn’t true. There was something about him that said he’d be more than a match for her brothers. Butterflies stirred in her stomach as he slowly crossed the room toward her. He had almost reached her when she took a quick step back and raised her hand to keep him at arm’s length. Her silent protest didn’t stop his forward progression until her palm pressed into his chest.

The moment she touched him, she went rigid. Abrupt and swift, the surreal existence of her visions enveloped her. This time the world she entered was more arousing than anything she could have ever imagined. Erotic and vividly real, the image of her writhing eagerly beneath the stranger stole her breath away.

The moment exploded around her with intoxicating pleasure. Warm and spicy, his male scent flooded her senses as their bodies melded, and he thrust deep into her with a dark roar. Flexible steel shoulders shifted beneath her hands as she clung to him, her body moving with his as he filled her completely, withdrew, then buried himself inside her again. The intensity of the moment sent her mind reeling from the pleasure buffeting every part of her. His heat permeated her body as her pores rushed to absorb the very essence of him. Tantalized and devoured by his possession, her blood ran hot with need.

The suddenness with which she was thrown out of the surreal experience sent a jolt through her body. Muscles weak with reaction to the wicked imagery, she struggled to remain standing. She stared up at him, all too aware the vision she’d just seen would happen, and nothing she did could prevent it. The simplicity of the knowledge didn’t startle her, but the anticipation skimming through her veins did. She wanted his heat burning through her, singeing her until the pleasure she’d just witnessed consumed her.

He studied her with an indescribable emotion glinting in the cerulean depths of his eyes. Slowly, he pulled her toward him, his gaze never leaving her face. A strong hand captured her chin and tilted her head back. Heart pounding with excitement, she waited for his mouth to warm hers.

The moment their lips touched, she melted into him, her eyes fluttering shut. Senses reeling from the pleasure of his touch, she gasped as his tongue laced seductively over her lips. In an instant, his tongue danced with hers in a tantalizing example of the intimacy her gift had shown her. The sharp bite of Cognac tickled the inside of her mouth as she molded herself to his hard, muscular body.

The chill that had encased her earlier was gone. In its place was a fire that stole her ability to think. Everything disappeared in a mist of passion and desire as his mouth teased and tempted her into a wild and abandoned response. Pressed into him so intimately, her body cried out with the need to be possessed by him. She’d never wanted anything so much in her entire life.

In the next moment, strong hands gripped her waist as he put space between them. All too aware of her accelerated pulse and the frantic breaths escaping her lips, she was startled to hear the harsh sound of his heavy breathing as well. His reaction made her believe he was just as affected as she was by their embrace. She watched in silence as he swallowed hard.

“My grandmother didn’t send you. Who did? Standish?” The terse note in his voice made her frown.

“I don’t understand.” She shook her head in puzzlement. “No one sent me.”

“Do you really expect me to believe you found me here simply by accident?” he scoffed.

“I do.” Setting her chin at a defiant tilt, she sent him a haughty look.

“What woman in her right mind would venture away from the main ballroom dressed the way you are, unless she had every intention of being alone with a man?”

She stiffened at the chastising note in his voice, and heat warmed her cheeks. He was right. Her behavior announced her blatant disregard for propriety. Still, he didn’t need to scold her like a child. She lifted her chin to a defiant angle.

“Do not flatter yourself, sir. I wanted to find a safe haven for just a short time. I am not in the habit of locking myself in a room with a total stranger.”

“And yet you did just that,” he responded softly.

Good heavens, but the man’s voice had the ability to reduce her to the state of a tongue-tied debutante. And was that regret she saw in his dark eyes? Regret mixed with desire. Her throat tightened as she saw his gaze slide over her again. Heat returned to her cheeks, and she quickly looked away to prevent him from seeing how much his open admiration excited her.