What You Desire (Anything for Love, Book 1) by Adele Clee Read Free Book Online Page A

slightly swollen. Her dark, silky locks hung wildly over her shoulders and he fought the urge to lift her into his arms and carry her off to his bed.
    Pinching the bridge of his nose, he closed his eyes, telling himself this could not happen again, not with his friend’s sister. This was supposed to be about reigning in the wayward Miss Beaufort. He needed to put some distance between them. And he knew exactly how to do it.
    Sebastian stepped back and folded his arms across his chest. “As the exercise proves, the only thing protecting your reputation is my respect for your family. And, as you are now aware, courage is a useless weapon against a man’s voracious appetite.”
    Miss Beaufort inhaled sharply, her eyes wild with contempt.
    “As a woman you will always be weak in that regard,” he continued calmly, arrogance dripping from every word, yet inside his body still burned with desire. “To place oneself at such risk accomplishes nothing.”
    Had it been any other inexperienced woman, he would have expected tears — the uncontrollable sobs of shame and mortification. Unsurprisingly, Miss Beaufort stood frozen to the spot, her tightly clenched fists hanging by her sides. The bright pink glow warming her face reflected anger rather than embarrassment.
    She turned away from him, her head moving left and right, searching the room.
    Perhaps he was wrong and she was about to cry. Guilt flared as he knew he’d sounded cold and unfeeling.
    Straightening her back and raising her chin, she walked gracefully over to the side table. Making a clinking sound, she removed the crystal stopper from a decanter of brandy and poured a measure. In two gulps, she drained the glass and he watched her shake visibly as the liquid fire trickled down her throat. She gave a little cough and a short exhale before slamming the glass down on the table.
    When she swung around to face him, her countenance appeared much improved, but her eyes looked as though they could turn a man to stone.
    “I fear I am inclined to agree with you,” she said calmly.
    He could hardly believe his ears. Finally, the lady was listening. He could not help but feel smug. A sense of masculine pride enveloped him and patted him on the back .
    “You see, I have always believed I had a passionate nature. Indeed, I did not know how passionate until a moment ago when you kindly conducted your little experiment.” She strolled around the room, picking up objects: a paperweight, a book of sonnets, a pipe tamper in the form of a naked woman, examining them and placing them down again. “I must say I found the experience quite overwhelming.”
    There was something different about her voice. It had lost all traces of innocence; her tone held a seductive, alluring quality that sung to him. Sebastian straightened as he fought against the memory of their passionate exchange.
    “Indeed, I am aware such a passion spills over into all aspects of life,” she continued. “If I am to be so easily coerced and dissuaded from my path, then I am not being true to my nature.” She looked up to meet his gaze, her sapphire-blue eyes piercing his soul. “But you are correct, my lord. As a woman, I fear I shall attract entirely the wrong sort of attention.”
    “Precisely, Miss Beaufort,” Sebastian said, swallowing deeply. “Which is why —”
    “Which is why,” she interjected, “I shall strive to find some other solution. As the saying goes — to those that will, ways are not wanting.”
    He coughed into his fist and then said rather smugly, “I’m afraid you are missing the point, Miss Beaufort. I think you will find the saying goes — to him that will, ways are not wanting.”
    She smiled; the wry expression made him feel like a silly child who had missed an obvious piece of information.
    “Let me speak plainly,” she replied abruptly. “I do not intend to sit around like a simpering miss, eating supper at six and hoping for news from my brother when he could be in