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He drew in a deeply controlling breath. Til try that again,' he said
sheepishly. 'Darcy, would you care to walk outside for a breath of fresh air?'
She smiled that shy smile at him. 'Thank you, Logan. Yes, I would like that.'
He held out his arm for her to take, giving the hovering young actor a
withering glare as they strolled past him, on their way to the French doors
that led out onto the terrace scented with the roses his grandfather grew near
the castle.
It was a beautiful moonlit evening outside, the noise of the deer close by,
and nocturnal animals calling to each other in the distance, the sound of the
bullfrogs nearby in the lily-pond.
'What a beautiful place this is,' Darcy murmured dreamily as she looked out
over the wall, the castle, and grounds beyond, bathed in moonlight.
It was a light that seemed to reflect off the silver grey of her dress, giving the
woman herself an ethereal quality. Logan found himself transfixed by her
the moment they were alone outside.
Darcy turned to give him a searching glance. 'What is it?' she breathed.
'Logan...?'
It was purely instinctive, something he had been wanting to do since the last
time he had seen her, something he found himself wanting to do every time
he saw her!
His arms moved about the slenderness of her waist, moulding her gently
against him as his head lowered and his lips found and captured hers.
Perfect pleasure. It was the first time he had felt complete, any peace of
mind, any gentleness of spirit, since the last time he had held her like this.
She fitted so perfectly against him, breathed the same air, and—he
hoped!—knew the same pleasure at his closeness that he did at hers.
He wanted this never to stop, wanted to carry on kissing her, touching her,
holding her—
'No!' She wrenched her mouth from his, pulling away from him, her face
stricken in the moonlight. 'We can't do this, Logan,' she told him
breathlessly, tears glistening in her eyes.
He was stunned for a moment, had been totally lost in the sheer pleasure of
holding her close to him.
'Please let me go, Logan,' she choked, his arms having instinctively
tightened like steel bands about her as she attempted to move away. 'Please!'
she said again tearfully.
His hold slackened, but he still didn't release her. 'I'm not going to hurt you,
Darcy,' he whispered. 'You should know by now, I would never do that.'
Even under extreme provocation, all the times she had done something to
him that might have resulted in retaliation, he had never so much as taken an
angry step in her direction.
She became suddenly still in his arms, deliberately not looking at him. 'Then
let me go,' she said woodenly.
'Why?' he groaned. 'We don't have to go back into the salon. We can get in
through one of the side doors, up to my suite of rooms—'
'No!' She wrenched out of his grasp this time, even though Logan knew it
must have physically hurt her to do so. 'No, Logan...!' she choked again
before turning to let herself back into the salon, the door closing softly
behind her.
Logan stood there stunned for several long, dazed minutes. What had he
done? What had he said? What...?
He turned sharply as he sensed a movement behind him, his disappointment
acute when he saw it was Brice and not Darcy who had come outside to join
him.
'Darcy came back in alone, looking nothing like her usual, calm self,' Brice
informed him, 'so I thought I had better come outside and make sure she
hadn't thrown you in the lily-pond!'
No, she hadn't done that. But in the last few minutes Logan knew she had
done something to him much worse than that. Much, much worse than that!
How could he? How could Logan hold her, kiss her, talk of the two of them
going up to his rooms together, when all the time the woman in his life,
Francesca, was in the salon with all the other engagement party guests?
She had always known Logan was arrogant, a law unto himself, that he
didn't believe in love, let alone marriage. But even so, she had never thought
he would behave in such a cavalier fashion. In his grandfather's house, too!
What was she to do now? She couldn't stay down here, when Logan might
return to the party at any moment, that was for sure. She simply couldn't face
him again so soon after what had happened outside on the terrace. But
neither did she want to upset her father or Meg by retiring early.
Surprisingly, it was Hugh McDonald who came to herrescue, standing up to
announce it was almost midnight, that he was going to have the last waltz
with the most beautiful woman in the room, and then it was time they all
went to their beds or their homes.
Although Darcy wasn't so sure she had been rescued at all when his choice
of the most beautiful woman in the room turned out to be her, suddenly
finding herself swung expertly into his arms as the band began to play!
