Danny screamed, yanking his hair until he raised his head. “What in the bleedin’ ’ell did you do that for?”

Jeremy was staring down at her as if she’d lost her mind, but then he smiled gently. “Danny…luv,” he started to explain, but broke off to kiss her instead, deeply, with the same passion he’d bestowed on her earlier.

Did he think that would mollify her? Well, itdid distract her.

“That wasn’t part of lovemaking, other than the first time,” he continued. “An initiation as it were. But it’s never going to hurt you again. Really it isn’t.” And then he sobered and demanded, “And how is it that you were still a virgin?”

“What was I supposed to be, when I’ve been a lad all these years?”

“Well, I thought—never mind.” His expression turned infinitely tender. “I’m rather glad you were.”

“Am,” she corrected.

“Were,”he stressed with a slight cringe, as if expecting another clobbering.

And she did explode, eyes wide. “You bleedin’ bastard, you’ve turned me into a whore!”

“Good God, where’d you get that ridiculous notion? You can’t be a whore if you only make love with one man. That’s about as far from whoredom as you can get—well, other than remaining a virgin, which is moot now.”

“Then what am I?”

“M’dear, you are the sweetest thing this side of creation.” He bent to lick her nipple. “Beautiful beyond compare,” he added before he went on to lick and suck her other nipple. “And the only thing you should be worrying about is how often we can do this.”

He leaned up and grinned at her again. Danny had drawn in her breath, fighting the urge to pull him back to her breast. He didn’t understand what he’d done to her. He figured it was a trifling thing, this initiation as he called it. For him it was. For her it was utterly earth-shattering.

“Ye don’t get it, mate, but I wouldn’t expect ye to. Now let me up.”

He didn’t move other than to caress her cheek with his finger. “You know you’ve loved everything we’ve been doing.Why would you want to deny yourself such pleasure. It gets better, you know. You may depend upon it.”

“I don’t doubt that a’ tall,” she replied with a sigh. “But I might be able to salvage this if Idon’t find out just how much better.”

“You havegot to be joking. The damage is done, Danny. Let me prove it to you, that it was more’n worth it. You could be wrong, you know. Whatever it is you’re thinking, you could be absolutely wrong. And then you will have missed out on this.”

He moved inside her, showing her what “this” was. Oh, God, the heat came back so swiftly, it spread clear to her toes. No trace of pain was left, just the deepest, most delicious pleasure. He continued to move in her, must have thought she didn’t get the point. She’d stop him in a moment, just another moment. But before she knew it she was moving with him, and then it was too late. It came upon her suddenly, bloomed up, had her gripping him to her for dear life, then oh, God, the most sublime feeling burst and spread, lingering deliciously as he continued to drive his point home.

She didn’t want to let him go. Even when it seemed that he’d found his own pleasure, she didn’t want to lose the least bit of contact with him. He answered her wish in his own way, moving off her, but pulling her back into his arms.

Wisely, he didn’t say a word, didn’t gloat that he’d been right, didn’t do anything but hold her close and caress her back gently. He did sigh in contentment. She couldn’t miss that. Then he fell asleep.

She wished she could do the same. She wished he hadn’t been right. But more than that, she wished she hadn’t been right either.

Chapter 31

DANNY WOKE BY SLOW DEGREES, a luxury she hadn’t experienced for quite a while. She was probably late for work. She wondered if Claire had been looking for her when she’d gotten no response from her room. Did the rest of the staff know where she’d spent the last night? Maybe not. Maybe they assumed she’d spent the night at the Eden household again, since they hadn’t seen her since she went off with Regina.

She was holding at bay what she felt about last night. It wasn’t easy when she was still in Jeremy’s bed. He’d probably sleep the morning away. He usually did. It wouldn’t be that hard to sneak out of there without waking him.

But she didn’t move yet. She felt more relaxed than she’d ever been, with the oddest feeling of contentment, which she wanted to savor just a little while more. Which was crazy. Her world had been turned upside down. She should be frantic, at the very least furious. She was neither.

She couldn’t blame Jeremy for what had happened. He’d been trying to get her in his bed since she’d started working for him. He’d made no pretense about it. She couldn’t blame the champagne, either, when the pain he’d dealt her had sobered her quickly. She could blame herself, but for what? Wanting him so much that she just didn’t want to fight it anymore?

And, oh, God, making love with him had been so nice, even nicer than she’d imagined it would be. She’d worried that it would be added to her small list of cravings. She’d been absolutely right. It was going to be an irresistible craving now—with him.

Ah, well. She wasn’t one to cry over her lot or endlessly bemoan her mistakes. She’d have to find another job, though. Jeremy would only have to look at her now and she’d probably lead him to the nearest bed.

“You aren’t pretending to be asleep, are you, when I know you’re not?”

Danny opened her eyes to find that he was lying on his side next to her, elbow bent, head resting on his hand, grinning at her. She hadn’t felt him move into that position and realized he must have been watching her before she woke.

She wished she’d thought of that. Staring at him at her leisure would have been quite pleasant. Just looking at him now was rather thrilling, considering he was still na**d and covered only to his waist. She knew now that his skin was smooth and tight over thick muscles. His hair was mussed—God, he was so damn sexy when it was. One lock had fallen half over his eye, making her want to push it back.

“A bit early for you to have your eyes open, ain’t it, mate?”

“When I knew, at least hoped, that you’d still be here? Barely slept a wink.”

She laughed. She loved his humor. And there was no longer any reason to restrain her own. He seemed surprised, though, by her agreeable mood.

His grin widened. He even said, “No wonder you got away with a boy’s disguise so long. You snore!”

She blinked at him and then snorted. “What a rotten thing to say.”

“You think so? I thought it was better than mentioning how much I loved making love to you. Wasn’t sure you wanted to hear that just yet.”

“I don’t,” she agreed, then added lightly, “I should sock you.”

“Yes, I suppose you should.” He sighed. “I’d let you again, too, if you feel you must.”

“Let me?” she asked incredulously as she sat up.

He grinned again, but she had the feeling he hadn’t been joking. And his gaze had moved down to her br**sts when she sat up. It didn’t cause her to blush, but it did remind her that she should be getting dressed and out of there.

With that thought in mind, she left the bed. He didn’t try to stop her, probably because he was too busy staring at her body. She found her underclothes where he’d dropped them and began putting them on, then the beautiful ball gown. She wasn’t going to have him fasten it, when she’d just need someone else to undo it again when she got downstairs. So she went into his dressing room and grabbed one of his coats.

“I’ll be borrowing this long enough to get down to my room,” she said as she came back out, stuffing her arms in the sleeves.

Amazing how big that coat was on her. Jeremy didn’t seemthat big, yet obviously he was. And glancing at him now, with his bare chest above the cover, she could see that he really was broader of chest than he seemed when dressed. It shouldn’t have surprised her. She was used to having clothes conceal her own shape.

He was also looking damn pleased with himself. Well, why not? He’d gotten what he’d been after. And it hadn’t changedhis life any. It appeared that the woman got the short end of the deal, in the matter of “first times.” Not bleeding fair, she was thinking.

Which was why she gave him a sour look when she asked, “Did you get me foxed last night just so you could bed me?”

“No, you managed that on your own if you’ll recall, though if Ihad thought of it, I probably would have. By the by, you don’t have to work anymore. You can stay here, do as you like, spend your time as you please—as long as you spend some of it with me. Or if you’d prefer to have your own residence, that will work just as well. Someplace close by where I can visit.”

“And you’d pay for it?”

“Of course.”

“What would you prefer?

“I’d prefer you never leave this bed.”

She had a feeling he was serious. And he was talking about making her a mistress. She should be pleased. Lucy would jump at a chance like that and worship the bloke who offered it. She would be thrilled to service one man exclusively. But Danny didn’t see it that way, found it about as distasteful as going out and selling her body for coins on the street.

She didn’t tell Jeremy that. She wasn’t even going to tell him she was leaving. Just pack up her things, grab her pet, and take off was the smartest way to go about it. She didn’t want to have to explain why or risk the chance that he would talk her out of it. She didn’t really want to go, after all, now that she craved him. She was going to be miserable, working somewhere else.

She moved over to the bed, nudged it with her knee. “Never leaving this is unrealistic, mate.”

“Not a’tall!” he disagreed, then frowned a bit suspiciously as he pointed out, “You’re being awful calm about this, after the fuss you made about it previously. Realized the objections you had, whatever they were, were silly, did you?”

“Not silly. But I understand why you don’t get it.”

“Then why don’t you explain it to me.”

“I’d rather not. You wouldn’t understand, when you can’t even figure out how you’ve turned me into a whore.”

He sighed. “There’s that word again. Do I need to find you a dictionary?”

“That I can’t read? Sure, that would be real helpful.”

He grinned at her sarcasm. “Why do I get the feeling that you equatewhore withprostitution? Yet neither would apply to you. We made love. It was the most incredible experience of my life, I don’t mind telling you. A whore spreads herself around, mainly, because she enjoys the variety.”

“Sort o’ like you?”

He coughed. “If you insist, though there’s another word for it when it applies to a man. But in either case, no money exchanges hands. Now come here.” He patted the bed next to him. “Let’s greet the morning properly.”

She almost laughed. It took every ounce of will she had not to crawl back into bed with him just then, to shake her head instead.

“Why not?” he asked simply.

Why not? Because to do so would be to completely give in and not have any will left of her own. But she wasn’t going to admit that she craved him as much as she did. With him looking so damned sensual lying there, she wanted to be kissing him, not arguing with him. She liked him too much, that was the problem. But the damage was done, so why couldn’t she enjoy him for just a little while? Not for long, a few weeks, maybe a month, at least until he lost interest in her.

“I was going to leave,” she told him. “I still should. Playing with temptation once was one time too many. But I’ll stay for now. Just don’t be tempting me every time I turn around. And I’ll be keeping m’job, thank you. Doing nothing means you’re paying my way, which means you’re paying for bedding me. Don’t try to deny it. I don’t pay you for it and you don’t pay me for it. Got that, mate?”

On her way out the door, she realized that Jeremy hadn’t had to talk her into staying. She’d done that just fine on her own.

Chapter 32

DANNY WAS CLEANINGthe parlor when Jason Malory, the Marquis of Haverston and the head of the entire Malory clan, arrived later that week. She shouldn’t have been there to run into him. A downstairs maid had finally been hired yesterday whoshould have been there. But the new girl had been insulted by the new butler Henry and had quit in a huff barely four hours after she started.

Henry was actually one of two new butlers at the house. A Frenchman who tried to speak English, he was really quite funny. But the new maid hadn’t thought so. He swore he’d only tried to compliment her. She must not have understood English with a French accent.

Henry had shown up first, then the very next day, his friend Artie had arrived to do the butlering. They were actually going to share the job, had apparently been sharing it for years at James Malory’s house. They were both old sea dogs who used to sail under James when he captained his own ship. When he gave up sailing, they elected to stay with him. But since he didn’t have enough jobs to go around, they’d agreed to share the butler’s job.

What they hadn’t done was actually learn how to properly butler. They figured they did just fine at it, but Claire had been complaining about their rudeness, and even Mrs. Robertson had been heard to mumble a bit under her breath about their unorthodox approach to the job.