Excerpt of Ruthless Charmer by Julia London

Claudia realized they had come to halt at the edge of the terrace. "What I am trying to say" -she closed her eyes for a moment, tried to concentrate- "is that I have known what you are for years now."

He dropped her hand, folded his arms across his chest as his eyes narrowed with obvious displeasure. "You have known what I am for years now." It was a statement of incredulity, not a question.

"Ah... yes," she said, sounding terribly unsure.

"And that would be?"

Now was hardly the time to dissemble, she thought wildly and muttered, "A rake."

The expression in his eyes darkened. An absurd sense of panic welled up in her.

"A word, madam," he growled, and snatched her wrist, dragging her across the terrace, down into the garden, marching along at quite a clip toward the hothouse in the corner of the grounds. Claudia moved almost unconsciously, her thoughts a whirlwind of confusion, her heart warring mightily with what was left of her good sense.

Halfway there, he seemed to think better of dragging her and hauled her into his side, clamping an iron arm around her waist and steering her onward. "I've come to the conclusion that you are not only the Demon's Spawn, you are also woefully ignorant of men. And let me just add that this discovery is rather astonishing, what with the way you topple men over like chess pieces everywhere you go."

"What?" she gasped as he reached for the door of the hothouse and pushed it open. "I don't topple them!"

"The bloody hell you don't," he said, and pushed her across the threshold of the hothouse, following right behind. "I could list them all if you'd like," he continued sharply as he rooted around a table, producing a candle. Lighting it, he swung the door shut with his foot and held the candle high. "Benjamin Sommer, Daniel Brantley, Maurice Terling, Colin Enderby-"

"Oh!" she fairly shrieked, insulted that among the list of suitors was the invidious Baron Enderby. "Colin Enderby has never darkened my door, and if he ever does, Randall is quite clear that he is to shoot upon sight!"

Julian paused to place the candle on a workbench. "I beg your pardon, Lady Claudia," he said, dipping into a mocking bow, "I surely meant to say the Duke of Gillingham. Or the Marquess of Braybrook. Or the Marquess of-"

"All right!" Claudia snapped, and pressed her forehead into her palm. "Honestly, I don't know the point of all this!"

"The point," he said, his voice noticeably softer, "is that I confess that I can't get you out of my mind, and you respond with some perceived cut from a half dozen years ago. You think that makes me a rake, and I think you haven't the slightest idea of what a rake is."

"I know what a rake is," she said slowly. "I know what you and Phillip used to do. I know where you went..." Her throat felt thick; she didn't want to think of Phillip now.

Julian said nothing for a long moment. "I hope to God that isn't entirely true," he muttered.

So did she.

"But it doesn't change anything," he said, the gravel crunching beneath his shoes as he moved toward her. She looked up when he reached her; he took her hand and folded it into his. "It surely doesn't change the fact that I can't get you out of my mind," he said, reaching for her temple to brush his knuckles into her hair. "When the sun comes up, I think of you. When it sets, I think of you, and every moment in between, it seems."

Not only was that absurdly sentimental, but it made her heart race erratically. It was racing so badly that she feared it would fail her. His fingers twined in a strand of lose hair, untangled it from her earring, then trailed down her neck, to her shoulder, gently caressing her skin. "When you walk into a room, everything else ceases to exist for me. I think about how you would feel in my arms or lying beneath me," he added quietly. "I think about how you would feel if I were deep inside you and your body surrounded me."

All right, she was going to faint. "I d-don't believe you," she stammered thickly.

He said nothing, let his gaze scorch her with it's intensity. His hand slipped around the nape of her neck and he gently pulled her forward. Oh no. He was going to kiss her and make her mad with longing all over again. She didn't want that... oh yes, she did! She wanted it with every fiber of her being; wanted it as badly as if it were the air she needed to breathe.

"You are afraid to believe me," he softly corrected her, and his other hand slipped around her back, urging her into his chest. Julian trailed the pad of his thumb across her lips. "You are afraid of me."

She was afraid, all right. Of the dark glint in his eyes, the seductive set of his mouth. Of the whispered words that captivated her, suspending her between wild desire and reality. Something in her womb fluttered, a rush of breath escaped her. Julian ran a thumb across her lips, and as if in a dream, she watched as he lowered his head to hers, quailing only when his lips brushed softly across hers. Her lids fluttered shut, and she at once felt outside of herself, almost as if someone else was experiencing the tender pressure of his mouth and tongue.

What was she doing? Her mind screamed to stop, knowing that his kiss could melt all of her defenses, knowing that it was nothing more than play to him. Yet her heart had raced too far, her body simmered beneath his hands and she instinctively feared that it would take a team of four to pull her away from him now.

His hands came up and cupped her face, barely touching her, yet sending a thousand tiny bolts of electricity through her. He drew her lips between his teeth one at a time, tasting and shaping them to his will. With his tongue, he probed deeply, swirling over her teeth and gums while his hands trailed to her ears, her neck, and her shoulders. She had the strong sensation of drifting, and he must have thought so, too, because he slipped one arm around her waist, anchoring her to him.

This was insanity! It was madness that allowed him to use her, madness that allowed him to charm her into this! But when he deepened the kiss, Claudia boldly pushed her tongue forward to explore his mouth. It was wonderfully erotic, the taste of champagne on his breath, the feel of his teeth and his tongue twining with hers. With the tips of her fingers, she felt the cut of his thick sideburns against his skin, the tender spot of his temple, the satin feel of his hair. She had never kissed like this, never experienced such a swell of pleasure as this...

Julian suddenly wrapped his arms around her and hauled her into his chest, pressing her tightly against him as he surged into her mouth. His arousal pressed hard and long against her belly, and when he lifted her onto the workbench, against the apex of her thighs. Fascinated - provoked - she moved against the hardness, wanting to feel it through her skirts.

With a moan deep in his throat, Julian suddenly toppled her onto her back on top of the workbench and covered her.

One hand spanned the whole of her ribcage, moving upward until it rested against the side of her breast. With the heel of his hand, he pressed against it while his mouth moved over hers, filling her with his tongue and his breath and his passion.

The prurient sensations unfurling in her body numbed her mind to everything, including her conscience. Claudia's hands tangled urgently in his hair, then fell to his shoulders to feel the muscles there and in his back contract with his movement. His hand pressed more firmly against her breast; his thumb flicked across the hardened peak pressing against her gown, and another, violent shudder rifled through her.

Julian lifted his head, sucking his breath. "You are right to fear me," he gasped. "I fear myself - I want to touch all of you, every inch of you." His lips skimmed the column of her neck as his hand cupped her breast, squeezing gently, fitting it to his palm.

She wanted him to touch every inch of her, and it scared her. "I fear myself more," she exclaimed hoarsely, and pushed against his chest. "I don't know why I allow you to seduce me like this!"

"Seduce you? Darling, you seduce me, with your eyes and your mouth and your voice," he murmured hoarsely. "Can't you believe that I want you? Can't you feel that I do?"

Oh, she could feel it, deep inside her, tingling in the pit of her belly. "I know what you are doing, Julian. You are toying with me -"

"Not with you, Claudia. Never with you," he whispered earnestly, and continued his gentle assault of all her senses. Her body was giving way to him even though her heart knew it was a tryst, a meaningless dalliance. She closed her eyes, allowing herself to drift even further down this course with him, instinctively knowing she had passed the point of return and that she couldn't stop this now, that she didn't want it to stop. Her body burned everywhere he touched her-and when he reached inside her gown and freed her breast from her camisole and bodice, she felt herself slide even deeper into a fog of pure, undiluted pleasure. Her breast swelled in his hand; his fingers massaged the tender flesh that had never been touched by another living soul, sending waves of desire crashing through her.

But when his lips closed around her, the desire spiraled out of control, drawing from a well between her legs and pulsing to the breast that he suckled. He snaked one arm behind her back and lifted her to his mouth. Claudia's arms entwined above her head; pots and trowels crashed to the gravel below them. She felt herself surging upward as the desire she was feeling built to an intolerable pitch, its pressure both sharp and pleasurable -

"Oh my God!"

A woman's voice, an intruder, shattered the passion that surrounded them and Claudia suddenly could not breathe.