His mouth tightened. Ten years ago, he had not approved of or understood Emma’s affection and friendship for the gawky English girl she had only known for less than a year and had absolutely refused to allow his sister to complete her education in England so that she could remain in England with her new friend. Emma had eventually complied with his decision, of course, and instead continued the friendship by telephone and letter.
Then, at the age of eighteen, a much more stubbornly determined Emma informed him that she intended to attend an English university, and she had instantly met up with Helena Bosch again. If anything, the friendship between the two women had become all the stronger as they had matured.
Admittedly, Helena had grown into a confident woman of passable beauty, and Emma reported that she was very successful as an interior designer, but Bryan still did not approve of her as a friend for his young sister. Even less so after Helena's brief marria
‘You aren’t supposed to know it’s me.’ Helena frowned behind her mask.‘We discussed these dresses once—don’t you remember?’ her friend said as Helena moved to kiss a Duke-of-Wellington-costumed Byron.As it happened, Helena did remember the time she and Emma had lain under an oak tree in the school grounds, waxing lyrical about how romantic it must have been to live in the seventeenth century with all those manly heroes from the historical novels they’d devoured. Until they had remembered that there had been no plumbing for instant hot baths in those times, nor the convenience of the telephone!But like Emma, Helena hadn’t been able to resist wearing a beautiful gown in the style of that century this evening.‘You both look very beautiful,’ Byron told them gallantly.He was nothing like those dark, almost satanic heroes Helena and Emma had once drooled over, with his hair a golden blond and his eyes blue, but there was no doubting the happiness of Emma and Byron’s marriage, which Hel
Would she? The idea certainly had its appeal. But who was this man? The dark hair, swarthy skin and slight accent gave no clue other than that he was probably a Smith relative. What if he should turn out—horror of horrors!—to be Bryan Smith himself?It would be just her luck, when they all removed their masks at midnight, to discover she had spent the evening flirting with Bryan!No, she realised with some relief as she glanced briefly across at the other Smith men. They had just been joined by a sixth man, even taller than they were and dressed very lavishly, and his regal air of arrogance was unmistakably that of Emma’s brother.Helena relaxed slightly as she turned back to the pirate at her side. ‘And what do I call you?’‘What would you like to call me?’ he countered.Helena felt a quiver of excitement down her spine as her body was suffused with a heat that was in no way connected to the warmth of this beautiful summer evening.This really was a seductive experience, she thought.
‘I think perhaps we should go somewhere a little more—private. Do you agree?’ he murmured ruefully.She hesitated only fractionally before giving an affirmative nod of her head.Bryan moved back slightly, his hand sliding caressingly down her arm before he laced his fingers with her much smaller ones, only lingering long enough to once more kiss her hungrily on the lips before he turned to guide her towards the relative privacy of his sister’s home.Helena felt slightly dazed by the intensity of her arousal, was beyond thought, beyond anything but being the focus of this man’s single-minded desire.She wanted to be naked with him, wanted to touch and caress the broadness of his muscled back, ached to feel all that nakedness against her own. There would be plenty of time tomorrow, all her tomorrows, to be the much more cautious and emotionally bruised Helena Botch.On paper she was a twenty-four-year-old divorcee. But t
She breathed shallowly as she lowered her arms to allow the gown to fall shimmering to the floor. She slipped her feet out of the gold slippers and dispensed with the cumbersome hoops to stand before him wearing only the tight corset with matching cream silk French knickers.‘No, leave it,’ he growled throatily as Helena would have reached up to undo the twenty or so hooks down the front of the corset. His gaze was intent on her masked face as he threw off his waistcoat and the black sash before moving to stand in front of her. ‘I have always wondered what it would be like to remove one of these,’ he admitted. ‘I am going to very much enjoy finding out.’ His accent had thickened in his deepening desire.Helena hoped that it felt as sensually arousing to him as it did to her as he slowly undid the hooks, one by one, as he savoured the moment her breasts were free and he could brush his fingers lightly over their pouting tips. Helena's breath caught in her throat as he lightly caressed
Her skin was like velvet, and she groaned her pleasure at each stroke of his hand, that groan becoming a soft mewling noise as he moved lower still, seeking and finding the hardened nub between those silken curls to roll his tongue against it slowly, rhythmically, caressingly.Helena felt boneless as waves of pleasure washed up and through her, turning to rigid tension as she felt another climax rapidly approaching.It was too much—She couldn’t—‘Please,’ she whispered. ‘I want—I need—’‘Tell me what you need and want, my beautiful lady,’ he encouraged gruffly.‘You,’ she gasped, reaching down for him, fingernails digging into those broad shoulders. ‘I need you!’‘Then you shall have me,’ Bryan assured her, moving up and over her. ‘All of me.’He gave a primeval groan as he entered her and buried himself inside her
Hayden Landon felt great, and he had every reason to. This September, he would begin his final year of college, and he already had a full-time job in his area. There weren't many jobs available in his specialty (American History, Museum Studies), but he found one with respectable beginning pay and opportunities for promotion. His baseball season was going well. Even though he wasn't going anywhere professionally, he enjoyed doing well in the summer league. Aside from after college, it's most likely the beer and pretzel softball league. Hayden smiled as he drove along the interstate. Yes, everything was going fine.One other thing: Hayden was in love. Not that brief moment of intense feeling or that line used by every guy who wanted to get laid. No, this was the real thing. On this hot July 4th weekend, he was going to make his feelings known.Hayden had met Abigail during their sophomore year. They were taking the same US history course. As an education major, she had to, and he did b
Joey offered Hayden a beer, and they walked towards the cooler. They found as they walked that they shared a common love, baseball, and so got quite involved in a discussion of it. They walked around the grounds, talking, and ended up at the horseshoe game. It seemed to draw quite a crowd. Abigail's dad and some other guy were trash talking as they beat all the challengers.Hayden asked, "Who's that?""That's Ranger. He just became a lawyer and is an up-and-coming guy in politics. One of dad's favorites," Joey replied with an air of disgust. "Dated Abigail in high school even though he's older than her. I think more for a connection than anything else. If Dad had his way, he would still be dating her."With that comment, Hayden said, "Whaaat! You can't be serious?""I am. Watch out. He's a real asshole!"The game just ended with another win by Ranger and Dad."All right, who's next for a beatdown? "yelled Ranger. "Come on, candy-asses!"All the good old boys laughed, but no one steppe
Hayden was speechless. Suddenly, he couldn't find the words to express the way he felt. Emelyn sensed his uneasiness and changed the subject. "Are you staying the night? It is a long ride for you to go home, isn't it? How long is it?""It's 4 hours, and I wasn't planning on staying," replied Hayden."Nonsense! You'll stay the night. We'll fix up the extra room. No arguments."Jessica came by just as the decision was made. She was saying her good-byes. Her daughter Lindsay was getting tired, and they wanted to get home. Jessica had heard that they had just issued a severe thunderstorm warning, and she didn't want to get caught in it. Off to the west, you see thunderstorm clouds building.Hayden rose to say good-bye. "Sorry, I didn't meet your husband. Was he here?"Emelyn stifled a cough. "He never comes," replied Jessica. "She doesn't like big gatherings and is too busy with work." With that, she gave Hayden a big hug and a kiss on the cheek. "I have never seen Abigail so happy. You'r