Claude heard what Evelina said, and shook his head. She had the nerve to lie about the gown, and now she was telling him to call her Lady. He didn’t like the games she played. He stormed over to her and was about to reprimand her until the scent of fresh rosewater drifted up from her body, filling his senses and about driving him mad with desire.

“Don’t play games with me, Evie,” he told her, reaching out and lifting her chin with two fingers.

“I am not playing games,” she told him. “Lady Rose told me to buy a gown for myself.”

“Take it off. You can’t wear the gown of a lady. Take it off now!”

Lightning flashed through the crack of the shutter and the rain pelted against it in the wind, making a loud hammering noise. Then the wind whistled through the shutter, blowing it open.

“God’s eyes, enough with this storm.” Claude hurried over and secured the shutter, feeling his body shake because of the storm. It was a storm just like this that frightened him as a child. It was the night his grandfather took his own life and Claude had almost lost his life, and so had his father. It brought back horrible memories of his father’s castle falling into the sea. Even to this day, he couldn’t get the terrifying images out of his mind.

“You’re shaking,” said Evelina, coming up behind him and placing her warm hand on his shoulder. He was faced toward the window and didn’t turn around. “What’s wrong, Claude? What has you so frightened? Is it the storm?”

It wasn’t only the storm that frightened him. His desire for wanting a forbidden woman was scaring him as well. “I want you, Evelina,” he spoke into the shutter rather than to turn and have to face her.

“What did you say?”

“You heard me. Don’t ask me to repeat it.”

“I want you, too, Claude.”

He thought he’d heard her wrong, but when he turned around to face her, she was staring at him with want in her eyes.

“You asked me what scares me, well I’ll tell you. You scare me.”

“Me?” she giggled, filling the room with the sweet sound of her voice. “I am not going to slap you again if you try to kiss me, if that is what you are thinking.”

That was all he had to hear. He lifted her chin and leaned forward, kissing her full lips. He was already becoming heady. To him, she tasted like sweet ambrosia, the nectar of the gods, and he couldn’t get his fill. This wasn’t right. He had too many feelings for her that were more than lust, so he should just stop now. He envisioned them married with children, living in Stonebury Castle back in France, and shook his head to make the thought go away.

She tried to kiss him again, but he pulled back.

“Claude? What’s the matter? Didn’t you like the kiss?”

“Too much,” he told her, letting out a sigh. “Evie, I can’t do this right now.”

“Why not?” Her brows dipped in disappointment. “Is it because you are still in love with Rose and refuse to accept that she is happily married to Toft? You need to let go of her, Claude. You are not children anymore. Rose is happy. Now, you need to be happy as well. If you don’t release the past, you will never find happiness in the future. These thoughts will haunt you for the rest of your life.”

Claude realized she was right. He had been holding on to the hope that someday he could be with Rose. But Rose told him they were just friends. Who was he to try to steal her happiness only to gain his? And would he even be happy if he did end up marrying Rose? Or would she consider him a friend and nothing more? He didn’t want to waste his life mourning over what he could not have. He needed to love a woman – but one who was not forbidden to him.

“You are right,” he told her. “I have been lying to myself, thinking I was still in love with Rose but, actually, I don’t think I am.”

“There is no shame in going after what you want,” she told him. “Just be sure it is really what you want because you might end up getting it.”

“I want you, Evelina,” he told her again, pulling her into his embrace, and kissing the top of her head. He rubbed his cheek against her soft, silken hair and groaned. The scent of rosewater filled his senses, bringing his lust to life. “I want you, but I don’t want you to play games with me anymore.”

“I – I don’t know what you mean.”

He buried his nose against her neck, kissing her and using his tongue to taste her skin. She smelled fresh from her bath. It made him want to explore her body further.

“You do know what I mean. You’ve been lying to me, and I won’t take it anymore.”

“That’s what I am trying to tell you, Claude. I don’t want to lie to you anymore.”

“I won’t have you wearing the gown of a lady because it makes me want you even more.”

“It does?” she asked.

“Remove it,” he told her.

“I need to talk to you first, Claude.”

“Either you remove it or I’ll rip it off. But when I make love to you, I promise you it will be real and not pretend.”

Evelina’s jaw dropped. Did he just say he was going to make love to her? She should have tried harder to tell him she was a lady, but when he reached for her gown, she had to act quickly. “Please, don’t rip the gown,” she told him, liking it too much to see it ruined. “I will remove it, if that is what you want.”

His eyes fastened to her as she slipped the gown down her shoulders and dropped it. It fell into a purple pool of velvet around her feet.

“My God, you are beautiful,” he whispered, causing her to forget what she wanted to say. The firelight filled the room with an orange glow, and the sound of the snapping logs on the fire added romance to his seductive stare.

“Will you make love to me, Evie?”

Her body trembled at his request. She wanted this more than she had ever wanted anything in her entire life.

“Don’t you want to know who I really am first?” she asked in a whisper, wanting to tell him but not wanting to ruin the moment.

“Nay. I don’t want to talk about lies at this moment. I don’t want to hear anything that will make me want to stop from giving you pleasure as you’ve never felt before.”

It was a promise she wanted him to keep. The heat of desire spiraled through her. She wanted – needed to know how it felt to make love to Sir Claude Montague if it was the last thing she ever did in her life.

She nodded slowly. “I would like that, my lord.”

His hands grabbed for his waist and, in one motion, he’d unfastened his weapon belt and laid it on the floor. Then he kicked off his shoes and removed his doublet and tunic. “Come to me, Evelina,” he said, holding out his hand.

If there was a voice in her head warning her not to do this, she didn’t hear it over the loud pounding of her heart reverberating in her ears. She flung herself into his embrace. Claude smothered her with hungry kisses, sweeping her off her feet.

She wrapped her legs around his waist, kissing him long and hard. This felt right. She was safe and protected in his strong arms. And when he slipped his tongue into her mouth, she felt a tingling between her thighs. His hardened form pressed up against her womanhood right through their clothes.

He fell to the pallet with her atop him, cradling her in his arms. Pushing her shift up and over her head, it left her bare breasts exposed. “You are even lovelier than I’d envisioned,” he said, staring at her breasts. Bringing his mouth to one nipple, he used his tongue and lips to bring her to a rigid peak.

“Oh, Claude,” she cried out, arching her back, feeling so wanton. Like a dirty little secret, acting this way only excited her, making her want him even more. His hands slid down her back, slipping under the top of her braies. His nimble fingers quickly untied them, and he pushed them down her legs, filling his hands with her rounded cheeks.

“God’s eyes, Evie, you are perfect.”

The sound of their heavy breathing filled the room. Evelina felt so hot she thought she was going to combust. Hurriedly slipping her hands around him, she managed to remove his braies as well.

The sight of his engorged manhood made her gasp. Shadows from the firelight danced on his body, and all she could think of was that he was the man she wanted in her life. He was the man she chose to marry and spend the rest of her life with from now on.

“Take me, Claude,” she begged him. “Make me feel the pleasure you promised and do not stop until I cry out in ecstasy.”

That turned his gentle touch to one of urgent, needed passion. He flipped her onto her back, bringing one leg around her, pressing his erection into her and making her cry out in need. As he leaned over, kissing her, his hand slid down her stomach ever so slowly. His fingers found and played with her nether hair and then he slipped one finger between her womanly folds.

“Oh, Claude,” she moaned, lifting her hips to help his finger slide in and out guided by her liquid passion. Her breasts ached to have him suckle her again, so she pulled him to her and thrust her breast into his mouth.

His fingers moved faster as he suckled her nipple, bringing her closer and closer to reaching completion. And then he pulled back, spreading her legs apart, slipping in between them, watching her with hooded eyes.

“I don’t want to hurt you.”

“You could never hurt me, Claude. I am ready for you so please don’t deny me what I have waited for my entire life.”

He slid his weapon of love into her, filling her completely like a sword slipping into a sheath. She heard him moan. When she looked at him, his eyes were closed, and his mouth was partially open. Evelina watched the rise and fall of her breasts as she tried to catch her breath.

Claude moved his hips slowly at first, sliding in and out teasingly, making her want to scream.

“No more teasing, Claude. I need you now. I am so close to my release.”

His actions quickened. He thrust into her again and again, faster and faster as she lifted her hips to welcome him.

She couldn’t get enough of him. She met him over and over in the throes of passion, feeling the vibrations of love bringing her to a precipice that she had never climbed before. Then Claude released his seed with a shout, and the excitement of it brought her to climax as well.

She had never felt so hot in her entire life. Neither had she ever felt so sated and satisfied as she did now.

Claude collapsed next to her on the pallet, holding her up against his chest and kissing her behind the ear.

“That was beyond words,” she told him.

“You are the girl I have been waiting for my entire life,” said Claude.

“Really?” Her heart beat faster. Mayhap, she had found a husband and wouldn’t have to marry the wretched Lord Onfroi after all.

“I think I am falling in love with you, Evelina.” His eyes closed partially, and he looked drained. “Why do I always fall in love with the wrong women?”

“Wrong?” She didn’t understand. “What do you mean?”

“You know we can’t be together forever because I am a noble and you – you are forbidden to me.”

That was it. The time had come when she could finally tell him she was a lady and that they could be together after all. “It’s not true,” she said, staring at the ceiling. Claude’s actions stilled, and his breathing slowed. “I tried to tell you before when I wore the gown, but you didn’t give me a chance.” He said nothing, and so she continued. “Claude, my real name is Lady Evelina du Pont. I am from the southern regions of France near Toulouse. My father is a count, and I ran away because I was betrothed to a man I didn’t want to marry. But now that I found you, we can be married. I will talk to my father and convince him to break the betrothal. I love you, Claude and I want to be together forever. Don’t you want that, too?”

He didn’t answer. She started wondering if she’d divulged too much information too soon. Perhaps, she should have sprinkled in the truth little by little until he could accept it.

“Claude? Please don’t be angry.” Still, he didn’t answer. “Claude?” She sat up to look at him just as he released a loud snore. He was sound asleep and hadn’t heard a word she said.

Rain pounded down on the roof, and the winds continued to whistle through the cracks in the walls. The heat that had encompassed her suddenly left. Now, she felt chilled and frightened. What if Claude didn’t want to marry her, even if he knew she was a lady? She hadn’t considered that. If he turned her away, then she had doomed herself by giving her virginity to a man she couldn’t have.

No man would want her if she weren’t a virgin. And when her father found out that she’d acted like a strumpet instead of a lady, he would be so angry with her that he would probably put her in a nunnery for the rest of her life.

A tear dripped from her eye as thoughts filled her head that there was a life worse than marrying just for alliances. If she were in a convent, she would never feel love between her and a man ever again. Then again, if Claude turned her away, she wasn’t sure she would ever want another man, because he was the one she loved.