“And you began to scheme,” she said breathlessly. “I watched as you went to your carriage, and I thought you were the loveliest thing I had ever seen.” He pressed a kiss to her shoulder, his tongue touching the fragile curve, and Holly trembled. “I never recovered from my first glance at you, at the Bellemont ball.” “You saw me then? But it was dark outside.” “I followed you after I kissed you in the conservatory.” He pushed her to her back, his gaze sweeping over her naked body. “You're the beautiful one.” His hands moved gently over her back and hips, savoring the texture of her skin. “Oh, Zachary, you're such a beautiful man.” She gathered herself against the wonderful wealth of hair on his chest, playing with the dark curls, brushing her mouth and fingers through them. Clearly Ravenhill was the right choice, the only choice, if she wanted a life similar to the one she'd had with George.” What must Holly think when she compared him to her saintly husband? Zachary was a scoundrel, an opportunist, a rough-mannered scavenger-the definitive opposite of a gentleman. The very idea would have made most people laugh. He wanted her to love him as willingly and joyously as she had loved George. But he wouldn't do that to her, or to himself. What tormented him the most was the suspicion that he might actually still be able to obtain her, if he bullied and tormented and bribed her into it. He should never have let himself want a woman who was clearly not meant for him.

Zachary knew he had been guilty of hubris, and now he was paying the price. In the nonsensical stories that Holly read aloud some evenings about Greeks and their amorous, carelessly cruel gods, mortals were always punished for reaching too high.

Most of all he wanted to laugh at himself for being a big sodding fool. It made him feel vicious and a bit crazed. But he'd never been truly vanquished, never known a real loss. He'd tolerated it in small doses, perhaps, always knowing that in the larger scheme of things, he would have what he wanted. OL4331839W Page_number_confidence 95.88 Pages 390 Partner Innodata Ppi 300 Rcs_key 24143 Republisher_date 20200827161127 Republisher_operator Republisher_time 989 Scandate 20200820070552 Scanner Scanningcenter cebu Scribe3_search_catalog isbn Scribe3_search_id 9780380802319 Tts_version 4.“Zachary had never accepted defeat before.

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Where dreams begin by lisa kleypas