Chapter 4

The heavy oak doors of the private library nook clicked shut, sealing us away from the muffled thrum of the remaining celebration. The air inside was cool, scented with old leather, beeswax, and the faint, lingering sweetness of expensive champagne that had been dragged out earlier. Outside, the ballroom lights had dimmed to a low, romantic amber, leaving the few stragglers to dance slowly under the crystal chandeliers, but here in the alcove, it was just us and the shadows. I leaned back against the heavy velvet drapes, my heart hammering against my ribs like a trapped bird. My dress, a slip of midnight blue silk that clung to every curve, felt suddenly too tight, too constraining. I could feel the heat radiating from him, a solid, immovable force of masculine energy that had been simmering beneath the surface of our polite conversation for the last hour. He stood close, close enough that I could smell the sandalwood and crisp citrus of his cologne, a scent that had become inextricably linked with desire in my mind. His eyes, dark and intense, tracked the flutter of my pulse in my throat. He hadn’t said much since we’d slipped away, content to