Devil in My Arms by Samantha Kane

undone.
    She wrested herself away from him then, frightened by how powerful her feelings were. All her defenses were down, and she felt vulnerable and exposed. He’d done it, hadn’t he? He’d torn away her mask and revealed the real Eleanor, just as she’d feared. An Eleanor who was lonely and aching and needful. She became aware of voices in the distance and the glow of the ballroom through the windows visible across the garden. If she wasn’t careful, she’d lose all her inhibitions here in this chilly garden, and perhaps much more. This wasn’t supposed to happen. She wasn’t this sort of woman. Passion had never ruled her before, and never would. “I have to go,” she said breathlessly. She lifted the hem of her skirt and spun around, but Sir Hilary grabbed her arm and stopped her.
    “Eleanor,” he said, as breathless as she. “Don’t go. I’m sorry.”
    She laughed—at herself, not at him. “Don’t be. It was an education.” She turned to face him. “But this is not what I expected, nor what I want. I’m sorry, Sir Hilary.”
    “Hil,” he said. “Call me Hil.”
    She shook her head. “There is too much intimacy between us already. I can’t do this. I just can’t.” She choked on her words, and this time when she spun around to leave, he let her go.
* * *
    Hil waited impatiently in the Templetons’ drawing room for Eleanor. Last night’s garden encounter had left him longing for more with her, yet not sure it was possible. He needed to speak to her, to find out whether there was a chance. Why had she run off? What couldn’t she do? He’d tossed and turned all night, unable to sleep as he relived each moment, torn between arousal and dismay at her abrupt departure. For a woman of words, she’d had none for him before running off. Why must women be so inscrutable? A simple “I do not care for your company,” or “I do not wish to see you again,” would go a long way to settling a man’s mind.
    “Are you here to wreak more havoc?” Roger asked from the doorway, eyeing Hil warily.
    “Hardly,” Hil replied, his dry tone conveying his displeasure at such a question.
    “What did you say last night to cause Eleanor such distress?” Roger looked very serious.
    “Playing the big brother?” Hil asked, irritated most because he understood Roger’s protectiveness.
    “Yes. Answer the question.” Roger walked over to small bar table and poured a drink.
    “It is barely ten o’clock,” Hil admonished.
    Roger walked over and to Hil’s surprise handed the drink to him. “It’s not for me,” Roger said. “She doesn’t want to see you.”
    Hil took the drink and downed it. The fiery burn of the whiskey soothed his ruffled vanity. “What did she say? Exactly.”
    “She said, ‘I do not wish to see him.’ I don’t believe I can misinterpret that.” Roger’s sarcasm was unwelcome at that moment.
    “Tell her that I will wait all day. She owes me an explanation.” He wouldn’t be able to focus on anything at all until he had settled this with Eleanor.
    “She owes you?” Roger said incredulously. “Whatever for? Did she slap you? I would have liked to have seen that.”
    “Don’t be so bloody stupid,” Hil snapped.
    “Oh ho,” Roger said with a delighted grin. “She has you off temper. Can’t say I’ve ever known a woman to be able to do that. Trust Eleanor to accomplish theimpossible.”
    “I went too far,” Hil confessed. He sounded angry, and he was. With himself. “I owe her an apology.”
    “What the hell do you mean you went too far?” Roger said angrily, all amusement gone. “What did you do?”
    “I kissed her.”
    “You had better keep your mouth to yourself,” Roger warned. “I’m not above thrashing you, friend.”
    “It was a kiss,” Hil dismissed. “A rather … intense kiss, but only a kiss, just the same.” He shook his head. “But to her, it seemed as if it were much more. I forgot, damn it. I forgot where she’s come from, what she’s