The Perfect Temptation (9 page)

over in the comer. He'd seen
those in kitchens throughout

the Leeward Islands. His mother
had some in hers on St.

Kitts. Under the peppers, on a
table, was a basket of rice.

Other than those few things, it
was all quite foreign.

It was also warm. Uncomfortably
so. With the fire roaring

in the hearth and the one in the
stove, the condensate was

streaming down the windowpanes.
Aiden resisted the urge to

loosen his stock and collar but
couldn't help looking longingly

at the door and wishing he were
on the other side of it.

At the edge of his vision he saw
Preeya pat Alex Radford's

arm and laugh. Alex rolled her
eyes and shook her head.

Preeya said something, grinned,
and then waved a huge

slotted spoon in a gesture that
didn't need any translation.
Get

out of my kitchen
was
universally understood. Especially by

males. He grinned, wondering how
many times his mother's

cook had ordered him out of her
way. Thousands
,
probably.

She barely gave him time to bow
in farewell to Preeya before

his hope was realized and be was
back outside in the

wonderfully cold, crisp air. And
hurrying to catch up with

her. Yet again. Something inside
him rebelled at the notion

of complying, of dutifully
following along and letting her always

set the course and the pace.

The movement was quick and at the
very edge of her

vision. Alex whirled about, her
heart racing, her hands instinctively

positioned to fend off an attack.
One part of her

instantly relaxed at the sight of
Aiden Terrell hanging,

slightly swaying,from a lower
limb
-
of the apple tree.

Another part of her wasn't
relaxed at all. Stretched out as

be was
,
his
hands wrapped over the top of the branch, his

feet well off the snowy ground,
his clothing was pulled taut

over his body and revealed in
great detail every one of his

rippled, corded, and bulging
muscles. Dear God in heaven.

the man was marvelously sculpted.
From his broad shoulders

to his abdomen to his-

Heat flooded her cheeks and she
quickly lifted her gaze to

his face. His grin was huge,
sparkling brilliantly in his gorgeous

green eyes. The effect, as
always, was devastating. Her

heart skittered and her pulse
raced hotly through her veins.

"Mr. Terrell?" she
began, unable to keep from watching

his display, desperate to get him
to stop
.

"My father isn't here,"
he replied. arching his lower body

to increase the speed and power
of his swing. And the tautness

of his clothes.

"Aiden," she quickly
allowed. watching him pump higher

and faster. "I'm chilled to
the bone. May we please go inside?"

Chilled, my great-aunt
Fanny,
Aiden thought, grinning and

shifting his hold on the branch.
It wasn't cold coloring her

cheeks. He knew a purely feminine
response to unexpected

infatuation when he saw one. He
arched higher, pleased by the

sound of her strangled gasp. No,
the duchess wasn't cold at

all. And she obviously wasn't
made of stone, either. That was

just a facade. One that, judging
by her blush, had the potential

to crumble rather quickly and
nicely.

His conscience prickled ever so
slightly, but the rebellious

spirit again surged forward,
ruthlessly tamping it down,

firmly telling him there was
nothing wrong with a general appreciation

of a woman's willingness to be
seduced. Willing

women were wonderful things.

Deciding that he'd best leave
those kinds of thoughts no

further developed than they were,
he selected a suitable

landing place some distance out
and arced backward to gain

the momentum necessary to reach
it. She actually squealed

and covered her eyes as he
released his hold on the branch

and launched himself forward.

He landed perfectly, laughing and
looking back over his

shoulder to see if she'd
surrendered to curiosity. She had and

a deeper flush swept over her
cheeks as she realized he'd

caught her at it.

"So tell me about
Preeya," he said jauntily, deliberately

taking control of the
conversation as he buttoned his jacket

and moved to join her on the
walk. "How did she end up here

with you?"

Alex swallowed down her heart and
headed off for the rear

of the house. "Preeya was
the third wife of one of Mohan's father's

uncles on his mother's
side," she provided, hearing the
.

speed of the words but unable to
do anything to slow the tide.

''When he died, she came under
the raja's protection. It's all

rather complicated and I'm not
sure that I fully understand the

set of social and family
obligations that led to it Frankly, I

think the obligation has more to
do with his having lived with

wrong in her earlier
self-assurances. Her relationship with

AidenTerrell wasn't the least bit
like any of those she'd ever

had with a subordinate. It
couldn't be. Because Aiden Terrell

wasn't like any other man-or
person-she'd ever met. He

wasn't abusive as her father had
been. He wasn't royal and

therefore infallible as was the
raja. He wasn't regally self-absorbed

as were the members of the royal
family and court.

And Lord knew that Aiden didn't
have so much as one single

subservient bone in his
beautifully sculpted body.

He was curious and bluntly
spoken, sinfully handsome and

intriguing. He could be
breathtakingly, recklessly impulsive.

Yet he was always clear-headed,
always thinking. He honestly

didn't care what anyone thought
of him, didn't measure his

words or actions or opinions in
consideration of what others

would think of him. And, under it
all, he was a basically decent

man who didn't particularly want
to be a gentleman but

simply couldn't keep himself from
it

And to think that she'd initially
seen him as nothing more

significant than Barrett
Stanbridge's minion. She'd never been

more wrong about anything. Aiden
Terrell was most definitely

his own man.

There was one early perception
that had proven to be

spot-on, though. Aiden Terrell
was indeed very much a tiger.

He liked the hunt, liked the
thrill of playing a good and spirited

game. Which meant that, unless
she was able to exercise

extreme caution, she was very
much in danger of being consumed.

Because, Lord help her, she found
everything about

him incredibly attractive.