The oil was jasmine-scented, and the sweet fragrance filled the air as Dare poured a small amount on his palms and warmed it between his hands. When he cupped her breasts, she gasped softly at the sensation.

"Do you find that enjoyable?"

"You know I do," she said rather breathlessly.

"The enjoyment is mine as well. You're aware by now that I take great delight in your body."

"You take delight in any female body."

"Not any longer. You have spoiled me for anyone else, my lovely Jewel."

He had spoiled her long ago for any other man, Julienne reflected.

The thought fled her mind, though, as he dragged the oiled tips of his fingers in slow, circular motions over her entire body, arousing her in a way different from anything she had experienced before. Her skin responded with a tingling urgency, while a hard ache flared between her shivering thighs.

Reflexively Julienne caught her lower lip with her teeth. Dare's gaze moved to her mouth with raking leisure, and he dipped his head to kiss her briefly before returning to his task. His hands wandered with deliberate slowness over every detail of her, fondling all her curves… her arms, her shoulders, her nipples, her belly… moving down her legs to her calves, gently kneading. Wherever he touched her, she seemed to burn with fierce heat.

Then slowly he ran his oil-slick hands up her inner thighs, caressing, rubbing. The sensation was exquisite. Julienne felt as if she were melting, even before his thumbs found the dark thatch of curls that hid her feminine folds.

Her breath wedged in her throat, but Dare went on stroking the bud of her sex until she arched and whimpered with the searing swell of heat. Then he bent to her, his lips replacing his hands.

A stabbing pleasure flooded Julienne. He licked deeply with his long, clever tongue while his hands continued to stroke and squeeze her throbbing breasts, filling her with sensations so vibrant they hurt her with their brightness.

The orgasm that suddenly claimed her was so intense, she almost fainted.

Her scream of ecstasy echoed throughout the chamber, dying away as the relentless contractions of her body eased. Weak, boneless, she fell back among the cushions, shutting her eyes.

"You don't mean to fall asleep yet?" Dare murmured, the amused question intruding on the sweet glow of repletion.

"Devil," she retorted weakly.

She no longer had the will to move. She felt luxuriantly, lavishly sated by a man who knew exactly what a woman wanted. She was his now, completely in his power; he could do as he wished with her. Yet in some dazed part of her mind, she wanted Dare to share the tantalizing, pleasure-drenched rapture.

Forcibly Julienne opened her eyes. "You are wearing too many clothes."

A half smile of pure devilry tugged at his enticing mouth. "Do you want to undress me?"

"Yes, but I no longer have the energy. You may do the honors."

He complied and, after a moment, stood over her, his splendid erection blatant. "You look like a woman ready for a lover. Perhaps I should oblige you."

Languidly she spread her legs wide, arching for him. "Perhaps you should."

His luminous eyes sparked with wanting her.

"But not yet," Julienne added in a taunting tone as he started to kneel. "I think I should like to know how your oil feels inside me. You may do those honors as well, since you are such the expert. Arouse yourself while I watch."

He chuckled, a low, rich sound of appreciation. "As you command, your highness."

As his oiled hands glided over his hard, swollen shaft, Julienne moistened her dry lips. Watching his fingers curling around the long, smooth, rigid flesh, she wished she could do the same.

"Do you find that enjoyable?" she asked, her voice edged with huskiness.

Dare's face was flushed with his effort at control. "Not as much as if you were attending me."

"Very well," she said at last. "My turn."

"I thought you would never relent."

She rose to her knees and oiled her hands. Then she curled her fingers around his magnificent length.

Heat coursed through Dare at her erotic touch. Instinctively he thrust his hips toward her, even while trying to stem his mounting arousal.

"I will explode all over you if you keep that up," he warned.

"No, you cannot," Julienne said softly. "You have to wait. I believe I would like to try out the bath now." Releasing him, she stood and moved toward the pool.

Dare's muscles went rigid with sexual frustration. Clamping his jaw, he watched her delectable hips swaying as she crossed to the tiled steps and entered the water. The level was almost chest deep, not quite covering the white globes of her breasts. The sight of her taut, rose-hued nipples bobbing so invitingly tormented him.

"What are you waiting for?"

Her taunting voice slid across his senses and brought him even nearer to bursting. Swiftly Dare followed her into the pool, almost groaning as the heated water flowed over his aching cock.

To his relief, Julienne didn't move away but stood waiting, a challenging half smile on her lips.

Her eyes gleamed dark and slumbrously exotic as he reached for her. Feverish excitement surged in him as he clasped her shoulders. Her oiled body was still sleek and supple under his hands, but he spent only a moment playing with her breasts, molding and shaping the high, firm swells before he grasped her hips and lifted her up, pressing between her thighs.

Gritting his teeth, he fondled her buttocks until he felt Julienne glide lusciously around him. His mouth found hers as she locked her legs around his flanks and returned his kiss.

Their tongues entwining like their limbs, they swayed in their erotic dance for a dozen heartbeats, moving and pulsing with pleasure in the rippling water.

Just when Dare thought he could hold back no longer, Julienne contracted the inner muscles of her feminine core, clasping him even more tightly while her hands slipped downward over his hard, flexing buttocks.

Dare groaned raggedly, his face contorted in a grimace of ecstasy as his seed erupted in a white-hot stream. Julienne convulsed around him almost at once, shuddering against him. With her own groan, she buried her face in his neck, raking her teeth over his shoulder.

His breath jagged, his legs weak, Dare sank farther down into the water and leaned back against the pool's edge. An exquisite peace came over him as the heated waves lapped gently around their joined bodies.

"Are you falling asleep?" he heard Julienne whisper hoarsely after a moment.

"Mmmm. I was having dreams. Erotic dreams."

"Of me?"

"Who else?"

She stirred her hips in provocative answer. "What if I am not yet satisfied?"

"I fear you will have to wait, love. I couldn't possibly move. You've depleted all my reserves of strength."

Julienne raked her teeth over his skin again. "You cannot be exhausted just yet. We have one more night together."

Her teasing remark made Dare's exhaustion suddenly fade. He drew back to regard her solemnly. "We can have more than just a single night together."

"I have to return to London by Saturday if I hope to have a career. But I admit," she added softly, echoing his thoughts as she laid her head on his shoulder again, "I almost don't want this to end."

He reached up to fondle a sweetly-rounded breast. "It doesn't have to end, Julienne. You can remain here with me."

"If I did, I would no longer be employed."

"Your employment would be to provide me companionship."

She smiled wryly against his shoulder. "Become your mistress, you mean. But then you would win the wager."

"So?"

Her laughter was muted, shielding the wistful train of her thoughts.

After this magical time with Dare, it would be incredibly difficult to return to her daily life, she knew. During the past few days, as pleasure played upon pleasure, she had found herself pretending that nothing had ever come between them. Worse, she'd found herself thinking of what might have been, dreaming of what the future could hold.

For so long she had refused to dream. But locked in Dare's arms like this, their heartbeats mingling, she could let her imagination wander freely. She could picture herself staying with him, sharing this sweet ecstasy, lovers forever.

For a moment, Julienne closed her eyes, letting that vision fill the emptiness within her. Dare was the only man she had ever wanted, ever loved. The only man to bring her happiness. She had loved him so deeply…

But that happiness had been shattered long ago. And this magical interlude had to end.

It was foolish to think it could go on. Foolish to hope for anything more. They had even less of a future together now than they'd had seven years ago. The obstacles for an exalted nobleman and a simple shopkeeper were now magnified a dozen times over. Dare could never take her for his wife. She was a notorious actress, no longer the virginal innocent she'd been when she first met him. And after all that had happened between them, the bitterness and pain…

Dare wanted her for his mistress, she had no doubt, but she would never agree to that role. It would give him too much power over her. Financially and, even more damning, emotionally. In such a dependent relationship, she would be too defenseless; it would be too easy to let herself fall in love with him again.

Julienne silently shook her head. She understood clearly the lunacy of handing her heart to a gazetted rake who was relentlessly set on breaking it.