Page 79 of Her Beast

That was what Lily would say if she were there.

Julia gave a soft snort of laughter. No, if Lily were in Julia’s shoes, she would have rapped on the mirror last night and demanded to be invited in.

Do it.

She glanced at the clock; it was late, but no later than it had been last night.

Would he be there?

As if in a trance, Julia opened the door, checked the hallway, and then slipped out. When she pushed the panel, it opened almost soundlessly and she quickly stepped into the corridor and shut it behind her.

Rather than wander as she’d done last night, Julia retraced the path of her hasty exit, moving slowly, as if something were pulling her against her will. Something that would change her forever.

When she reached the small window, it was so faintly illuminated that she feared the room was unoccupied or that it was a night without wickedness.

She needn’t have worried; the view tonight was even more shocking and erotic than last night.

He wasn’t at his desk, but in a chair so big it made his huge body appear almost normal-sized by comparison.

And rather than sitting in profile, he was almost directly facing her.

He was fully dressed in his evening blacks and the woman knelt between his thighs again, her head already moving in a way that made Julia’s stimulated sex pulse. His arms rested on the chair, rather than her head, and he gazed down at her.

The woman’s body was covered by a loose garment that looked like an undressing gown and her wavy, golden hair rippled down her back.

From this angle, Julia might have been looking at herself, although the woman’s hair was brighter than hers.

Is that what he liked—small blond women?

Foolish hope leapt inside her.

Why would he want a gauche, unsophisticated woman—a girl, really—like you when he could have somebody who clearly knew what she was doing?

The thought was painful, probably because it was true. He didn’t need Julia because he already had somebody.

Julia studied him harder than she’d ever looked at any picture, searching for any emotion or some reaction on his stark, unreadable face.

The changes in him were minute: a slight tightening of his jaw, his hands curling on the arms of the chair, and the increasing rising and falling of his broad chest.

She saw a flash of white teeth as his lips pulled back into a half-snarl right before he reached out for the woman. Instead of fisting her hair as he’d done last night, he set a hand on her shoulder and his lips moved.

The woman slowly pulled away from him and then gracefully rose to her feet. With a graceful shrug of her shoulders her robe slid to the floor and she stood before Malcolm naked, her back to Julia.

Julia had seen naked women—she’d done more than justseethem with Lily—but this was a mature woman, not a schoolgirl, her figure ripe and voluptuous, her waist tiny without any corset to shape her.

Julia saw Malcolm’s arm move, as if he were taking something from his coat, and he handed her a black scarf.

The woman took it from his hand and, without hesitating, tied it over her eyes.

She struggled to make sense of what she was seeing. Why would Malcolm have her cover her eyes? Did the woman want that? Did he?

Julia pushed the questions away when the woman knelt on the chair, straddling his thighs.

Malcolm’s black-gloved hands spanned her waist, steadying her when she knelt up high, his thick shaft jutting out between her bare thighs.

Julia bit her lip hard at the erotic view.

The woman slid her small hand around his arousal and deftly positioned him before lowering herself slowly, his ruddy length disappearing into her body inch by inch.

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