Sylvia was convinced that everyone knew, so plainly was her indiscretion painted on her face.

The maids had changed her sheets and all day she had fretted if they did that regularly or if they were doing it because they knew. Once, while she was passing down the hall, one of the maids had called out to another, using her name- Charlotte.

Sylvie's heart had seized for a moment for she had imagined that the maid had called her a harlot and had nearly expired on the spot.

The footman asked her if she needed some extra coffee to invigorate her and she had bumbled a reply about not needing anything to wake her up because she had slept just fine, thank you very much!

If this was the result of one encounter, heaven help her if she actually did end up taking him for her lover! She would never be able to show her face again!

She had, in fact, not slept well at all, waking up every few hours to check whether or not Raphael had left. The git had been sleeping without a worry in the world! She had contemplated waking him and requesting him to make himself scarce, but then she had seen the dark circles under his eyes and could not bear to disturb him. Instead, she watched him sleep, stroking his hair, a small little crack appearing in her resolve to not make the same mistakes her youthful self had twice over already. At rest, he lacked his edge, his sharp tongue. He had looked like the boy who had been Sylvie's friend, who had given her seashells and brought her candy from London, and Sylvie could not help but love him. It was something as much a part of her as her connection to Jane. Raphael was...family. He had been even before he had become Jane's guardian.

For another, she would never give that smug arse the satisfaction! Just look at the way he had swaggered into breakfast, making jokes and innuendos! In front of his father, no less! Oh, but she could have strangled him at the table. Death by butter knife sounded suitably painful.

She sent him a hateful look from where she was sitting across the room but he missed it for he and Jane were engrossed in a serious discussion as Jane helped herself to more than her fair share of biscuits. Whatever they were colluding about, it was very important. To Jane at the very least, though Rafe did not act disinterested for even a second.

She had the strangest reaction to him whenever he acted paternal. It made him so completely irresistible to her, his handsomeness just intensified by the warmth of his actions. The tenderness and obvious affection he showed Jane.

It was hopeless.

She could not stop loving him any more than she could stop loving Jane.

That did not mean that she would be fool enough to fall in love with him. No indeed.

For one, she was not stupid. She knew full well that he was unwilling to offer her anything other than a short time, filled with mutual pleasure. Glorious, mutual pleasure, but no commitment. And she was beginning to fear that perhaps she would want those things.

From him.

That was not a problem where Michael was concerned because he inspired nothing more than a mild spark of attraction. Which was why he was a safer choice by far. The smarter choice. And Sylvie considered herself a rather intelligent woman, thank you very much!

She should tell Raphael that it was never going to happen between them and then embark on a mediocre, uninspiring but still pleasurable affair with Michael Alder.

Raphael caught her eyes from across the room, his gaze suggestive and heated, roaming from the top of her head, taking an obvious stop at her chest- though heavens knew why, there was not much to look at- and then back up to her rapidly warming face. She felt warm all over, heat blooming between her legs as she once again felt the forbidden sensation of his tongue and fingers against the most intimate parts of her.

Good heavens, but he was attractive. Sylvie swallowed thickly as he winked at her knowingly. He knew exactly how thoroughly he had her twisted around, the scoundrel.

"Don't you agree, Sylvie?" Raphael drawled in that irritating, self-assured, overly casual way of his that had Sylvie scowling. He knew she had been admiring him and not been paying a lick of attention. She hated how much he was enjoying her flustered behavior.

"I didn't quite catch that," she glared at him as his grin widened, the lewd promise in his eyes making her voice more throaty than usual.

"Well, Jane told me that you forbade her from having dessert because she did not finish her asparagus last night," Rafe pointed to her daughter who was looking at her with an accusation in her eyes because Sylvie had made her miss out on her favorite dessert.

"Yes, I did. If Jane does not want to eat healthy food, then she may not eat delicious food, either."

Jane pointed to her and signed, 'See?!'

"Well, little Jane, the trouble with that is that your mother is right, I'm afraid."

'But asparagus tastes like dirt!'

"That is true, but you see, asparagus- and other vegetables- are an important part of our diet. We have to eat them, if only so that we can get our dessert. Think of it this way, you must eat the asparagus because it is the only thing on your plate at this moment, so you eat it because you have nothing else to eat. However, you put up with the asparagus for the time being because you know you can have dessert later."

Jane made a disappointed pout at both of them, clearly put out that her adult ally had switched sides. She gave them both a pointed huff, signed 'You both are stupid!', collected her dolls, and walked out of the room without so much as a farewell!

Oh, that child was in for a good scolding!

Sylvie got up in a flurry of skirts, overflowing with maternal indignation, and stormed toward the door. She had not raised a rude, tantrum-prone young lady and if Jane thought this behavior would be swept under the rug just because they were not at home she had another thing coming!

Just as she was about to reach the door, Rafe's hand closed around her wrist, halting her furious stride. With the other hand, he pushed the door closed, twisting the lock in place, and then crowded her so that her back was against the door but their bodies were just shy of touching. Her reaction was immediate, her heart pounding against her rib cage and her center going slick, she could feel it between her legs, that insatiable need for his touch.

"Not so fast," he dropped his mouth closer, chuckling when she angled her face up in anticipation of a kiss. "I have quite the bone to pick with you."

"I?!" She hissed incredulously, "It is I who is angry with you!"

"Oh yes, I noticed you avoiding me all day, are you truly so upset about my teasing?" He leaned in a bit closer and inhaled her scent.

"Yes!" She tried for outrage even as her body arched up to try and touch his.

"Why, darling?" He ran his nose along the column of her throat as she let out a worried sound. Anyone could try the door at any time and then what would they think if she and Rafe emerged from behind a locked room?

"Because you did it to discomfit me!"

"Oh, yes," he said as a grin stretched across his mouth, completely unrepentant. "I love how you blush, and then I think about how far down that blush goes, all the way to your pretty little tits and then I think about that face you make when I play with your sweet little nipples and it is a very enjoyable experience for me."

"Good heavens, you are unbelievable!" She gasped as he let his teeth nip at her collar gently.

"Mhmm," he agreed as he soothed over his bite with his tongue before drawing back. "But it is you who have done something very, very naughty indeed."

"I? I have done nothing that you have not also done."

"Not true at all," he let go of her and reached for his cravat, undoing it and revealing the strong column of his throat. It was a testament to how thoroughly she had lost her mind that she found even his Adam's apple beautiful. He pulled his shirt to the side and revealed a dark, purple bruise on the underside of his throat. "Look at what you've done, you little tyrant. Couldn't let me live without a reminder of you, now could you?"

"I did that?" Sylvie asked in genuine horror. "I'm so sorry, it must have hurt!"

"Not overmuch," he rushed to assure her. "It's merely the result of an over-enthusiastic kiss. But you will pay for it, regardless."

"Pay for it?"

"Oh yes, Sylvie, once I have you in my bed," his eyes shone with a dark, carnal promise. "I will be leaving my little marks all over your body. Your bottom, your stomach, your back, your legs, not an inch of you will be safe from me. You had better get used to dressing yourself for you would thoroughly scandalize your maid after I am through with you."

Her legs promptly turn to jelly at the threat in his voice.

Sylvie had long since scoffed at women who fell for his obviously rakish ways, only to find she was just as susceptible to his wiles. She had underestimated just how potent he could be when he set his mind to it.

"Your overconfidence is not appealing in the least!" She snapped at him, but it lacked any true heat.

"But you're going to say yes, aren't you?" He purred at her, all cocky and self-assured. It made her want to deny him all the more! "You have me in such a bad way, Sylvie, don't be so cruel as to deny us what we both want. Patience is not a virtue I have, not when it comes to this."

Her mood soured immediately at the mention of how easily and frequently he had enjoyed these pursuits.

"Why don't you have one of your long line of women take care of it for you, then?! For you can rest with the surety that I will not give you the satisfaction you seek!" She snapped at him, trying to push him out of her way but he refused to budge. Temper flashed in his eyes as he dragged her forward, spun her around, and pressed her roughly back into the door so that her back was now resting snugly at his front. She let out a groan at the pleasure that assailed her body at the mere contact of their bodies.

"Is that what you want, Sylvie?" He snarled in her ear, a dangerous edge to his voice. "For me to find someone else to take to bed?"

"I do not care in the least!"

"You bloody liar," he growled and then pressed his groin into her bottom, making her feel his hardness through his trousers and her skirts. She let out a needy whimper as her arousal thrummed back to life in full force as he began to gently rock his erection against her arse. He noticed the door making a small noise as their combined weight collided gently with it and then moved her so that she was pressed to the wall instead. "Do you feel that? Do you feel how hard I am just by being this close to you? That is all for you. All because of you, you bloody shameless siren."

"Good heavens," she moaned slightly as her own hips began to rock to meet his.

"And you say that you want me to give this to someone else? No, Sylvie, look at the way your arse is turning up for me, and I don't need to put my hand under your skirts to know you're fucking dripping for me. No, Sylvie, your greedy, wanton cunt wants all of me for itself, doesn't it?"

"No," she lied, gasping as he drew a hand back and struck her firmly on the bottom. To her surprise, it did not take away from the pleasure in the least.

"You want me to fill you up, make you stop aching, don't you?" He panted in her ear as she felt the tension inside her coil higher and higher. He grabbed her by the hips and set a faster pace, every nerve ending of hers was set aflame. She could not make any sound save for a desperate sob as she felt her legs begin to shake. Her release was so, so close. "No one else can do it for you like I can."

"Shhh, Sylvie" he whispered wickedly in her ear. "Don't make too much noise, someone could hear you."

It was so wrong, so forbidden, but so, so enthralling that she could not stop. She brought up a hand to muffle the cries that were leaving her mouth as their bodies moved in unison. He brought his hands upward, hooking his fingers in her bodice and forcing the material down to bare her breasts. She heard a faint ripping sound and let out a cry of dismay that evolved into a cry of pleasure as his fingers captured her nipple and tugged. "My dress!"

"I'll buy you ten more dresses," he groaned, continuing his assault on her senses. "Fuck, I wish I was inside you right now. I want to feel you all around my cock. How tightly will you squeeze me as you come, pretty girl?"

And that set Sylvie off, she arched all the way back into him her release barreling into her so hard she felt her vision go white. Behind her, she felt him let out a loud curse and then press himself into her for several long seconds before falling limp against her.

"Good God, now just look at what you've made me do," he said lightly as he kissed her cheek and eased off of her, turning her around and tugging up her bodice and hiding the ripped seam by cleverly folding it. "You're only adding to the tally of things you must make up for."

"I have not said yes," she frowned at him.

"But you will," he grinned and then pressed his mouth to hers in a tender kiss that belied the savagery of their earlier passion. "Now, aren't you forgetting something?"

....Was she?

Quite frankly her head was still reeling from the intensity of her climax.

Oh, yes.

"Thank you, Raphael," she leaned forward and stole a kiss. "It was very lovely."

"You may thank me, by saying yes, Sylvie," his tone was teasing but the heat in his gaze was entirely proprietary.

"I will think about it," she told him weakly, even as delight thrummed through her at the possessive way he looked at her.

.....She was about to be entirely foolish, wasn't she?