She didn't just want him. She needed him. And she needed him right now.
Jennifer realized it with brutal clarity. The shame that had nearly drowned her moments ago was gone, replaced by a dark, hungry clarity.
The fingers, the fantasies, the watching through a slit in the velvet — it was all thin compared to the real thing.
She didn't want shadows.
She wanted his weight pinning her down, pressing the Vanderbilt name out of her until there was nothing left but breath and skin.
She moved to stand, her legs bucking beneath her as if the very bones had turned to liquid. Gripping the cold stone balustrade, she forced herself upright, her breath coming in sharp, jagged hitches.
She looked through the gap in the curtains.
The scene inside stopped her cold.
Silence.
Complete, heavy silence where moments ago there had been screaming.
Jennifer's eyes tracked across the room.
