Page 32 of Provoked

Right. Well, at least we seem to have progressed from yelling at each other. That’s something right?

The trip to the small regional airport is fairly quick. I urge Fred to simply drop me at the curb with my bags, pointing to the security guard standing nearby. “See, nothing can happen to me here. I’m more worried about Justin at the house. Really, Fred. It’s okay.”

He snorts in disbelief. “Do you not comprehend that he already has your flight up on a tracker app on his phone and he’ll be pissed off to the point of a coronary if I arrive back before your flight has even departed?” Fred raises both grizzled eyebrows at me in disbelief.

Oh. Yeah, I can see his point. “Fine. But once I board, you’ll leave? You can claim a tailwind or something.”

Fred only rolls his eyes in response and picks up my bags out of the back of the vehicle.

Once I’m safely buckled into my seat on the plane, I take out my book. It’s been so long since I’ve had five minutes to myself I realize I’ve completely forgotten where I left off, so I revisit a few chapters until I know I’m in familiar territory. This little commuter plane has one seat between the window and aisle on one side and two on the other. I scored one of the single seats, so I don’t even have to worry about getting up for a future seatmate. I settle back in my seat, careful to keep my elbows in and reacquaint myself with Kitty and her problems.

Rafe’s frustration warred with his conscience. He was a gentleman, after all, even though Kitty had worked hard to make him forget it. And she’d nearly succeeded. But no more. His lips thinned to a firm line as he dragged her behind him down the path leading to the stables. He didn’t want any members of their minuscule household staff witnessing her humiliation and thus undermining her authority as the lady of the house.

“Rafe! What are you doing? Where are you taking me?” Kittywailed even as she continued to tug on her arm that he held captive. He was both pleased and annoyed that there didn’t appear to be any fear in her voice. There should be. If she were a proper lady, she ought to be trembling with fright.

He ignored her pleas for an explanation until he had her safely inside the confines of the stable and neatly backed into an empty stall. There was no escape for her unless she managed to flatten him. Given their differences in both height and weight, he deemed that highly unlikely.

“Rafe!” Kitty scowled at him as she rubbed the wrist he’d been clutching.

He scowled right back.

“Why are we in the stables? What are you doing?” Again, more confusion than trepidation. Couldn’t she see the way the world worked? She was smart enough for a woman. How could she be so very ignorant?

“You wanted me to treat you like an illicit woman, the stables seemed appropriate.” Privacy had been his primary motivation, but she didn’t need to know that.

Kitty gulped, uncertainty gathering her delicate eyebrows together. “What do you mean?” Her voice had gone quiet, and she took a few steps back until her spine was flush with the rear of the stall.

Rafe stayed where he was. The idea was for her to learn her own lesson, not for him to force himself on her.

“I want you to kiss me,” he stated baldly.

Kitty’s eyes widened and her rosebud lips parted. “What?!”

Rafe rolled his eyes. “Were my instructions unclear? A real lightskirt wouldn’t last long in the business if she hesitated like you. A man expects his needs to be attended to. And promptly if she expects to get paid appropriately or if he should bother to come back. That is, after all, what a lightskirt is for.”

Kitty swallowed hard once more, but then her eyes narrowed. Rafe couldn’t help but admire her slender form as the sunlightshafted in revealing the shape of her body through the thin dimity muslin of her dress.

“You’re trying to scare me,” she murmured, almost as if to herself. He was. Rafe wasn’t stupid enough to confirm that for her, though.

Her lips twitched at the corners. She walked gracefully and slowly towards him. This was not what he had expected. She stopped just shy of brushing her bosom against the sleeve of his jacket and stared up at him.

“You’re going to have to either bend down or fetch me a step stool,” she remarked dryly.

Rafe glared. He hadn’t thought she would actually attempt to go through with it. He glanced around and over the partition into the next stall. There were a few hay bales there.

He grunted and led her out the door and into the next stall. Without a word, he placed both hands on her waist and lifted her onto the bale. Now she stood a few inches taller than he and it seemed to delight her. He was reluctant to remove his hands in case she should lose her footing.

Her own hands came up to frame his face. Her fingers were warm and silken as they caressed his cheeks. “Are you sure about this, Rafe? Are you absolutely positive this is what you want?”

He gave her a jerky nod in response, although his eyes may have revealed his uncertainty. What he wanted was for her to fall neatly into the role of his duchess, proper and predictable at all times. It would be easier on both of them that way.

Kitty stared at him. Long enough for him to wonder if she was about to retract all her earlier statements. But then her lips parted ever so slightly and she inclined her head down.

When her lips met his, her obvious inexperience both soothed and inflamed him. Her earlier words of authority on the roles of women with men had been exactly that. Mere words. She hadn’t been with other men. She hadn’t even been kissing any. She was all his.

Just as he was about to deepen their kiss, show her how to truly use those perfect lips to effect, she pulled back.

“There. Satisfied?”

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