Page 44 of Singing For His Kiss

“I’ll stop if you want me to, Elizabeth. But I want you to know this isn’t a mistake. I meant to kiss you. I enjoyed it.”

She blinked open heavy eyes. “I don’t…”

How could she even doubt that? “And I want to do it again. Me. James Rhyder. The man who wants to kiss you more than anything else.”

“You do?”

His thumb traced her cheek, so very slowly. “Would you like me to do that?”

She looked into his eyes, searching, seeking, raw pain etched in every pore. She nodded, only a small movement, but he felt he’d won a war.

“Say my name, Elizabeth.”

A slight frown marred her forehead. “What?”

“I’m not him. I’ll never be him. I’ll never hit you. Hurt you. Abuse you. Real men don’t do that. All I want to do is kiss you. Just say my name, and I’ll kiss you, Elizabeth.”

He stepped to her, gathering her in his arms, intensely, insanely grateful that she drifted toward him. She trembled, her head tucked against his chest. He held her waist steady while his other hand cupped the back of her head, playing with her gorgeous, soft hair. Slowly, she wrapped her arms around him, strengthening her embrace. She fit so right against him, just like they were made to embrace.

He was stunned at how deeply her decision of acceptance affected him, so much so that he found he had to wait to speak. “God, Elizabeth. What has happened to you?”

She sighed and shrugged. “Life.” She sounded burdened. Defeated.

He frowned at the simple gesture. Shrugging implied she deserved what had been dished out to her, had accepted it as her due. “Not everything is bad.”

“I know.”

She said that a little too quickly, a little too lightly. He gently tipped her head, held her cheeks in his palms so she looked at him. “You don’t have to expect bad things to happen to you.”

Genuine confusion clouded her eyes. “How can you say that? You lost your wife. You know bad things happen.”

All those things were true, and he’d lived them like a faith. Until only moments before. “Losing Hanna was the worst thing that ever happened to me. But having Madeline was one of the best. Now you’ve come into my life. That’s a good thing, too.”

He really wanted to know the details of what that bastard had done, but she was too fragile. That time would come, and he’d exorcise that demon out of her.

“I’m a good thing?”

His heart cracked at the vulnerability in her voice. He rubbed her cheeks with the pads of his thumbs. “Of course. I wouldn’t be standing here holding you like this if I felt differently.”

Beyond the confusion, he saw a spark blink into life. Her hands folded over his, her soft skin warm over his hands. “But you’ve stayed away from me. I thought I’d done something wrong. I thought you didn’t like me.”

He grimaced, briefly closing his eyes. “I know I have. I’m a coward. Especially around you. I was fighting myself. But now…now I can’t bring myself to be away from you.”

She licked her lips, nervous. “You’re James. James Rhyder.”

He hesitated, wondering why she’d said those words.

“You said you’d kiss me. If I said your name, you said you…”

He didn’t let her finish the sentence, capturing her mouth and swallowing her words. He was gentle with this kiss, but he also wanted it to brand her. Wanted to make her feel he was that good thing for her. That through him, she could expect good things can happen to her.

Niggling doubt about Madeline and what she might think of all this surfaced, but he would deal with that when the time was right. Right now, he didn’t want to think too much of the future, or of anyone else but himself and his needs. And Elizabeth.

If he was being greedy, then good. He might be greedy, but he wasn’t stupid. If he had five minutes of this with Elizabeth, it was five minutes of living he hadn’t had before.

And he’d relish every second of it.

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