Page 29 of The Banished Bride
“Godspeed, Jack,” called Aurora softly. “I wish you well.”
He shuffled his feet in some embarrassment. “The same to you, Aurora, though of course we shall be seeing each other shortly.”
“Of course,” she murmured. “Still, have a care.”
“I will.” Slanting a quick glance at Alex, he hurried to add, “Er, may I say now, it had been quite an experience working with a female such as yourself.”
She smiled. “And one I doubt you care to repeat.” The wry note of humor was unmistakable. ”But you may breathe easy. I daresay you won’t have to encounter many others like me.”
“More’s the pity,” he said under his breath before slipping out the door.
Alex listened to the footsteps fading away into the gathering mist, feeling even more unsure of his own direction. His brooding gaze strayed from the dying flames to the swept hearth to the neatly arranged blankets—anywhere but to the young lady still seated in the shadows.
Suddenly he pivoted on his heel and made for the door.
“Alex—”
“Aurora—”
They both spoke at once.
She had risen, with a movement as just as jerky as his, but before she could say another word he covered the space between them in three quick strides and was at her side. “Before you begin to ring a well-deserved peal over my head, let me apologize for my unforgivable conduct. Once again, you’ve seen a side ofme that I am hardly proud of, but I …” His lips compressed in a tight line. “I can offer no excuse.”
Her eyes dropped to the ground. “None is necessary. There must be something about me that brings out the worst in men,” she said in a small voice. As if realizing that the tone seemed to verge on self-pity, she immediately forced her mouth to quirk up and added, “No doubt a temperament befitting a mule and tongue more suited to a shrew have something to do with it.”
Alex uttered a low oath, then tilted her chin up so that he could study every nuance of her mobile features. “Only a fool would fail to see the heart and courage of a lion.” A harried sigh accompanied his whisper. “If, for some reason, things go badly tonight, there is an extra purse sewn in at the bottom of my bag.” He essayed a grim smile. “Do not hesitate to retrieve it and take yourself off to safety.”
“Oh, Alex, promise me you will be careful!”
His expression was searching, though his words appeared to make light of the matter. “I would have thought you wouldn’t mind in the least if someone put a bullet in my heart.”
“N-no! That is …” A ragged intake of breath ended with an odd little sniffle.
It was with some shock that Alex realized that the watery catch in her voice was caused by a tear. His own throat tightened.The devil take it!To his memory, no one had ever really cared what became of him, much less cried over the thought that some harm might befall his person. Touched in a way he could not begin to explain, he pulled her gently toward his chest. Her chin was still cupped in his hand, and it took all of his wavering resolve to keep from using his lips to blot the salty drops from the arch of her cheekbone.
“Come now, sweeting. I shall reserve the right of putting the period to my existence just for you. Lord knows, you have firstclaim to it.” His head was bent as he spoke, so that the warmth of her breathing tickled his skin.
With a movement so quick that it took him an instant to be sure he hadn’t imagined it, she raised on her toes and feathered her lips against his.
The kiss—if kiss was what it had been—left him not merely shocked but stunned. He tried to swallow, but somehow a lump had formed that was impossible to dislodge. Good Lord, was he really about to turn into a veritable watering pot himself? Such a lowering thought helped him choke down his emotions enough so that he could reply with dry humor.
“I seem to recall a certain statement concerning flying pigs,” he said with a rather crooked grin. “Am I hallucinating, or do I truly see swine soaring on gossamer wings?”
Aurora thumped a fist against his chest. “Wretch,” she murmured. ”Please don’t remind me of such impetuous words. I-I sometimes say things I don’t mean when I am angry.”
“Don’t we all?” He put his arms around her, drawing her so close he could feel the thud of her heart through the thick wool of his jacket. “Do you think that perhaps the porcine creatures might stay airborne long enough for you to grant me one more embrace? For luck.”
This time it was more than a momentary brush. She lifted her head and the sweet curves of her lips, softly pliant and willing, molded to his. The taste of her was a subtle, shifting warmth, like early morning light. Thirsting for more, his tongue delved deeper, and when her mouth offered sustenance, he plunged into its depth with the desperation of a man finally escaping from years of drought.
She was more intoxicating than aged brandy, more potent than malt whiskey. With a low groan, he sought to drink his fill of her liquid fire. The heat was flooding every fiber of his being, from the tips of his fingers entwined in her curls to the throb ofhis groin pressed hard up against the softness of her middle. Her molten cry of his name nearly caused his knees to buckle. Why, in another instant, he would be drunk to all reason?—
It was Aurora who helped to sober his spinning head. Stumbling back a step from his embrace, she drew a ragged breath and whispered, “I-I think you had better be going. It wouldn’t do be late for your rendezvous with Jack.”
A glib rejoinder floated toward his lips, but at the sight of what was swirling in the depth of her emerald eyes, it stuck in his throat. In answer, he pressed a gentle kiss on her forehead. “Yes,” he sighed. “Duty must come before all else.
“When duty is done, come back to me, Alex Woodmore.”
“Of that you may be sure, sweeting. Haven’t you learned yet that I am a deuced difficult fellow to get rid of?”
